What Did You Do?

Chapter Nine

"I have eyes on the target. Readying to move in. Repeat; readying to move in."

"Copy that. We're coming in hot."

Chloe and I are sitting in an old oak tree, carefully spying our target through the science lab binoculars. Jackie is sitting across the field from us in a large wet bush. After Mia scheduled a date with Jake, we decided to finally confront him about the photos we anonymously received.

Chloe hands me the costume cupboard walkie-talkie and drops down off the tree. I pass down the binoculars and walkie-talkie before doing the same.

We lock eyes with Jackie and move stealthily to the bench in the middle of the field where Mia awaits our arrival.

We reach the bench at the same time as Jackie, surrounding the couple. Jake and Mia look up and casually greet us.

"Hey guys. Watcha doing here?" Jake says.

"We need to talk to you." Mia declares, standing up from the bench to join us facing Jake.

"About what?" Jake questions, confused.

"Not here." I state, aware of the rugby boys swarming onto the field nearby.

"Ok. What do you want to talk about?" Jake asks. We have moved across the field to the back of the library, hidden from any prying eyes.

"We want to talk about you and Mr Miller." Jackie announces. For a second I see Jake flinch but he recovers quickly.

"You want the truth?" He questions.

We all nod, eagerly.

Was he about to fess up to murder? Really?

"We were related."

What?

"Mr Miller and I were half brothers."

"What?" Mia says exactly what I was thinking.

"How?" Chloe queries.

"My dad hooked up with his mum one night, a few months after he met my mum. His mum reached out but my dad ran; afraid of what would happen if my mum found out." Jake explains, shakily. "I had no idea until this summer when Mr Miller reached out to me. He had decided to take a DNA test to find his dad. We spent a lot of the summer together. I thought I had the rest of my life to get to know the brother I never had, but then he died, and he never met his dad."