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“Hello, Kate.” That voice was a far cry from the slurred happiness of the night before.

“Max,” I said carefully. “Good to hear from you.”

He laughed. “I hope so. You passed the test.”

My stomach plummeted into the core of the earth. “The test? There was a test?”

“There was. The first party is always a test to make sure you’re not a liar and end up bringing the cops.”

“Oh.”

I could almost hear him shrugging. “But you were a good girl. You passed. Now, you have to come to the real party, and we’ll actually discuss your debt. But the same rules apply. Since I’m surprising you, and I’m a nice guy, I’ll give you an hour and fifteen minutes this time.”

“Now?” My mouth went dry. This wasn’t part of the plan. We had nothing in place. Noah wasn’t ready. Nobody was ready.

“Right fucking now,” he said. “Your time starts as soon as you get the text with the address.”

The line went dead, and I stared at the screen for a second. It lit up with a new address. Clicking on it showed me a new location, but still in the middle of nowhere. This wasn’t good.

What did I need? A different shirt. I sprinted to my closet and tore through it, looking for something that said I was ready for a party but that hadn’t been destroyed by Max’s rampage through the apartment.

I found one. Blue and silky that showed just enough skin that it would look like I’d dressed up without doing too much. I threw on mascara and lipstick and grabbed my phone before sprinting to the door. Noah’s number was already dialing.

“Kate?”

“Max called me,” I said, trying to catch my breath as I slammed the car door behind me. “Last night was a test.”

“What?”

“To make sure I didn’t bring the cops. There’s a new address.” I recited it to him. “Gave me an hour fifteen. I think I used up seven getting ready.”

On the other end of the line I heard the sounds of him moving too, and he cursed.

“I don’t want to do this,” I told him. “But I can’t afford not to.”

“I know.” His voice was rough. “Believe me, I don’t want you to do it either.”

I sighed. “We both know that we don’t have an option.”

“You still have the earpiece?”

It was in my pocket. “Yeah. I do. I’ll make sure to turn it on, but if I run out of time, I can’t wait for you.”

In the background, Noah’s truck roared to life. He was already coming. Pure relief flowed through me. “I know,” he said. “But I’m on my way. You won’t be able to hear me until I’m in range, but I’ll let you know the second that I am.”

“Okay.”

“Kate,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Please, please be careful.”

I took a shaky breath. “I will.”

We hung up. I slammed the address into the GPS at a stoplight on the way out of town, eager to reach the highway so I could pick up speed. So I could go in the last direction that I wanted to go.

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