The ride back to my house was unsettling to say the least.  Ray drove without any kind of audible distraction, a habit from his wheelman days apparently.  So near complete silence only made my paranoia and fear seem multiplied.  When we finally got to the house we went straight to the garage.  By the time I had turned to look at him, he had already lit a cigarette.

"Start talking kid."

"Gimme a minute!"  I snapped back.  "I don't know where to start."

"I don't care where you start Mitch.  Backtrack and fill in the gaps but I need you to sing and now.  You took me way out of my comfort zone tonight, something I both applaud and hate you for."  He took a long drag of smoke.  "You said there's a guy like your dad, start there, who is it?"

"My English teacher."

"Consider me interested."

"He's playing this like a politician.  We do the all the dirty work, he gets all the profits."

"Your dad never really did that-"

"Aren't I supposed to be the one talking?  He may work differently, but he's just as shitty a person, maybe worse."  I spilled everything to Ray.  The social experiment the contracts, the burning in our hands, the pen, all of it.  Ray just sat quietly.  As I was finishing, he was lighting a third smoke.

"That's everything?"

"So far, but we have a whole semester ahead of us."

"You're going to let this guy work you like a puppet that long?"

"What choice do I have?  He's magical or some shit, for all I know this thing with my hand is just one of a million things he can do.  Right now I feel like my only hope is to ride this out."

"You and I both know he won't just let the lot of you go when this is over."

"Of course not, I sure wouldn't."  I took a moment to realise what I had just said.  "I plan to figure a way out before he gets rid of us."

"Well you know I'll help anyway I can, especially now that I know roughly what I'm working with."

"Thanks Ray.  Hey, one question."

"Shoot."

"What was in the kit?"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Heroin mostly, along with a few other undesirables."

"Holy shit!  Really?  A thousand bucks worth?"

"You said, and I quote, silent, and forever.  The batch I planted on him was the signature product of a real nasty dude who got on the wrong side of your dad and me years ago.  That connection alone will put him behind bars for the forseeable future."

"Fuck, remind me not to screw with you."

"I think I just did."

As he left I decided to stay out a while longer.  Looking around the garage I noticed just how much of a mess it was.  No one in the house had put their car in here for years, leaving it to become a communal storage locker for the household.  Old yard furniture, some recyclables and more stuff we could put in a yard sale someday than I cared to take stock of.  I cleared myself a small area and started bouncing a golf ball I found off the concrete.  With each whack I relived a couple seconds of the robbery I had just commited.  It had been sloppy, amatuer, and worst of all, I had put four people in positions I would be uncomfortable in myself, and was.

Heading back inside it was dark and silent.  Mom had gone to sleep, probably an hour before.  I crept towards the basement stairs and found my way to my room.  I didn't sleep, but I did have nightmares.  I saw outcomes that I was glad didn't actually happen.  Jessica actually slashing the guy's neck open, him beating the girls like we lied and said he did, and Riley's terrified look after I told her I had to hit her a few times.  Maybe it was just how opposite she was from Jess, who called Trent and I out for not doing it properly, but I couldn't get the look of Riley's face out of my head.  Finally my alarm sounded and I groaned, realising what it meant.

I got to school early to make sure I could run into everyone and apologise for the previous night.  They all said it was "okay" even though I knew it wasn't.  Luke's was one thing.  We only pretended to endanger people, and the people were ourselves.  Last night at the Anders' we had beaten and threatened a man with his life, and then ruined what was left of it.

I slogged through my day until fifth period.  The tiny card in my pocket may as well have been cancerous I wanted to get rid of it so bad.  I felt relieved and terrified as I presented it to Kevin.  I could only shudder at the thought of the intel I was powerlessly handing over to him.

"Excellent work, all of you!"  Kevin sang.  "Not only do I have the card but my associate will be spending a considerable time in jail on a slew of possession and assualt charges.  I can't say it's what I was expecting but it might be better."  He got up from his desk as I was slumping back into my own.  Kevin pulled down the projector screen and looked back at us.  "There is just one tiny little detail.  Not one of you considered the possibility of security cameras!"  As he roared in our faces, security footage of last night at the hotel came on screen.  Everything was played back.  Riley and I checking in, us in the hallway, everyone entering the mark's room, Ray.  "Thankfully, yours truly had the forethought, and a friend of mine has made sure these files will never see the light of day."

I wanted to say something, anything.  To defend my lack of stealth and tact as a means of not seeming suspiscious, to demand how he got the footage, but I stayed quiet.  I knew what I would be getting myself into.

"Keeping this colossal fuck up in mind, the week off I had planned for you shall be reduced to three days. So since today is Friday, I'll see you all on Thursday, and be ready to work when you get back."

I didn't wait for anyone.  As soon as I heard that I didn't need to be there, I tore off.  Before I really knew what I was doing I had grabbed my car keys and was on my way out.