After Hunter and I had everything we needed, we would slip out of the party, and no one in the Network would have any idea that they’d just been infiltrated andfilmed.
The real Charles Connery would have no idea either. When he woke up in the morning with no memories of the previous evening due to the drugs, Adam was going to tell him that he got so wasted at the charity gala that he passed out in his walk-in closet while searching for a jacket after drunkenly vomiting on the one he was wearing. A real embarrassment for a man of his age andstatus.
Status mattered more than anything else to people in Royal Falls, so after hearing that story, Charles would be worried about possibly tarnishing his stellar reputation, and he would never admit to anyone else that he got so drunk that he didn’t know what happened the night before. Because of that, if anyone who attended the secret society party—or the gala downstairs—mentioned anything about it to him, he’d most likely play along and act like he remembered the entireevening.
No one would ever know that he’d never even beenthere.
Trina’s brows knitted as I finished explaining everything. “I have a few questions,” she said slowly. “I probably should’ve asked themsooner.”
“What are they?” I asked, cocking my head to theside.
“Well, for one, how do you know the men at the party will take off their masks after the whole initiation thing isover?”
“Camila told me a while ago that at least half the men take their masks off at the parties. I think they bank on the girls being so drunk or messed up on drugs by that stage that they won’t remember theirfaces.”
“It’s not like they can tell anyone even if theydorecognize and remember the guys,” Adam added with a shrug. “Because they’re blackmailed into keepingquiet.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Trina nodded slowly. “Another thing, though—you’re going to be filming them having sex with the Medusa girls at the party, and the whole point is to catch them doing it with the underage ones, right? Like Layla, Hazel and Penelope. That way you can turn them in for essentially running an underage sex traffickingring.”
“Uh-huh. It’s a federal crime, so they’re gonna be fucked,” Huntersaid.
“I know, but the thing is, I’ve heard of fifteen and sixteen-year-olds getting into all sorts of legal trouble just for sending each other nudes on their phones, purely because they’re underage,” Trina said. “So when you hand the evidence in to the cops or the FBI, couldn’tyouget in trouble for making a video of underage girls? Seeing as it’s basicallyporn.”
I shook my head. “We’re only filming it to expose what’s happening in the society, because no one will listen to us or believe us otherwise, so I don’t think we’ll get introuble.”
“Fairenough.”
“Anything else?” Hunterasked.
Trina frowned and bit her bottom lip. “Hm. What about the whole thing with you pretending to be your dad?” she said. “I mean, you look a lot like him right now, but your voice is different. What if they notice that? And what if they think it’s weird that you’relate?”
“They won’t think it’s weird. They’ll think Charles was just sorting out stuff at the charity gala downstairs, seeing as it’s his house and his party,” I said. “Besides, he seems like a pretty major player in the organization, so I doubt anyone will questionhim.”
“And as for the voice thing, I’m pretty sure the music will cover most of the difference. But if someone notices and says something, I’ll just say I’ve got a bit of a cold, and that’s why I sound weird,” Huntersaid.
Trina’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Okay. I think that coverseverything.”
“Hold on,” Adam cut in, tipping his head to the side. “You’re banking on them not noticing that you’re only pretending to have sex. But what if they make you strip naked? You won’t be able to fake itthen.”
I nodded slowly. “I thought about that,” I said. “And honestly, we just have to hope like hell that it won’thappen.”
“I don’t think it will,” Hunter interjected. “They’re gonna think I’m one of them, because I’ll have Dad’s signet ring and everything else. So they’ll have no reason to suspect that we’re not really fucking up there, because there’s no way a real member would let a girl get away with fakingit.”
“Oh. Good point.” Adam noddedslowly.
“Even if things go wrong, it’ll be okay in the end,” Trina said, patting me on the shoulder. “I’ll be right downstairs as your getaway driver if you needme.”
I smiled at her, hoping I looked a lot braver than Ifelt.
Truthfully, I was scared as hell about tonight. It was only going to take a few hours, but like my friends had pointed out, there was a lot that could go wrong with the precarious plan. We just had to hope that no one in the society noticed anythingamiss.
Adam left the room to check on Charles and make sure the button cam was transmitting to his computer properly, and Trina turned around to pack up her special effects makeup gear, leaving me alone withHunter.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, gently stroking my cheek. “It’s not too late to cancel the whole thing. You could call the Medusa girls and tell them you’ve changed your mind and decided to take the twenty-five grandinstead.”
I shook my head. “I want to do it,” I said, mentally infusing my spine with steel. “If they really did have something to do with Lindsay’s death, then we need to find out, and we can only do that if we expose their whole organization. You deserve answers, and she deservesjustice.”
“Okay.” He leaned forward and planted a kiss on the top of my head. “Just remember—no matter what goes down, I’m not going to let anyone hurtyou.”