The Hunt of Altswood High (The Altswood Saga #1)

Chapter 18 - Static

Chapter 18 - Static

Sarah-Lee played it again, hitting the old-fashioned button firmly.

First it was only static, the white noise sort. Then a shuffling began. I could almost envision how this sound was made: sat upon a high table, someone swinging their feet so their rubber shoes rubbed against the stone floor of a garage. It was the perfect recreation of the sound of being followed. And then the heavy breathing came on—rhythmic, dense—a sharp inhale and a lengthy exhale.

The recorder clicked off, the button springing back up.

"How did you get here?" Dad asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had descended.

He took out an evidence bag and placed the device inside, sealing it up.

"I snuck out," Sarah-Lee answered, her eyes fixed firmly on the bag. "Everyone went to bed already."

Annabelle pinched her face. "But it's eight o'clock."

"Nearing nine, actually," Gabriel cut in, glancing at his watch. "We're having a pretty late meal."

Sarah-Lee sighed. "We got up before dawn this morning and Rebekah said she was tired."

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You risked a lot getting here," I said, tapping my fingers against my arm. "Alice lives across town from Gabriel."

"We knew there was something off about this," Sarah-Lee insisted, gesturing at the recorder. "Why did Kaydee have this in her pocket? This was the exact noise we heard on the beach when we were all convinced that the killer was following us. It couldn't wait until morning."

I didn't know whether to be suspicious of Sarah-Lee or not. She had every genuine reason to report the discovery she and Rebekah had made, but why to us? Why not go straight to the police station where they could file a statement? It made sense that she was seeking out the police chief himself, but could it also be to throw us off her scent?

I shook my head, massaging the bridge of my nose between two fingers. None of this was connecting in my head. It was just chunks and chunks of information.

If Sarah-Lee was telling the truth though, things weren't looking good for Kaydee. She had rushed to my house that morning with the pretense she heard footsteps. But if she had been the one playing a recording...

"Luca, Annabelle, Jules," Gabriel said suddenly, standing. "Wanna help get some drinks? Soda?"

Jules frowned. "You need four people to fetch—"

Gabriel glared a hole into his forehead. Jules snapped his mouth shut and promptly stood up.

In the kitchen, Gabriel ducked down and swooped a few glasses out from the cupboard, balanced atop each other, barely wobbling.

"I'm not buying this," Gabriel announced. "It's too ill-timed. Too suspicious."

Annabelle folded her arms and leaned her hip against the counter. "At this point, everything is suspicious."

Slamming the cupboard door shut, Gabriel placed the glasses down with a loud clink. "She just discovered the tape recorder tonight of all nights, just before Luca goes on high security tomorrow when Francis is eliminated?"

Jules leaned against the counter too. "Maybe she's here to kill Luca."

I jerked back, eyes wide. "Wow. Don't sugarcoat it or anything."

Gabriel's fingers were tapping nonstop. "We need to get her out of the house. Right now."

He made a move to leave the kitchen.