I take out my phone and snap a selfie once the door is closed behind me. I send it to Rachel.
Me: Hey, little criminal, Alex says hi.
Three dots appear a moment later but stop and are then replaced by new ones until a message appears.
Little Criminal: What the hell are you doing in my house?
I smirk and type a response as I walk into the living room. I sit in the big rocking chair by the window next to a little library and snap another selfie. I send it to Rachel with my response.
Me: [photo attachment]
Me: Come on now, Rachel, is this how you treat your guests?
I abandon the comfy chair and start exploring the house. I find my way up to her bedroom when another message appears.
Little Criminal: I will call the cops. Get the fuck out of my house.
Little Criminal: Hey Kai, it’s Noah. Rachel is about to have a stroke, so if you could kindly leave the house, I promise she won’t call the police.
Little Criminal: Yes, I will! -R
I type another response as I enter her bedroom. I go to her closet and start exploring. I snap a picture of her underwear drawer to go with my new message.
Me: Hey Noah, don’t worry, I’ll be gone before she gets back. Thanks for the haircut, man; it looks really good.
I switch tabs to my contacts, find Leo’s number, and press call. I hit the speaker button while I go through her things. Leo’s voice comes through the speaker on the third ring.
“Hey. Where the fuck are you? I woke up, and you were gone.” I left before he had a chance to wake up to be on time for the salon’s opening. If I had known the naughty criminal would be late for work, I would have stayed for breakfast.
“Hey, buddy. I’m at Rachel’s.” The sound of breaking glass echoes through the speaker, filling the room.
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”Oh buddy, glad to know you approve of my actions.
“Sure, sure. That’s cool with me,” I say as I open the drawer of her nightstand. A little pink vibrator greets me the moment it’s open. I take it and press the button. The little fella starts buzzing. It’s one of those that connects to your phone and can be controlled from a distance. I turn on the Bluetooth on my phone and start downloading the app that controls the toy while Leo continues talking.
“What was that?” Leo questions.
“The little criminal’s vibrating boyfriend,” I joke. “Anyway, now that I have you on the phone, can you send me the information for your friend who has that security company?” I ask as I open the app that has already fully downloaded tomy phone. I make an account and search for the toy. The toy appears on the list of available Bluetooth devices to connect to, and I hit the pink button that says ‘add toy’. The toy connects successfully.It will be useful for later.
“Sure, why do you need it?” Leo asks, but I ignore his question.
“Trust me when I say you don’t want to know,” I say, and I can hear him curse under his breath, so I add, “Message me the info. I’ll be late for work. See you at the bar.” I end the call before he can say anything.
The message with the number of the owner of the security company appears immediately after the call has ended, and I press call, putting it on speaker again.
“Hello.” A man’s voice comes through the speaker.
“Hey. This is Kai, Leo’s friend. I need some security cameras installed at my girlfriend’s house. She’s a little paranoid and doesn’t want to have any security systems installed, but someone kicked her door down a day ago. The neighbor fixed it, but as you know, it would be better to add some extra safety measures. Could we place them somewhere that won’t be too visible to her to ease her paranoia?”
The man talks to someone while I wait on the phone, then he speaks to me again. “Yes, we can do that, but I will need a signature from a resident. Do you live in the house?”
“Yes, I do. We moved in together recently,” I lie.
“Great. You’re in luck; I have an opening. I can be there in an hour,” the man tells me.
“Perfect. I’ll send you a pin with the location.” I end the call and send him the pin, then open my browser and search for the salon’s number. I hit call again and bring the phone to my ear as I walk back to the living room.
“Danielle’s Beauty Corner, this is Charlotte speaking. How may I help you today?” Charlotte’s familiar voice comes through the phone.