She screamed, crumpling into a sobbing mess. Alex almost felt sorry for her, but then he remembered that he would get a fortune for this pelt and gave a victorious whoop.

The world crumpled as her eyes rose to his, makeup running, pupils dark and cold. Then everything went black.

“Alex?”

“Oh, gawd, Alex! How long have you been locked in there?” Alex’s mother pulled his sweating, limp body from the cramped space in the gun cabinet. An officer stood with his step-dad in cuffs.

“Are you okay, honey?”

All Alex could do was smile. He had won.