She’d done it. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Jessica walked into her friends’ party and came out as a traitor. Seeing the smile on her face, the enthusiasm as she cheered at our victory, felt like stepping into a parallel universe.

I’d been certain she was faking it at the track. Cheering for Jason, acting excited for the win — it had to be fake. She’d been told to submit to us and to think of our pleasure, so what better way to do that than to pretend she was invested in our victories?

But now…now I didn’t know if I believed that anymore.

We sped through Wickeston Heights, slowing only when we reached the gate and tried to look casual as we drove past the guardhouse again. But that old guard couldn’t be bothered to even glance up as the exit gate opened for us and we were free.

“Aren’t you guys afraid they’ll report this?” Jess said. “I mean, Nate’s dad is a cop…”

“If they report us, we’ll report them,” Jason said. “And we have a hell of a lot more evidence against them besides what they did to the cars. If Nate wants to go crying to Daddy, then he’d also better be prepared to explain all the party drugs he’s bought from Vincent over the years.”

Vincent chuckled from the driver’s seat. “There’s benefits to being everyone’s dealer. Prime blackmail material.”

“If they want it to get ugly, I can make it fucking ugly,” Jason went on, with a grim smile. That was the only reason we’d been able to be so bold with this. Getting the police involved would work out badly for everyone, but if that’s what they wanted to do, we could do far worse than simply fucking up their rides.

“We have plenty of ammo with us that isn’t frozen,” Manson said as we drove. “We should go over to Crookston. We still have enough light.”

“What’s Crookston?” Jess was seated between Jason and I, and she was still vibrating with energy. Her green eyes were bright, and her posture was rigid as her fingers tapped rapidly on the shoulder of the front seat.

What was her deal anyway? What did she want? Why was she doing this?

Why did she keep playing these games?

“Crookston High School,” Jason said. “The whole building has been abandoned for decades. We use it for paintball games.”

“I’d be down to play a round,” Vincent said. His tone changed as he gave Jess a mischievous look in the rearview mirror. “And what do you know, we have enough guns for everyone. Even you, Jess.”

“Really?” Her voice came out squeaky, and I thought she was about to say she wasn’t interested. “Oh, hell yeah! Let’s go!”