Chapter 1

I glanced down at my chest.

I checked that the little action cam clipped there, the one recording how the poison performed, was running fine.

Then I turned to the guy from the health department.

"So I'm handing the rats over to property management, and they'll hire a licensed company to deal with them. That's fine, right?"

"That's fine."

But Brenda got frantic.

"Nora, if you dump this on management, who's paying for it?"

I smiled.

"By the rules, this is management's job. How is that dumping it on anyone?"

"And the cost gets covered by all the owners who benefit. Obviously."

I glanced back at the health inspector.

"That's right, isn't it?"

He nodded in agreement.

The owners standing around weren't having it.

"My place doesn't have rats. I didn't benefit. Leave me out of it."

"Whoever started this pays for it. Not my problem."

I ignored them.

I walked straight up to the property manager.

"Greg, while the health department's still standing right here, I'm officially handing these rats over to you. Please deal with them as soon as you can."

Greg looked like he'd just swallowed a dead rat whole.

But all he could do was grit his teeth and nod.

As I left, I caught sight of Brenda, loud and shrill a minute ago, now oddly calm.

She even pulled Greg off to the side herself.

The two of them started whispering.

Something felt off, so I stayed on my guard.

I looped around behind them.

Hidden behind a pillar, I caught their conversation.

"Brenda, why didn't you back me up out there?"

"She just dumped this hot potato in my lap. What am I supposed to do?"

"You saw it. Nobody wants to pay a dime."

Brenda glanced around, shifty.

Once she was sure no one was watching, she patted Greg's shoulder.

"Greg, are you slow or something?"

"I reported that girl so she'd back off and quit sticking her nose in."

"If she's dumb enough to front the money and the rats disappear, where does that leave us?"

Greg still looked anxious.

"Sure, but what do we do with this batch of rats?"

Brenda smiled, dark and slow.

"Rats chewing their way out of a cage? Happens all the time."

"We can't do that."

Greg's voice jumped before he could stop it.

Brenda clapped a hand over his mouth, and he went on, timid.

"If the owners find out, what happens to me?"

But Brenda had it all worked out.

"You just do as I say."

"I've already lined up a fall guy for you."

Right then, my camera beeped a low-battery warning.

Lucky for me, I was quick on my feet.

I slipped away a step ahead.

Brenda never spotted me.

Back home, I backed up the footage.

As I did, I played back what Brenda had said, listening close.

And if my guess was right?

The fall guy she meant was me.

I still remembered three days earlier, handing out my homemade rat poison to the owners for free.

"Nora, take a word of advice: leave the professional stuff to the professionals."

"Sticking your nose where it doesn't belong is a good way to make enemies."

Back then, I hadn't seen what was hiding behind the smile.

I'd missed the second meaning buried in her words.

"Don't you worry, Brenda."

"I did my PhD in biochemistry. Rat poison is literally my field."

Turned out my good intentions were in her way.

And sure enough.

It was a little after ten that night.

Management dropped an emergency notice in the group chat.

[The rats chewed through the traps and most of them escaped. All residents, please take precautions.]

The chat blew up.

[Greg, what is management even doing over there?]

[All those rats loose, and who's responsible if something happens?]

Greg was worn out trying to explain and calm everyone down.

That was when Brenda, head of the HOA board, spoke up.

[Don't blame Greg, everyone. He's done his best.]

[Getting handed that many rats out of nowhere, they're short on staff and experience, so a slip-up was bound to happen.]

I smiled.

There it was, passing the buck right on cue.

I didn't even need to read the chat to know which way the wind was blowing.

I thought it over for a moment.

Then I muted the chat and kept the footage to myself.

They needed to learn their lesson first.