She punched him in the arm. “But you knew he wasn’t going to be the host next season, because it was going to be you!”
“He was getting fired either way! This isn’t my fault.”
“Hey,” said Beck, his voice cutting through their argument. “We have other things to be dealing with right now.”
They fell quiet, and Sierra could feel them turning to her, staring at her, but her gaze was caught on a distant wall, unseeing.
She’d failed.
Again.
“You okay, Sierra?” asked Beck.
“No, actually.”
“It really was him this whole time,” muttered Adi. “We were so sure his confession was fake.”
“Honestly, I wish he would come back to life so I could kill him again.”
As they started down the corridor, Carter took Sierra’s elbow. “At least we know why Alicia was willing to give you the prize money. It sounds like she had a pretty powerful hold over Ranielle.”
Beck cleared his throat. “Is anyone going to remind her that her office is bugged?”
“I forgot about that,” said Carter.
Adi slowed, tucking the bin of USB ports under one arm. “Hang on. We thought the person leaving the clues had bugged her office, but she clearlyknowswho’s leaving the clues.”
“About that,” said Beck. “Who has so much power over Ranielle Russell that she couldn’t stop them, even though she tried?”
“And how did they not get fired?” said Carter.
They stared at each other, but no one had any answers.
“Also, Louisdidn’tkill himself,” Sierra said, halting abruptly. Their conversation from before was flooding back, bringing fresh conviction. “It isn’t just the handwriting. There were also the wineglasses, remember? And I don’t buy that he invited Carter over to find his body. He was a narcissist. He wouldn’t have wanted Carter, of all people, to find him in that state.”
Beck twisted his lips in thought. “But Ranielle seemed really certain he committed suicide. And I know people think I’m naive sometimes, but . . . I think I believe her. I don’t think she killed Louis. Or Alicia.”
Sierra checked they were alone. So far, the place had been empty. She supposed that when Hitflix fired you, they didn’t want you hanging around. “We’re no closer than when we started. All that, and we’re back at square one.”
“And the show’s canceled,” said Carter, eyes widening. “No finale means . . .”
“The Real Game Master won’t be revealing anything,” said Beck.
“They’re going to dismantle the room tomorrow morning,” Adi added.
“Screw that,” said Beck, nodding to the door behind Sierra. It was the costume room. “We’re not leaving until we have our answer.”
47
Adi
“You told me you didn’t get anything,” said Beck.
“Technically, I didn’t,” said Adi, hunkering over the costume department’s computer, relieved when it didn’t require a password to log on. “I dropped the USB in her office and didn’t have a chance to grab it again.”
He picked a USB out of the bin and stuck it into the port. A folder popped up.
Empty.
