Your friend wouldn’t play
So you all had to pay
Now I’m counting on you
To see this thing through
As a show of good faith
Take a look in your safe
If you abide by my rule
All will be cool
Where you ultimately land
Now rests in your hands.
The second she finished, Aster raced for the closet and punched in the code to unlock the safe. When the door sprang open, she was met with a spray of confetti.
Undeterred, she rummaged through it. As bits of pink cellophane hearts spilled to the floor, she removed her jewelry, an envelope filled with cash, her laptop and iPad. So far all her valuables were exactly as she’d left them.
When she reached the bottom, she found a plain manila envelope that hadn’t been there last time she’d checked.
She met Ryan’s gaze, then slipped her hand inside, retrieving a DVD with a note taped to its side.
Yes, it’s exactly what you think
The sight of it probably brought you to the brink
There is only one more out there
As you might’ve guessed, only I know where
If you do as I say
There’ll be no price to pay
There’s an artist you need to meet
She lives on a flower-named street
She knows Madison’s secret
So don’t let her keep it
We both want the same thing
For justice to ring
Don’t share this with Javen or your mates
Or you’ll all meet some very sorry fates.
Aster stood unsteadily, her mind a whirl of all the horrible possibilities. She didn’t have to watch the DVD to know what it contained. She’d been secretly filmed while she was in a blackout state the night Madison went missing. She’d performed an embarrassingly awkward striptease that would no doubt set the internet aflame if it were ever released.
The thought of that was bad enough, but Aster’s real fear was for her family. Javen had been threatened, and if her parents ever learned about the tape . . .