โFind him?โ Arthur said, at the same time as Reyna, voices clashing, each leaning on a di๏ฌerent word.โ
Finding a sniper in the pitch-black wide-open nothing. Something about needles and haystacks, Red thought, or a shot in the dark. Literally. She scrolled up through the channels on the walkie-talkie, the ๏ฌickering of the static not quiet enough to be just background noise. Nothing. More nothing.
โYes,โ Oliver said, his eyes too wide and his voice too loud. โDonโt you see, if we work out exactly where he is, we can use the RV to cover us while we run the other way. Heโll never even know.โ
Oliver turned his wide shoulders, head following a moment later. He looked up at the mattress covering the broken window as though imagining the bullet, bringing it back to life in his head.
โFrom the positioning of the shots through both windows, and the ๏ฌrst tire he shot out, he was de๏ฌnitely on this side.โ He gestured beyond the front door. โI guess at an angle, though, if he was able to shoot out the tires on the other side, most likely aiming underneath the RV. So he must have been somewhere over there, low to the ground, hiding in the long grass.โ
Oliver held out his arm at a diagonal, pointing his ๏ฌnger between the right side and back end of the RV.
โOkay.โ Reyna swallowed, letting her hand skim Oliverโs as she came to stand beside him. โThat narrows it down.โ
Oliver moved his hand away, shaking his head. โNo, heย wasย there. But then he came up to the RV to plant the walkie-talkie on the driverโs-side mirror. He could have moved position after that, knowing weโd think about this.โ He sighed. โRealistically, he could now be anywhere, on either side.โ
Arthur nodded, eyes darting to the corners of the RV, like it was starting to shrink around him. At least it had that extra foot, thirty-one feet instead of thirty. โSo how would we ๏ฌnd him now?โ he asked.
Oliver scrunched his face, thinking. And if that wasnโt enough, he said: โIโm thinking.โ
How to ๏ฌnd a shooter in the dark? Red should make another joke to cheer Maddy up, talk about the night-vision goggles sheโd packed in her suitcase.
โIs now a good time to mention I packed my thermal imaging goggles?โ Simon said, rising from the sofa. Hey, that was her line. A bit better, actually. Simon could have it.
โShh,โ Oliver hissed, pressing his ๏ฌngers to his temples to think even harder. โRed?โ he said suddenly, turning his attention to her.
The static ๏ฌzzed as she looked up.
โWhen someone shoots a ri๏ฌe, is there something other than the noise?
Does it give o๏ฌ any light, a ๏ฌash?โ
Red shrugged. Why was he askingย herย that? Oh, right, because her mom was a police captain and she would have known the answer. Oliver seemed like he was waiting for more.
โI donโtโโ she began.
โโYeah, thereโs a muzzle ๏ฌash,โ Simon said, his arm knocking into Redโs as he rejoined the group. Arthur was right; it was too small in here, and it was getting warm now too.
Everyone turned to look at Simon.
โItโs like that little explosion of light when you ๏ฌre,โ he said, ๏ฌnally looking up, noticing their eyes. โWhy are youse all staring at me? What, you donโt watch movies? I mean the muzzle ๏ฌash is not really there, itโs normally added in postproduction. But yeah: gun goes o๏ฌ, thereโs a ๏ฌash.โ
Turned out Simon wasย usefulย too. Who would have thought, the two of them, Red and Simon? Certainly not Oliver, it seemed, judging by the stunned look in his eyes, pupils sitting too large among all that golden brown.
He stepped forward, clapping Simon hard on the back, twice. That must be the bestย well doneย you could get, beyond words.
โRight, okay,โ Oliver said, talking it through with himself. โGun goes o๏ฌ,
thereโs a ๏ฌash. Thatโs it, thereโs our plan.โ
โHow?โ Maddy asked, and to which part, Red wasnโt sure. Didnโt sound like a full plan, not one up to Catherine Lavoyโs standards at least.
โWe position ourselves at every window in the RV. Someone watching the front, back, both sides. Every angle. We watch, and then we bait a shot from the sniperโโ
โโSounds safe,โ Simon commented.
โโand one of us will see it, see the ๏ฌash. Then weโll know exactly where he is. And thenโโOliverโs eyes glintedโโwe run, in the opposite direction, using the RV as cover. Weโre going to get out of here.โ
That sounded more like a full plan, except there was one part missing. โHow do we bait a shot from him?โ Arthur asked, spotting it too.
โWithout one of us getting killed?โ
Red cycled through channel one, then two, back to three. Empty static, all of them.
โWeโโ
โโHello?โ The voice crackled into life in her hands. The sniper. โHello.
Are we all still alive in there?โ he asked.
Red sni๏ฌed, breath stalling, heart kicking up in her chest. She scanned the faces of the others quickly. What should she do?
Oliver was there before she could ask him. He grabbed the walkie-talkie out of her hand and pressed the button.
โWeโre here,โ he said, trying to disguise the tremor in his voice. โWeโre working on that secret you want.โ
Static.
โGood,โ the voice answered. โKeep working. Timeโs running out.โ Static.
โCan we just ask him to take a shot?โ Reyna suggested.
Oliver rounded on her. โWhy would we ask him to take a shot, Reyna?
Come on, think. We canโt give away that weโre trying to escape.โ He dropped the walkie-talkie back into Redโs hands.
โSorry, Iโm just trying to help.โ Reyna shrank back, sliding into the booth at the dining table.
โWhy has he taken shots before?โ Oliver said, not really speaking to the others. โHe shot at the tires and the gas tank to trap us here. Then at the window, maybe to scare us. Thenโโ
โThe horn!โ Maddy said, eyes lighting up. She pointed to the steering wheel. โHe shot at us when I was beeping.โ
Oliver snapped his ๏ฌngers. โBingo.โ
