All Chapters of The Unexpected Roomate: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The next morning, Marcus Webb and a team of technicians arrived, transforming their residence into something approximating a high-security facility. Grace watched as they installed cameras, changed the locks, and connected panic buttons with a mix of fascination and contempt. This was her home, the sanctuary she had carefully developed, and it now looked like a crime scene waiting to happen."The bedroom panic button connects directly to 911 dispatch," Marcus explained, showing a tiny device that looked harmless. "The kitchen, living room, and office all have them. Press and hold for three seconds, and you'll get a police response within four minutes.""Four minutes," Grace repeated, attempting not to consider how much damage someone could do in four minutes."The cameras feed to both your phones and Elena's," Marcus explained. "Motion detection, night vision, and cloud backup." If anyone approaches your building, you'll know immediately."Max stood in the corner of their bedroom, arm

Three days into their counter-surveillance operation, Grace realized that playing the terrified victim required more acting expertise than she had expected. Every public appearance had to exude just the proper amount of terror……..enough to suit Derek's ego but not so frightening that worried strangers asked for assistance.She rehearsed her acting in Elena's washroom mirror: shoulders bent defensively, recurred looks over her shoulder, and a slight shaking in her hands that indicated someone on the edge of falling. The woman staring back at her looked genuinely scared, which was disturbing in its own way."You're becoming really good at this," Elena said, watching from the entrance."Method acting." I transform my genuine fear about the plan into fabricated anxiety about Derek.""That's not healthy.""Neither is having a career criminal rearrange my underwear drawer."Elena grimaced. "Point taken."The plan they'd devised with Santos was stunningly simple in theory, but terrifyingly c

The warehouse district at the end of the day looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with vacant structures casting long shadows across broken pavement and broken windows reflecting the dying light like dead eyes. Grace sat in her car, three streets from the stated address, every instinct telling her to drive immediately and never turn back.Santos said, "Audio check," through her practically undetectable headset."Clear," she whispered."Visualize your place. We have teams stationed at each exit route."That's comforting.""Grace, you don't need to do this. We can………."He specifically advised us to come alone or not at all. If Derek encounters law enforcement, the entire thing falls."She didn't mention that collapse could be better to whatever Derek had planned. The address he mentioned belonged to a defunct automobile parts wholesaler, three storeys of empty space with many entry points and numerous hiding places for a body.Her phone buzzed: Building 47, third floor. Come up the

Grace dashed into the freight elevator shaft as mayhem exploded behind her. Derek was shouting commands, his associates were hurrying to intercept, and somewhere amid the commotion, she heard the distinct sound of firearms drawn.The slightly open elevator doors loomed ahead, her lone chance of survival in a structure built to be a tomb. Derek's warning of cut wires and flooded basements lingered in her mind, but staying meant certain death, but jumping meant possible death, and possibility was far better than certain.She dove through the elevator doors just as bullets sounded out behind her, deafening the concrete area.Her hands discovered the heavy steel wires Derek claimed were severed, and to her great relief, they supported her weight as she began a controlled plummet into darkness.The shaft was a vertical tube of black metal and concrete, illuminated only by feeble emergency lighting that formed spooky shadows on the walls as she climbed and plunged toward the basement levels

Three weeks later, Grace stood in the doorway of their actual apartment, not a safe house or a temporary haven, as Max unpacked the last of the boxes they'd stowed during their forced absence. The familiar environment felt both the same and completely strange, as if she was viewing it with fresh eyes."The plant survived," she said, examining the small succulent on the windowsill that their neighbor, Mrs. Liv had been nurturing."I told you Mrs. Liv was reliable." Max looked up from the books he was organizing on the shelf. "She also left us a casserole in the freezer and approximately fifteen voicemails asking if we needed anything.""She's been more worried about us than my own mother.""Your mother doesn't know what happened.""My mother doesn't know a lot of things." Grace approached to assist him with the books, noting that he had unintentionally organized them by height rather than content. Certain behaviors never change. "Will you be okay being back here? Where did it all start