I roll my eyes. If I protest, he’ll just take more pictures and get real obnoxious about it, so I keep scrolling on my phone. I type inSelnoaand bring up the news over there.
The headline reads:
Local woman arrested with illegal rifle
NOT BREATHING.
A local woman picked up by the police in the early hours of the morning was taken into custody for possession of an illegal firearm. She is now believed to be carrying a professional-grade sniper rifle. Sources say the police are investigating the connection between her and the shootout that happened at the Crossbow mansion this past weekend.
I summon my voice. “Hey, Con?”
“Changed your mind about the tracker?”
“No. Where did you put my rifle?”
When my brother stares at me blankly, I know something terrible has happened.
Chapter 12
They have her
Declan
Acold shiver runs down my spine, and I start to sweat, my heart skipping a beat when I read the news.
The little light from Connor’s camera tells me he’s filming me. But when he realizes I’m serious, his smile drops, and he puts the camera away. “What’s wrong?”
“Tell me my rifle is in the closet.”
Connor blinks. “The rifle is not in the closet.”
Bile rises in my belly. My body is rejecting what I think happened that day. “Tell me the rifle is in the dungeon.”
Connor scratches his belly. “No, no. The rifle is not in the dungeon. The rifle isn’t in the Keep. Your mood is making me itchy. What’s wrong with you?”
“You found me under the bridge with my drag bag.”
Connor shakes his head. “It was just you.”
I leap out of bed and sway on my feet. I stretch out my arms to steady myself.
Connor is up too, scratching his arms, belly, and legs. “OMG, you make my skin crawl. What is going on with you?”
“Check the closet.”
He stills. “For the rifle?”
“Yeah. Double check.”
Connor opens my closet. “I told you. It’s not here.”
“Maybe you dumped it before you boarded the airplane?”
“No.”
“Maybe you forgot you had it and it’s?—”
“Shut up, Declan. You’re freaking me out.”
