Under the Altswood Sky (The Altswood Saga #2)

Chapter 8 - Duplicate

Chapter 8 - Duplicate

Holiday classes were cancelled the next day, but I still found myself in the school courtyard.

I hauled my laptop onto the bench, squinting down at it over my crossed legs.

I would have simply stayed at home, but Dad had been put in a protective mood after Birdy's death. As a result, he had been bumbling around the house every second, making an excuse to squint over my shoulder. I was forced to lie and say that classes were on after all, hauling myself through the door and to the empty school, in case he decided to track my phone or something.

Just as I had the thought, my phone buzzed with an incoming text.

10:43 AM Dad: It's unregistered, beetw. Don't worry about it, tourists do weird things.

Jolene had trekked into the forest after my call, as promised, and retrieved the half-buried gun. Earlier in the morning, all they knew was that it wasn't Rebekah's, even if there was a smear of paint on the tree.

"All her weapons were one brand, one source, like a serial killer's MO," Dad had said. "This one is different, so I assure you, it's unrelated. I'm having people look into it right now. I'll let you know when they report back. How'd you find it anyway?"

I had barely looked up from my cereal. "Danger calls and I answer, daddy dearest."

As I stared at the screen of my phone, I was caught between rolling my eyes at Dad for thinking the acronym BTW was typed beetw and sighing at the news. It wasn't that I wanted the gun to be an old relic of Rebekah's that had been left behind, but it seemed like there were more and more puzzle pieces being dumped onto my head that didn't fit with the bigger picture.

I turned my attention back to my laptop, then changed my mind and squinted around the courtyard.

This was not an ideal location. Tourists saw me sitting out on my own, and most slowed to peer at me as they passed through, like I was an animal on exhibit. I had even resorted to chucking a pebble at a flock that lingered to take a picture of me. They were probably going to post it online and caption it, "Murder Island Teenagers Sitting Alone."

I had turned my brightness all the way down to make sure no one would see my screen if they were spying on me. Still, for what I was about to do, I preferred nosy tourists over Dad.

"Alright." I rubbed my hands together. "Tell me your secrets."

The page loaded, right into Dad's confidential email inbox. He had a habit of keeping his passwords the same, with variations on the numbers at the end.

"I am definitely going to be punished in the afterlife," I muttered, scanning the subject lines.

The coroner's autopsy report on Birdy Lu was only the third one down.

Cause of death is cardiac arrest, I read to myself, scanning the medical jargon. Attending physician declared victim DOA.

What sort of healthy teenaged girl suffers from a sudden heart attack? I wondered, scratching at my wig, both in itchiness and in being completely flummoxed. She didn't have any medical issues. Apart from previously being shot in the head.

My throat twisted. Too soon.

I scrolled farther down the report, into the abnormalities of the organs.

Higher levels of potassium and chloride were present in all tests conducted. The elevated components are symptoms of hyperkalemia, a condition which has led to the cardiac failure of the victom. No further investigation is necessary.