Mayhem At Prescott High (The Havoc Boys #3)(99)

“It’s not,” I confirm, looking over at Vic and meeting his eyes. We need a new plan. We’ve always moved slow, kept things tight, foolproof. The last place on earth I want to end up in is prison; I would rather die. But things are escalating, and we cannot allow them to get any worse without getting the upper hand. “You know, the easiest way to kill something is to cut off its head.”

Bernadette shivers, but she fills in the metaphor for me as Hael comes tromping down the stairs like an elephant, Aaron close behind him. I ignore them both.

“Like say, if the Charter Crew’s head was made up of Mitch, Logan, Kyler, and Timmy?” she asks, and I smile.

The way it feels on my face, I’m not surprised that Bernie gives me a long, studying look. I’m sure it’s hideous.

“Exactly that,” I say, and then I find my iPad on the coffee table and start to plan.

I’ll still go to school today. I have a calculus test, after all, but that doesn’t mean I can’t plot murder at the same time, now does it?





Bernadette Blackbird





Wednesday at Prescott High is interesting in that it's so unremarkable that it becomes remarkable. Mitch is as annoying as always; Kali continues to gossip and spread lies, even with her lips swollen and disfigured. Stacy Langford is hilarious and has taken to wearing a t-shirt that says Wreak Havoc while making out with her boyfriend in the hallway.

The police do not come on Wednesday; I do not hear from Sara Young.

“Do you think I surprised her with that video?” I ask Callum, sitting at the peninsula in Aaron's kitchen after school. He, on the other hand, is outside hanging Christmas lights. We're a bit late to the game, and we most definitely did not get the tree the day after Thanksgiving like I wanted.

Instead, it's lying on the living room floor now waiting to be put into a stand, just one week before Christmas.

“I think you made it very difficult for her to want to continue her quest to bring someone to justice over Neil’s disappearance.” Callum adds some chopped-up fruit and veggies to the blender he’s using and turns it on. Once it’s finished, he takes a spoon and tastes it, grinning a bit before pouring the chocolate-colored mixture into two cups. “Here. Chocolate-blueberry smoothie. Ridiculously healthy. It even has kale hidden in it.”

I give him a look and a wrinkled nose.

“Kale, Callum? Really?”

He pushes the drink toward me and then jabs a metal straw into it.

“I was trying to be a professional dancer, remember? Trust me: I know how to make a health food smoothie that tastes alright.” He winks at me and starts sipping his, flipping his hood off at the same time. As Victor’s smoking and chin rubbing are tells, so is Callum’s hood. He puts it on when he needs time to think or when he feels the situation might get uncomfortable. He only takes it off in good company.

I smile down at my cup and then drag it close. Tentatively, I wrap my lips around the end and Cal leans forward to smirk at me.

“Don’t suck on that so slow and sensual. Might give me ideas on what we could be doing together next.”

I almost choke on the smoothie as I try not to laugh. Shockingly enough, it really is good. Tastes a bit like brownie batter actually.

“Ideas, huh?” I retort as Hael moves into the room and starts laying guns out on the counter. Thank fuck the girls are, once again, at Jennifer’s house. She’s a decent babysitter, and she lives in a stupid gated community with a dad who works for the sheriff’s office. As many issues as we have with the police currently, it’s still a safer place than here.

Especially tonight.

“Look, silencers,” Hael says, lifting up a piece of metal and then screwing it onto the end of one of the rifles. He holds the damn thing against his hip, like he’s in a fucking action flick or something and grins. “This should be fun.”

I take another sip of my smoothie and do my best to keep my nerves at bay.

Victor wants us to go out tonight and clean up the Charter Crew. Not all of them, obviously, because like he said: you can’t kill several dozen kids at the same school without a media circus. But if you pick off the leaders …

Mitch Charter. Logan Charter. Kyler Ensbrook. Timmy Ensbrook.

Kali is pregnant, so for now, she’s getting a pass. Nobody’s mentioned Billie.

There’s a race being held tonight, at the track that Aaron and I used to escape from Sara Young. Since Mitch’s crew essentially runs the races now, they’ll be there, no doubt.

Knowing we have to kill four people tonight though, that’s a tough one.

“What time are we leaving?” Callum asks, noticing that I’ve drained half my smoothie already and winking at me conspiratorially over it. “Because I owe Bernie another dance lesson.”

“You mean another fuck?” Hael quips, pretending to fuck the counter. He lifts the rifle up and aims it at the sliding glass doors before dropping it down again. “Just be honest man. Everybody here knows you’re jonesing for some of that sweet, sweet Bernie pussy.” Hael grins at me, and I flip his ass off with both hands. “Speaking of …” He sets the gun down beside the others and leans down to put his elbows on the counter. “After we get back tonight, and we’re both soaked in blood and violence and sin, let’s fuck on the roof. Nice and flat, stars above our heads, an entire neighborhood of suburban prudes to freak out with our moans.”