Page 117 of It Starts With A No

“Clary!” Hugh shouted from behind him. “Give me back my watch!”

“Wait!” Oliver shouted.

Seth stopped and watched his youngest brother run over to the door.

“You spoke to Clary today?” Oliver asked.

Hugh’s brows drew together.

“Did you?”

Hugh’s lips twisted. “Why should I tell you?”

Seth exhaled heavily through his mouth and poked his tongue into his cheek. “I don’t want to see his face or yours,” he hissed as he passed Elton, then jogged up the stairs.

Once he was back in his room, he kicked the door closed. He ran over to the watch he’d left on the nightstand.

He wasn’t a collector, but he’d known instinctively the watch was too heavy the first time he handled it. Now, Hugh’s appearance had confirmed his suspicions. There was something in this watch.

With the watch in hand, he strode out of his room and almost bumped into Oliver.

“What’s going on?”

Seth took out his phone. “Call Clary. Check that she’s safe.” He took a step away from Oliver.

Was that enough?

Of course it was. He was probably overreacting.

Hugh had no idea where Clary was. Neither do you. Seth poked his tongue into his cheek again.

Oliver pushed the phone back at him. “You should call her yourself.”

“I need to take this watch apart.” He sidestepped Oliver and jogged down the hallway.

“You’re concerned about a watch instead of Clary?” Oliver shook his head. “I guess I’m wrong about—”

“Call her. Make sure she’s safe,” he shouted from downstairs. “If you can’t get her, call Detective Murphy and demand that he do a welfare check on her right now.”

“Demand?”

“Yes.” Seth left the house and was a couple of steps away from the elevator when the door opened.

Inside, Elton stood with his arms folded across his chest. “Do you see now? She’s lying about—”

“Elton.” Seth stopped outside the elevator and glared at his brother. “Shut up.” Pivoting, he strode toward the stairs, just as Oliver came running out of his apartment.

“She’s not picking up,” Oliver said with Seth’s phone pressed to his ear.

“Keep trying. Use your phone.” Seth let the door swing closed and ran downstairs while he took apart the watch in his mind.

So the moment he was in his workroom, he knew what he had to do and what tools he needed.

In less than a minute, he accomplished what he set out to do.

“I knew it.” As he expected, all of the watch’s works had been taken out, but it wasn’t just a chip, either. There was a small GPS, which explained how Hugh found his way here, but there was something else.

He searched his desk for a smaller tool to remove the device.

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