He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair, considering his options. He could do nothing, and avoid ticking off Ranielle should he get caught. This was clearly the right choice.
Or option B—he could do this one ridiculous favor for Beck, who evidently saw himself as an amateur treasure hunter. Beck, who just might be as delusional as Symphony. Beck, who truly seemed to admire Victor Cunningham, even though most people would have hated him. Beck, who had insisted from the beginning that the Hel-sings needed to be a team. That theywerea team.
With a heavy sigh, Adi got up and shut the door before approaching Ranielle’s desk. An email was open on the screen, half-finished—a communication between Ranielle and someone at Hitflix.
Adi’s own name caught his eye. He skimmed the email in disbelief. He hadn’t even accepted the deal yet, but Ranielle was already promising that he would be the next host—person of color, gorgeous, clever, loved by the audience, witty enough to bounce off his cohost.
How much did Hitflix buying the next season hinge on him saying yes?
And a better question . . . Was that what he wanted?
He didn’t know.He didn’t know.
He scanned to the bottom of the email, where his audition video was embedded, along with brief notes.
Season Five Audition Video: Aditya Parvesh
Producer notes:
Having regrets.
Although the kid seemed witty—loved the phony comment.
And heisgorgeous. The next Alicia?
The next Alicia?What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Footsteps in the hall made him jump. He looked up, holding his breath until the footsteps hurried away.
No time to waste. He typedSweetbrierinto the file search.
The first folder that popped up saidSweetbrier Resort—Season 6. It was full of documents, pdfs, photos, even video files. Jackpot.
A cart beside the desk held bins full ofEscape Game–branded swag and merchandise. Adi grabbed one of the USBs and inserted it into the computer port.
He hesitated. This could have a lot of top-secret information about the resort. What would his dad think? Would he be angry if he found out?
Then again, Victor Cunningham did sort of owe Beck and his family after buying their land so cheaply. He could have chosen to share a portion of the treasure, but he hadn’t. If there really was more gold out there, and Beck had any hope of finding it . . . what could be the harm? It wasn’t like he was going to use these files to infiltrate the resort and pull off a heist or something.
He began to copy the files over.
“Call the electrician, get them here ASAP. Find whoever the fuck is doing this!”
Ranielle’s voice was close. Too close.
Adi drummed his fingers on the desk, watching as the bar showing the download’s progress ticked slowly, slowly . . .
“Come on, come on, come on . . .”
The doorknob turned.
The door started to open.
Adi reached for the USB. The download was almost there. Almost—
The door stilled. “Symphony, I swear to god, if you don’t leave right now I’m calling security.”
“Oh, now who’s being melodramatic?” came his mother’s saccharine reply.
