The light on Derek’s key fob turned red.
He stared at it.
Then he tapped it against the reader again.
Red.
A third time.
Red.
Inside the apartment, Cassidy called from the couch, “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.
This stupid thing isn’t working.”
He tried again, harder this time, as though the door could be bullied into recognizing him.
One floor above the lobby, I was still sitting across from Pamela while her computer processed the final change to my account.
She removed her glasses and folded them on the desk.
“That’s done,” she said.
I looked at the confirmation page.
The lease had been terminated.
My financial obligation to that apartment ended with the penalty I had just paid.
Thirteen thousand dollars was painful, but compared with another year of financing Derek’s lifestyle—and now Cassidy’s—it felt less like a loss than a purchase.
I had bought my freedom.
Pamela glanced toward the hallway.
“Is anyone currently inside the unit?”
“My former boyfriend and his sister.”
“Former?”
“As of about twenty minutes ago.”
That earned the smallest smile.
“Are either of them authorized tenants?”
“No.”
She checked the file anyway.
“No co-tenant.
No approved additional resident.”
“Exactly.”
Pamela leaned back.
“And they know you terminated?”
“Not yet.”
My phone rang.
Derek.
I looked at the screen until it stopped.
Three seconds later, he called again.
Then again.
Pamela raised an eyebrow.
“I think they’re learning.”
On the fourth call, I answered.
Derek didn’t say hello.
“What did you do?”
His voice was sharp enough that Pamela could hear it from across the desk.
I kept mine quiet.
“I packed my bags.”
“Don’t play games.
My fob stopped working.”
“I’m not playing anything.”
“Fix it.”
Pamela looked down, hiding another smile.
I said, “I can’t.”
“What do you mean, you can’t?”
“The lease is over.”
Silence.
Behind him I heard Cassidy asking what I had said.
