Chapter 213: A Man Climbs in from the Balcony
Chapter 213: Chapter 213: A Man Climbs in from the Balcony
"Then where’s your mom?" Renee asked, looking expectantly at Chewie the gecko.
Chewie the gecko stared at her with his bright red eyes. "Renee, my mom went to my big brother’s place."
Renee asked, "Where does your brother live? Is it far from here?"
Chewie said, "It’s not too far, actually. Do you want to go?"
Renee nodded. "Yes. Please take me there."
"That’ll be double the fee, then," Chewie stipulated.
"No problem."
"Great. Put me down, and I’ll lead the way."
Renee squatted down and placed the back of her hand flat on the ground.
Chewie crawled from her palm to the ground, glanced back at her, and said, "Renee, follow me!"
Chewie scurried so quickly that Renee had to focus just to keep him in sight.
As Chewie started to crawl out the kitchen window, Renee quickly called out, "Chewie, wait."
Chewie turned back to her and asked, puzzled, "What’s wrong?"
"Could you ask your mom to come here instead?" Renee pointed to the window and explained, "There’s a security screen here. I can’t get out."
Chewie stared blankly for a few seconds before it clicked. He looked from the window to Renee and exclaimed, "You humans are so huge!"
Hearing this, a hint of a smile touched Renee’s eyes. "Yes," she said. "We’re giants."
"Wait here for me, then." With that, Chewie ducked out the window again.
Renee glanced at her watch. It was 2:43 PM.
Fifteen minutes later, she saw three geckos crawling in along the windowsill.
Renee’s eyes lit up, a note of delight in her voice. "Chewie, you’re all back."
"Renee, I brought my mom and dad back!" Chewie started to crawl toward her but was pinned down by his father.
"You little rascal, you’re a gecko, not a tiger!" Gecko Dad said in exasperation. "Humans are dangerous! How could you just charge over there?"
"But Dad, this human is nice!" Chewie said. "And she promised that if I answer a few questions, she’ll give me some delicious snails!"
Gecko Dad disapproved. "You silly boy, how can you trust a human’s word? Honey, just look at how foolish our son is!"
"And whose fault is that but yours for being such a useless father!" Gecko Mom’s voice was laced with resentment. "If you could catch snails for him every day, would he need to be lured in by a human?"
Gecko Dad opened his mouth but didn’t know how to argue back.
Chewie said, a bit upset, "Dad, I’m not stupid! I trust Renee. She won’t trick me!"
"Oh, you!" Gecko Dad huffed. "You’re just too naive! You don’t understand how cruel the world is. We geckos are harmless to humans—we even eat pests for them—but so many of our kind have died at their hands!"
Gecko Mom sighed. "Yes, what your father said is true."
Renee felt a little emotional listening to the gecko family’s conversation.
Gecko Dad was right. Geckos don’t attack people, and most are non-venomous, but many humans hurt them out of fear.
"I’m very sorry to hear about the situation you described, Mr. Gecko." Renee’s voice was tinged with apology as she spoke slowly. "But there are good and bad humans. Some don’t just harm geckos; they harm their own kind, too."
"That’s true," Gecko Mom said. "Just the other day, I saw a human kill another human. Some of them are truly twisted."
At this, Renee’s gaze fixed on Gecko Mom, her eyes filled with renewed expectation. "Ms. Gecko, did the incident you’re talking about happen inside this house?"
"Yes," Gecko Mom nodded. "Chewie just told me you were here to ask about it?"
Renee said, "Yes. The person who did it ran away, and we need to catch them. Can you tell me what you saw?"
"Of course," Gecko Mom agreed instantly, her voice filled with indignation. "A person that vile must be caught!"
Renee breathed a small sigh of relief. In a gentle tone, she said, "I’m going to call another human in now. Please don’t be afraid. We won’t hurt you."
Gecko Mom and Gecko Dad conferred for a moment before replying, "Okay."
"Sawyer, come here for a second," Renee called.
"Okay." Sawyer quickly walked into the kitchen. "Renee, what is it?"
Renee looked at her and said softly, "Ms. Gecko witnessed what happened. I’m going to question her now, so you take notes."
"Got it." Sawyer nodded, taking out the notebook and pen she always carried.
Renee turned back to Gecko Mom. "Ms. Gecko, what did you see on the day of the incident?"
"We had just woken up from our afternoon nap that day and were playing with Chewie." Gecko Mom’s voice grew distant as she began to recall the events.
That afternoon, Kira Sawyer came out of the bedroom in her nightgown to get a glass of water from the living room.
She was feeling a bit hungry, so she went to the kitchen and made some instant noodles.
Kira Sawyer sat at the dining table, eating her noodles while scrolling on her phone.
Suddenly, a man with curly blond hair climbed in from the balcony and shouted, "Little Miss Sawyer!"
"AHH—" Kira Sawyer screamed, so startled that she dropped her chopsticks onto the table.
"HAHAHAHA!" The blond man howled with laughter, clutching his stomach. "Look at you! You’re so jumpy!"
Once Kira Sawyer saw who it was, her fear subsided. She patted her chest, annoyed. "You bastard, you scared me to death!"
"Did I scare you?" The blond man sat down beside Kira Sawyer and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Here, let your big bro give you a hug and make you feel safe."
Kira Sawyer pushed him away, her expression full of displeasure. "What are you doing here?"
"I missed you, that’s what." The blond man’s hand landed on her thigh. "Just came to see you."
Kira Sawyer pushed him away again and frowned. "Can you talk without getting handsy? And why did you climb in from the balcony?"
"Aren’t we a couple in the game? Can’t I even touch you?" The blond man pulled a lighter from his pocket and started fiddling with it. "I just like taking the road less traveled. It’s more exciting~"
"Let me correct you: we’re a couple *in the game*. Don’t bring it into real life." Kira Sawyer scooted her chair away from him. "How do you know where I live?"
The blond man flicked the lighter, saying smugly, "You wouldn’t tell me, so I just found out on my own."
"How did you find out?" Kira Sawyer pressed.
The blond man grinned. "Your deliveries. I found one of your shipping boxes in the trash cans downstairs."
Kira Sawyer’s brow tightened, a sense of unease growing inside her. "You... why were you so desperate to find out where I live?"
"So I can see you whenever I want." The blond man turned to her and gave her a suggestive wink. "Little Coco, I really like you. I went through all this trouble just to see you. Aren’t you touched?"