Unspoken - Book 3 - S.S.

Silverfinger

"Okay, so remember when you told me about phosphors, and the key having chemicals on it, right?" Stiles asked, guiding Scott and Diana inside the chemistry classroom as soon as the two of them arrived at school the morning following the Halloween party. "And so that made me think of the chemistry closet, and the fact that someone had to let Barrow in..."

Scott and Diana followed Stiles around the room, only to stop when he did too, his eyes glued to the empty board in front of him.

"It's gone..." He mumbled, sounding very anxious, probably meaning the numbers they had found the night before when they figured out Kira was in danger. "Okay, it doesn't matter though. It doesn't matter. I've still got the key..."

Reaching for his pocket, Stiles pulled out his keys and started to sort through it, only to frown, confused, again.

"What the hell?" He whispered, looking up anxiously at Diana and Scott, who were watching him quietly and clearly worried. "I had it... I had it here. I had it here this morning, I swear to God, I had it this morning."

"The key you were talking about last night?" Scott asked, as Stiles nodded.

"Yeah. I showed it to you, right?" Stiles asked. "Didn't I show it to you?"

"No, you just told me about it." Scott said. "I never actually saw it..."

"But you did, Dia." He said, turning to look at Diana, almost desperately. "You saw it. You were the one who told me about phosphors."

"I did see it." She nodded, as Stiles almost breathed out in relief. "You had it."

"I was here a couple hours ago." Stiles explained, both Scott and Diana hanging onto his every word as he spilled them all faster than his brain could actually process them. "And the message left to Barrow spelling Kira's name was right there on the board in my handwriting, and I had the key to the chemistry closet."

"So, you unlocked the chemistry closet so Barrow could hide in it from the cops, and then you wrote him a message to kill Kira...?" Scott asked, slowly, as Stiles sighed, frustrated.

"I know how it sounds... But look at this." Stles said, pulling out his phone to show Scott some newspaper or another, as Diana took a step closer to the boy to take a look at it too. "This is the news report that came out about Barrow when they caught him, okay? About the shrapnel bomb that he used. See this? See what he did? He put nuts, bolts, and screws, and then he hid the bomb and the detonator in a box that he wrapped as a birthday present. What does that sound like to you?"

"Coach..." Scott mumbled after a second, as Diana frowned a little, confused. "The joke we played on Coach."

"That was my idea. You remember?" Stiles asked, his voice growing more and more anxious by the second, as Diana sighed, looking over at Stiles, worried. "That was my idea. That's no coincidence. It can't be."

"I don't want to sound like I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong... But I don't think you're trying to kill people, either." Scott said, as Stiles took a look around the room.

"It was here." Stiles insisted. "It was all here."

"Stiles, are you feeling okay?" Diana asked, her voice as gentle as possible as she addressed Stiles as if he was a scared animal. "You're looking really tired..."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Stiles dismissed her worry with a shake of his head. "I just haven't been sleeping, really..."

"Why don't you go home?" Scott offered, as Stiles sighed. "Take a sick day, or something?"

"I think you should probably see a doctor?" Diana said. "I can take you to the hospital if you want?"

"No. No, it's fine." Stiles shook his head, as both Diana and Scott sent him a look. "I'll.. I'll go myself."