Page 9 of Second Shooter

“Not strange. It is normal.” She looked at her family. Three siblings and the two generous and open-hearted people who had taken them in. The girls were of different ethnicities but had one thing in common. They were all genetically half-Elite.

Maggie was twenty-five and had just gotten married to her husband, Thomas. They were a nice, cheerful young couple, and their wedding had been gorgeous.

Maggie smiled. “I can find a nice guy to hook you up with.”

“Hookups aren’t a problem, Mags.” She flicked a glance at her sister.

Maggie turned scarlet. Thomas put his arm around his wife and said, “She’s told you to let it go, so let it go.”

Cori cleared her throat. “I have won a place on the team, and we are going to nationals on Thursday.”

Win straightened. “I thought we were discussing this.”

Her mom said, “We are. We are looking to see if anyone can afford some spending money for her so she can have a really good time.”

Win ran her hands through her hair. “It’s dangerous.”

Cori frowned. “There hasn’t been a child or woman taken from the city in over a decade.”

Win rolled her eyes. “The city is protected. The rest of the world isn’t.”

Her father said, “Win, relax. I am sure that it will be fine. She’s with a group of other students. She won’t be on her own.”

Cori smiled. “It’s going to be fun. I will be fine.”

“Do you already have chaperones?”

“Yeah. Why? Oh. No, definitely not.” Cori shook her head. “I am not going to have my sister on this trip.”

Win sighed. “Give me your phone.”

“Why?”

“I am putting a tracker on it and installing a hot button. If you tell it to call me, I will be there in three minutes. You just have to hold on for three minutes.”

Cori frowned. “You are really worried about this.”

Win nodded. “I am really worried about this.”

Their mom said, “Just because something bad happened to you, Win, doesn’t mean it will happen to Cori. It is highly unlikely that they will find her in a group of girls.”

Win stared at her. “You forgot.”

“What, Win?”

“You forgot that I was with a bunch of friends at the beach when I was grabbed. All out in the sun. Three thousand people at the beach. They just grabbed me and disappeared. I managed to get myself to the hospital, but I don’t want anyone to go through that.”

Her parents paled. Mom muttered, “I... forgot.”

Dad looked at Cori. “You aren’t going.”

“I am. You can’t stop me. You already said I could. I worked and made the money for the trip. I earned this. I deserve this. I am going. I don’t care what happens.” Cori thumped her fist on the table.

Win sat back and nodded. “Well, you will have what I didn’t. Someone waiting to help if I needed it. Like I said, when you call me, there will be three minutes, and I will be there.”

Cori crossed her arms. “I am not going to need to call you.”

“I hope so.” She smiled and switched topics. “Now, who wants to know which celebrities I saw at the wedding yesterday?”

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