“Yeah, but—”
“Someone got away with murder last year. The police still aren’t sure how they did it. It would have taken a criminal mastermind to pull it off, and here we are, surrounded by”—she took the phone off the tripod and swiveled it to show the crowded restaurant—“actual masterminds.” She turned the camera back to Beck. “What do you think?”
“I—I don’t know,” Beck stammered, his hands getting clammy beneath Vera’s intense stare.
“Do you think Sierra could have pulled off something like that?”
“Um.”
Vera’s left eye began to twitch, the movement more noticeable with the fluorescent blue eyeliner. “She has a reputation for running her mouth at every opportunity. Has she let something slip?”
“I really don’t . . .” He looked at Sierra again as she stole a cherry out of Carter’s glass and popped it into her mouth. “She’s my teammate. I’m trying to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“So you think she’s innocent?”
“I don’t know what I think. Look, are you okay? You seem stressed.”
This only made her angrier. “You referred to Adi asthe cool one. Do you think the producers are setting him up to be this season’s dreamboat?”
“Dreamboat? This isn’t the type of show for that.”
“Isn’t it?” She flicked at her single dangly earring. “It must be tough. Adi’s hot. Carter’s got the followers. Sierra’s already infamous. And you are . . . no one.” She clicked her tongue. “I bet you wish you could knock the popular ones down a peg or two.”
“Not . . . really,” said Beck.
“Oh, come on,” said Vera. “A little cosmic justice would be nice now and then.”
It would. Beck could think of a few people who deserved cosmic justice. But he refused to take the bait, and instead grinned into the camera. “I’ll leave cosmic justice to the universe. I’m just here to solve some puzzles.”
“Vera terrifies me,” Beck said, sidling up to Sierra and Carter.Carter looked relieved to see him.
“Tell me about it,” she said. “She’s so . . .”
“Morose? Surly? Churlish?” Beck supplied.
Carter laughed. “All of the above.”
“You say these things like they’re insults,” Sierra muttered.
“Is she new?” Carter asked.
Sierra shook her head. “She’s been around for a while. Since, like, the second season, when the show was still on YouTube. I think she was in high school at the time. Pretty sure she’s related to one of the higher-ups. Nepotism is big in Hollywood.”
“Why make her the social media manager?” asked Carter. “She doesn’t seem happy doing it, and there are loads of people on the Domain who would love to have that job.”
“Like you?” said Sierra.
“That’s not what I meant.” Carter hesitated. “But, I mean . . . I think I could do it better than her.”
Sierra made an unconvinced noise in her throat. “The show has a huge following on their socials, so she must be doing something right.”
“I’m thirsty,” said Beck, his root beer long gone. “Anyone want to head to the bar with me?”
Carter frowned and looked around. “Actually, I had a . . . Oh, there.” She grabbed a glass half-full of juice that was sitting on a nearby table and quickly sucked the rest up through the straw, before shaking what was left of the ice. The sound made Beck’s teeth go cold. “I’d love another.”
Beck expected Sierra to disappear again and was surprised when she followed them to the line. Her spine was taut, her attention roving the room, scoping out the cast, the crew, the other contestants.
Beck followed her gaze. The entirety of Team Dread were at the bar, posing for a photo with Fitzy and Louis, while Vera kept barking at Jarius to stop making lewd hand gestures every time he was on camera.
