Lexi's Undoing

BONUS CHAPTER - THE HUNT

"I'm on the committee too," Lexi said. "And I know my dad will drop by to check on me at some point. He's the reason we're all out here making these covert plans."

"Lexi's right. Sheriff Z has been keeping his eagle eye on us all week," Twila said. "But with Lexi's inside intel, we'll have a better chance at pulling off the challenges without his interference."

She circled the room, pausing in front of each member of the group like a tabloid talk show host stirring the pot. She was going to make an excellent emcee.

"The location of the first challenge will be revealed at the grad party. It will be something that only our Panic people will recognize. We want everyone to have time to enter the contest before Sheriff Z even knows what happened. So, the judges and I have worked out a scavenger hunt that will take place tonight at the party. There's twenty-three of you, so we've chosen twenty-three items for the hunt. I'm texting you that list now. I want you to save the doc to your phone then delete the text."

Phones started dinging with notifications, and Twila made another pass around the barn, making sure each person followed her instructions.

"What's the point with this scavenger hunt? How is it going to help us avoid the sheriff?" Burt sat on the floor with his two buddies smoking a fat blunt and filling the barn with the potent scent of weed, a strain affectionately named Willie Nelson.

"I'm getting to that. Each scavenger hunt item has a number written on it. The number tells you when it's your turn. You arrive at the location alone, manage the challenge, and get out fast. That way, we're not all there together attracting attention. One of the judges will be hiding out to confirm you've completed the challenge. Does everyone understand?"

She looked pointedly at Burt, who spoke through a dense cloud of smoke. "Sounds like a real gas."

"What do we do when we find a scavenger item?" James stood between Lexi and Nora. He had become the fourth wheel to their threesome—Lexi, Nora and Twila—since the middle school science fair.

"You text me the item you found, and I'll text back your time."

"Why can't we just pick numbers out of a hat?" someone asked.

Twila clicked her tongue. "Where's the fun in that? This is a challenge, remember?"

"Clearly, the lowest numbers have the best chance for success." Everyone looked up at Diana, who sat on the edge of the hay loft, her legs dangling over the side, picking her fingernails with the blade of a pocketknife. "What happens if Sheriff Z puts a kibosh on the challenge before everyone has had their turn?"

"He has to sleep, doesn't he?" Twila said. "Don't worry. We will make sure everyone has finished their initial challenge before we move on to the next one."

"If the sheriff gets suspicious, we could create false trails for him to follow." Octavius put in his two cents, which happened any time his sister had an opinion on something. "I'd be happy to act as a decoy."

"I think that's an excellent idea," said Diana.

"You do?" Octavius squinted up at her, looking confused at her ready allegiance.

"Of course. You've been my decoy ever since you were born."

Octavius's face burned red as the barn filled with laughter, and the chatter continued until Luke left the window where he had been acting as look-out. "People! If we're done here, we need to evacuate ASAP. A sheriff's car just pulled up to the gymnasium."

"Shit!" Lexi wasn't accustomed to cursing in public, but it was buried under everyone else's curses.

"Okay! Ya'll have fun tonight!" Nobody seemed to pay Twila any mind. They were too busy scrambling through windows and doors and disappearing into the woods.