“That saves us from having to find them then, doesn’t it?”

We’d guessed it wouldn’t take long for Luke’s compatriots to show up at the campsite. Rae and I had been bumbling around—“whispering” as loud as we could, supposedly in flight from the others—for about ten minutes before we’d heard the van arrive and two people come after us, following through the forest, listening to our conversation.

When I faltered on seeing that van, it hadn’t been entirely faked. I couldn’t help thinking: Isn’t this good enough? We had a van full of the enemy, all focused on us. Derek, Maya and Daniel could jump them and—

And then what? Revert to plan A, where we interrogated someone, got answers and took them to Sean to complete clean-up? No. Moreno was right—we had to dispatch this threat on our own. We also had to think of Rae’s mother, who was with the enemy. If we gave them time to realize their plan had been foiled, they’d whisk her away as negotiating collateral. Or that’s what I’d told Rae they’d do. My fear was that she wasn’t worth enough for that.

“I-I’m not sure,” I said, poised at the edge of the lot.

“It’s okay, Chloe. You want to do this. You need to do it. For yourself and for the others.”

“That’s right.” A dark-clothed woman approached from the van. “This is the best thing for all of you. You know that, Chloe.”

“I-I just want to talk. Rae said—”

“We heard what Rae said, and she’s absolutely right. We’re the white hats here. We’ve come to help you. Now let’s find someplace where we can talk.”

“Well, that didn’t take long,” I muttered when I woke with my hands bound behind my back.

“They’re not tied very well,” a girl’s voice said behind me. “Here, lift your thumb about an inch…”

I glanced back. The room was lit only by light seeping under the door, but I could see a girl with long blond hair and a Minnie Mouse nightshirt.

“Liz?” I whispered.

“The shirt gave it away, huh?” she said with a grin. “I wore it for old times’ sake. Thought you’d get a laugh. Of course, I didn’t expect to find you out cold, bound hand and foot. Trying on a little nostalgia-wear yourself?”

“Ha-ha.”

“Okay, now lift your thumb—”

“Leave it for now,” I said. “I can’t afford to go off-script just yet.”

“Ah.” She hunkered down in front of me. “This is a performance piece. Well, that makes more sense. I’d be concerned if you’d really gotten taken captive again. Especially given your cellmate.” She waved at Rae, lying on her side on the floor, unconscious. “Care to give me the Cliff’s Notes version?”