I move my mouth but no sound escapes. I do want my life back. I want to go to school and only worry about passing calculus, not keeping a man from killing me. I want to take pictures with my friends and post them to social media without fearing repercussions. I want to have a decent night’s sleep without popping sleeping pills because I’m worried about Tony breaking into my bedroom. I want to be just like everyone else.

I pick up my phone sitting on the coffee table in front of me. S-Live Time is still loaded from when Charlotte borrowed it and I used it against Andrew and Harvey. It would be easy to make an account, post a picture, and wait for Tony to call me. He’ll be curious. It’ll be a chess game, him waiting to see what my next move will be.

“Let’s say he does call me . . .” I start, my voice small.

Aiden straightens beside me, his body tense. “Thea, you can’t be serious.”

“What then?” I continue, looking Mason in the eye. “What would I do?”

Aiden growls in frustration beside me and throws his hands in the air. I know where he’s coming from—he doesn’t want me to get hurt—but I hate this. I hate sitting and waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m taking my life into my own hands. But maybe I’m not done lying to my friends. Not yet.

Noah hoots and pumps his fist in the air when he realizes I’m relenting, and Mason’s lips tug into a victorious grin. “We set a trap, and we end it. Tell him about Anna. Tell him he’s her daughter. With what you told me, he’ll be curious enough to agree to meet up.”

“No. We’re not involving Anna,” I state, trying to put authority in my voice.

The fewer people who know and want to help means fewer people who can get hurt. I place my phone back on the little coffee table, and Aiden stares at it, probably willing it to disappear through sheer willpower alone.

“We’ll figure that out later. First things first.” Mason plucks his phone from his back pocket and before I realize it, there’s a flash.

My heart stops. This is going too fast. I jump up from where I’m sitting. “Mason! I wasn’t ready for a picture!”

“The sooner we get everything set up, the sooner we can end this.”

He walks into the kitchen and I follow him, stepping around Aiden, who’s got his elbows on his knees and his fingers rubbing circles on his temples, the tension rolling off him in waves.

“If anyone’s going to post my picture, it’ll be me. And I don’t want Noah or Aiden in it!” I grab the phone from him and examine the picture. I feel Noah standing over my shoulder, looking down at Mason’s phone. I start to delete it, but Noah stops my hand.

“No. Don’t delete it, we look good.”