“What? No,” I scoff.
“Why do you sound so… happy?”
“Because I am. Did you call for a reason or just to bring my good mood down?” I ask him.
“Both,” he says. “I went through Patty’s phone, hacked it from here and dug into every message, every call log. There’s nothing on there that indicates he ratted you guys out.”
“Oh, thank god.” I sigh.
Connor’s words repeat in my head:Please don’t make me kill my best friend.
“But there was a program installed in the background. I doubt he knows about it,” Dante says.
“What kind of program?”
“A cloner. Someone is monitoring his phone’s activity. I can’t tell who it is, though,” Dante explains.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“When are you coming home?” my cousin asks me.
“I don’t know yet. Miss me?” I grin into the phone.
“Always. Did you hear about Enzo?”
“What about him?”
“He’s shacking up with a fed.” Dante laughs.
“No, he’s not.” My brother is not dumb enough to shack up with a cop.
“Call him and ask him who Kayleigh is then,” Dante tells me. “I gotta go, but you should come home soon.”
“Okay, thanks. Love you.” I cut the call and slip my cell into the little black clutch I also bought today. I need to find Patty and destroy his phone…
I look myself over one more time in the mirror and walk out of the bedroom. I notice the bulging eyes of the soldiers I pass, and I smile. They recover quickly, though.
I find Connor and Patty in the living room. “What the…?” Connor’s eyes widen when he sees me.
I don’t go straight to him. I make a beeline for Patty instead and hold out a hand as soon as I’m within reach. “I need your phone.”
“Um…” Patty looks from me to Connor before he digs the device out of his back pocket and places it on my palm.
I’m starting to wish I wore a little more clothing, because I couldn’t conceal my gun anywhere on me. “Connor, I need a gun.” I hold my other hand out to him.
Without question, Connor passes me a pistol.
“Really?” Patty asks him.
“What? She’s not going to shoot me.” Connor smirks.
“Thanks.” I immediately turn around and head towards the back door. Connor curses as I walk away. And both he and Patty follow me outside.
I throw Patty’s phone out onto the grass, aim the gun at it, and pull the trigger. Three times just to be sure it’s really dead.
“Um, princess, what are you doing?” Connor asks me.
“Good news! Patty isn’t a rat,” I announce.