There was no way I could stab Aimee. She was right there, between Lena and me, the corners of her eyes drawn down, pleading, begging me not to hurt her. I’d thought I’d wanted her humiliated and penitent, but now I just wanted her safe.

I took a step and reached out my hand. If Lena gave me the scissors, I’d have some power back. Maybe I could cut Lena, then Aimee and I could run, maybe …

But Lena had always been able to read my expressions.

“Just so we’re clear.” She yanked Aimee so she was bent backward, hanging over the balcony. “If you decide to screw me, she’s going over. Those tile floors will smash her skull.”

For a second, I saw that she really wanted to throw Aimee over, that the sight of a broken body bleeding in the middle of the pristine museum was exactly what she wanted. But then she looked at me, and like a screen coming down, the mask of “my friend Lena” fell back into place.

I stretched out my hand, edging closer.

“Christ, you look like you’re going to touch a snake.” One hand still wrapped around Aimee’s neck, she stretched the other out to me. There were the scissors, the same stainless-steel ones I’d used to cut my hair just hours earlier.

My fingers wrapped around the open shears, and I took them gingerly. Lena laughed again. “You’re not going to do much damage way over there. Get closer.”

I took another step as slowly as I dared. “So I stab her, you let us go, and what, just disappear? You had disappeared. You were free. Why come back for me at all?” Take your time answering.

From the corner of my eye, I could see smaller lights through the large windows, flashlights like policemen would have. They were here, but if I really looked, Lena might turn around and see them too.

Her mouth twisted in amusement. “Nice try. You know, we could have had the best fucking time if you weren’t so weak. Thelma and Louise–ing our way all across the country. And forget that blaze-of-glory bullshit. I’m talking down in Mexico, drinking real margaritas on the beach.”

And I could see it—sitting shotgun beside her like I had so many times. Riding a buzz as the sun went down over the ocean instead of her swimming pool. That feeling of finally being on the inside, having the full force of Lena’s attention, becoming unstoppable.

I must have hesitated, because she said, “It’s not too late to say yes. I love Brady, but that man’s a walking id with no fucking impulse control. But you and me, we’d be smart. We’d pick the bad guys, make the world a better place, and you know we’d never get caught.”