Today it had taken Derek much longer than usual to eat his fill, and much of the time Rob gently harassed him about his dentist phobia and how slowly he ate. However, before they'd left the restaurant, Derek had managed to do a good bit of damage to the buffet's supply of Szechwan shrimp.

The two friends left the restaurant feeling uncomfortably stuffed and walked the ten minutes back to their apartment. Both men were in a little bit of a hurry; Rob had a date that evening with Sara, a journalism student, and Derek wanted another six hundred milligrams dose of Motrin to subdue the pain in his tooth.

The boys jogged up the two flights of stairs to their apartment, and Derek retrieved the keys from his pocket and opened the door.

When Rob stepped into the room, he was immediately aware of a strange odor. It wasn't strong and reminded him of old Mr. Cardinal who lived across the street from him when he was a kid and always wore of a slightly citric-smelling cologne.

“You smell that?” Derek asked.

“Yeah, some kinda perfume or something.”

“I think someone's been in here. Did you give Sara a key?”

“No,” Rob replied, reaching back and locking the door.

The boys carefully searched the place and confirmed there was no one there. They were just finishing their quick search when Rob caught sight of an unfamiliar white strap sticking out from under his bed.

He grabbed the strap and pulled out a navy-blue gym bag. It was less than half full but somewhat heavy.

He carried the bag back to the living room. “Is this yours?” he asked Derek who was surveying the bag curiously.

“Never seen it. Where did it come from?”

“I just found it under my bed, and I've never seen it before either. It looks new.”

“Let's see what's in it,” Derek suggested.

Rob opened the bag and dumped its contents unceremoniously onto the couch.

“Holy crap!!” Rob exclaimed. Two handguns and five, six inch by eight-inch packages of white powder, along with large stacks of twenty and fifty dollar bills had tumbled out.

“Why would someone put this in our room?” Derek said, inspecting their find.

“We have to call the cops,” Rob stated in a quivering voice.

“What cop is going to believe we just happened to find this in the apartment we've lived in for the past two and a half years?”

“Then let's get rid of it, go throw it in a lake or a dumpster!” Rob demanded, starting to panic.

Derek tried to stay calm. “Slow down and think. If whoever put it here comes looking for it, I don't want to explain why we just threw it away.”

“Then what do we do, just put it back under the bed?” Rob yelled.

“No, let's start by getting it out of here. We'll hide it for a few days and then if we've heard nothing, we'll get rid of it.”