“No, listen.” Beck waved his arms at them. “If the show is filming there, they’ll need information about the place. Photos from a location scout. Maybe even maps or blueprints?” His gaze flickered to Adi. “Any chance Ranielle will be calling you into her office again?”
“Uh . . . yeah, probably. She wants to talk after the next round. Why?”
Beck got up, pacing in a way that was reminiscent of Sierra when she was strategizing. “This is going to sound sus, but stick with me. I need to know everything you can find out about that place. And I meaneverything.”
“Oh god,” said Sierra. “You’re not just a fanboy. You’re a stalker.”
“No,” said Beck. “I mean—sort of. But not the way you’re thinking.” His eyes were almost feverish. “Do you remember when we were talking about how Victor lowballed that family out of their land?”
“Sure,” said Sierra.
He took in a deep breath before blurting, “That was my family.”
“What?” Adi straightened.
“Sweetbrier Ranch. It was ours since the early 1900s. I practically grew up there. But my grandpa got into some trouble—horse races, mostly—and he ended up selling the ranch for a fraction of what it was worth. My whole family was outraged. He didn’t talk to any of them before he did it, and then . . .” He paused, his expression tightening. “Well. Gambling’s an addiction, and . . . it didn’t exactly get better. He passed away last year. No one realized until after he was gone that there was nothing left. No inheritance. No college funds. Just a bunch of debt piling up because everyone thought the profit from the ranch would cover them, and it was like they were waiting for him to die, and—” He cut himself off.
Adi gaped at him, trying to process what Beck was saying. His family, his ranch . . . and a literal trove of gold bars found buried there after the ranch was sold. ToAdi’s dad. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Beck shook his head. “It’s true.”
Sierra cursed lowly. “How have you kept this from us? Not to mention the producers.”
“Ranielle knows. I mean, she knows that my family got scammed by a property developer and we haven’t recovered. It was my sob story. For the greenlights. She ate it up.”
“But she doesn’t know the property developer was Victor Cunningham?” asked Carter.
“Of course not. There’s no way she would have brought me onto the show if she knew what I really wanted.”
“Revenge,” Sierra said solemnly, nodding in understanding.
But Beck looked startled. “No! Jasper Barrett buried his gold on my family’s ranch almost a hundred and fifty years ago. It was right there, all along. His codes. His puzzles. If I’d had the map, I would have found it first. But here’s the thing . . . I have reason to believe there’s more out there. If I could just get to the resort, I really think I have a chance of finding it.Allof it.” He laughed. “I don’t care aboutrevenge. I want that treasure.”
26
Carter
“Team Helsing, back for more! How are we feeling today?”
“Fan-freaking-tastic,” deadpanned Sierra.
“A delight to talk to you, as usual.” Fitzy grinned past Sierra to Carter, making her heart skip. His attention jotted to Beck and Adi. “Are you nervous?”
“Not at all,” said Sierra. “We’re prepared to win.”
Carter wished she could channel Sierra’s devil-may-care attitude, but she couldn’t stop fidgeting with the cuff of her metallic jump-suit costume. Finding Alicia’s note—maybe even uncovering her killer—started with not getting eliminated in this round.
Their lack of progress this past week had left them frustrated and discouraged. Five whole days had passed since the elimination. Five days of waiting around in the villas while the show’s editors put together the second episode of the season, which had gone up the night before. Plotting how Adi might be able to get more information about Sweetbrier Resort and speculating over why Alicia had been acting so cryptic the night she was murdered. Five. Whole. Days. And they hadn’t found whatever Alicia had wanted Sierra to find.
Not for lack of trying. They’d taken turns distracting Elijah and Lisa so Sierra could sneak into their villa’s back gate, on those rare occasions when they found it unlocked, and search around the terrace. But without more specific instructions, it was like searching for a solution to the Collatz conjecture. They didn’t even know what they were looking for. They assumed it was a note of some sort, but maybe Alicia had carved a word into a tree trunk or buried a bag of evidence. Beck had suggested they bring in a metal detector, but how were they supposed to dothatwithout drawing attention?
“Don’t tell the other teams this,” said Fitzy, leaning forward conspiratorially, “but I’m rooting for you, Helsings.”
“I’m sure you are,” muttered Adi.
Carter elbowed him in the side. Even though she waspositiveFitzy wasn’t a murderer, Adi had taken Sierra’s side on the matter, certain that Fitzy couldn’t be trusted. “He’s too polished,” Adi had said. “He’s hiding something.”
Yeah, Carter had thought.He’s hiding the fact that he’s not actually that polished.
