“You need anything to blend in more?” Ben asked. He emptied one of his pockets, pulling free three granola bars, a collapsible water bottle, a ski mask, a sewing kit, an EpiPen, a flashlight, and three gum wrappers. “I came prepared.”

“Sure did,” muttered Gem, maneuvering the car into an empty spot a few blocks away from Abby’s house.

“Brown boy in a ski mask in the dark?” Devon said with both eyebrows raised. “Yeah, no thanks.”

Gem saluted Devon in the rearview mirror. “Who’s the EpiPen for? You allergic to anything?”

“Oh yeah, but it’s embarrassing,” Ben said, and laughed. “I’m allergic to latex. Makes me look like a lobster and as good at breathing air. May and I both carry one just in case.”

Lia added that to the top of her journal page on Ben in all caps. “Why is that embarrassing?”

“You know.” He flushed as red as his hair. “Guy stuff.”

Devon, holding back laughter, patted Ben’s arm.

Lia checked her phone. “Abby should be leaving her house soon. If I were alone, I would get her at her house, but I figured this would be more fun. We can take positions around the path.”

They slunk out of the car. Lia looked around her, a pair of binoculars pressed to her eyes. Shadows danced in the dark between the trees, limbs grasping at the air, and a woodpecker picked at a waterlogged fence post. The posts had marked the boundaries of the old park, but as the waterline of the creek winding through the area had grown, they had been lost. Now an old bridge arched over them, connecting the walking paths to the newer dog park.

The four kids took up spots a little ways off the path. As Abby walked Omelet around the park, they would shoot her when she neared. Lia knelt in the cold next to Gem. Devon sat beside her.

“Did you stalk me?” he asked.

“It wasn’t stalking, and no. I didn’t think you would play,” Lia said. “It’s not like I watched people through windows.”

Devon laughed, and Gem held a finger up to their lips. Leaves rustled in the late winter breeze. Lia rubbed the back of her neck.

From the dimly lit street came Abby and Omelet. Gem gestured to Lia, miming a shot. Lia pulled a slightly larger water gun from her backpack. She was hoping the longer barrel would help her aim. She had spent most of winter break practicing. Abby paused on the bridge, and Lia took aim. Abby stretched her arms over her head.

Lia fired. The water arched for Abby, perfectly on target. Omelet, a big Alaskan malamute, rose to his hind legs and lunged for Abby’s face, tongue lolling. Water splattered against his side. Startled, he pushed hard on her shoulders. Abby leapt back.

“Good start,” Devon whispered.

Lia groaned. “Crap.”

A sickening crack silenced them all. Abby teetered on the edge of the bridge, her arms thrown back, and plummeted through the railing. She vanished beneath the bridge.