The next morning, Duncan got up early, showered, and put on both deodorant and clean clothes. He stood in front of the bathroom mirror combing his hair for nearly ten minutes, then messed it up to give it that casual windswept look that he had read girls like. He brushed his teeth, gargled with mouthwash, and flossed until his gums bled, which didn't take long; he didn't take care of his oral hygiene the way he maybe should have and the moment he started messing around in his mouth, he could taste blood.

In his bedroom, he put on a solid orange T-shirt and a black zip-up hoodie, but changed back into his green one because the orange and black one-two made him look like a pumpkin. He went into the hall and literally bumped into Kimberly who was, of course, staring down at her phone. She whipped her head up like she was going to snap at him, but did a double take and knitted her brow instead. "Why are you all dressed up?"

Because I have a plan to win Mia once and for all, and I want to look good as I put it into action. Jealous, Lela? "I'm not dressed up," he said out loud. "This is how I always dress."

"No it's not," Kimberly said. "Your clothes are actually clean. And there aren't any rips. I'd ask if you have a date tonight but I know that's not possible."

Heat crept across the back of Duncan's neck. His first instinct was to clap back and tell her that he did have a date, but he already knew she'd say he was lying. Kimberly was kind of like quicksand: The more you fight, the deeper you get.

"He better not have a date tonight!" Jing called from her room.

Dad appeared out of thin air like a Force ghost or something. "Dunker has a date tonight?"

"No, I -"

"You're not going anywhere tonight, Duncan Aerosmith Harris," Mom called up the stairs. "Until the killer is caught, you are to come right home from school."

Duncan threw his head back. "I don't have a date, okay? God, you people take things that aren't true and run with them. You're worse than Grandma posting fake news on Facebook."

He ducked around Dad and fled down the stairs before he or Kimberly could pester him further. In the kitchen, Mom sat at the table with a cup of coffee and raked her hand through her messy blonde hair. Instead of her uniform, she wore a threadbare pink robe and slippers. Her eyes were bloodshot and ringed with black like she hadn't slept in a week. She was wired and jittery, her body lightly trembling from a potent mixture of weariness and caffeine. She jerked when Duncan walked in and started to reach for the can of pepper spray at her right hand. "Whoa, calm down, Mom," he said, "it's just me."

"Oh, hi, Dunkie," she said. "How was your date?" Catching herself, she shook her head and blinked the crust from her bloodshot eyes. "I mean how did you sleep?"

"Fine," Duncan said. "Are you okay? You look like you were up all night."

"I was up all night," she said.

Duncan scratched his head. "Why?"

A look of fear darted across her face. "I was reading."

The stiff tone of her voice determined that to be a lie, but he didn't press her. He had things to do and standing around talking to his mom wasn't one of them. "You should take a nap," he said and opened the fridge. He took out a bottle of Sunny D and poured some in a glass.

"I will," she said.

Dad walked in.

"I want you to take Duncan and Kimberly to school today," she said.

Wait, what?

"I was going to," Dad said.

"Why?" Duncan asked.

He and his family had lived in this house for almost as long as Duncan could remember and he had always walked to school. On some days the weather was bad so Mom would give him a ride, but those instances were few and far between.

Mom started to reply but Dad butted in, sparing her the energy. Honestly, she looked like she really needed it. "Because -"

"There's a psycho chopping people into little bite-sized pieces," Kimberly said from the archway into the living room. Her eyes were glued to her phone and her face had that idiot slackness to it that you often find in people who spend too much time lost in technology. "We know."

"It's not a joke, Kim," Mon snapped. "You didn't see what he did to those girls. I did. It was horrible and I don't want it happening to you."

Duncan shrugged one shoulder. "He only kills pretty girls, though, so she's safe."

"Just like you're safe from ever being cheated on," Kimberly said, "because you'll never have a girlfriend in the first place."

Mom sighed deeply and held her face in her hands like she was going to cry, and Duncan felt a twinge of guilt. It went as soon as it came, though. Dad went over and stroked the back of her neck. "Why don't you go to bed?" he asked. "Nothing's gonna happen in the daytime."

She took a deep breath. "You're probably right." She got to her feet, shuffled over, and pulled Duncan into a tight hug that nearly broke his spine. Next, she did the same thing to Kimberly. "Please be careful," she said. There was a begging quality to her voice that cut Duncan deeply.

"We will," Kimberly said.

"Yeah," Duncan said, "we'll be careful."

"Either me or your dad will pick you up," Mom said. "Don't go anywhere else with anyone else. Is that understood?"

Duncan's heart sank.

If he didn't act fast, Zeke was going to steal Mia out from under his nose. Maybe it was because he knew for sure that Zeke liked her too and fully grasped the fact that he had real competition, but he felt rushed, as though there wasn't a moment to lose. He got that his mom was worried about him and Kimberly and he respected that, but he had to do what he had to do. He didn't need long, just enough time to get Mia away from Zeke and make his move. He wouldn't be out late...but he also wouldn't be coming home right at three.

Mom was going to be pissed and he was willing to accept the consequences. Whatever it took to get the girl.

When Mom was gone, he, Kimberly, and Dad went out to the car. Dad looked nervously around and threaded the keys through his fingers, lending him the appearance of Wolverine on a cold day. Mom's paranoia was infecting him too now.

Duncan called shotgun and raced Kimberly to the car, getting there just ahead of her. "Enjoy the back seat," she said.

"EnJoY tHe BaCk SeAt," she mocked. It was all she could do. He won fair and square.

The ride was quiet, none of them talking; the only sound was the hum of the tires and the little ding noise Kimberly's phone made when it got a message. Dad dropped her off first and then Duncan. He turned the radio on and cycled through the band until he found a station playing a morning news broadcast. "The search continues this morning for a serial killer who has so far claimed two victims in the suburban community of Oakdale. Worcester County Sheriff David Fulci has -

Dad cut it off. "I really don't want to hear about this asshole anymore."

There was an uncharacteristic hardness in his voice that was so out of place it almost scared Duncan.

They pulled up to the school and Duncan threw the door open. "Have a good day," Dad said.

"You too," Duncan replied. He slammed the door and hurried around the front of the car before Dad could detain him any longer. He only had a few minutes to get to the cafeteria before the bell rang.

He found his friends sitting at their usual table, Wolf eating, Yangzi taking selfies, and Bex laughing at something on her phone. Duncan rushed over and dropped into the seat across from Bex. "What is up, my man?" Yangzi asked. "I just scored a year's supply of peanut butter for promoting Jiff on Twitter. We about to have PB&J up in here. Without the J."

Ignoring him, Duncan said, "I'm gonna make my move on Mia today."

All three of them looked at him. "Really?" Yangzi asked.

"Wow, someone grew some balls," Bex said.

"You're gonna get some pancake," Wolf said.

Duncan rolled his eyes. "So here's my plan. I'm gonna get Mia to skip with me and I'm gonna take her to the club."

The club was an old Airstream trailer in the woods where Duncan and his friends hung out.

"I want you guys to come with us so that it doesn't look weird or anything. When I give the word, I want you to go away and leave us alone."

Yangzi bared his teeth. "Sorry, man, I can't skip. I got a test."

"I can't get in trouble again or my dad's gonna kill me," Wolf said.

Duncan cast a pleading look at Bex. "Bex, come on."

She hesitated. "I don't know…"

"Please? I really need your help. As a friend?"

Bex let out a deep sigh. "Alright," she said, "I'll do it."

And so it was settled. At lunch, he would, Bex, and Mia would ditch and go out to the club to hang out. Bex would find a reason to get lost, and he would put the moves on Mia. Of course, this plan hinged on Mia agreeing to go with him...without Zeke. Wolf and Yangzi agreed to distract Zeke while he convinced Mia to go with him so that would be a piece of cake.

The bell rang and Duncan went to class. He was so excited that he could barely sit still and the hours passed at a crawl; at one point he was sure that the clock went backwards a tick. He saw Mia and Zeke n the hall during class change, and she smiled at him. Oh, yeah, she wants me. She just needs to come off the Feminazi shit. "Hey, Dunk," Zeke said. "You good? You need me to carry your books or anything?"

Duncan missed a beat. "Uh..no. Why?"

"I owe you my life," he said, "it's the least I can do."

"Don't worry about it,": Duncan assured him, "it's all good." He looked at Mia and winked.

She blushed.

Dude, this was so going to happen.

At lunch, Duncan found Bex and together they walked over to Mia, who was sitting with Zeke. Before they even got there, Wolf and Yangzi grabbed him and started taking selfies with him. He smiled and threw up a peace sign. You know, Zeke wasn't a bad dude. If he wasn't Duncan's rival, they could be really cool.

"Hey, Mia," he said, "Bex and I are gonna ditch. You wanna come?"

"Sure," she said, "just let me see if Zeke -"

"I was actually kind of hoping for it to just be the three of us," Duncan said. "No offense, but the three of us don't really get to hang out."

Mia considered for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right, we don't."

Duncan looked quickly around. "Come on, we gotta hurry."

Smiling, Mia got up, and together, the three of them sneaked out.

Annie Harris woke at 2pm from a nightmare that she thankfully could not remember. Cold sweat lightly coated her body and her heart slammed against her breast like a drum. Sitting up in a pile of blankets, she took a series of deep, calming breaths and tried to shake the feeling of impending doom.

Getting up, she took a long, hot shower and got dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a zip up hoodie. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulled out her phone, and dialed a number jotted onto the back of a card. Ryerson answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"It's Annie Harris," she said.'

"I was wondering where you were," Ryerson said.

"Has there been another murder?" she asked gravely.

To her relief, Ryerson said, "No. He didn't get anyone last night."

Thank God for that.

"What about the stakeout?"

She could almost hear Ryerson shake his head. "Nothing yet."

"He was here," Annie said.

Ryerson didn't immediately respond. "There?"

"Can we meet somewhere?"

They arranged to meet at Michael's Deli on Main Street. When Annie pulled up, she spotted Ryerson through the window sitting at a table. She got out, went in, and sat across from him. Being almost three, the restaurant was largely empty. Country music that sounded more like pop drifted from an unseen radio and a slow-turning fan stirred the hot air. Ryerson nodded, looked around, and leaned conspiratorially in. "What do you mean he was here last night?"

Reaching into her pocket, Annie pulled out the paper and slid it across the desk. Ryerson opened it, scanned what was written on it, and nervously licked his lips. "I can't do this anymore," she said. "Not if it puts my family in danger."

The words were bitter on her lips and uttering them felt like a failure, but she was steadfast in her resolve.

"I get it," Ryerson said. "It's a shame." He flicked his eyes to the table. "You're a lot better than I am and if it wasn't for you, this investigation wouldn't be as far along as it is."

Being a detective had always been Annie's dream and walking away from it right now, in the middle of such a major case, turned her stomach, but her children came first.

She said as much and Ryerson sighed. "You're right. You should worry about your kids. And don't worry about us, we'll get the bastard."

While Ryerson went to the bathroom, Annie took her phone out and started to scroll through her Facebook. It was nothing but political arguments, cat videos, and ads these days, with the occasional high school friend selling Avon thrown in for good measure. She had a friend request from Bex and accepted it with a little rush of satisfaction. Apparently Bex thought she was cool now.

Score.

Going to Bex's profile, she scrolled down. In one post, she talked about "losing it" on an unnamed friend for calling her a boy and beating him up. In another, she said she felt hideous and hated looking at herself in the mirror.

As Annie was reading, Bex posted two statuses in rapid succession. The first one was a check-in at the club she and the others had in the woods.

She tagged Mia and Duncan.

Annie's eyes narrowed. That little -

The second update chilled her.

It said: I'm tired of being an ugly duckling. Pretty people make me so mad.

All at once, everything clicked into place and Annie's heart stopped. The killer was a high school student...strong...capable of violence...and wanted to be pretty. The year book, the attack on Wolf, the rage in Bex's eyes the day before.

Oh my God.

Ryerson came back and noticed something was wrong. "What?"

Through numb lips, Annie said, "I know who the killer is."

And her son was with her.

The airstream trailer belonged to no one, but Yangzi was the one to find it, so if it was anyone's, it was his. Situated in a wooded area just outside of town near a creek and Miller Pond, it glinted in the sun like a tin can. Duncan, Bex, and Mia sat on bean bag chairs inside and drank cheap beer that Wolf had lifted from his old man. The smell of musk and decay filled the air, and bugs dominated shadowy corners. Bex texted on her phone and stole funny looks at Mia and Duncan when they laughed over something Duncan said. Duncan caught her a few times and he could swear that she was angry or upset. He assumed it was because he forced her into being the third wheel on what was essentially a date, and he felt kind of bad. He was a horny fifteen year old boy, though, so while he wasn't a self-centered monster who never thought of anyone else, his friend's discomfort wasn't high on his priorities list.

At three, Duncan shot Bex a furtive look and nodded toward the door. "I think I'm gonna take a walk," she said and got up. "Find a frog or something. Maybe if I kiss him, he'll turn into a prince." She smiled to show that she was joking but there was a sad quality to it that Duncan quickly looked away from.

"We'll come in a few minutes," Duncan said.

"Alright."

Bex pushed through the door and it slammed behind her. Duncan got up, went to the counter, and opened a drawer, taking out a tiny box. He sat down again and opened it, revealing everything you'd need to smoke the perfect bowl.

Except the bowl.

Yangzi must have took it home with him the last time they were here.

Damn it.

Looking around, he found an empty beer can. He made a dent at the bottom, pulled the tab off and then broke it. He poked six holes in the shape of a triangle in it and a shotgun hole on the side. "Nice," Mia said, "improvisation is cool."

Duncan grinned. "You do what you gotta do."

He took a little nugget of weed from the box, sat it on the holes, and brought the can to his mouth. He sparked it with his lighter and inhaled, the harsh smoke rolling into his lungs and making them itch. He didn't cough, though.

Done, he passed it to Mia, and she took a hit. "This place is kind of cool," she said. "It's like a secret underground meeting place for revolutionaries."

"Yeah, I built it pretty much on my own."

She lifted her brow. "Built it?"

"Yeah," Duncan said, "the actual trailer. I used a torch and some sheet metal."

That made her laugh. "It says AIRSTREAM on the side."

"Proof I can spell," Duncan said. "A-I-R-S-T-R-E-E-M."

Mia laughed so hard that she almost fell over and Duncan chuckled even though he didn't know what was funny. The weed was beginning to steep his brain and he felt fuzzy and lightheaded, like he was wrapped in a warm, comforting blanket and being rocked by God. LOL, that was a dumb analogy; it just popped into his head. Part of the reason he liked being high.

"That's not how you spell that," Mia said.

"Yeah it is."

"No," Mia said, "it's A-I-R-S-T-R-E-A-M."

"That's how the man spells it," Duncan said, "I spell it my own way."

She giggled and took the can. "Good point."

They smoked and talked until the weed was gone and only a little burned spot remained. Their conversation turned toward Zeke. "He's a cool guy," Mia said.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Duncan said honestly. "You guys really get along."

Mia nodded. "Yeah. We kick it all the time."

Duncan opened his mouth and hesitated. Maybe this wasn't the perfect opening, but it was an opening and he couldn't guarantee he'd get a better one. He wracked his wool-swaddled brain for something to say. He wanted to ease smoothly into it but he didn't know how, so he'd just go for the throat. "I'm actually, uh, a little jealous of him."

Mia scrunched her brow in confusion. "Why?"

"Because you get along so well and...you seem to like him. When I see him with you I'm just like I wish that was me."

Mia's eyes seemed to glow and she suppressed a smile. "I like him as a friend but...you're the one I like-like."

For a second they stared into each other's eyes, then, like magnets, they were drawn inexorably together. Duncan's heart slammed and his mouth was suddenly dry. He almost chickened out, but the look in Mia's eyes pulled him. He cupped her cheek in his hand, brushed his thumb along the ridge of her cheekbone, and kissed her. She kissed him back, their tongues gently caressing one another, and a shiver went down Duncan's spine.

Outside, someone shrieked in fury, and the trailer rocked.

Annie Harris did 90 through the streets of Oakdale, her hands clutching the wheel so tightly that her knuckles were white. In the passenger seat, Ryerson held on for dear life, looking scared. She turned a corner in a screech of tires, almost ran down an old man, and fish-tailed before regaining control of the car. She was not overly religious and hadn't talked to God since she was a teenager, but she prayed to Him that she would get there in time.

A green trestle bridge carried Main Street across Oak Creek. Annie turned onto US 12 and followed it half a mile to a trail head. She hit the brakes, jumped out, and started to run, leaving the car half in the road and her door standing open. Ryerson threw open his door and followed.

The trail led up a slight embankment and then curved to the left. Annie's heart slammed and her breath came in quick bursts. She felt almost like a woman in a nightmare, running but going nowhere at all, and when she saw the trailer, she went faster.

Bex was standing outside, peering into one of the windows and plotting to murder her son if she hadn't done it already. The greatest rage Annie had ever known - the rage of a fearful mother - came over her, and time seemed to fold into itself. She let out a throat-ripping cry and slammed into the girl, rocking the trailer. She grabbed Bex by the hair and wrestled her to the ground, getting onto her back like a bull-rider and twisting her arm up between her shoulder blade. Bex let out a high, terrified cry and Annie jerked the arm again, relishing the killer's helplessness. "You fuckin' bitch," Annie hissed, "where's my son?"

"He's inside!" Bex wailed. "I was just watching, okay?"

The door slammed open and Duncan and Mia came out. Mia put her hands over her mouth in shock and Duncan blinked his bleary, bloodshot eyes. "Mom," he said, "what are you doing?"

"Stand back, Duncan," Annie said. "Bex is the killer."

Mia's hands dropped from her mouth. "What? No she's not."

"Yes she is," Annie said, "she -"

"She was with me the night the first girl got killed' Mia said.

That gave Annie pause, but not much. "What are you talking about?"

"We were at that party and left," Mia said. "We went back to my place and talked."

Annie looked down at the back of Bex's head. "She was giving me advice like you did."

Okay, now Annie was confused. The circumstantial evidence she had was too great to ignore; she couldn't be wrong. Not about this. "If you're not the killer," she said, "then who -?"

The cold, metallic cocking of a gun stopped her mid-sentence. She looked up, and Detective Ryerson aimed his Glock at her head, his face cold and expressionless. From the moment Annie had met him, he looked soft and goofy, like the bumbling, stumbling clown he was.

But not anymore.

His eyes were dead and fishlike and his jaw was clenched, his nostrils flaring. It had been a mask all along, Annie realized. "You?" she asked breathlessly.

Beneath her, Bex gaped up at the detective, while off to the side, the color drained from Duncan and Mia's faces.

Pursing his lips, Ryerson said, "We can't all be blonde and pretty like you. Some of us are ugly. Some of us are monsters." He spat the word with dropping venom and his hand shook as if with barely veiled rage. Annie's eyes darted between it and his face. She thought not of herself, but only of Duncan, and any fear that she may have otherwise felt at having a gun shoved into her face vanished.

"You were botching the investigation on purpose," she said, more to buy time than anything else.

"I also tried to warn you away, but you kept sticking your pretty little nose where it didn't belong," he said. He aimed the gun at her and a malicious grin spread across his lips. "I was going to kill you last night but I changed my mind. Now I'm changing it again."

Annie's life flashed before her eyes - literally flashed before her eyes - and she tensed to spring at him. Before she could, Duncan streaked past her and tackled him, knocking him back a few steps. The gun flew from his hand and landed on the ground with a thud that was loud to Annie's sharpened senses. Mia screamed and Bex came alive, bucking Annie off. Ryerson regained his footing and backhanded Duncan hard across the face. The boy dropped to his knees, and in an instant, Annie was on top of Ryerson, clawing his face with her nails and trying to rip his eyes out. Flesh tore, blood gushed. Howling in fury, Ryerson brought his hand down in a deadly arc and slapped Annie in the face. Dazzling white light burst across her vision and she lost her footing.

Ryerson grabbed her by the hair and shoved her away, knocking her to the ground. She lay there for a second, then jumped when the gun went off.

She was so sure that she had been struck that she could feel the hot lead in her back. When a long moment passed and the report had tapered off, she rolled onto her side. Bex sat on her butt with the gun clasped in both hands and a look of deep shock on her face. Ryerson lay on his back, bleeding from a wound just above his heart. His eyes were closed and his mouth open, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

Duncan moaned, and Annie crawled over to where he lay, Mia kneeling next to him. She got to her knees and ran her hands frantically over him, hot tears falling from her eyes. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," he sat and sat up. Aside from three circular bruises on the side of his face, he was unharmed.

Giving into her tears, Annie swept him into a fierce hug and began to cry.