“You guys okay?” Missy asks with concern, even though Silver and Legend are likely the highest on her list of people she can’t stand.
“You could have given us a warning.” Silver pops to her knees, brushing dirt off her already muddied outfit.
Missy sighs and shakes her head. “Well, you could be a little more grateful.”
Legend stands up, the bottom of our net nearly grazing his shoulder. He reaches for the saw, and I pass it down to him, careful not to poke him with any of its sharp edges. Legend takes a moment to admire the fuchsia saw, while Silver gets to her feet and grabs their paddles from off the ground.
Legend salutes us with the tip of the saw. “Well, it’s been a pleasure, you guys, but I think here’s where we part.” With that, he turns his back to us before he and Silver take off, sprinting to the unseen finish line.
“No,” Missy yells. “No!”
“You can’t do that,” I growl.
With every protest we give, Legend and Silver seem to run with an added measure of excitement behind their betrayal.
“Curse you!” I yell, my voice breaking.
Missy tilts her head back and laughs. “Curse you?”
I chuckle. “You said make it dramatic. I tried.”
“That you did.” She smiles.
Missy and I watch as Legend and Silver disappear from view.
“Well, no one can say they aren’t predictable,” I say.
“Did you get it?” Missy looks at me with hopeful curiosity.
“I sure did,” I say, clutching Legend’s pocketknife that I’d pulled from the cargo pocket of his swim trunks when Missy and Silver were at each other’s throats. I was glad to find Legend hadn’t removed the knife from his pocket since I’d seen him place it there last night.
“How about you?” I ask. “Success?”
“Yep. Got it in my hand.” Legend and Silver’s empty net hangs over Missy’s right hand, concealing Team Fuchsia’s coil of rope that Missy had snatched from Legend’s backpack while I was cutting their net.
I smile. “They can’t cross today’s finish line without their rope. Looks like they’ll be coming in last place tonight.” I flip the pocketknife open in my hand and start cutting carefully through the net.
Missy bends her knees, preparing for our imminent fall. “Bill and Maria have likely already made it to today’s finish line with all of their items. Let’s just hope second place accommodations are not terrible.”
Chapter 24
MISSY
· DAY 17 ·
“Team Amber, seeing as you have come in first place tonight, you’ll be sleeping in the Beachside Bungalow,” Niall says as he stands in front of the final three teams, a nearby camera focused on him.
Colton, Niall, Teams Amber and Fuchsia, and I all occupy a single wooden platform just beyond today’s finish line; it’s situated several paces away from an unfamiliar but stunning beach. Niall motions to Bill and Maria then extends his arm toward a short trail that leads to the cutest bungalow I’ve ever laid eyes on. It’s a single-story building with pristine white walls, light-blue trim, and topped with a straw roof. The inside glowswith a soft light, and though I don’t see it, I know there’ve got to be beds in there with memory foam mattresses and down-feather pillows. Who am I kidding? Of course there are. The place even has a front pergola that extends onto the beach and is equipped with a fan, light-blue loungers, and is surrounded by sheer white curtains that blow in the coastal breeze.
One of the nearby staff members steps toward Bill and Maria, ready to guide them down the trail. Maria reaches for my hand, giving it a quick squeeze before letting go. I give her a double thumbs-up, happy for my friend as she and Bill step off the platform and toward their little dreamboat of a bungalow.
“And now for our second place team.” Niall emphasizes the wordssecond placeas if all of us aren’t already swimming in the tension and anger radiating from Legend and Silver.
After Colton and I broke ourselves free from our net using the pocketknife, we’d grabbed our paddles and the teal saw from its tree and bolted for today’s finish line, getting to the beachside checkpoint just as the low sun bathed the island in a luminescent glow, turning the waves a shimmery gold. We’d arrived to find Maria and Bill already past the coral finish line and standing on the platform next to Niall. But Legend and Silver were stuck on the opposite side of the coral line, crouched on the ground, frantically rummaging through their backpacks for something they believed to be there—all the while, Simon, my favorite burly staff member, stood above them with folded arms and a steely expression, blocking them from crossing the finish line until they provided their three items.
Just then, everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch as Colton and I darted out of the woods with our paddles, saw, and two coils of rope in hand. Without losing momentum, we’d leaped over today’s finish line and rushed onto the platform, taking our place next to Niall and Team Amber.
The look on Legend and Silver’s faces when they’d realized we had their rope and pocketknife was the greatest reward of this game yet. Karma, sweet karma.
