Chapter 43 Adi
Adi
Adi sat on his hotel bed the next morning. He’d packed his bag as soon as Beck had gone to meet with Carter and Sierra more than an hour ago. Adi had not been invited to join them.
His phone was open to the bus timetable—only twenty-five minutes and he’d be out of here. He’d make a quick stop at home, pack a bag. Then—
Then an interstate coach out of LA, a couple of hitchhiking expeditions, and he’d be making a real-life escape. There was no way he was going back to his mom’s place, and his dad wouldn’t help him now. Adi had failed. In every way imaginable.
Someone knocked on the door. He considered ignoring it, but the knock came again, more insistent.
Resigned, he opened up.
Sierra wasn’t slathered in her usual makeup, and she wasn’t in her boots, which meant she was four inches shorter.
“Hey.” She fidgeted with her lip ring. “Can we talk?”
“Are you here to murder me?”
She held out her empty hands. “Weapon-free.”
Adi glanced over his shoulder at the bus timetable open on his phone. “I’m sort of busy . . .”
“I’ll be quick.”
Well. If he was going to disappear, he should probably make amends before he went.
He let Sierra in and snatched his phone from the bed.
Her attention flickered to his packed bag, then back to him. “Why did you take the cheats? We could’ve gotten through on our own.”
“We did. I didn’t use the cheats, no matter what Jarius and the others say.”
“So why bother?”
Sierra waited, looking vulnerable. There was an openness to her expression. Without the sharp lines on her eyelids and the sneering black lipstick, Adi felt like he could see her.
“Ranielle offered me a job as host of the show next season,” he said.
She drew back. “What?”
“She brought it up after the first elimination round.”
“What about Fitzy? Is she firing him?”
“Hitflix wants him gone. She gave me some spiel about going in a new direction, but I was wondering . . . Maybe she’s canning him because he knows something he shouldn’t?” He frowned. “You don’t think he could be the Real Game Master, do you?”
They stared at each other a beat before Sierra’s shoulders started shaking. Her fingers touched her lips, as if to belatedly try to stop her growing smile. Then came a sound Adi realized he’d never heard from her before.
She was giggling.
“Fitzy?” she said. “Planting clues? Anagrams?”
“Okay, I see your point.”
The giggles were snowballing. “You think he put together that ribbon clue? Using a columnar transposition cipher?”
“Oh god, no.”
There were tears in her eyes now. “He didn’t even know what pi was!”
A laugh burst from Adi, too. “Fine, fine. I don’t know why I said it. God, I hate that guy.”
Sierra’s good humor faded. She gave Adi a look that made him feel strangely transparent.
“Despite your accusations yesterday,” she said, “I don’t have nothing.”
“Look, I’m really sorry about that—”
“I have Carter. And Beck. And maybe you. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to set things straight. Because you were right—I had to cool down. I wasn’t ready to listen to you yesterday. I am now. Tell me what you wanted to say about the recording.”
“All right,” he said. “Ranielle offered me the cheats because she didn’t want a loser hosting her show.
I told her no at first, but she offered again the morning of the fun-house room, and I had to distract her because she almost caught me stealing the Sweetbrier Resort files for Beck.
That was the audio Jarius had. Only, I don’t know how he got it. Her office must be bugged.”
“Is Jarius even capable of that?”
“He wasn’t behind it. I know because Ranielle and I were talking about me being host during that meeting and Jarius didn’t say a thing about it. Don’t you think that’s information he would’ve loved taunting us with?”
Sierra lifted an eyebrow. “You’re saying he didn’t know?”
“Exactly. And the only reason he wouldn’t have known is because someone else supplied him with an edited version of the recording.
Someone has been listening to her. And I was thinking .
. . maybe they’ve inadvertently recorded evidence that could help get her convicted for Alicia’s murder, or Louis’s. ”
Sierra leaned against the wall, considering. “The Real Game Master,” she whispered. “They know Ranielle killed Alicia, and they’re trying to get that missing information they’re so desperate for.”
“Maybe they’re planning to reveal audio proof during the finale.”
“This is huge!” Sierra began her signature pace. “We have to get Jarius to tell us who gave him the recording.”
“The person behind this is smart. They probably sent it to him anonymously. I think he’s a pawn in a larger game.”
Sierra stopped pacing. “You’re probably right. Argh, I’d give anything to see that final room!”
“I know, Sierra. I’m sorry.”
She turned to him. Her expression had him cringing. He owed her an explanation.
“When Ranielle offered that host gig, it felt like my chance to get away. Life at home, it’s hell.
Maybe not my sister was murdered hell, but my mom is .
. .” Adi was usually good with words, but he was finding it difficult to articulate what it was like to have a parent who cared so much more about herself than she ever had for her kid.
Sierra’s gaze flicked to his duffel bag again. “That’s why you’re leaving?”
He shifted his weight, unable to look at her.
“Running away won’t solve your problems,” she said. “Trust me.”
Adi had emotionally prepared for his escape. He’d been so sure there were no anchors locking him in place.
But the mystery hadn’t been solved. Ranielle was going to get away with murder. If Adi could do one thing before he left, it would be to help Carter, and Beck, and Sierra.
And Alicia.
“We haven’t gone home yet,” Sierra said. “Last night, Beck reminded me that we’re still Team Helsing, and there’s still work to be done.”
“Like slay the vampire?”
A slow smile crept across Sierra’s face. “Precisely.”