“Yeah, fine,” Gem said. “I get that she doesn’t like cowards. But…would she like me?”

“What?” Ben asked.

Gem glared at him in the rearview mirror.

“Oh.” Ben nodded, understanding. “Hell yeah.”

“Great.” Lia patted Gem’s arm. “Just don’t be a coward.”

“I’m going to murder you,” Gem whispered, and unlocked the doors.

Devon, a scarf pulled up around his chin, crawled into the seat behind Gem. “My face isn’t used to being up before dawn,” he said, yawning.

“Here’s the deal.” Lia turned to them, using her arm to hide the bleach spots on her sweatshirt. She had dressed for Assassins, but Devon looked impeccable. The ass. “I know every senior’s schedule, so we’re good if they don’t change that. Our new rules to live by are one, go nowhere alone, and two, practice your aim.” She looked at Ben. “Will you be okay at gym before school if we don’t pick you up?”

He nodded. “Never alone. And if I am…” He pulled open his coat and revealed two water guns Velcroed to the lining.

“Devon?” Lia asked.

“I’m assuming you and Gem will be picking me up?” he asked, one black brow arched. “My mother will be delighted about not sharing the car.”

“Great,” Lia said. “We should get Abby quickly. Once a few targets are killed this first weekend, people will get more paranoid. It’ll be better if we can kill Abby and then get to our next target quickly before people start changing their schedules. We’ll also learn who the competition really is,” Lia said. She held out a neon-green water gun to him. “Sound good?”

“Still slightly creepy.” Devon held up the water gun and checked the seal against the water sloshing inside. “I love green. This isn’t filled with caffeine, is it?”

“Only water,” Lia said. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” He held up his thumb and forefinger. “It only lessens my love a little.”

Lia ignored the flutter in her stomach. “As you know, our target is Abby Ascher. What you don’t know is that she goes for a walk with her dog Omelet to Pleasant Pines and then she runs home before heading to work a few hours later.”

Lia hadn’t needed to follow Abby to know that. They lived near enough that her dad always joked about setting his watch by Abby’s morning run, even though all the watches he owned were digital.

“Oh my God,” whispered Ben, “she named her dog Omelet.”

“I know. It’s good.” Lia handed them each a printout of what she knew of Abby’s schedule. “Ideally, we’ll get her today, but if we don’t, there’s tomorrow morning or when she gets off work tomorrow.”

“Did you follow everyone?” Ben asked, his face scrunching up.

“Not everyone,” Lia said quickly.

Devon scanned the paper and whistled. “Your preparedness is terrifying.”

“It’s color-coded, but the printer sucks.” Lia gestured to his dark jeans and sweater. “Are you okay with those getting wet?”

“They won’t,” he said. “I refuse to die.”