Infamous (Beautiful Idols 3)

Your friend wouldn’t play

So you all had to pay

Now I’m counting on you

To see this thing through

As a show of good faith

Take a look in your safe

If you abide by my rule

All will be cool

Where you ultimately land

Now rests in your hands.

The second she finished, Aster raced for the closet and punched in the code to unlock the safe. When the door sprang open, she was met with a spray of confetti.

Undeterred, she rummaged through it. As bits of pink cellophane hearts spilled to the floor, she removed her jewelry, an envelope filled with cash, her laptop and iPad. So far all her valuables were exactly as she’d left them.

When she reached the bottom, she found a plain manila envelope that hadn’t been there last time she’d checked.

She met Ryan’s gaze, then slipped her hand inside, retrieving a DVD with a note taped to its side.

Yes, it’s exactly what you think

The sight of it probably brought you to the brink

There is only one more out there

As you might’ve guessed, only I know where

If you do as I say

There’ll be no price to pay

There’s an artist you need to meet

She lives on a flower-named street

She knows Madison’s secret

So don’t let her keep it

We both want the same thing

For justice to ring

Don’t share this with Javen or your mates

Or you’ll all meet some very sorry fates.

Aster stood unsteadily, her mind a whirl of all the horrible possibilities. She didn’t have to watch the DVD to know what it contained. She’d been secretly filmed while she was in a blackout state the night Madison went missing. She’d performed an embarrassingly awkward striptease that would no doubt set the internet aflame if it were ever released.

The thought of that was bad enough, but Aster’s real fear was for her family. Javen had been threatened, and if her parents ever learned about the tape . . .