Mandy interrupted him. “Don’t worry, Kim,” she said, taunting him again with phony concern. “Heather decided not to tell on you, didn’t you, Heather?” She gave Heather a sly look from the corners of her eyes. “At least she won’t if you’re a good boy and do exactly as we say.”
Kim’s eyebrows arched quizzically and he drew one corner of his mouth to the side in his best imitation of a defiant sneer. He sensed his arrival at a pivotal juncture and concluded that he must act now to take command of the situation or risk hopeless entanglement in the web of sticky circumstances being woven around him. He took a deep breath and two steps toward the door. “Nice try, you guys,” he said with all the calm authority he could muster, “But I don’t think so…”