Secrets in the Hunt (Book 2)

I Could Get Used to This

    "Oh what the hell is this?" Sheriff Stilinski groans, biting into his dinner that Stiles and I brought him. Well, actually, I'm blaming Stiles for this one. He and his dad had gotten "healthy" food. I got a burger and fries. 
    "Veggie burger." Stiles says, passing his dad one of the cups and opening a straw for his own drink.
     "Stiles, I asked for a hamburger." Sheriff complains and I nod, popping a fry into my mouth. 
     "I distinctly remember him asking for an actual burger." I say and Stiles frowns at me.
     "Well, veggie is healthier. We're being healthy." He declares, holding up his salad as an example. Sheriff opens the little fry box and groans again.
    "Oh, hell, why are you trying to ruin my life?" He complains, glaring at the carrots and celery.        "I'm trying to extend your life, okay? Could you just eat it, please? And tell us what you found." Stiles argues, sitting forward more in his seat.
     "No, I'm not sharing confidential police work with a couple of teenagers." He argues, and Stiles shifts in his seat so that he can look behind his dad. While he's distracted, I grab the second order of fries from my bag and slide them across the desk to Stilinski. He raises an eyebrow at me, but grins and quickly shifts them behind a stack of papers. I get that Stiles wants his dad to be healthy, but come on. In a town like this, you could die any minute. And I know I'd rather die eating fries than celery sticks.
     "Is that it on the board behind you?" Stiles asks. Stilinski glances at the board before turning back around and moving his chair a little.
     "Don't look at that." He orders, shoving a fry in his mouth while Stiles is focused on the board.
    "But it's right there." I say, and he shakes his head.
     "Avert your eyes." He says, frowning at Stiles who is nearly falling out of his chair.
     "Okay." Stiles says, not looking away.
     "Hey!" Sheriff says a little sharper, clearly getting agitated by Stiles moving around to try and figure out the information on the board. I frown at all of the lines and start looking a little closer too.
     "Just - it's just - I see arrows pointing at pictures." Stiles says, not taking his eyes off the board.
    "Okay, okay, stop. Fine. I found something. Mechanic and the couple who were murdered. They all had something in common." Sheriff admits with a sigh. My eyes widen.
     "All of them?" I ask and he nods.
     "Like I always say, one's an incident, two's coincidence-" He says, and Stiles cuts him off.
     "Three's a pattern." He says, frowning.
     "So, what was it?" I ask.
    "The mechanic, the husband, the wife - all the same age. All 24." Stilinski explains.
     "Wait, what about Mr. Lahey? I mean, Isaac's dad isn't anywhere near 24." Stiles argues and Sheriff nods, shifting through papers at his desk.
     "Which made me think that either "a," Lahey's murder wasn't connected or "b," the ages were a coincidence, until I found this, which would be "c." Did you know that Isaac Lahey had an older brother named Camden?" Stilinski says, passing a folder to Stiles.
     "Died in combat." Stiles says, reading from the piece of paper on the top.
    "But if he were alive today, take one guess as to how old he'd be." Sheriff says, and I sigh.
     "24." I say and he nods. Stiles puts his food down and stands, staring at the board next to his dad.
     "Now what if same age means same class - I mean, did you think of that?" Stiles asks, and I glance at the Sheriff who nods slowly.
     "Yeah, yeah. Well, I would've. I mean, I - look, I just got Lahey's file two hours ago." He says and Stiles throws his arms up.
     "Two hours? Dad, people could be dying." Stiles exclaims and I nudge him gently.
     "Breathe dude." I say quietly, reaching over and giving his hand a quick squeeze.
     "Yeah, I'm aware of that. Thank you." Sheriff replies with a huff.
     "Same class." Stiles mutters, his eyes darting over the board. He looks at his dad and his dad picks up a big stack of folders and throws them onto the desk. We all grab a small stack of them and start shifting through things.
     "Hey, class of 2006." I say, picking up a blue folder and scanning over the first page. "They all went to Beacon Hills." I say, glancing at Stilinski who glanced at his own folder.
     "Including Isaac's brother." He says, tapping the folder. He continues to shift through the files, looking for some other clue.
     "All right, but so what if they all knew each other, you know? I mean, two of them were married, so maybe they all just hung out." Stiles suggests. I frown. There has to be some bigger connection than that.
     "Well, they could have had the same classes together. They could've -" Sheriff stops mid sentence, glancing down at his folder.
     "What?" Stiles asks, noticing his dad's pause.
     "Same teacher." Sheriff says, picking up his piece of paper and moving it so that Stiles and I can read it.
     "Harris. Why am I not surprised?" I mumble, frowning at the picture of the worst teacher I've ever met.
     "They were all in his class?" Stiles asks, and Sheriff nods.
     "All four. And I don't know how Mr. Lahey fits in, but this - kid, this is definitely a pattern. All right, give me the 2006 yearbook. These names, we need faces." He says, picking up his phone and starting to call someone.
     "Which ones?" Stiles asks, grabbing the yearbook.
     "Everyone in that chemistry class. If the killer's not done killing-" Sheriff explains and I frown.
    "One of them's next." I say, the worry sinking in. It's time to save people.
***
The next day, I ride to school with Stiles and Scott, only half listening to them talk about the rave the entire time. The same rave that Allison agreed to go with Matt to. And she hasn't told Scott yet. Lovely.
     "There's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?" Scott says as I tune back in before hopping out of the Jeep.
     "It's a secret show. There's only one way, and it's a secret." Stiles reminds him, slamming the door of his Jeep. I readjust my bag on my shoulder and roll my eyes at the two of them.0 
    "Hey. Any of you guys know why no one's getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?" Matt asks, running up to us. I frown at him.
     "It wasn't a big deal." I say and Stiles nods in agreement.
     "Yeah, just forget about it dude. No one got hurt." He says with a shrug. Matt blinks at him.
     "I-I had a concussion." He says.
     "And you're alive, so it wasn't that serious." I say with a fake smile.
     "I was in the E.R. for six hours." Matt argues.
     "Hey, do you want to know the truth, Matt? Your little bump on the head-" Stiles rambles, bending down and putting his hand right above the ground, "is about this high on our list of problems right now." I laugh, then cough it off when I notice Scott shoot me a look.
     "Are you okay?" He asks Matt with a polite smile.
     "Yeah, I'm fine now. So you didn't get any tickets last night either." Matt says, continuing the conversation. Who even is this kid? Where did he come from? It's like he didn't exist a few weeks ago and now he's freaking everywhere.
     "Are they still selling?" Scott asks hopefully. Matt shakes his head.
     "Uh, no, but I managed to find two online. You should keep trying. Sounds like everyone's gonna be there." He says with a smirk before walking away. Yup. Two. Because he's taking Allison. Oh boy.
     "I don't like him." Stiles frowns. I nod in agreement.
     "Seriously. He gives me a bad feeling." I add and Stiles nods.
     "Are you sure about this?" He asks Scott, back on the rave thing.
     "Last time, whoever's controlling Jackson had to kill somebody because he didn't finish the job, so what do you think he's going to do this time?" Scott explains, looking between the two of us.
     "Be there to make sure it happens." Stiles sighs. He turns to me. "After school we're going to the animal clinic to finish up some plans for this thing. Wanna ride?" He asks and I frown.
    "I'm not sure if that's a good idea." I say, biting my lip as we start to walk towards the school.
    "Why not?" Scott asks, and I raise an eyebrow at him.
     "Don't you remember the last time I was at the animal clinic? Your boss did not seem to like me. At all." I frown and he shakes his head.
     "I think it was Gerard that he didn't like. I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll see you guys after class." He says, speeding up a bit and walking towards his class.
    "I guess I'll ride with you then. But if he tries to kill me, don't say I didn't warn you." I say, making Stiles laugh, before suddenly stopping. I glance at him, concerned with the sudden shift.
    "Hey, you gave my dad curly fries last night. I was so focused on the case that I completely forgot I'm mad at you." He says, stopping in his tracks and glaring at me. I sigh. I thought I was sneaky about it, but apparently Stiles was paying more attention than I gave him credit for.
     "In my defense, your dad is awesome. And he deserved to enjoy at least part of his dinner and I'm sure it also gave me some serious cool points with your dad. I'm not great at getting adults to really like me, most of them see me as a problem. And I really don't want your dad to see me like that. I mean the only other time we really talked was when he found me in your bed sleeping." I ramble, only stopping when his lips collide with mine. I freeze for a second, but melt into the kiss, closing my eyes and just enjoying it. He steps back and I open my eyes, confused at the wide grin on his face.
     "That was an effective way to get you to shut up." He jokes. I just roll my eyes and grab his hand before pulling him towards class. I could get used to this.
***
I'm SO EXCITED! This is so exciting guys. I love that there wasn't any supernatural drama in this chapter. Well, I guess there was technically supernatural drama, but no one got hurt or anything. And the scene with Tori giving Sheriff fries? Priceless. That's going to be a continuing thing for them because it's cute and I like writing it. Anyway, please leave a vote and a comment! There should be another chapter tomorrow as long as I get my research homework done. 

LydiaRoseMartin