The Cedar Grove Apartments were a monument to despair. Paint peeled from the siding like dead skin, and the few patchy lawns were mostly dirt and weeds. Leo pulled the car into a shadowy spot across the street, the engine dying with a soft cough.
"This is it," he muttered, his eyes doing a constant, nervous sweep of the area. "Apartment 42B. Ground floor, around the back. You sure you don't want me to come in with you? This feels like a really bad idea."
I looked at the building, my stomach churning. Every instinct screamed that this was a trap, that I was walking into a lion's den with no weapon but my own desperation. "I'm sure," I said, my voice sounding calmer than I felt. "He's a cornered animal. Two of us will just make him panic. This has to be me."
"If you're not out in twenty minutes, I'm coming in," Leo said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "And I'm not knocking."
