ᏟᎾᏒᏒuᏢᏆᎬᎠ ᎠᎬᏟᎥsᎥᎾᏁs

ChApTeR - 15

"That's a lot of animosity towards one fruit, Zadia."

She shrugged. "It deserves it." She said and smiled, quickly growing silent.

Roman squinted, before paying attention to the road. "You're smiling like a creep." He pointed at the sky. "Is it because of the rain? Abel told me about your little rain fetish."

Zadia laughed deeply, her hands covering her face as she tried to gather herself. "It's not a rain fetish!" She laughed harder, smile widening. "Seriously, I don't have a rain fetish." She explained. "I just happen to like when it rains, because good things tend to happen to me when it does."

"Good things like wh—-" Roman was silenced by the ringing and vibrating coming from his pockets. "One second." He mumbled, pulling the phone out and answering it. "It's me." He spoke into the phone, his voice growing deeper, emotionless. Zadia noticed this instantly. "Where's he at now?" Roman questioned the other person on the line. "Pacific Lodge Hotel." He repeated out loud. "Room floor?" He nodded, listening. "511, got it. How's security looking... okay, got it. I'll be there in a minute, text me everything about the other hotel." Roman hung up.

There was a shift in the car, things felt tense. Roman's whole demeanor changed in just a flick of time and Zadia was confused about how to go about it. "What was that about?" She questioned.

"I've got a lead on one of the people I was working for." He said, then raised the phone for her to take. "Do me a favor. Type in, Pacific Lodge Hotel, and see how far away we are from there."

Zadia took the phone from him and began typing the name of the hotel in. "We're twenty minutes away." She told him, wiping away the raindrops on her naked thigh. "When did you even get a phone?"

"When we went to the storage unit." After they'd stolen the car, Roman drove to one of the storage places where he laundered money and picked up a bag full of clean money. "I put it in the bag beforehand." He explained. "I tend to always have backup money and phones in different areas of the city for emergency purposes. It... it makes my job easier." Looking in the rearview mirror, he leaned further in his seat driving carefully. "I need you to take out three stacks from the bag and put it in something that'll fly under the radar."

"Something like what?" Zadia questioned, reaching in the back for the bag of money.

He shrugged. "I don't know be creative." He said and took the phone from her, following the GPS.

Zadia began looking around the car, her eyes settling on a bigger stuffed animal. She grabbed it and turned it around. "Pass me your knife." She said to Roman and he reached into his jacket, handing her the heavy blade. "Can I ask you something?" Zadia randomly asked while she cut open the back of the stuffed animal.

Roman looked at her. "I'm not telling you how old I am."

She rolled her eyes. "I know that. I just... How come you blew up the house last night?"

"To get rid of evidence and buy us some time."

"Hmm, I guess that does make sense." Once the cut was big enough, Zadia took some of the stuffing out and began placing the money inside. She picked up the roll of tape that she saw earlier and taped the back. "It's all set." She told him and then reached for her water bottle, chugging some of it down. Although she was staying hydrated, Zadia could feel that there was something off with herself. Her fingers felt numb, her stomach upset. She didn't tell Roman yet because she didn't think it was a big deal, but she would if it worsened. "Is it cool if I turn on the radio?"

Roman looked back and forth at the road, contemplating a turn he was about to make. "Don't care, Zadia."

She rolled her eyes again and leaned forward, turning on the radio. "I haven't heard this in forever." She mumbled, excitedly bumping her head to the beat of the song. "I really like what you've, done to me I can't really explain it, I'm so into you." She sang along, snapping her fingers and moving her shoulders.