He knew.
It was chess. Always plan three moves ahead. He had caught out Danny’s sister and the others in the last round. If Caden hadn’t been such a fucking idiot and voted for himself, he would have had the luxury of a few safe hours. But it didn’t matter now. He’d get them at the next vote. He wasn’t worried.
His hands spasmed again. He rubbed them together, then placed his palms flat on the hot rusted metal of the tractor’s underbelly. The burning heat helped; he could feel his muscles unlock, his skin protesting.
“So…who do we vote for this time?” Jade asked awkwardly. Jax instantly lowered his camera.
There was no question, really. Alex wasn’t a threat—he was too nice. Raya was unpredictable but acted on impulse; she’d be easy to manipulate. The biggest threat going forward was Danny’s sister. No matter how hard he tried, Ellis just couldn’t get a handle on what she was thinking. The way her mercurial eyes watched everything—it was unnerving. She was dangerously smart, and when she’d stepped up on the line to handle Caden, she’d shown that she wasn’t afraid. Pity she was batting for the other side—together, they would have made a killer team.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? There’s only one person here with a possible motive to hurt us all.” Ellis didn’t believe for a second that Ana was behind any of this, but he wanted her gone.
For a second, Ellis pictured Danny, standing by the bleachers in the gym, smiling at him in his laid-back, easy way. If he knew what Ellis was about to say…if Danny was somehow up in the sky watching him…
Ellis’s hands seized again, tighter this time. He shook them out hard. Not now. He could worry about all this later when the game was over. When he was safely home. He’d have the rest of his life to worry about it. He turned to Jade and Jax.
“There’s really only one choice. When the hour’s up, we vote for Danny’s sister—we vote for Ana.”
25
Raya
33:17
Paper. How could paper lose three times in a row? The gods were not on her side, Raya thought grumpily.
She was standing outside the middle of three corrugated metal outbuildings playing Rock, Paper, Scissors against Alex. They had found some rusted bolt cutters and hacked the chains off the metal doors already.
The loser got to go first. Great.
There was no avoiding it. Raya kicked herself for volunteering to search the outbuildings. It had sounded easier than spying on Team Ellis, less mental effort involved. But now that it came to it, anything had to be better than sweating your shorts off in an oven-like building, searching for a potential psychopath lurking behind some discarded paintpots. Next time, she’d take the Jason Bourne shift. If therewasa next time…
Sighing dramatically, Raya gave the buildings a quick once-over.
The outbuildings were built close together, almost touching. The style was identical, arched corrugated roofs like an old-school aircraft hangar—dirt floors, piles of rusted junk and old bits of machinery strewn around them. There was nothing distinctive about any of them. At least, nothing that indicated the presence of a hidden dungeon or a creepy clown’s sewer lair.
Raya shot Alex her finest stink eye and walked up to the metal door, creaking it slowly open. Recoiling from the fetid air inside, she forced herself forward, stepping into darkness. Her eyes took an unnervingly long time to adjust.
Rows of heavy-duty utility shelves lined both sides of the arched walls. They were stocked with dusty boxes and large tubs. As Raya got closer, she could see faded labels peeling off the boxes: Froot Loops, Lay’s, Pepsi. All sorts of heaven. She’d found the motel food store.
Score.
Raya quickly walked along a long row, scouting out the supplies and checking the corners for lurking axe murderers. All clear.
“Doofus, look!” she called out to Alex, who was standing in the doorway.
For the first time in several hours, Raya felt something close to happy. She reached for a solitary box of Ritz Crackers, lovingly stroking the cardboard. How had she not realized how hangry she was?
“Whoa,” Alex said, his jaw dropping as he took in the rows of goodies.
Raya ripped open the box of crackers and started munching loudly as she squatted down on the concrete floor, keeping the box protectively stashed behind her. Some things just weren’t for sharing. Alex was still hovering in the doorway.
“You just gonna stand there and watch?” she said sharply. “It’sfood, Alex. Actual, real food. Come and eat.”
Alex wandered over, eyes growing bigger as he read the tantalizing labels. He wasn’t a dick or anything and Raya didn’t hate himexactly. It was just that she couldn’t see what Ana liked about him.
Yeah, he was kind, a nice guy, and he had that whole music thing going for him. But Ana was quite possibly the coolest person Raya knew—whip-smart and super-hot in a girl-next-door way. Alex was…just Alex.
“Sit,” Raya ordered, pulling up a crate between them. She reached up and collected a small feast of raspberry jelly, peanut butter, and squeezable cheese.
