CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 23
TYLER LOOKED TERRIBLE. THE PATCHES OF HIS SKIN THAT WERE visible beneath the layers of days-old calamine were covered in a bright-red rash. His eyes watered as he squinted into Ness’s light, his mouth screwing up into a pained grimace. Surprising herself, she took pity and lowered the beam slightly, redirecting it to his chest.
“When you say, ‘It’s not what it looks like,’ do you mean you didn’t drug Bradley and lock us both in a sex dungeon?”
Tyler squinted at the ceiling in consternation.
“Oh, well, no,” he said slowly. “I did do that.”
Bradley huffed air through his nose in a way that reminded Ness of an angry cartoon bull. She used her free hand to make a “calm down” gesture. He stayed put, but continued to breathe menacingly, leaning forward, ready to pounce, his rage apparently quelling the nausea.
Tyler watched the other man out the corner of his eye, as though he was monitoring a poorly trained dog or sticky-handed toddler. He pulled his gaze back to Ness and cleared his throat. “Do you think you could put a shirt on?”
She looked down at her pale pink lace bra, crusted with saltwater residue and dirt, and stifled an eye roll. “You’re welcome to give me yours.”
Tyler’s face scrunched in confusion. “But it’s the only one I have.”
Ness considered hitting him over the head with the flashlight. She tested the weight of the light in her hand, bouncing it gently up and down.
Tyler, still looking discomfited at Ness’s lack of appropriate attire, gestured toward Bradley. “Well, as I was saying, I did, technically, do the things you said. But . . . Bradley made me do it.”
Ness’s eyes popped open even wider as she looked between the two of them, moving the flashlight back and forth between Bradley’s bulging forehead veins and Tyler’s bloodshot eyes.
“I did not!”
“Did too!” Tyler crossed his arms over his chest.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, Ness wondered if she could knock herself out with the flashlight to escape the hell that was her reality.
“You followed me down here! You were snooping!” Tyler hissed. “If you’d minded your own business—”
“Hey, Tyler?” she said, interrupting the pointless back-and-forth. “I was thinking, maybe we could talk about this upstairs? It’s great down here and all—love what you’ve done with the place—but I could do with a bathroom break and some natural light.”
She smiled hopefully.
The corners of Tyler’s mouth drooped. He shook his head. “Eeeeee. Wish I could help with that, but you’ll need to stay down here for the time being.” He gestured to the wall where the hamster water bottle could barely be seen in the gloom beyond the flashlight’s beam.
“You have plenty of water. I brought food.” He patted a pocket of his cargo shorts and Ness heard the crinkle of a wrapper. Her stomach instantly grumbled. She turned her head, shifting the light to look at where the water bottle dangled. The water level was visible only if she squinted and used her imagination a little bit.
“Hey, how can you even see? What about your glasses?” He’d been squinting ever since they arrived, saying things like “If only I could see.” Ness had thought he was just trying to get out of doing the more terrible survival jobs.
He laughed, and it quickly spiraled into a coughing fit. He held up a finger: one minute.
“They were blue-light glasses.” Tilting his head up and taking deep breaths as the coughing faded, he added, “You’re all so focused on yourselves, you only see what you want to. I’m a nerdy, clipboard-toting PA without his glasses. Innocent. Useless. And look where that got you.”
Ness let the smile drop. “Listen, there have clearly been some . . . errors in judgment here, but it’s been a tough week. No one’s at their best. I really think a good option, for everyone, is to move on. Forget all this happened. Right, Bradley?” She attempted to transmit a strong “just go with it” message with her eyes.
Bradley must have missed the subtext, because he stared back, arm muscles twitching with tension. His chapped lips parted, about to launch into a list of all the reasons he would definitely not be willing to forgive and forget.
Ness donkey-kicked his shin, perhaps with more force than she’d intended, heat of the moment, et cetera. Bradley closed his mouth but maintained a steady glare.
Tyler edged farther away, Teva-clad feet shuffling across the rock floor, then focused on Ness.
“I’m afraid it’s too late for that.Too much in play, far too many plans made. No.” He shook his head ruefully. “We must forge ahead. It’s a shame to rush it, especially when you, Ness, were proving to be such a delightful and surprising star. With all the rumors, I expected you to be horrible and, well, I think we can agree your casting in Ocean Views was more for your looks than any real skill. Oh, come now, don’t be offended. We’re all reasonable adults here. It’s important to deal in facts, not dreams and wishes.”
Too much in play?The idea of this limp noodle of a human executing anything close to a criminal plot should have been laughable, but the more Ness thought about it, the more it made sense.
“I don’t have any facts, Tyler. I have a headache, a newfound dislike for grottoes, and very little patience. Why are we here?” She shone the flashlight around them, letting its beam bounce off rock faces and the gently lapping water in the pool.
Tyler sighed and leaned against the wall near a set of inset shelves, scratching his forearm hard enough that Ness could hear his nails abrading his already tortured skin.
“Do you know how hard it is to make it in this business?”
She looked at Bradley like wtf is this guy on about? He shrugged one shoulder and, keeping his hands close to his body, pummeled one fist into the palm of his other hand. He raised an eyebrow questioningly. Ness shook her head once, quickly. Not yet.
Despite the dire situation, she felt kind of bad for Tyler. He was clearly troubled, and it had been a terrible week. Maybe there was a way out of this where everyone could agree it was a time best forgotten and move on.
Tyler continued, his voice ragged with emotion. His eyes were glassy, gaze fixed on a point somewhere over Ness’s shoulder. Tiny beads of sweat were popping up along his hairline, clinging to the greasy strands already glued to his forehead by calamine and dirt.
“You have to be the hardest worker in the room. The quickest problem solver. The least intrusive presence while also being there every second in case someone needs something. I’m attentive, proactive, tireless. I’m trustworthy—”
Bradley scoffed, interrupting Tyler’s reverie. “Wait. Aren’t you the heir to a mayonnaise empire? Why are you working so much?”
Tyler jolted, as if surprised to find someone else in the room with him.
“You’re not the only one who can act.” Tyler raised his chin and preened. “My parents kicked me out when I was seventeen. Not that I left much behind. Dad’s a mechanic. Mom waits tables at the diner. They have no vision. No aspirations! They couldn’t understand why I’d want to move to L.A. Imagine choosing to stay in Kenosha your whole life?
“I’ve been clawing my way up the ladder for years, underappreciated, underpaid, dedicated to my work like no one else. I don’t party. I don’t fraternize. I am a model employee and I deserve to be seen! I deserve my big break. And then it fell into my lap.”
He nodded to himself, face lighting up like a kid presented with a double scoop of ice cream.
Ness’s arm was getting tired from holding the flashlight, and the beam shook in her grip. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, wishing she’d bopped him with the light in the first place. Based on the look of exasperation on Bradley’s face, he agreed, and he looked as though he might be considering launching the chair at their rashy captor.
“The network wants drama?” Spreading his arms wide, Tyler looked around the cave. “Could they ask for anything more? I mean, this is perfect. Beyond perfect. I’m going to hand Morris the camera footage—we can present it as a joint effort, I don’t mind sharing some of the credit—and he’ll see I’m meant to be here.Well, not here here, but there, an equal, finally producing my own shows and getting the recognition I’ve deserved for so, so long.”
Tyler continued, narrowing his beady gaze at the two of them. “Unlike the rest of you, I take advantage of the opportunities presented to me. While you’ve all been mooning around, wallowing in self-pity, utterly useless, I’ve taken action. Do you have any idea how sought-after this will make me?”
“Do you have any idea how much you’re going to hate prison?” Bradley asked.
“Shut up,” Ness hissed.
“Morris wanted all of these extra cameras—thirty-five of them!—to get behind-the-scenes footage on Eclipse. It was going to be so boring. So appallingly average. I was going to give you a nudge here and there, of course, to help the drama along. But here? The opportunity practically threw itself at me!” Tyler cracked his knuckles, making Ness wince as the sound echoed through the chamber.
“You all made my job so easy. Especially you, Ness. My goodness, I could never have imagined just how good you would be at making people turn on you.” He cackled gleefully. “It’s been a joy, truly, to work with you on this.
“And of course, being as dedicated to my life’s work as I am, I’ve left no stone unturned. I even reviewed your contracts—again, diligence! Attention to detail! Strictly speaking, I’m not supposed to have copies, but I can’t stand being unprepared. Anyway, this is all entirely in line with the expectations set forth therein.”
Ness’s brow crinkled. “Um, I respectfully disagree.”
Tyler blinked, clearing his eyes, which were collecting some concerning goop in their corners. They narrowed as he studied the two of them.
“I can’t let you ruin this for me.”
“Yeah, ditto,” Bradley said, striding forward to push past Tyler and make his escape.
Suddenly, Tyler reached behind him, fumbling with something on one of the shelves he’d been leaning against. His arm came forward, a cord wrapped around his hand, a heavy-looking object dangling from the end.
Ness hopped backward as he started to spin it through the air in front of him, blocking access to the doorway. She peered at the whirling mass.
“Is that a . . . lava lamp?”
Bradley dipped side to side, trying to find an opening he could dodge through without getting hit in the face with three pounds of glass, metal, and whatever mystery liquid was inside it.
As Tyler edged backward to the door, still spinning his makeshift weapon, a loud rumble sounded from above. The floor shook slightly beneath Ness’s feet.
The twirling lava lamp crashed to the ground, shattering into a thousand glittering, pointy pieces.
They all stared at the mess, purple-glitter-infused liquid dripping down their shins.
“Gotta run,” Tyler said suddenly, dropping the cord and spinning with surprising grace to race toward the barely visible stairs.
Bradley started to give chase before realizing he was barefoot and standing in a field of broken glass.
The slap of sandaled footsteps going up the stairs echoed back to them, followed by the door creaking open. Wind whistled. Thunder rumbled. A draft of cool air fluttered across their faces. The footsteps grew faint, and then louder again as Tyler backtracked. Ness heard something thwack to the floor.
“Organic pea protein cookies!” Tyler called, already moving away. “I’ll be back—”
From the open door at the top of the stairs came the sound of something very large crashing to the tiled floor.
“Oh jeez!” Tyler said, seemingly to himself. Ness heard the frantic flip-flap of his feet on the stairs before the door slammed shut again. The lock clicked.
Bradley put his back against the wall and slid to the floor, groaning dramatically. He rubbed his hands over his face before staring at Ness accusingly.
She cleared her throat and clicked the flashlight off and back on experimentally.
“Okay, yeah, I hear you. After all that, this was the guy hiding food?”