They hadn’t used all the clues.
Adi looked down at the ribbon in his palm. The long string of letters in an unsolved code.
As Fitzy’s voice blasted across his earpiece, congratulating Team Helsing on their escape, Adi frowned and tucked the ribbon into his pocket.
Interview Room: Alicia Angelos
SEASON FOUR
END OF ROUND ONE: ALL THAT JAZZ
“How do you reckon your team went?” asks Fitzy.
Alicia laughs—a boisterous, heartfelt sound. “That room wasamazing. The liquor bottles, the piano, the costumes!” She jumps up from her wooden chair and sashays, the fringe of her silver flapper-style dress swishing hypnotically around her hips. “I loved it.”
“Your team seems to have figured out some things the others haven’t.”
“You mean cooperation?” Alicia sits down. “You don’t have to play coy with me. Everyone knows Team Hourglass is struggling. You should hear them bickering in the greenroom.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Why do I think my team is killing it?” She jokingly flips her hair back. “Because I’m such a fantastic leader, obviously.”
“And Hourglass? You think Elijah is killing it?”
She gives a one-shouldered shrug. “He’s nice enough. But every time I talk to him, he gets all tangled and tongue-tied.”
“Gee, I wonder why.”
“It’s probably Sierra getting in his head. She doesn’t make for an easy teammate.”
“Right. That must be why.” Fitzy grins as he sucks on the straw of his iced lemonade. “You really think your sister is to blame for their . . . issues?”
“I saw the writing on the wall as soon as I heard she hadn’t been chosen as team leader. Sierra hates anyone telling her what to do.”
“Hey, now. She has some good ideas. She was the fastest contestant to realize the piano music had to be played backward.”
“She has her moments,” acknowledges Alicia. “But her delivery leaves something to be desired.”
“I still can’t believe you’re sisters. I’ve never met such complete opposites. You’re a ray of sunshine and she’s—”
“A storm cloud,” Alicia finishes.
“Exactly. So . . . any chance you’ve reconsidered sharing your prize money with her if you win?”
Alicia picks up her virgin pink gin fizz. “Not a chance. This show wasmything. She was never interested until she found out I was doing it. If she thinks she can waltz in and steal my prize, she’s got another thing coming.”
“Crikey. No love lost between you two, is there?”
Alicia sips her drink. “It’s such a shame, isn’t it?”
18
Carter
Carter crunched on a chip and transferred another video from herphone to her laptop’s editing program. She’d been sifting through footage for hours, trying to strike the right balance ofexclusive,VIP,behind-the-scenes!stuff her followers craved while also keeping everything hush-hush enough that Ranielle Russell wouldn’t yell at her.
It didn’t help that she’d also spent an hour editing content of herself only to decide that, nope, her own footage couldn’t compete with her avatar. She redid everything, inserting the filter over herself.
