Danylynn and Wave stood in front of the vacant and boarded corner store, flip-flops in their purses and heels strapped to lotioned legs in the purple twilight. While she waited and gathered herself, Virginia brought them iced teas and cigarettes from the gas station down the street. The women knew why she was doing it, knew Virginia had thought herself better than this and was now trying to make repayment . . . as if it would deflect her fate. And maybe she’d never stand there, at the light, listening to the trains and the cars and waiting for a truck to stop. But she’d be with them all the same, and they knew it.

When Hazard left, she said her good-byes and walked up the street.

He waited for her by his SUV. The wind whipped the bloodred pants against his boots. The streetlight cast a long shadow on his face in the night.

She walked straight and sure. She had dressed carefully—a skintight, sleeveless black jersey dress with strappy, flat sandals, good hair, fresh makeup, and a single (fake) diamond necklace, one Hazard had given her for winning Miss Teen Virginia. Sleek silver hoops hung from her ears and she’d dabbed her mother’s old perfume on her wrists even though it made her gag and feel the ghost of her father’s hands.

“Good evening, Miss V,” he said, tone neutral.

“I’ve got what you asked for,” she said, pulling out her phone and shaking it. “I emailed you the pictures.” She’d staged them to buy herself some time—some receipts he’d have to zoom in on, court papers, and personal correspondence her mother’s roommate had in his room. Just enough time to find out for certain what was happening.

His smile emerged from the shadows. “My girl.”

She leaned languidly against the hood, hating that the streetlight illuminated her every flicker and curve, but kept him in the dark. “As always,” she sang cheerily, pageant smile fixed to her face.

“Want some dinner?” He opened the passenger door. “I was just about to grab some food.”

“Only if you’re buying.”

“Some steak? Wine?” He held the door wider and swept his hand for invitation. “Is that good enough for a queen?”

“It’ll do.” Virginia straightened, fussing with her dress as she climbed inside.

Her heartbeat quickened and the smell of new car made her head hurt, but as Hazard walked around the front of the car the light caught his self-satisfied smile. Virginia’s stomach twisted, but she kept her body in perfect submission to her will.

“It’s been a good day. We can celebrate. I got something for you,” he said, starting up the SUV and pulling out of the parking lot. “A gift, if you will. Take a look below.”

“Below? As in . . . ?” He had a secret compartment under the center console, but she wasn’t sure she was even supposed to know about it.

“I know you’re sharp. That’s the kind of woman I like. Go on, look.”

Virginia took a deep, silent breath and scooted over in her seat to pull up the center console and the floorboard below. It was just a dark space where the flickers of passing streetlights didn’t reach. She pulled out her phone and leaned over, half afraid it was a trap of some kind. As if she might lean over and fall into nothing, an empty prison she would never escape from in the center console of his SUV.

But all that rested below were several paper-wrapped and taped rectangles. She frowned.

“Like that?” Hazard asked.

Like what? Weed? She poked at one and it was firm. Dense. Not weed. Not . . . “Holy shit,” she breathed.

“Fifty bricks of heroin,” he said. “Welcome to the future, V.”

She stared a moment longer. Counting. She could only see twelve. How had he fit fifty into this truck? Worried she was looking too long, she forced herself to replace the floor and move the console back. “Yeah, all right. That’s not what I expected.”

He chuckled. “That’s why I needed you to do this with the Wardens. I don’t worry about the police, okay? I worry about the Wardens. Police have to work within the law. I can play that game. The Wardens move outside of it. It’s important they don’t know anything about this until it’s already happening. If they know about it, they’ll stop it. And you are such a lovely distraction and spy.” He reached over, gripping the back of her neck in his big hand, thumb sliding over her skin. “I told you I’ma take care of you.”

She tried not to panic. This was it, then—this was what had changed. She was not a child, and her body was still what held the most value. This was just a new way to use her body. A new way to use her ability to think fast and toss her hair. And what she’d always thought was hers and hers alone, he’d always used for his benefit.

“You smell like an old woman,” he said with a soft laugh. “Is that yours?”

“No,” she managed. “My mom’s.”

Hazard’s thumb rubbed a hole in her skin and she focused on the fence posts rushing past in the headlights. “I’ll buy you something better,” he said. “Not roses. You’re too fresh. Nothing floral, that’s too sweet for you. You’re too different. Something with orange and sandalwood, I think,” he continued, thumb still sliding back and forth along the curve of her neck.

Her throat was too tight to answer. She didn’t know where she was or where she was going. But she knew one, definite, absolute truth.

Virginia Campbell, Hazard’s pageant queen, was finished.