The Rules Read Free

Despite a major quirk factor, August had become the king of the school, and Beth was the duchess. Robin had to wonder why she had been included. She never had been before.
    “Motive,” Robin said, tapping the Clue board. “
Why
do these people murder the victim? That’s never discussed.”
    “Who cares?” her little brother said. “That’s not the point.”
    Just then, Jinny Brissett, Robin and Carter’s mom, walked into the kitchen. “It’s so good to see you, Beth. It feels like the old days.”
    The better days,
Robin silently translated.
    Robin forced herself to smile at her mother, feeling kind of panicky. She probably shouldn’t have lied about where they were going.
    They say that somewhere, down deep, you always know. That voice inside your head can tell you if you’re off on an adventure or headed for a disaster. That’s the same voice that tells little kids there’s a monster in the closet and that magical beings like Santa and the Easter Bunny bring you gifts on special days.
    The thing is, the presents do arrive, right on schedule.
    So do the disasters.
    And Robin had a funny feeling about tonight.
    “It was great to see you, too. We have to get going now, though,” Beth said.
    “Say good night to Daddy for me?” Robin asked her mom. He was in the master bedroom, drifting in and out of consciousness on his pain medication. He’d been riding a bicycle to the mini-mart to save gas after he’d been furloughed as a coach at Callabrese High. Budget cuts. He never even saw who hit him and left him there in the foggy darkness. His spine had snapped. Now he was on disability, and the doctors were saying he’d never walk again. Her dad said differently. He said he would be walking by her high school graduation, one year and three weeks from tonight.
    Robin looked at Carter. “By the way, I hid the answer cards.”
    He blinked comically, like a shocked turtle. Then he snatched up the packet and hefted it in his hand. His mouth forming an O in outrage.
    “You
took
them! You cheater!”
    “I didn’t look at them. I swear it. I just removed the temptation for
you
to look.”
    “That’s not fair!” Carter bellowed at the top of his lungs.
    “Easy, honey,” Jinny said.
    “I’ll be back tomorrow and then we’ll finish,” Robin reminded her brother. “And by the way? It’s
not
the knife. Got it?” He looked so lost sitting there as she got ready to party. She mimicked holding a hand of cards, and his face lit up. He crossed KNIFE off his clue list.
    “Knives are the second most common murder weapon.” Carter had a thing for true crime statistics. “In real life.”
    “Sweet,” she said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
    He grinned at her and mimicked slicing her neck with his wee tiny blade.
    “And Saturday is the most common day to be murdered,” he added cheerfully. “Today.” He waggled his brows, slicing the air again.
    Beth had already gone outside, and Robin gave Carter and her mother a farewell wave as she followed her. Cell phone coverage at Beth’s had always been spotty, and Robin had told her mom that the Breckenridges had gotten rid of their landline. That would give her a cover story if her parents tried to get in touch with her since she was supposedly spending the night there. She felt guilty for lying to them, but they really were too preoccupied to notice. Anyway, she was sixteen, all grown up.
    “C’mon, c’mon!” Beth said. “The last ones there die horribly!”
    Across the street from the house, blurry moonlight bleached fields of twisting grapevines heavy with fruit. Thirsty vineyards lapped up moisture like vampires sucked blood. In wine country, fog was a friend.
    Unless you were pedaling a bicycle through a thick nighttime mist and someone hit you. Robin had sworn to find that person someday. She used to daydream about running them over, and then she had nightmares about torturing them to death. Now the hatred had burned out of her and she just wanted them