"I need people I can trust."

As Rachel gazed at the faces gathered around her, Max tried her best to read the room despite the twisting feeling in her stomach. No one was talking. The music had been shut off at Rachel's behest. The loudest sound was Chloe chewing on a nacho, and even she quieted down when Rachel laid a gentle hand on her knee.

"So I take it this has nothing to do with you wanting to stage Cyrano next year?" Juliet inquired, smiling.

Rachel returned her cheeky grin. "I'm afraid Monsieur de Bergerac's gonna have to wait. This is far more important. You see, I think something terrible's happening in Blackwell." She paused, her smile inverting. "Something that has to do with our newest faculty member, Mark Jefferson."

Warren blinked. "Er, you mean Mr. Jefferson the photographer?"

"No, she means Mr. Jefferson the singing janitor," Chloe grumbled. "Duh, yeah, that Jefferson."

"Just what do you mean, Rach?" asked Juliet. "I was under the impression you were thrilled to have him teach Photography for the senior program. You even boasted about being among the first to sign up."

"That was before I discovered what he really is, Jules," Rachel replied, shifting closer to her laptop. "Thanks to Chloe's detective skills, I found out that our Mr. Jefferson was up to some unsavory stuff in his career. Involving unwilling girls."

Brooke, sitting on a cushion on the floor, lifted her head from the doodle on her tablet. Kate's eyes widened, her fingers worrying the paper napkin wrapped around her cup. Juliet and Hayden exchanged concerned glances. Chloe just sat very still, glowering down at her beer.

Rachel angled her laptop to face the gathering. "This is an article from Seattle University's student paper archives." She gestured towards the screen. "Here's the gist of it: an art student once accused Jefferson of drugging her while she was volunteering as an assistant for his photoshoot. When she woke up, she found herself partially undressed and that he was taking pictures of her, like some kind of pervert-psycho. He was never punished for it. That was in 1996. Now, he's here in Blackwell."

Max watched five astonished faces as their gazes crawled across the screen. No one spoke for a long while; Rachel was prolonging the silence to let the facts sink in.

"Oh my," Kate whispered, touching the cross around her neck.

"I can't believe it," muttered Warren. "Did he really actually do this?"

"Now hold on," Juliet exclaimed. "Just because someone accused him once doesn't mean he's guilty. This article doesn't even say he was charged with a crime, which likely means no one found any proof that he did this."

"But he still did it," Max whispered. The instant she spoke, all eyes converged on her. Her heartbeat thumped away in her ears and she curled her hands tightly around her knees.

"Max is right," Rachel stated. "Not only is Jefferson guilty—he hasn't stopped."

"And he won't," Chloe growled. "Until someone makes him."

"But wait—how are you so sure about all this?" Warren inquired.

"Because of Kelly Davis." Rachel was answering Warren, but her eyes were turned to Juliet. "Do you remember how Kelly vanished from that one party, only to turn up the next day at the dorms—without any memory of how she got there? Remember how quiet she became, how she wouldn't talk to us or tell us why she was leaving Blackwell? Do you remember that blank look on her face the day before she left? Like she was horrified by something she couldn't explain?"

"I..." Juliet paused, the color draining from her face. "Are you saying she—you can't be—it could have been—"

"Or before that," Rachel went on, "Megan Henley. You all remember her, don't you? You remember how she'd go out of her way to help us all make posters and banners for every Bigfoot event. How she liked to smile and laugh, how quickly she made friends. Then a couple of months ago, she left without even saying goodbye. Just that same expression on her face. Why?"

The temperature in the room seemed to have sunk one or two degrees. From the corner of her eye, Max saw Chloe's hand curl around her beer bottle in a crushing grip. Concerned, she laid a hand on her shoulder. Chloe inhaled sharply, then relaxed beneath her touch.

To Max's surprise, Brooke spoke up next. "Okay, that's one way to arrive at a conclusion. But you have to understand, this is all still pretty much conjecture—not proof. You can't just accuse a guy based on hearsay."

"And it's really hard to believe he's doing all that without anyone noticing!" Hayden added.

"I hate to say it," Juliet said, choosing her words, "but they're right. It's really suspicious, but none of this proves that Jefferson is what the article says he is."

But as she said this, Max saw Juliet's eyes sparkling, her leg bouncing up and down where it was crossed over her knee. There's no mistaking Juliet's excitement, and one glance was enough for Max to see that Rachel saw it too.

"You're not wrong," Rachel replied. "I know I'm missing some crucial details here, but just because we don't yet see the full evidence doesn't mean it isn't there." She planted both hands on the table as she gazed about the room. "Listen—even if we don't have the whole truth, what we do know is reason enough to start looking for it. Because now we know and there's no unknowing it. If Jefferson IS guilty, don't you think we should stop him before he hurts someone else?"

There was the slightest tremor in her voice when she said that last line, easy for a casual listener to miss.

"Rach," said Juliet, "are you saying...?"

Rachel took a deep breath. "I believe Jefferson's targeting me next," she replied. "He offered an in with an LA-based fashion magazine, in return for a photoshoot with me. Alone."

Shock rippled across the faces of the gathering.

"Jesus," muttered Hayden.

"Fucking ew," Juliet cried. "And you said?"

Rachel kept her gaze level as she spoke. "I told him I'd think about it. I didn't want him to get suspicious."

The gathering fell quiet at Rachel's revelation. Max swallowed and kept looking straight ahead. From the corner of her eye, she could tell her Chloe was practically vibrating, her fists ready to punch something. Max could hardly believe that Rachel would be so brazen as to lie in front of everyone like this; she could only hope that no one would find out.

It was Warren who broke the silence. "...So, what do you think we should do?"

"I kinda have a guess already," Juliet said, smiling.

Rachel leaned back on the sofa and crossed her arms. "Jefferson's managed to hide his crimes because he enjoyed a position of authority, and because his victims either couldn't or wouldn't speak up. But none of that makes him immune to the truth. And that's what we're going to do first—dig up the truth.

"Juliet, you're the best journalist in Arcadia Bay. Would you be interested in pursuing a story like this? We already have a lead with Laura Nuñez. Max, since you live up in Seattle, could you and Juliet team up to find her? Perhaps interview her?"

Juliet turned to Max, the sparkle in her eyes brighter than ever. "What do you think, Max? Up for a little legwork?"

Rachel glanced her way, and Max understood that they had reached the critical point of the plan. "Yeah," she replied at once, "of course I'll help."

"Great," Rachel said, the tension melting from her shoulders. "After that, we need to reach out to both Kelly and Megan, find out their sides of the story. I really, truly hope I'm wrong, but if I'm right then we have to help them get justice too. Chloe, Juliet, would you contact them for us?"

Juliet assented quickly. Chloe hesitated, then nodded once.

"What about us bros?" Hayden asked, motioning to Warren. "What should we do?"

"You've got an important role, Hayden," Rachel said. "While we were talking things over, Chloe and I found a correlation between Kelly and Megan—they both left school soon after they attended a Vortex Club party."

Hayden's jaw fell open. "Now hang on—what's the Vortex Club got to do with this?"

Rachel sighed. "I don't know for sure. But think for a moment—if it's true that Jefferson's been drugging and kidnapping girls, how would he go about it? Where could he do it without arousing suspicion? What about a big party? It makes sense—people drink, they do drugs, and sometimes, they're not aware of what's going in their cups."

"Okay, you lost me there, Rach. I've been to every single one of those ragers and Jefferson's never turned up, not even once!"

"He doesn't need to," Chloe interjected, "if he has help."

Beside her, Max heard Kate gasp.

Juliet frowned. "Are you saying...?"

Rachel said, "What if someone else is dosing the girls for him? An accomplice who targets vulnerable girls? If they exist, we need to find out who."

You already know who, thought Max, but you know better to float his name without proof. You want our friends to figure it out themselves. You want to build the case. And you want them to help bring Nathan down along with Jefferson.

Hayden was shaking his head. "Not gonna lie, Rach, this is quite a stretch. I can't think of anyone we know who's capable of pulling that shit."

Rachel's eyes darkened, all sweetness vanishing from her mouth. "You might be surprised, Hayden," she said. "Look, all I'm asking is that you keep your eyes open, especially during these parties. You might just save someone's life. Will you do it?"

"...Fine. I'm not sure what you expect to find, but fine."

"Er," Warren began, "I'm not a big party-goer myself, but maybe I can help?"

"You most certainly can, good sir," Rachel replied, smiling again. "The more eyes we have around Blackwell, the better. You say at the dorms too, don't you?"

"Yup. Room 102."

"Great. Word gets around fast in the dorms and locker rooms, I'm sure. I'd like you to keep your ears open, particularly where drugs are concerned. Like who provides them. Just keep it hush, okay?"

"I can try." He hesitated, then said, "You really think someone in Blackwell's helping him?"

"He only showed up at school this January," Chloe said, "and already two girls have left. Yeah, he must have help."

Hayden raised his hand. "Hang on, I just thought of something. If you want to stop Jefferson from preying on people, won't it be quicker to just spread some rumors about him? Get everyone to talk about his past? Won't that slow him down?"

Brooke cleared her throat. "Well for one thing," she said, "that's fucked up."

"I really don't want to have to do that," Kate added. "Not if we don't know for sure."

"And for another," Juliet sighed, "that would put us directly in someone's crosshairs."

Rachel grinned. "I'm afraid you're right about that. Victoria's been so keen on Jefferson getting into Blackwell, she won't let anything stop him from teaching next semester. She'll hunt down who started the rumors—me—and go all Terminator on them."

Warren said, "So we find the proof we need, expose him, and let the truth speak for itself, huh?"

"Exactly."

"And what about you guys?" Brooke asked, motioning to Rachel and Chloe. "What'll you be doing?"

"We think Jefferson's got some kind of safehouse where he brings girls he...targets," Rachel said. "We're gonna try and find out where. That means keeping tabs on his activities. We could sure use your help on that front, Brooke."

Brooke raised her brows. "Is this going to be something illegal?" she asked. "Because that's what it's starting to sound like."

"I'm not asking for anything specific—yet," Rachel replied. "But in case we'll need your skills, then we'd very much appreciate it if you could provide an eye in the sky."

"Kate," Rachel went on, turning to the girl on the far end of the couch, "I know you do volunteer work at the principal's office, so we could also use your help."

"I..." Kate paused, visibly swallowing. "I think I have to decline."

Max's heart sank. "But—"

"I know you mean well," she hurried on, "but I don't think I can be party to spying on someone and potentially ruining their reputation. It's not that I don't trust you, but I want to believe that Mr. Jefferson is innocent until proven guilty."

"I'm with you on this, Kate," said Juliet, "that's why I'm going to research and verify this story as ethically as possible. I'm not telling anyone about this until we've gathered the facts and I'm convinced it's true."

"That's all I'm really asking for," Rachel said. "And I totally understand. No one talks about this issue with anyone outside this circle until Juliet's gets something solid for her story. And if you feel there's no truth to it, we won't speak of this issue ever again. How's that?"

Kate hesitated, frowning in thought. "Alright," she finally said, turning to Juliet. "I'll at least listen to what you can find."

Brooke shook her head. "So, am I the only one who thinks that we're punching above our weight class here? Assuming we find the proof in the first place, what's the endgame? We take him down ourselves, Scooby-gang style? Shouldn't we leave this mess to the police?"

Rachel opened her mouth to answer, but Chloe beat her to it. "If the cops could've taken down Jefferson, they'd have done it back in '96," she said. "He outsmarted them then, and he's been outsmarting them now. So yeah, Brooke: we are going to take him down Scooby-gang style, if that's what it takes. The cops can have what's left of him after. Question is: are you in or not?"

"You really think we can do this?" Brook countered. "A bunch of high school students?"

"I have no doubt we can," Rachel said. "I fully intend on cooperating with the authorities, Brooke, when the time comes. But Mark Jefferson targets girls when they're most vulnerable and he's doing it right fucking now. I'm not standing for that. None of us should. Don't discriminate against yourself because you're still in high school, Brooke. Because I promise you, Jefferson won't give a damn."

With that, the meeting was over. As the rest of the party polished off the remaining nachos, Kate gave her apologies, saying she had a boosters meeting the next day. Max and Rachel saw her out the door.

"Thanks for coming tonight, Kate," Rachel said.

"You sure you'll be alright going alone?" Max asked. She looked out in the night and felt danger hiding behind every shadowy bush and picket fence, waiting to snatch up Kate as she walked by.

"The bus stop's right there," Kate said, smiling at her. "I'll be fine. Thanks for inviting me, Rachel. And it was nice meeting you, Max. I hope we can talk again."

"I'm sure we will," Max replied. Nevertheless, she let Rachel go on ahead and watched through the window till Kate got on her bus.

When she got back to the living room, Hayden was rubbing his hands together, saying, "So, night's still young, guys. Any ideas on what we can do?"

"We could watch some movies," said Warren, digging through his pocket. "I got some sick films here in my thumb drive."

"Yeah?" Chloe asked, lounging back and crossing her arms behind her head. "Like what? Scott Pilgrim?"

"Um..."

"Scott Pilgrim's an absotively cool movie, Chloe," Max protested, poking her in the side.

"Well, of course you'd like it, nerd," Chloe said, poking her back. "It's not my scene. No offense to nerds. Or Canadians."

"Oh yeah?" Rachel said, smirking as she grabbed another beer. "Could've sworn someone here had a ladyboner for Envy Adams and wouldn't stop humming 'Black Sheep' for weeks."

Chloe shoved at her shoulder. "It's catchy as fuck—what do you want from me?"

Hayden shrugged and motioned towards the TV. "Well, if anyone's up for it, we got an Xbox 360. Don't get much use since my brother left for NYU. I got Rock Band 3. With instruments."

Warren's face lit up. "Rock Band's good!"

"Great! I got the drums." Hayden got up and dragged the controllers out from under the couch.

"And I got some moves with the guitar," Warren said, accepting the guitar-shaped controller from Hayden.

"Then I'll go with the keyboards," said Brooke, getting up from her floor cushion.

Warren grinned at her as he slipped on the guitar strap. "Wow, you know how to play too, Brooke?"

She gave a lopsided shrug. "What do you think we Asians do with our time outside of playing video games and musical instruments?"

"Knock yourselves out then." Chloe slumped forward and slid the bucket of beer closer to her. "You dudes won't be needing these, will you?"

"You know," Hayden said, booting up the Xbox, "I got the track for Black Sheep loaded in here. And we do need a vocalist."

Chloe paused mid-sip. "Hm. I guess I can't stand someone else half-assing such a good song...I can give it a whirl. Whatever."

As they were gathering around the TV, Max looked around and spotted Rachel through the nearby glass sliding door, smoking on the patio. Seeing everyone was occupied, she thought now might be a good time to talk.

Max stood up and slipped out the glass doors to the outside. Rachel and Juliet leaned close together, smoking as they leaned against the wooden railing between two white pillars.

"...got a lot riding on this story, Jules. If we can prove that he's behind this then—"

"We help a lot of people, I know." Juliet blew a cloud into the cool night air. "And now I get why you didn't ask me to bring Dana along. She wouldn't be able to keep this to herself."

Rachel's cigarette traced a red line in the darkness as she waved her hand. "I love that girl. But we both know that if we tell Dana to keep something in confidence, it's as good as gone. Taylor would know, then Victoria, then all of Blackwell." Rachel shook her head. "I want you to have the chance to pursue this story unmolested. I don't want Jefferson catching wind of what we're trying to do."

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight Max standing by the door. "Oh, hey there."

"Hi," said Max. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

"Not a problem," said Juliet. "Actually, I need to bounce too. Max, call you tomorrow about our Seattle plans, okay?"

"You got it."

Juliet slipped past her and through the patio doors. Back inside the den, Chloe had picked up the mike, exclaiming, "Alright kiddies, this is my jam, so nobody screw it up!"

"Please don't drop the mike, Chloe," said Hayden. "That shit costs sixteen dollars."

With the door closed again, Max turned back to Rachel, who was leaning back against the wooden railing.

"So." Rachel skewed her lips to blow smoke to the side. "How'd you like your surprises?"

"I..." Max took a moment to process her thoughts. "You and Chloe really caught me off-guard."

She grinned at Max. "That's kinda the point of a surprise."

"I know. I appreciate the camera—"

"Chloe's idea."

"—And it was blast seeing Kate and Warren again. I'm glad they're a part of this, even if only in a small way. It's just that...I get way too nervous around people, Rachel. I didn't know what to do with myself."

Rachel tilted her head to one side. "I don't know about that, Max. They liked you well enough."

"Well, maybe. But I'm not good at improv like you. And I don't have time powers to fix things if I screw up."

The blonde laughed and raised both palms in a placating way. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry Max. From now on, I promise to give you a heads up when I've got something big planned."

"Thanks." Max brushed her hair behind her ear, then added, "But I want you to know I really appreciate what you did, Rachel. Especially with Kate. Even if she's not too keen on helping, now that Kate knows about Jefferson, she's gonna have her guard up. She'll think twice before going to a Vortex party."

Rachel inclined her head. "She's your friend, Max. It's the least I could do, though we may have just killed off the last vestiges of her social life." She stubbed out her cigarette on the ashtray. "Come join me, will you?"

Max stepped over to where Rachel leaned against the railing, placing her elbows on the wood and looking up at the stars. "You make it look so easy."

"Make what look easy?"

"Talking to people. Influencing them. I can't even convince my mom I'm an adult. But you pulled all this off in one go. Just like that, we got allies against Jefferson."

Somewhere behind them, the bass began to pound against the windows as the song started up. Rachel gave a little laugh. "It only looks easy, Max. You don't know the work that went into it.

"Take Juliet, for instance. She'd never go to a party without Dana or she'd never hear the end of it. I convinced her to come alone with the promise of a juicy bit of gossip, something she absolutely had to hear first.

"Hayden is easy to convince. If two or more of his friends agree to something, he'll go along with it. That's why getting Juliet on board was key.

"Brooke was tricky since we're not exactly friends. But she owes me for convincing Principal Welles that the computer lab needed a serious upgrade. That's how I got her to come, and even then I had to make her feel like she was doing me a favor.

"Both Kate and Warren are too nice to turn down my invite. But to convince them to help, well, I had to lean on you."

Max goggled at her. "But they don't even know me! Well, yet."

"People only need a few seconds before they decide they like someone. And they made up their minds the instant they met you, Max. Don't worry—they'll help." Rachel winked. "You underestimate just how adorable you are."

For her own peace of mind, Max decided that that comment was just Rachel being Rachel. "You really thought this through, huh?"

Rachel rested the small of her back against the wooden railing. "I learned long ago that if you help people get what they want, they'll help you get what you want. The real trick comes in getting them to want the same thing. Like now."

They both fell silent at that moment, because Chloe's voice cut through the pounding rhythm.

Hello again, friend of a friend, I knew you when
Our common goal was waiting for the world to end

"Holy shit," breathed Max, turning to watch her through the glass. Chloe must really like that song: she was bouncing on her toes in the middle of the room, grasping the mike in both hands, not even following the lyrics onscreen, letting the rhythm alone guide her.

Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend
You crack the whip, shape-shift, and trick the past again

Around her, Hayden, Warren, and Brooke rocked their instruments, pleasantly surprised at how quickly they managed to find their flow. But despite the roaring guitar and clash of cymbals, Max found she couldn't for one second take her eyes off of the blue-haired whirlwind in their midst.

Rachel glanced at Max, smiling. "Didn't you know she could sing like that?"

Max was jolted out her reverie. "Oh yeah. Her teachers used to make her lead the national anthem and everything back in grade school. But I don't remember her sounding this amazing. Or that she could even belt like that."

"She's a treasure, isn't she?"

"Mm-hmm."

They stayed quiet for a moment, content to let the music wash over them. Then Rachel said, "Chloe's been...different...since you came back to Arcadia Bay."

Max blinked. "How do you mean 'different?'"

"She's been coming to see me every day this past week. Seems she's really thrown herself into the bodyguard role, offering to drive me whenever I needed to go somewhere in town. She hasn't been this attentive in a while." She cast her eyes down, grinning to herself. "I'm the type who likes my own space, but...it's nice, having her near me like this all the time."

She turned her gaze back at Max. "I guess I got you to thank for that."

Max shook her head. "You don't have to thank me. I didn't do much. Chloe's always been loyal."

"Yeah. It's just like her, huh?"

"When you were...I mean, back in my timeline, Chloe never stopped looking for you when everyone else had given up. She covered the whole town with your missing person posters. We spent an entire week searching. She's absolutely relentless when it comes to you, Rachel."

Rachel smiled sadly. "I could have said as much from the way she spoke about you, Max."

Max felt a tremor deep inside her chest. "She talked a lot about me?"

"About Captain Bluebeard and First Mate Max?" Rachel laughed. "What about your science experiments that nearly left a hole in her bedroom floor? Or your not-so-secret wine-tasting session? Or that you both dreamed about leaving Arcadia Bay for a life of treasure and adventure?"

Max pressed a hand to her face. "She made us sound like a couple of dorks."

"I think it's kinda sweet." She took a sip from her drink. "I guess she and I had the same idea about leaving this place for good."

"Maybe that's why she wanted you and me to meet."

"Yeah, and here we are." Rachel tapped her nails against her beer can, her eyes catching Chloe again through the glass.

"Max," she whispered, "I know what I did. I saw the look on your face when I mentioned Jefferson's offer. I know I just told a monstrous lie in front of my friends. In front of Chloe." She paused, frowning down at the price sticker she had peeled off with her thumbnail. "I did it to convince them of the danger we're in, but—it doesn't feel good. It feels like I'm digging myself in deeper into a hole I should be trying to climb out of."

Max didn't know what to reply to that. She placed a faltering hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

She shook her head, her blond tresses felt like silk on Max's fingers. "I don't know. But I don't want to lie like that ever again. I won't if I can help it. I want you to know that, Max."

"Okay."

"Okay." Rachel took a deep breath, then her lips curved upward once more. "It's strange, Max. Just a week ago, you were nothing more than a name. I could never have imagined you."

Nor I you. "Well," Max said, grinning back at her. "It's nice to finally meet you, Rachel Amber."

"Ditto, Maxine Caulfield. Thanks for having my back." She raised her beer can in a toast, to which Max raised her own imaginary drink.

"So," Max said. "What now?"

Rachel golden brows furrowed. "Now we get ready," she stated. "Since you asked me for a head's up with surprises, I should tell you now: we're going camping tomorrow."

Max's eyes widened. "Camping?"

"Out in the woods, where we can train without anyone seeing us. That was the plan, right? My powers as our ace in the hole against Jefferson? Well, I know just the place for it." She wiggled a finger at Max. "You and Chloe did a lot of camping yourselves, or so she told me."

"Y-yeah, we did." Going out into the woods for some privacy sounded like a good idea, at least. "But if we're going, should we be getting some rest...?"

"Screw that!" Rachel finished off her beer and plunked the can down onto the railing. "Isn't it a waste that Chloe's making some killer music right now but nobody's dancing?"

Max, dizzied by Rachel's frenetic pace, froze at the word. "Dancing?"

"Yeah, Max. I'm sure you're familiar with the term." She grasped Max's hand and dragged her back into the den.

"Um, I don't really dance, Rachel!"

"Not what Chloe told me—she said you two can boogie like mad!" Maneuvering them beside Chloe, she began to jump with her, swaying her hips and shaking her head so that her mane whipped about like a flag in the wind. Max tried to keep up, but all she could manage was a weird, twitching shimmy.

Now that the truth is just a rule that you can bend
You crack the whip, shape-shift and trick, the past again

She caught Chloe's eye, and her best friend grasped her fondly by the shoulder, laughing her way through the rest of the lyrics. Before long, Max found herself laughing as well.

She ended up crawling half-alive into Chloe's bed sometime past two in the morning.