"The night between the thirteenth and fourteenth, we were all together," Masao continued. "We gathered around eleven, after Jodi's men had stolen what was ours."

"What? So Jodi's attack has already happened?! But that doesn't mean the letter was left earlier. Casper swears there was no letter when he left the house, conveniently around eleven. The dog barked at one when Carli found the letter for the first time. The letter was undoubtedly left before one, and after eleven."

"The letter threatening to betray us to Jodi was left hours after his men robbed us?"

"It's not the only inconsistency. The letter set a meeting time that had already passed by the time of delivery."

"And what the fuck does that mean?"

"It means it's meant to make you believe the letter was left earlier. And to make you believe the sender is someone willing to reveal themselves to Casper face to face, certainly not one of his loyal lackeys. Do you believe me now? The traitor is one of yours."

"I told you we were all together on the night between the thirteenth and fourteenth."

"And were you far from Casper's house? How long would someone have to disappear to go to that mailbox and come back? Long enough for someone to notice?"

Masao opened his mouth, but couldn't close it.

That was enough. "You were close!" Ben exclaimed excitedly. I was sure that beneath his sunglasses, his eyes were gleaming. "You were very close, right? At the landfill behind his house? No... you said you gathered because your stuff had been stolen. You gathered at the hideout. You wouldn't have chosen such an exposed place... You... Ah. Nathan's house. The new guy lives a few houses away from Casper. Cas didn't want me to knock on his door, and when I did, Nathan opened it with his face covered in bruises."

Masao shut his mouth. Finally, he seemed to realize he had said too much.

Ben started pacing back and forth, caught up in the excitement of discovery. "The traitor tipped off Jodi, his men attacked Nathan's house, beat him up, stole your stuff, and Nathan called Casper to warn him about the theft. Casper gathered everyone at the scene around eleven, and you spent the night discussing what to do. The traitor just needed to step away with the excuse of going to the bathroom to deliver that letter."

I saw a dangerous expression on Masao's face. He was actually considering that possibility. How could he? We were brothers. All of us, no exceptions.

And speaking of brothers...

There was a familiar tuft of black hair behind the fence.

I abandoned my hiding spot, hearing Ben and Masao's voices becoming increasingly faint. I stepped out the back door and climbed over the fence, finding myself in the neighboring garden.

A little further down, towards the street, Carli was hiding behind the fence, eavesdropping on the entire conversation.

I approached stealthily. On the other side of the fence, Ben stopped talking. He turned his head towards me and looked at me with a puzzled expression. He still couldn't recognize me.

If I had taken the long way around, I could have avoided being seen altogether, but taking advantage of his blindness was a low blow I wasn't willing to stoop to, no matter how convenient it was.

Ben tilted his head to frame me in his blind spot.

Carli was still trying to eavesdrop. One more step, and...

I pounced on her, covering her mouth. She squirmed in panic, as delicate as a little bird. And as easily as I would have grabbed a bird, I grabbed her. I turned her around.

Her wide eyes recognized me, and fear immediately turned into irritation.

"Hi, Carli." I let go of her mouth.

"YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH!" She struggled, kicking and clawing with precision. "ASSHOLE!"

In response, I smiled lovingly at her. "This is how Ben knows where Masao lives. Were you in the car with him? I hope you at least got paid well."

Ben didn't appear uncertain anymore. From that distance, he must still see me very blurry, but he could recognize my voice in a crowd.

I left Carli and circled around the fence to approach him. He still had his head at a strange angle; the nystagmus must have been bothering him a lot at that moment.

I positioned myself to his right so he could keep his head straight.

"I asked you to let go of this story."

"Didn't they ever tell you it's rude to eavesdrop?" Ben felt at a disadvantage, and when Ben felt at a disadvantage, he pulled out his evil grin.

I knew that smile well; it had been the prelude to all the worst things we had ever said to each other.

Before any more hurtful words could fly, I said what I had been repeating in my head for days: "I'm sorry about the other night. I shouldn't have kissed you."

He hugged himself, perhaps embarrassed that Masao and Carli were still listening.

"I don't care. I'm not here for that. I don't even want to see you. I just want to solve this puzzle, and maybe prevent you from getting shot in the face."

"I'm very flattered that you don't want me to be killed. But I assure you I have the situation under control, and I assure you there is no traitor among mine."

"If you have everything under control, you won't mind if I keep asking around, right?"

"I do mind, actually. You have a natural talent for irritating exactly those people who want to kick you."

Masao coughed.

Ben shrugged and gestured towards Carli. "I'll take that risk."

My sister trotted beside him, pretending not to notice my glare. They walked away together.

"You know..." Masao sidled up to me. "If I had to name someone willing to sell us out for thirty pieces of silver, I'd name Carli."

"But Carli isn't the one blabbering with Ben about what we were doing on the night of the fourteenth."

Masao ran a hand through his thick black hair. "You know how your boyfriend is when he gets going. He gets inside your head, and you don't understand anything anymore."

I couldn't deny that.

I sighed. I was deadly tired, and now Ben snooping around was just what I needed. The only thing that would stop him now was a thick layer of duct tape around his wrists and ankles, and even then... he would find a way to convince the duct tape to let him go.

"Give me the bottle and the tube back. Let's try to fix that brake." I knelt again in front of his Honda and drowned every thought in her until they became an inconsistent buzz.

At some point, Masao set up a circle of torches to make light for me. When my phone started vibrating in my pocket, I raised my head into the dark evening.

I struggled to stand up and pulled out the phone. Max was calling me.

What else happened, now?

"Hello?"

"We met your friend on the street," said a deep voice that made me feel like throwing up. "We asked him to call you, but he refused, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Do you mind meeting me at the Roller Rink? Bring your dogs if you want, I brought mine."

The call ended.

I looked at Masao. Before every storm, before every single catastrophe in my life, I always felt calm. And even in that moment, a chilling sensation took over me.

Masao, however... already had the anxiety of a mouse in a trap.

"What was it? What's happening?"

"It was Luther. They got Max. He wants us to meet him at the Roller Rink. Call the others. Tell them to bring the bats, but no guns. Until they pull theirs out, we don't pull ours out either."