Alice Chen’s Reality Check

Chapter Twenty-Three Hell Is Uncovering the Truth

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hell Is Uncovering the Truth

Holy shit. Was Dawn Taylor trying to threaten me or warn me?

I’m still pondering this when Leah and Bryan drop us off like we’re kids being left at day care.

“Go change and then meet us in the kitchen for dinner,” Leah instructs us.

I switch out of my swimsuit as quickly as possible. After what Dawn Taylor said to me, I can’t shake this jittery feeling that something is terribly wrong, and I’m desperate to do something with myself to burn off the nervous energy. When Daniel emerges from the bathroom, he catches me pacing around the room and swinging my arms back and forth, like I’m one of those old Asian uncles getting their cardio in at the local park.

“Everything good?” he asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just peachy keen. The bee’s knees. Absolutely nothing wrong here.” I’m babbling now, and I have to stop. “Let’s go, everyone’s waiting for us.”

We’re headed down the corridor leading to the kitchen when Daniel says, “Hang on.” He tugs me to a stop, then pulls me into a storage closet and closes the door behind him.

He leans in toward me, and like clockwork, my heartbeat starts picking up. Is he about to kiss me? He’s so close, and I tip my head back just a bit to meet his lips, but then he says, “Alice, are you okay? Dawn’s little pep talk back at the hot tub…”

“Yeah, that was weird,” I agree, though my mind isn’t on Dawn Taylor. It’s dark in the storage closet, and I’m being crowded into Daniel by a mop and a stack of buckets. “I think she’s just annoyed with me for, you know, accusing one of her producers of murder.”

Daniel sighs, and I feel his breath in my hair. “I don’t like that there was a snake in your helmet. Our names were on the boxes, Alice, and the equipment looked brand-new,” he says. “And you’d just said in the challenge that you were afraid of snakes. This feels personal.”

“It might’ve been an accident. We are right next to a jungle,” I say. “Or maybe it was a dumb prank from one of the producers to stir up drama.”

“I think it’s more than that, Alice,” Daniel says somberly. “I think someone sees you getting too close to the truth, and they’re trying to threaten you.”

I shiver. From the way he’s speaking, I can tell Daniel’s dead serious about this. It’s one thing to chase down a murderer. It’s another thing to consider that a murderer has you in their sights. My blood runs cold at the thought of what might happen next.

“Well? I’m waiting for you to have three to four objections to my reasoning,” he says. “I’m ready, bring on the bullet points.”

I laugh at that, and the laughter eases the tight feeling in my chest. I swat at Daniel. “I don’t disagree with you just for the sake of disagreeing with you!”

“You’re disagreeing with me right now,” he points out. Given how dark it is, he can’t see me stick my tongue out at him, but I do it anyway. And almost end up licking him.

“So that’s what this was all about?” I ask. “You pull me into a storage closet to issue dire warnings?”

“Just adding a little spice to our relationship.” Daniel chuckles, then sobers. “But seriously, Alice, be careful.”

“Okay, well, if we want to be careful , we’d better come up with a good reason why we’re late to dinner, especially if someone catches us stepping out of a storage closet.”

“Come on, Slayer. That’s easy. You know why we’re in here.” His voice is quiet and teasing, and I immediately get the message. My whole body flushes hot at the thought, and I’m already reaching for him. The memory of how he felt beneath me in the hot tub is still fresh, and I want more.

“Hurry up, Midas. We don’t have all day,” I say, and his lips find mine.

I know we’re only supposed to make it look like we’ve been going at it in here, but then he nips at my lower lip, and my tongue darts out to soothe it, and just like that, all logic goes out the window as his tongue tangles with mine. I rise on my toes to arch into him as the kiss turns slick and heated, every move sending sparks skittering down my body and back again. When his mouth leaves mine, I let out a sound of protest, but then he’s kissing down the column of my neck, the hot press of his lips sending a jolt of pleasure through me.

When we break apart, he’s breathing harder, and I’m almost certain there’s a hickey on my collarbone. My lips are tingling in a way that just makes me want to kiss him again.

Instead, I ruffle his hair. “Shall we?”

We throw the door open—and nearly slam into Freya.

“Watch it!” she says, and scurries off. I feel a twinge of sympathy for her. There’s likely no love lost among the other production assistants, but coping with the death of someone you worked with can’t be easy.

In the kitchen, Ava looks us over, her gaze catching on Daniel’s ruffled hair and the hickey on my neck. “Young love,” she snorts, as if she’s not basically our age.

Then the producers arrive, and we’re directed to crowd around the kitchen island like we’re all one big happy family.

“Okay, we need you all to react to what happened yesterday. Can you manage that?” Leah says.

One of the production assistants sets down several platters of fruit, baby carrots, and celery sticks for us to nibble on. By now we know that we won’t really get to eat dinner until filming’s over. Feeling just a tiny bit rebellious, I dunk a baby carrot into a tub of hummus and crunch into it.

“Selena, can you kick us off? Ask the others how they feel about Trevor and Mikayla imploding,” Bryan says.

Selena immediately shifts into her role, saying, “Guys, can you believe Trekayla’s meltdown? They were, like, my favorite Instagram couple. I’ve taken so much emotional damage. I feel terrible for them.”

“Mikayla’s cheating blew up in her face,” Ava says pointedly. “She was always relying way too much on Trevor to carry her anyway. A real partner steps up and shares the load.”

I scan the room, looking at all the contestants and crew members here, wondering if one of them is guilty of more than corny platitudes. When I get to Bryan, I realize he’s staring at me. There’s something about the way he’s looking at me that I don’t like. Chase’s friends are usually fun, good-natured guys, but Bryan might be different.

“Alice, you’ve been quiet,” he says. “Share your thoughts with the class?”

“Dawn Taylor said she was going to put our relationships to the test,” I say. “It seems like she’s really delivering.” I give myself a mental pat on the back for saying all of that with a straight face.

“Buckle up,” Daniel says to the others. “Tomorrow’s probably going to be crazy.”

“Do you know what’s the theme?” Ava asks. “Not all of us had the time to read up on Dante before we got here.”

“Fraud,” I supply.

Daniel says, “And if this was what they did for Violence, I can only imagine what they’re going to put us through for Fraud.”

“Well,” Ava says. “Shit.”

—

The next morning, I drag myself out of bed when Leah comes barging in to take us to the day’s shoot.

“Leah, it’s still dark out,” I protest. I’m used to waking up early to teach zero period, but I’m getting really sick of being dragged out of bed at the actual crack of dawn.

“Weather app says this is the only break in the rain today,” she says cheerfully as she presses a banana and a granola bar into my hands. “Eat. Quickly.”

We pass by the living room, which has been cleared out. With Trevor and Mikayla’s departure, there’s enough bedrooms in the villa for each couple to claim one. It’s strangely quiet without all the other couples here, a marked difference from when Chase and I were crashing with everyone else. Gone are the heaps of laundry, the unmade beds, and the scattered luggage.

“It’s starting to feel like a ghost town around here,” I whisper to Daniel as we walk through the halls.

“We’re in the endgame now,” he says, and it hits me for the first time that we could actually win this. I’d gone into the competition determined to win, but that’s a far cry from actually being so close that I can taste it.

I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment and imagine coming home with the money. Walking up the stairs to my mom’s apartment and showing her a huge novelty check. Well, they’d probably just do a wire transfer or something like that, and I know that my winnings will be taxed to hell, but a girl can dream.

I can tell it’s going to be a wild day when it starts with us getting into a helicopter.

“We have helicopter money?” I ask Leah as people start climbing in.

“As of a few days ago, yes,” Leah says. She turns me to face her. “Here’s the deal. Just keep your head down and focus on making it to the end. I’m pulling for you and Daniel.”

“Aw, you’re just saying that,” I say, but it’s nice to know someone is in our corner, even if that someone is a cutthroat reality-show producer.

The view below is dizzying, and I find myself gripping Daniel’s arm as the villa falls away from us. It looks like we’re headed to the very center of the island.

“Is it really safe to be flying with the storm still going?” I shout to Leah over the noise of the helicopter.

She shrugs. “I’m sure they wouldn’t do it if it weren’t safe.”

That makes me feel a little better.

“This helicopter’s way too expensive for them to risk it,” she adds.

My mind jumps off from that point, trying to calculate the cost of the helicopter—fuel plus the pilot’s hourly fee plus maintenance. But then Daniel nudges me.

“What?” I mouth.

“Look,” Daniel mouths back and points out the window.

We’re high enough up that the helicopter is no longer climbing. The water below us is a maelstrom of bright blue, sea green, and sapphire, with gleaming sparks of sunlight and white crests of waves. I’m mesmerized by how stunning it all is as the helicopter turns sharply and the view of the ocean gives way to the greenery of the trees on the island, foliage so dense that you can’t see the ground, just palm fronds and vines layered on top of each other, all racing to climb up to the sky.

I glance over at Daniel, and the corners of his eyes crinkle when he looks back at me. He mouths, “Isn’t it amazing?” and I find myself genuinely grateful that he told me to look, and that I didn’t just waste the entire ride thinking about how much it cost or what could go wrong. I wonder what else I’ve been missing.

Soon enough, we land on a flat spot next to a bridge. The bridge is a classic stone and concrete arch, reinforced with steel, with what I’d estimate is a six-hundred-foot drop to the ground below. The crew has already set up a technical rig of metal, harnesses, and ropes, which I have a distinctly bad feeling about.

I can understand why, from a production standpoint, we’re here. It’s incredibly cinematic, and I can see a drone camera circling above us as the helicopters touch down and drop us off.

As someone who might have to do a stunt on this bridge, though, I’m not a fan. I inhale deeply while counting to four, then hold my breath for seven seconds, then exhale for eight seconds. I’m doing my best to calm my nerves, but as the panic sets in, I can tell it’s not about to work.

Then Daniel takes my hand, squeezes it briefly, and says, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this really a good idea after what happened to Anton?” He’s addressing Leah, his voice deceptively mild. “Do we know if the bridge sustained any damage in the storm?”

“It wasn’t my call, I can tell you that, but the PAs checked over all the equipment, and we surveyed the bridge. You’re perfectly safe.”

When filming starts, the three of us remaining couples are stationed on the bridge, positioned against a waist-high railing that serves as a safety barrier. Across from us, there’s a huge white screen.

“You know, I didn’t think I was scared of heights,” Selena says, peering over the edge. “But maybe I am.”

Noah scoffs. “That’s the point. They want you to be afraid.”

“Next time I go on a reality show, I’m going to tell them I’m afraid of large sums of money and puppies,” I mutter.

“At least they haven’t figured out how to weaponize my true fear—parental disapproval,” Daniel mutters back.

Dawn is the last to arrive, in her own helicopter. When she disembarks, the cameras follow her as she walks toward us like the bridge is her runway and we’re the peanut gallery at Paris Fashion Week.

Despite the way she’s taking on the catwalk, there’s something off about Dawn Taylor. It might be the gale-force winds or the early hour, but her hair just isn’t quite as glossy as it usually is, and she looks pale and just the tiniest bit haggard, even with her makeup on. Her outfit, a red jumpsuit with a white belt, seems a little rumpled, as if whatever magic she possesses that keeps her looking camera-ready is starting to wear off.

“Babes, welcome to the semifinals,” Dawn Taylor says, striking a pose. “I’ve got a devilishly difficult challenge for you today. You’re looking down the barrel of the Fraud Challenge.”

By now we know our cues. Selena gasps, everyone looks shocked, and I arrange my face into a suitably horrified expression.

“I know some of you have been very, very bad,” Dawn Taylor says in a sultry tone. “And it’s time to come clean. For the Fraud Challenge, you’ll be playing a twist on Two Truths and a Lie. I’ve personally picked out three revealing statements about your partner. You’ll be on the hook to guess which statements are true and which are false. Fail to guess correctly, and you’ll be taking a plunge.”

She gestures at the steep drop below us.

“Now, without further ado, let’s get into it!”

The crew members help us into the harnesses and secure them. A bungee operator comes around to check that all the straps are correctly attached. Then Freya and Bryan come around to do a second check, testing our cords and adjusting as needed.

Once we’re all standing on the edge of the bridge, Dawn Taylor fills us in on the rules.

“The game is simple. I’ll list three facts about your partner. For every statement you correctly guess as true or false, you get one point. If you get two questions wrong, you get pushed off the bridge into a terrifying bungee free fall. The couple with the most cumulative points wins a hot couple’s massage back at the villa in the Sunset Suite. The losing couple is getting the hell out of here. Ties will be determined by who answers the fastest, so stay sharp, babes!”

A cameraperson pans across the row of us on the bridge, and I try not to think about how high up we are.

“Noah and Ava, step onto the platform,” Dawn Taylor calls out, and Noah and Ava cautiously climb over the safety rail. All that’s left between them and the fall into the water below is their bungee cords. Dawn Taylor joins them on the platform, positioning herself so she’s closer to Noah. “Okay, Noah, you’re up first. Let’s see how well you know Ava. We caught footage of Ava checking out Daniel and Chase by the pool. True or false?”

Noah laughs. “True. Who wouldn’t check out these guys? They’re pretty easy on the eyes!”

Noah gets the point, then scores one more for knowing that Ava cheated on her vegetarianism with a taco last week. When the round is over, the two high-five each other for earning three points.

“Now let’s see if our next couple can go three for three! Alice and Daniel, it’s your turn.”

Daniel helps me over the safety barrier as we step onto the platform together. My stomach lurches as I glance down toward the water below. I take a deep breath to steady myself. I can do this.

Dawn Taylor says, “Daniel, true or false? Alice chose to betray you during the Greed Challenge.”

Shit. I never told him, I realize too late. Why didn’t I tell him right after it happened?

Oh, right. Because I didn’t trust him back then, and I’d made my choice for good reasons. And then by the time I felt like I could trust him, I’d kind of forgotten about it. I was busy with the mystery of Anton’s death, after all.

“False. Alice would never back down from a challenge or betray a teammate,” he says with so much certainty that I feel like I’ve been sucker-punched in the gut.

“Oooh, looks like there’s trouble in paradise,” Dawn Taylor says, and with a click of a button, the white screen lights up with a projection of me during the Greed Challenge, racing to fill the red barrel. “Daniel, Alice chose to betray you.”

Daniel looks over at me, his expression carefully blank.

“I’m sure it was a strategic move,” he says, going for upbeat but coming across stiff.

I grimace and try to mouth “sorry” at him, but he’s no longer looking at me.

“Okay, Daniel, this is it. One more wrong answer, and you’re taking the plunge. True or false? In one of her confessionals, Alice told us that she secretly thinks you’re an egotistical know-it-all.”

“True,” Daniel says instantly.

“Are you sure, Daniel? You don’t want to think about it?” Dawn Taylor says.

“She’s practically said as much to my face,” Daniel says, shrugging. “Trash talk is her love language.”

“I’m so sorry, Daniel,” Dawn Taylor says. She rests her hand on his chest and then shoves.

Daniel teeters for a moment, and then he’s gone, plummeting away into the distance.

“Daniel!” I can’t look away from the sight of his disappearing figure. But just as it looks like he’s going to smash into the ground, the bungee cord snaps back, sending him rocketing up. Our eyes lock for just a moment as he comes almost level to the bridge, and I can’t read his expression.

“Zero points for Alice and Daniel,” Dawn Taylor says, moving on to Selena and Chase. “Chase, true or false? Selena still sleeps with a night-light.”

Chase fails that question—it was true—and his second one—that Selena secretly hates Mexican food (which, come on, even I knew that was false). I suspect getting both questions wrong secretly delights him, because I can tell by the way he’s looking over the edge of the bridge that he actually really wants to go bungee jumping.

When Dawn Taylor pushes him over, he screams “Cowabungaaaaa!” into the void like he doesn’t have a care in the world. She waits for Chase to get reeled up before she begins her pitch for the second half.

“Okay, round two, babes!” Dawn says, fanning herself with the question cards.

Like Noah, Ava crushes hers, although she’s miffed at finding out Noah lied about the number of girlfriends he’d had before her. They end up with a grand total of six points.

Then Daniel and I are up again.

“Ready, Alice? Daniel admitted in confessionals that you aren’t as good of a kisser as Selena is. True or false?”

“False,” I say. “Not that I think I’m a better kisser than Selena, but Daniel would never say something like that about his girlfriend on camera.”

Dawn claps her hands. “Correct! You’re on the board with one point!”

Finally. I try not to think about the fact that the choice I made during the Greed Challenge may be ultimately what sends me out of the competition. I have to focus.

“Next question. True or false? Daniel had a crush on you in high school.”

I laugh so hard I snort. “False!” I say confidently. “We were always at each other’s throats. There’s no way.”

“Sorry, babe, that’s actually true!”

What? How? When? This must be something Daniel lied about in an interview to make our fake relationship seem more plausible, right? But I don’t have any time to process this, because Dawn’s already asking me the next question.

“True or false? Daniel let Selena win during the Violence Challenge.”

“I realize it might’ve been hard for Daniel to take Selena on, especially given their recent breakup, but I also know that he’s very competitive and he always plays to win,” I say, glancing sidelong at Daniel while I talk. He looks miserable, and my gut twists. “So I think that’s a lie.”

“Locking that in?” Dawn drawls.

“Locking it in,” I say. I’m not entirely sure, but even if I’m wrong, at least I can be fast, which might benefit us in a tie.

Behind Dawn, the projector clicks on.

We see Daniel and Selena square off. He raises his staff, about to go after her with the padded end, but I can tell something is wrong. Selena isn’t looking like she’s in any condition to fight. Instead, she looks tense and unhappy, and when she lifts her staff, she nearly fumbles it. When Daniel sees the look in her eyes, he freezes and lowers his staff. Then Chase comes barreling in, and Daniel whips around to knock him out with a single swing. By then, Selena’s recovered herself and knocks Daniel out in turn.

I was wrong. Daniel let Selena win.

“Sorry, babe,” Dawn says as she rests a hand on my shoulder. “Only one point for you and Daniel this round!”

At first, I think Dawn’s hand is on my shoulder to comfort me, but then she gives me a shove, pushing me off the bridge.

For a second, my body can’t catch up with the knowledge that I’m in free fall, but then I can feel the lift of my stomach, the nerves from looking down from such a great height transforming to unbridled joy.

I try for a second to avoid screaming, but then I give in. I keep yelling even as the bungee cord starts to reach its end. But then, instead of feeling the cord snapping me back, I keep falling.

Something’s not right.

I’m plunging farther than the other contestants. Any elation from the free fall turns to pure terror.

As I plummet to the earth, countless memories flit to the surface: my mom teaching me how to make dumplings, the fragrant scent of duck egg congee, the evenings I spent studying for exams with Cindy. Chase is in there too, and I remember our first kiss, sweet and hesitant beneath the awning of the dining hall. And finally there’s the taste of haw flakes on a rainy day with Daniel by my side.

Then my harness tightens around me, and I’m shooting back up into the sky, the wind whistling in my ears. My heart is in my throat until the bungee operators reel me in.

When I look back at the bridge, I spot Dawn Taylor and Leah talking to Daniel. They’re trying to be quiet, but their raised voices still carry.

“—the conditions on this set are unacceptable. This is gross negligence and extreme disregard for safety,” Daniel is saying.

“Look, I get it, you’re upset. Of course you’d be. But that’s why we had the backup harness,” Dawn Taylor says, calm, reasonable. “She was never in any danger. I know you were all set to go jumping in after her, but we had it handled.”

“Did you?” Daniel asks. “Because it sure doesn’t seem like it to me.”

“I need to film,” Dawn Taylor says. “If you have more concerns, talk to Leah.”

When I’m back on the bridge, Daniel rushes over to me and envelops me in a hug. “Thank god,” he says.

“I’m okay,” I say to him, but he only hugs me tighter.

“You—” he begins. “I thought—” He shakes his head. He looks at me with an anguished expression, and it hurts, seeing that. All I want to do is make all that fear and worry go away. So I do.

I tilt my head up to kiss him fiercely. He loops an arm around me, leaning into the kiss as he runs his hand through my hair. It’s good , too good, and I don’t want it to be over. When we pull away from each other, I search Daniel’s face for signs that he’s as affected by all of this as I am. The color in his cheeks is heightened, but that could just be the wind at this elevation.

It’s Selena and Chase’s turn next, and after the bungee operators quadruple-check their harnesses, filming resumes.

“Now, Selena, if you get two points here, you and Chase could be in the finals…and Daniel and Alice will be out,” Dawn says solemnly.

Fantastic. My entire financial future has come down to how well my ex and his new girlfriend know each other.

Selena bounces on the balls of her feet, shaking out her arms.

“True or false? Chase didn’t pay taxes for the first two years after he entered the workforce.”

I know this is true because I’m the one who taught Chase about taxes. But Selena, assuming Chase is a functional adult, guesses it’s false.

“Next question. We caught Chase on camera saying he’s still in love with Alice. True or false?”

“False,” Selena says, but then she darts a worried look at me.

My heart sinks, because I know she’s right. Chase, who cheated on me? Who’s been draped all over Selena this past week? Who broke up with me on a reality TV show? He can’t still be in love with me.

But I also remember another version of Chase. One I would have confidently said was my partner for life. A man who brought me lattes when I was stuck at the hospital, who proposed to me simply because he knew it would put a smile on my mom’s face, who always had a smile for me, even when I was spiraling from anxiety or cranky after an all-nighter grading exams.

Dawn clucks her tongue. “True,” she says. And the clip plays on the big screen. Chase is sitting in a confessional chair, holding a mai tai with a bright-pink umbrella in it, and he looks drunk and sad.

“I don’t know, man. Selena is amazing. But. Damn. I think I’m still in love with Alice.”

“Chase,” Selena says, managing to put so much hurt into the one syllable of his name.

Then Dawn Taylor sends her flying off the bridge, and Selena screams all the way down.

I look over at Chase, but he won’t meet my eyes. What the hell was he thinking, saying all that? How could he cheat on me and then say he’s still in love with me?

“I’m so sorry, Chase and Selena,” Dawn says after Selena gets reeled back up. “You came in dead last, with zero points. Your time in hell is over.”

My heart is in my throat as Selena and Chase make their exit. I can only imagine the talk they’re about to have. And for me, there’s no goodbye, no explanation, no closure.

Too much has happened—in the last thirty minutes, the last day, the last week—and I don’t know how to feel right now. Beside me, Daniel is silent. After that challenge, we both have a lot to think about.

Leah and the crew come up and start taking off our gear. As I go through the motions of working with the crew to take off the bungee cord that got dislodged and the harness vest that saved my life, I glance over at Daniel. He seems quiet, closed off. I see him strip down to his regular clothes, methodically taking off each harness and carabiner and letting them drop onto the blankets we’re standing on. Then he strides right up to Leah.

“Leah, a moment?” Daniel says.

“Yeah, shoot. What’s up?”

“Well, half the cast got food poisoning. A fireworks malfunction injured dozens of people. We lost both the main power lines and the backup generator in one night. Alice’s bungee cord broke. And there’s the small matter of a death on set,” Daniel says. “Did I miss anything?”

“We talked about this. Accidents happen,” Leah says.

“An accident is forgetting to charge the mic packs overnight,” Daniel says, his tone taking on an edge. “This is criminal negligence. If you can’t guarantee our safety, maybe we should leave the show.”

“What?” I stare at Daniel, but he’s not meeting my gaze.

“You can’t!” Leah cries. “The contract—”

“I’m sure I can find a loophole in the contract, given everything that’s happened,” Daniel says.

Leah’s voice is a hushed whisper when she speaks again. “Okay, let’s not be hasty, Daniel. I know you’re not feeling too hot about everything going wrong on set. But nothing else is going to happen, okay? I guarantee it.”

“Somehow I find that hard to believe,” Daniel says, folding his arms.

“Okay, look. This stays between us,” Leah says. “But those accidents were manufactured. The food poisoning. That was all Seth, fucking dumbass. And the generator blowing up was, uh, engineered, let’s say.”

“Why do all this?” I ask, but I think I already know the answer.

“Drama! Spicing things up! Sometimes it isn’t enough to leave these things to chance,” she says. “And it’s working. The show’s a runaway success.”

“What about the fireworks and Anton’s death?” I say.

“Well, those were actual accidents. Anton half-assed everything he did, and he picked the wrong time to not properly secure the fireworks. For all we know, he was busy swiping right on Tinder when he fell to his death.”

“Okay, then what about the snake?” Daniel asks.

“I can’t control wildlife, Daniel! And with Seth gone, I have twice as much work to do around here.” Leah sighs. “I’m sorry about the bungee cord. I nearly shit myself when that happened. But, look, the people who were screwing things up on set are either done or locked in the pantry, and the show’s almost over. There won’t be any more accidents, I promise. I’m looking out for you. I’ve been looking out for you from day one, remember?”

I weigh Leah’s words in my head. Most of what she said seems plausible, and I know for a fact that she’s telling the truth about Seth being behind the food poisoning.

Daniel doesn’t look ready to drop this, but just then, someone shouts for us to board the helicopter. Leah gives us both two friendly pats on our shoulders, only wincing a little as she does so, and sends us toward the chopper. Daniel climbs in first and holds his hand out to me.

When he helps me in, for a second, I meet his eyes.

He’s still unhappy about what happened earlier.

I don’t know what emotion, if any, he must see in mine. Shock, maybe. I can’t believe that Daniel would threaten to leave. How could he walk away from this? From me? We’d made a promise to each other to stick this out.

But there’s no opportunity to talk over the din of the helicopter as it ascends into the stormy sky.