“Then here’s the plan. I’m going to show Diablo that picture of Rosalie and say that she’s super into him. And that she’s on her way to come watch the rest of the events.”
Tanner stared at me. “And that will accomplish what, exactly?”
“It’ll spook him. And then he’ll freak out and call his accomplices.”
“Oh, so now he has accomplices?” Tanner was clearly not getting my plan.
“Maybe.”
“And how are we going to know when he calls his accomplices?”
“You’re going to bug him.”
“What makes you think I can do that?” asked Tanner.
I shrugged. “I don’t know! You sell hair-changing tech to the CIA. I assume you have bugs too.”
“Fair point. Okay, I’ll bug him.”
“Good. You set the bug. I’ll go grab the picture.” I knew the plan sounded crazy, but I was sure we were about to catch Rosalie’skiller red-speedoed. There was literally no other explanation for Diablo’s sabotage.
This Is War - Chapter 22 - The Sister-napper
Saturday – September 23, 2023
“Is the bug set?” I asked, panting slightly from having just run back to the princess suite to grab my phone.
Tanner nodded.
“Okay, let’s hope this works.”
I walked over to the in-progress game of dodgeball and waited for Diablo to get eliminated. It didn’t take long. He made a show of trying to catch a ball and missing, but I knew he did it on purpose.Scumbag sister killer!
“Hey,” I said as he walked over to the sidelines. I tried to sound casual, but my voice squeaked awkwardly. I was so nervous that I was going to blow this.
“Hey, Princess,” he replied. “Want to go behind that tree for a quickie?”
Angel ran over to grab a dodgeball that had just missed him. “What he means to say is that he’s sorry for sucking so badly.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s just a game.”
Angel nodded and ran back into the game.
“So is that a yes to the quickie behind the tree?” Diablo held his hand out for me.
“Not quite. Buuuuut, I did just get a text from my friend Oaklyn.” I stared at him as I said Rosalie’s society name. He didn’t have much of a response. “She said she’s gonna be here soon to watch the rest of the games. And between me and you…she’s super into bad boys. Especially ones who are tall, dark, and handsome.”
“I mean, who isn’t?”
“Check her out.” I pulled up the picture of Rosalie on my phone and showed it to him.
“Not bad,” he said, nodding slightly in approval. He didn’t seem the least bit shook. But I had expected that. After all…if he was some sort of deranged sister-napper, then of course he’d be a master at lying. But under the surface, I assumed he was totally freaking out. I had a feeling that within an hour he’d slip away to try to figure out how the hell Rosalie was coming back from the grave.
We ended up losing dodgeball, and the next event. And the event after that. But I didn’t really care. I was completely engrossed in listening to the earbud that Tanner had given me. I heard every word Diablo said. But so far, none of it was about Rosalie.
Until…
“So Raven told me that one of her friends is coming to watch the games,” said Diablo.
