Inborn (The Birthright Book 1)

Chapter 7

As soon as Xavier came in with yet more parts from Tovey's, I yanked him into my bedroom. "My arm's still attached, you know," he said, rolling his shoulder around after I let go. "What's your hurry?"

"I have news. Big news." I explained about the dead trees and the possible DNA on them. Xavier's eyes widened and he set the box down. That was an A+ gold star accomplishment for me. It took an apocalyptic announcement to drag Xavier away from fiddling with new parts.

I fell onto my bed, picking at my purple comforter. "Do you think the person living in our shed...?" I said quietly. I didn't want to finish my thought. Partly because it disturbed me. Partly because a little voice in my head had suggested the shed intruder could be Lachlan, though I had nothing to prove that.

Xavier shrugged. "Who knows? It's impossible to draw conclusions yet."

"Should we tell Mom and Dad?"

He glanced around uncertainly. "Let's hold off. Just till we know a little more."

I nodded my agreement, mostly because I had another idea. If we couldn't trick the intruder, maybe we could trap him. Dad hadn't mentioned it again, so I assumed that meant he hadn't caught him, either. It could be he'd even moved on. But as soon as I had an opportunity after dinner, I gathered up more leftovers and slipped into the basement. Xavier was working down there, so I told him I thought we might be able to lure out the intruder with kindness. He agreed to it, but only if he went with me and put the food in the shed.

"We could be helping a killer," he said as we traipsed back through the tunnel.

Or helping to expose him. I kept it to myself, but I'd added a little something extra to the food. It wasn't something you could dig out like a tracker. It was a tasteless powder that dissolved into the food. If successful, the intruder would be knocked unconscious, which meant that after we all went to bed, I could sneak back there and capture him.

When I came out of the basement, though, Mom and Dad were waiting for me. "We need to talk to you for a sec," my dad said.

They had me sit on the couch, flanking me in the opposing chairs. I was clearly before the parental court, which wasn't completely unfamiliar. But something about this particular one made me nervous.

"Your Mom and I just want to remind you that we love you." My dad bent over, clasping his hands. "And we're trying to keep you safe. Right now, especially."

I had a feeling I knew what was coming next.

"We're worried you may not quite grasp how careful you need to be," Mom said.

"Is this about me coming home with Bryce? Because I know we're supposed to come right home, but–"

"Actually," my dad said, cutting me off, "this is about how you left school with some other kid we barely know–on a motorcycle–and then came home with someone completely different."

I licked my lips. Oops.

"We'd like to understand when the exchange took place," he continued, "and why."

Their eyes locked steadily on me. "Oh, boy," I whispered, rubbing my thighs. It was not a good decision-making day, clearly.

My dad tilted his head. "Roz? Any time now."

I gripped the edge of the couch. "I didn't plan on any of it. Lachlan asked me to go for a ride...and I wanted to. He was going to take me straight home, but then he–we–detoured to check out where some kids from school were clue hunting."

"Were what?" Mom said.

"Some boys at school were obsessed with the murder. They wanted to look for evidence, so we looked at some trees for a few minutes and then Bryce showed up."