“They did. They thought I was lying to save my ass. If I could have a look at the terrace myself, maybe I’ll find what they missed.”
Adi tried to process this, but his brain was no longer cooperating.
“So?” Carter asked. “Have you searched the terrace?”
“I’ve been t-trying. Alicia’s old villa is the one Elijah and Lisa are in now. I can’t get close without them seeing or hearing me.”
“Sounds like you need a team,” Beck said.
“How long has it been?” Carter whispered. “Maybe Vera’s not coming.”
“Let’s call the police,” Adi said, though his sludgy brain could barely comprehend the words.
But as his numb fingers fumbled for his phone, light flooded his vision. He blinked up at a furious Vera in a long floral nightdress, holding the padlock’s key in her hand.
“I got accepted tofourIvy League universities,” she said. “I could be halfway through a degree on mechanical engineering. Instead, here I am, dealing with you.” She grunted and spun away. “Big regrets.”
22
Carter
Carter woke to an email from Ranielle granting permission tofilm an exclusive studio tour. At least Ranielle recognized that Carter had some influence over the fandom. Or maybe it was to smooth over any unpleasantness from the freezer fiasco.
It would have been a major honor when Carter had first proposed the tour a week ago, but now she was in no hurry to set foot inside the place where Alicia Angelos had been stuffed into a prop. It had been horrifying enough when she thought the killer was Sierra, but at least then she could play nice and try to stay on her good side. If Sierra was innocent, that meant the killer could be anyone.
Even Fitzy—Sierra’s top suspect.
Carter couldn’t picture it. He was too . . .Fitzy.
While they were recovering from the freezer incident yesterday, she had made the team watch a recording of the livestream Fitzy had filmed the night Alicia disappeared—the whole two hours of it. She’d seen it before, but back then she hadn’t fully appreciated how good he looked in that pale blue shirt, buttons open to reveal some surfer-boy shark tooth pendant, hair tousled to give a windswept look. He was patiently answering fans’ questions for the entirety of the time-of-death window and then some. He’d only gotten up from his sofa once, to make popcorn in his kitchen microwave as he continued to read comments and make jokes. His alibi was solid. Even Sierra reluctantly admitted it.
But there were hundreds of people working on this show, and they didn’t have anywhere near as airtight an alibi.
Carter’s thoughts spiraled, always coming back to the masked assailant who had locked them inside a freezer. She wanted to believe it was an act of sabotage—someone trying to throw them off their game.
Now she wasn’t so sure.
It turned out they should’ve contacted emergency services in the first place. After Vera arrived, paramedics had been called. Parents had been notified. Carter had needed a heated intravenous saltwater solution to warm her body. They could have died.
Maybe that had been the point.
Carter’s parents had asked her to quit the show, a suggestion that would have tempted her that first day on set. But no way was she leaving now. Sierra needed her. Theteamneeded her.
But their time might be limited. After the studio tour, Carter would head straight to the elimination round. There was a good chance they would be packing their bags and heading home. Well . . . not home, exactly. Eliminated teams were checked in to a hotel to wait until Sunday—a way for the producers to ensure no spoilers were leaked.
When the studio came into view, her insides clenched and she almost asked the driver to take her back to the villas.
But no. She was Kick It Carter, the Domain’s highest-ranking Solve Specialist. She had been granted exclusive access to the studio—a privilege never offered to any other Clue Master. She could do this. She had to do this.
She climbed out of the car, trying to convince herself that she was in no danger. The studio would have cameras, other people around. She was safe here.
The receptionist finished signing her in as Vera stalked into the lobby. Carter tensed. She had promised herself that the first chance she got, she would tell Vera how grateful she was—they all were— that she had come to their aid.
But Vera spoke first. “Why did they ask you to do this instead of me?”
“Um. I . . . I don’t know.” Carter scrunched her shoulders by her ears. “Listen, I wanted to say—”
Vera held up a hand. “Not interested in how four teens who are supposedly geniuses got themselves locked in a freezer. I want to know why Ranielle thinks it’s okay for an overrated influencer to film a studio tour when I’ve been suggesting it for the last two years.”
