Anger reached a boiling point as a scream erupted from Adam's mouth.

"What happened?" a scared voice asked behind him. "You alright?"

Wasn't it obvious? Nothing was alright! His apartment was a disaster. The desk was upside down, his computer and game consoles had vanished (except for a broken controller), his closet and drawers had vomited their insides all over the stinking wet carpet, and—Oh no! Surrounded by the shards of a broken fishbowl, his two goldfish lay lifeless on the ground.

Amidst the dreadful darkness, Adam stopped in the middle of his living room to look in every direction. Not knowing what to do, his body reacted on its own, and he howled out a bizarre guffaw, not unlike a hyena's.

"Are you okay?" the voice insisted.

Adam turned around to find Lili in the hallway. All color washed out of her face as she covered her gaping mouth with a trembling hand. How long had she been standing there?

"Okay?" Adam raised his arms, emphasizing the surrounding damage. "Great!"

Lili looked at her feet, ashamed. "That was a stupid question."

"You think?" His tone made her flinch, and this gave him pause. He needed to calm down. "Sorry. Didn't mean to yell."

"Your hand... All of you..." She gazed at him from head to toe. "What happened?"

Adam knew he looked as bad as his apartment did. His swollen hand and dirty clothes did nothing but stress the lines around his eyes, his face drawn from lack of sleep over the past forty-eight hours. However, his anger was still keeping the pain and exhaustion at bay. The real agony for him was the lack of control. He'd endured the jam-packed bus and the filthy underground parking lot by blocking what was happening around him, holding to the promise that home wasn't all that far away.

And now his home was no more.

It would be impossible to explain to her just how much every little thing out of place, every missing object, nagged at the back of his mind. Like insects dragging their small, thorny legs through my brain. They had defiled his sanctuary. Someone had violated his home, his working place, his life! Where there was order before, only sickening chaos remained.

She would never understand. No one could. Adam didn't understand it himself sometimes.

"Nemo and Sequel are dead," Adam said after a long pause.

Lili looked puzzled until he picked up the fish from the carpet and flushed them down the toilet. Adam stayed there long after the spiral of water sucked down his pets, making them disappear. Pets? Maybe they were more than just part of the decoration.

"Is there someone you can call?" Lili asked.

"Huh?"

Adam forced himself to think of something else besides the squishing sound of his shoes against the carpet. If he called his grandmother, it would only worry her sick, and get Bianca or Dario involved out of the question.

I don't want them to go through this shit.

"The police, I guess."

"Can I get you a straitjacket while you're at it?"

First the taxi driver and now her? I'm not mad!

Even though Adam had never met his great-aunt, he knew she had hung herself in her backyard after spending a season inside a room with padded walls. He didn't find it funny when someone called him crazy, something that Lili noticed right away.

"Sorry. You are in no mood for jokes." She made an apologetic gesture with her hands. "It'll be worse if you call the cops."

Regardless of the cascade of misery that had poured over him that night, Adam couldn't resist her charm. The way she moved and talked, even when nervous, was mesmerizing.

"Call or no call..." Adam picked up the PlayStation 4 controller from the floor. "I gotta do something."

"I understand. Not today, though." Lili bit her lip, thinking. "Look, there are people here who know even what brand of shampoo each neighbor buys. They'll help us find your stuff tomorrow."

Adam frowned, disgusted by the prospect that someone watched their every move at the Eden Towers.

"You're doing a bang-up job of making me feel better, Lili." Adam gave her the thumbs up, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"Damn, you make playing the role of the Good Samaritan difficult."

Adam folded his arms across his chest. "Good Samaritans are as common as unicorns. Have you seen horses with horns lately? Not on planet Earth, you don't. No one helps anyone unless they are driven by guilt or self-interest."

"Then, I'm out of this world!" Still shaking a bit, she offered him her hand. "Let me help you."

As if a floodgate burst, Adam's numb mind overflowed: The robber had not forced the gate open. Someone used a key. And how did they do that? He clenched his jaw, angry at himself. I ran outside to close the water supply, and I left the plumber alone in the apartment—The keys were inside!

Adam pictured the plumber making a copy of his keys in the short time it took him to come back inside. How could he have been so stupid?

The answer is wearing short shorts and a white tank top, you idiot.

"The plumber—"

"What about him?" Lili stepped back.

"You brought him to my place. This is all your fault." Adam moved closer to her, his eyes sharpened. "Tell me the truth."

"All right!"

Her sudden response stunned Adam. Lili took a deep breath into her lungs before speaking again.

"I'll tell you the truth."