FINISH THE JOB

“Turn off the lights!” I whisper-shouted at Noelle.

“What?” she asked.

“Turn off the lights and pull over! Now!” I cried.

My chest constricted and I doubled over in my seat, gasping for air. Noelle shot me a disturbed look and did as she was told. I pressed my forehead into the back of Kiran’s leather seat and told myself to chill. Told myself to breathe. But I couldn’t seem to make it happen.

All I could see were flashes of blond hair. All I could hear was that evil snicker. Someone had been watching me this past week. I had felt it. I had sensed it. And now I knew exactly who that someone was.

“Reed? Are you okay?” Ivy asked.

I could hear myself gasping hoarsely. My throat and lungs burned. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my skull. I was going to pass out, and the very thought terrified me even more.

“I think she’s having a panic attack,” Taylor said, putting her hand on my back. “Roll down the windows.”

“But it’s pouring rain,” Kiran whined.

“She needs air!” Ivy shouted.

All four windows rolled down. The side of my face and my arm were peppered with cold, wet droplets of rain and cool air flooded my skin.

“Concentrate, Reed,” Taylor instructed, her voice soothing. “Try to breathe.”

I can’t! my brain wailed. Ican’tIcan’tIcan’t.

But I had to. I closed my eyes, clamped my mouth shut, and pulled in a breath through my nose, which made me cough. But still, it was something. I forced myself to concentrate and tried again. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth.

In and out. In and out. In and out.

Finally, I was able to sit up again.

“Are you okay?” Taylor asked.

“I think so.” I shot her a weak but grateful smile. “Thanks.”

“What the hell just happened?” Noelle asked, one hand still gripping the wheel. “Where did that come from?”

“It’s Ariana,” I said, my voice breaking. “She’s behind this. This is all one big game and she’s trying to lure me here so she can finish me off.”

“Reed, Ariana’s locked up. She doesn’t even have access to a cell phone,” Noelle reminded me.

I shook my head violently, desperation coursing through my veins, swelling my heart. “It’s her. I know it’s her. She’s gotten out somehow and she’s trying to kill me. I just know it.”

“Reed, calm down,” Taylor said, rubbing my back. “If Ariana had broken out of prison somehow—”

“Which is highly unlikely as she is the least athletic person I know,” Noelle said.

“—then we would have heard about it,” Taylor finished.

“But what if we didn’t?” I asked. “I know you guys are going to think I’m crazy, but someone’s been spying on me on campus the past couple of weeks. I keep feeling someone watching me, and every time I look there’s someone disappearing around a corner or into a building, but I always catch a glimpse of blond hair.”

“So maybe it was Missy,” Ivy suggested. “I wouldn’t put it past her to eff with you just for kicks.”

“It wasn’t,” I insisted. “It was—”

“Not Ariana,” Noelle said fiercely.

“But what if it was?” I snapped through my teeth.

At that moment my phone beeped and we all screamed. Which actually made me feel better. Momentarily. Until I looked down at the screen. I read the text aloud.

LEAVE CAR WHERE IT IS & WALK THE REST. KEEP 2 THE TREES UNTIL U GET 2 PATH THRU BACK GARDEN. OH & LEAVE UR LITTLE FRIENDS WHERE THEY R, RULEBREAKER.

“Omigod it’s totally her,” I whimpered.

“It’s not!” Noelle replied. “And there’s no way we’re staying here.”

“Are you sure about that?” Kiran asked tentatively. “I mean, the instructions say—”

“No. We’re going,” Ivy put in, shoving her own phone into the pocket of her jacket. “There’s no way Reed’s going in there alone.”

“I don’t even want to go in,” I replied, my voice shrill. “I say we go with Josh’s plan. Call the police and let them deal with it.”

“But if we call the police, MT might bolt and then we’ll never know what’s going on,” Ivy said, leaning forward in her seat to see me better. “Come on. There’s safety in numbers. We’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know, you guys,” Kiran said, looking up at the fog-obscured house. “This is all a little too Scream for my tastes.”

“That’s it,” I said. “I’m calling the police.”

“What’re you going to say?” Ivy asked. “That we followed an anonymous texter’s directions into the middle of nowhere and now we’re scared? They’ll laugh in your face.”

“No, they won’t. Detective Hauer knows me,” I said, hitting the speed dial button. “It’ll be fine.”

The phone rang only once before he picked up.

“Detective Hauer,” he barked.

“Detective? It’s Reed Brennan,” I said, clutching the phone to my ear.

“Reed?” He sounded alarmed. Which made sense. When had I ever called him with good news? “Is everything all right?”

“Not exactly. I’m out at Cheyenne Martin’s house, the one on Old Post Road? And I’m pretty sure Ariana Osgood is here,” I said.

In the front seat Noelle hung her head into her hand. On the other end of the line, I heard phones ringing and a door slam, but otherwise, there was silence.

“Detective?”

“I’m sorry. I’m waiting for the punch line,” Detective Hauer said.

I gritted my teeth. “I know it sounds crazy, but—”

“Reed, I don’t even know where to start,” the detective said with a heavy sigh. “Why in hell would you be out at the Martin place on a night like this after what happened to you earlier this evening? And what in God’s name would make you think that Ariana Osgood is there when we both know she’s locked up safe and secure in Virginia?”

Okay. Clearly I shouldn’t have led with the Ariana thing. My brain whirled, trying to figure out how to backtrack, where to start, how to make him believe me.

“I know, but I—”

“No. You know what? I don’t have time for this,” he said, his voice quickly growing gruff. “I’m too busy filling out the paperwork your last call generated, not to mention interviewing attempted-murder suspects and dealing with their highly irritating New York lawyers.”

“But that’s—”

“Reed, I seriously think you should consider the possibility that you might have a slight addiction to drama, both real and imagined,” the detective said. “If Ariana Osgood jumps out from behind a pillar and tries to whack you, give me a call.”

And the line went dead.

“What’d he say?” Taylor asked.

I was too humiliated to repeat even half of it. I shoved my phone back in my pocket and sighed resignedly. “He said we’re on our own.”

Everyone slumped. I stared down at my hands, feeling seriously deserted.

“It’s not Ariana, Reed,” Noelle said in a reassuring tone. “I guarantee you it’s not.”

“She’s right. I mean, it’s just not possible,” Taylor said. “If she’d gotten out somehow, we would know about it.”

“Taylor?” Noelle said, angling further in her seat. “You haven’t said what you think we should do.”

Taylor slowly looked around at each of us, kneading the knees of her skinny, black chinos in her hands. She bit her lip, screwing her lips up in anguished thought.

“I say we go in,” she said finally. “But Reed and Kiran can stay here if they want.”

“Yes!” Kiran cheered, pumping a fist by her side. “You three have fun!”

“No. No way. I’m not letting you guys go without me,” I said, reaching for the door handle. “If you’re all going, then I’ll go too.”

“Good. Then it’s settled,” Noelle said, popping her door open. “We’ll all go and Kiran the cowardly supermodel will stay here.”

“By myself?” Kiran squeaked.

“Your choice,” Noelle said with a shrug.

Kiran hesitated. The four of us stared her down as we waited for her to make a decision. Finally, with a heaving sigh, she drew her stun gun out of her pocket. It was about the size of an iPhone, and when she hit the button to test it, a sizzle of blue light appeared between the two wires, releasing a comforting electric crackle. I just hoped Kiran’s reflexes were fast enough if Ariana jumped out from behind a curtain and tried to slice and dice me.

“All right,” she said resolutely. “I’m in.”