The Sixes

then. And they’ll suspect me, too.”

So that was the real point of the visit, Phoebe realized. It wasn’t at all about protecting Blair and Gwen—it was about protecting Jen’s own hide.

“But the road may eventually lead to you anyway—everyone in the Sixes could come under suspicion. You should call your parents immediately and get legal advice about how to handle this.”

Jen’s eyes welled with tears. “My parents won’t understand,” she said. There was a trace of petulance in her tone. “Can’t you try to help me first?”

“But help you how?” Phoebe didn’t have an ounce of pity for the girl.

“I don’t know. Can’t you figure out who is setting them up?”

“I’m not a detective, Jen. That’s what the police do.”

“But you write those books. You find all sorts of things out.”

Phoebe rose from the armchair and pulled a tissue from her purse for Jen. She needed a second to think. She had to work this situation to her own advantage—try to use Jen’s inside knowledge about the Sixes.

“Okay, Jen, let me see what I can do,” Phoebe said. “But first I’m going to need additional information.”

Jen shifted on the couch, expectant.

“Let’s start with me.” Phoebe said. “You know, of course, that the Sixes have been after me, right?”

Jen looked away, unable to make eye contact. “I know they were upset with you,” she muttered. “Blair said you were trying to expose us—and then ruin us.”

“Were you one of the girls that broke into my house?”

“What?” Jen said. “I never heard they did that. Are you sure it was them?”

“Forget that for a minute,” Phoebe said bluntly. “What does the word Fortuna mean to you?”

The girl looked genuinely puzzled. “Um, nothing. I’ve never heard of it. Is it a place?”

“I want you to ask the other girls in the Sixes about that name, okay? You won’t want them to catch on that you talked to me, so tell them you overheard me on the phone after class, and that I was talking about the Sixes and Fortuna. See if it means something to any of them.”

“Okay.”

“Now tell me about the circles.”

Jen’s eyes widened in surprise. “But how—why do you need to know about them?”

“Just trust me. If I’m going to help you, you’re going to have to provide me with information. I know about the first four. What are the fifth and sixth circles?”

“I really can’t talk about them. We’re never supposed to reveal anything about the circles.”

“Jen, people are dead,” Phoebe said. “It’s time to talk.”

The girl looked away and bit her lip again. At this rate, Phoebe thought, it was going to be a bloody pulp by the end of their conversation. Finally Jen looked back at Phoebe.

“You’re only supposed to know about the circles you’ve done and the one directly above them,” she said. “I’ve only done the first two. But someone told me about the fourth and fifth in secret.”

Phoebe already knew about the fourth. “What’s the fifth one?” she asked.

“‘Seduce and Exploit.’”

“You’re supposed to entice someone to have sex with you?”

“Kind of.”

“Kind of ?” Phoebe could feel her patience starting to fray.

“Well, yes, sex if you want. But you can find some other way to win their favor.”

“And what’s the exploit part?”

Jen looked away yet again, and this time when she turned her head back, she never looked directly into Phoebe’s eyes.

“You entice them to do something for you or give you something you need.”

“So you have sex with a boy and then have him write a term paper for you—something like that?”

“No, not a boy. You have to seduce someone in power. So what they have to share is really worthwhile.”

Wow, Phoebe thought, it was just as the psychologist had told her—girl power totally run amuck.

“Like a professor, then?” Phoebe asked. “Or someone in the administration?”

“Yes,” Jen said, nearly in a whisper.

“And you don’t know the sixth circle?”

“No—just the name. It’s called ‘Secure.’”

“As in ‘to secure’?”

“Yes. I think it might have something to do with forging your future somehow. That’s all I know.”

Her comment was vaguely similar to what Alexis Grey had said about the Sixes taking care of you after college. Phoebe was baffled. It was hard to imagine such a malicious group of girls morphing into a spunky career- networking operation.

At that Jen let her shoulders sag, like a kid who was growing bored and irritated. “I should probably go now.” She rose from the couch and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her slicker. “They might wonder where I am. So you’re going to help, right?”

“The Sixes are still in operation—even with Blair in jail?”

“It’s sort of a mess, but they’re trying to keep it going,” she said.

“Who’s in charge now? Another senior?”

“Yes, but I can’t tell you who,” Jen said. “She’s a friend of mine. We—”

She broke off, looking like she’d given too much away. Phoebe bet it might be Rachel, the girl she saw Jen yammering to that day after class. Rachel was a senior.

“Okay, Jen, I’ll see what I can find out. But you have to do the same for me. About Fortuna. I expect to hear from you.” She paused. “I also need you to find out what the sixth circle entails.”

“But they’ll never tell me that,” Jen said. “Besides, I don’t see how knowing any of that would help.”

“Let me worry about that. Just find it out.”

Jen started to move toward the door

“There’s one more thing I need to know before you go,” Phoebe said. “Was Lily Mack trying to extricate herself from the Sixes?”

Jen sighed, thrusting her hands deeper into her pockets.

“Yes, she wanted out. And I heard Blair was furious about it. She felt really betrayed.”

“How long had Lily been a member?”

“Just since last spring. After her boyfriend left.”

“And why did she want to quit this fall? Because she started to find out what the Sixes were up to?”

Jen finally met Phoebe’s eyes and held them.

“No, it wasn’t really that. She was going through the fifth circle this fall, and the man she was supposed to, you know, seduce . . . she fell in love with him. And she didn’t want to use him in any way. That’s why she wanted out.”

Phoebe found herself swallowing hard. She didn’t like where this was going.

“So who was it?”

“I don’t know. I swear. The only thing I know is that she was on a committee with him. Blair said that was how Lily first got to know him.”

The school, Phoebe knew, seemed to form a committee every time you turned around. That’s how she had met Duncan, after all—on a committee made up just of faculty. There were others for students only, and some that included a combination of faculty, students, and administration. Jen had been on the committee Stockton had organized about student life—that’s where he’d seen her exchange a look with the other girl, Molly Wang, when he raised the topic of sororities. It should be easy enough, for Phoebe, to figure out which one Lily had participated in this fall.

As soon as Jen left, scurrying down the porch steps, Phoebe began to pace. She felt totally wired from the tarot card and now from Jen’s visit. Her gut told her Jen didn’t have a clue about Fortuna. Other members—Blair and the senior council—certainly might. But how could they have ever found out? Glenda was the only one here who knew about Fortuna. Could her friend have told someone?