Thanks to Leemo's help, they were able to enter the Duver family's house without breaking down the door.All residential security doors came with an emergency override system. Whenever the in-house sensors detected a fire, the locks would automatically disengage.Fooling the system into believing there was a fire inside? That was child's play for Leemo.
"Does your house use this kind of lock?" Gantzuke asked, glancing over at Leemo, who was admiring his handiwork with unmistakable pride.
"I've upgraded mine to military-grade everything. I once advised the Duvers to switch to the same system," Leemo replied, placing a hand on Gantzuke's shoulder. "But they never changed a thing.Well—enjoy your new home, tiger."He gave a crooked smile before turning and heading back to his own place.
In the marble sink in the kitchen, three cockroaches lay belly-up, dead.Other than that, Gantzuke and the girls barely had to clean a thing.
Mari and Molly were thrilled.To them, it felt like being newlyweds, surprised by a lavish new home from their loving husband.Issie, however, looked more like someone who'd been transferred to another cheap hotel—apathetic and numb.And Meenda? She just sat there, murmuring the same two lines over and over again like a broken record.
...I shouldn't be here......My mom might be waiting at home...
Even though Issie looked dead inside, she still helped Molly, Mari, and Gantzuke move things in and clean up.Meenda, on the other hand, did nothing but sulk in silence.
"Don't like the food, Meenda?" Leemo asked, noticing the pop idol hadn't touched the sausage Mari had prepared.
Meenda didn't respond.Thoughts of her mother and father swirled endlessly in her mind, and she couldn't even remember the name of the mustached man talking to her.She sat with her knees hugged to her chest, drowning in her thoughts.
...Mom might be hiding in the gym when the outbreak happened......Dad might've used that shotgun Uncle Dave gave him to protect the house......Maybe they're having dinner right now, thinking about me...
Her dazed, distant expression irritated both Molly and Issie.They'd already started disliking Meenda the moment she refused to help carry anything into the new house.
"Stars like her don't eat peasant food like ours," Issie muttered.
The remark made both Gantzuke and Leemo turn their heads toward her—then glance at each other.Issie rarely spoke, and the bitterness in her tone said it all.
But Meenda didn't hear her.She heard no one. She was lost in her own world.
Then came the sound that cut through the awkward silence.
"Here it is! Today's special is served!"Mari walked in with both hands holding a steaming hot plate of lobster baked in lemon butter sauce, her hands protected by oven mitts.
The smell was divine—more enticing than flowers to a butterfly.It was a gift from the fishermen whom Gantzuke had helped earlier.In truth, he'd tried to buy it from them, but they insisted he take it for free—along with dried seafood and other goods.