Page 54 of Sutton's Shadow

“Language, Wyatt,” Bethany mocked.

“Brat,” Wyatt teased.

“Dork,” Bethany threw back at him. The two shared more glares that held no heat before the action at the hole in the debris caught their attention. The basket had been lifted, and the trainees were carrying it off The Pile with Finch strapped inside. Wyatt ran to the group and grabbed his device from Finch.

“So, how did it do?” Jude asked, indicating the robotic spider. Sutton was still in awe that he had designed it in the first place, let alone how well it had worked. She could imagine many applications for the device, both good and not so good.

“I think I’ve nearly got it perfected.”

“What iteration is this one?”

“Thirteenth.”

“You’ve rebuilt that thing thirteen times?”

He shrugged with a grin, that stupidly attractive dimple temporarily distracting her. “Practice makes perfect. Now I just need to find a way to extend its battery life.”

“You do realize what that thing will be used for if you market it for the public, don’t you?” Bethany’s thoughts mirrored her own. People loved the tiny cameras in spy gear, and having a spy that could move would thrill them.

“That may be, but the pluses far outweigh the negatives in this case. This little thing has the potential to save lives, little heart. But don’t worry, it’s a long way from being available to the masses.”

“You’re like some sort of badass Elon Musk, aren’t you?” Sutton mused.

His smile widened. Damn that dimple! “You think I’m a badass?”

Bethany snorted. “Of course that’s what you would choose to focus on. Ooh, I’m such a badass,” she mocked, lowering her voice to sound like her brother. “I can lift heavy things and scale scary cliffs. Want to see my impressive muscles?”

Jude burst out laughing. “Come on, Little Bee. We all know Wyatt’s muscles are puny. Now these. . .” He lifted an arm, flexing until Sutton thought the seams of his T-shirt were going to bust. “These are a thing of beauty.”

“Jesus Christ,” Wyatt cursed under his breath, exasperated with their teasing.

Bethany’s eyes bulged as Jude flexed before she masked it with indifference. “Eh, I’ve seen better.”

Jude’s arms dropped, along with his jaw, which made Wyatt laugh his ass off. “Yeah, Jude. She’s seen better. . . on me.”

Bethany’s eye roll was impressive. “Men,” she heaved, throwing her hands up. “Come on, Sutton. Let’s go find Emma. She’s a bigger badass than these two put together.”

Wyatt and Jude both scoffed, hands over their hearts as if she’d wounded them. Sutton laughed as she grabbed her bag and followed Bethany. Her feet faltered as it dawned on her that she’d laughed more in one day than she had in the two years since Liam had died. And it was all because of the little spitfire in front of her and her stupidly attractive, dimpled brother.

Chapter 17

Aweekafterthefirst day of the new school year, Bethany paced the school parking lot as she waited for Sutton to pick her up. Her stomach felt weird. She wasn’t nauseous; she didn’t feel sick, but it still churned uncomfortably. She pressed a fist into her stomach, hoping to ease the ache. But it didn’t work.

Wyatt and the other Nighthawks had been called out the previous night to search for a missing girl. A teenager who’d supposedly had a shitty home life, just like her. The sheriff called her a runaway but still had to do a proper search.

The news about the girl was all over the school. Her picture was shared everywhere on social media.

Bethany had seen the posts in first period, and that’s when the stomachache had started. Kaitlyn, a classmate of Bethany’s, lived on the same street as Ronnie but several houses down. Bethany had had high hopes they could be friends when the girl had moved in five years ago, but they didn’t click. They were friendly with each other but had completely different interests. Kaitlyn gravitated toward the cheerleader crowd, eventually joining the ranks of the annoyingly bubbly girls.

Bethany cloaked herself among the artist types and didn’t blame Kaitlyn for forging her own path. If the rumors were to be believed, her life seemed to have been just as sucky as Bethany’s. She was left alone with her stepmother a lot since her dad traveled for work and was very rarely home. And the speculation was that her stepmother hated being saddled with her. She was critical of Kaitlyn’s life, and Bethany always figured she’d joined the cheerleaders to keep up appearances as a happy, well-adjusted teenager.

But now most people assumed she’d finally gotten fed up with the verbal abuse from her stepmother and found the courage to run away.

Bethany wasn’t so sure.

She’d once overheard a conversation that Kaitlyn had with a friend of hers. They’d talked about escaping the town when they were eighteen. They had everything planned out. As soon as they were old enough, they’d get part-time jobs and start saving. After high school, they’d head to one of the big cities and get an apartment together. They’d seemed determined to stick to their plan, both convinced they needed their high school diplomas in order to get a good job in the city.

Bethany didn’t think she’d run away. And neither did Kaitlyn’s friend she’d made the plans with. She had to be removed from one of Bethany’s classes after becoming belligerent while trying to get people to believe her friend wouldn’t just run away. She had screamed at the class that someone had kidnapped Kaitlyn.

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