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“You owe me one,” he said and grinned, enjoying some private joke.

I readied myself to make a run for the window, when he spoke again, “What’s going on around here?”

My shoulders relaxed as he let out a laugh, showing he knew perfectly well what I thought he meant.

“You’re an asshole,” I said.

“What? You thought I had dishonorable intentions? I do have a reputation.”

I popped a french fry in my mouth and thought it over. I was ordered not to tell anyone, but the worse things got, the more wrong that felt. These people were as trapped as I was. Didn’t they deserve to know? Travis clearly picked up on the idea that something was wrong, and I was sure he was not the only one.

“There’s a glitch in the AI,” I said and waited for his reply while chewing.

“Yeah, I kind of got that when the computer sent my parents off into the ocean in a plastic tube. But it’s more than that incident, isn’t it?”

I slumped back against the wood railing. “How did you know?”

“You mean besides you and Prince Charming talking in the hallway? I was on my way back from running into you and saw something strange, even for the Bennets. Two of the robot staff were “escorting” Mr. Van Morris into the room next door.” He made air quotes and raised his bushy eyebrows, passing the torch to me.

“Was he okay?” I asked in a small voice. The hamburger sat in a lump at the pit of my stomach.

“They were insistent, and he was, let’s just say, not thrilled with the treatment.”

“This is out of control. I need to tell Mrs. Bennet to shut down the computer ASAP.” I stood, ready to find her and put an end to this. “Alyssa was right. We need to evacuate.”

“Evacuate?” Travis stood too, stepping between me and the door. “You aren’t leaving until you tell me everything. I have a right to know.”

I groaned and flopped down on my back on the couch, staring up at the mounted swordfish overhead. “You said this place was animatronics free,” I said. “How?”

“It isn’t technically open yet, so it’s offline. Saves them money. I guess they figured who in their right mind would want to break into a hotel when they already have everything they want?” He sat next to me, forcing my feet off the cushion. “They didn’t consider troublemakers like me.”

I let a laugh escape and propped my feet on his lap. Secret-keeping wasn’t my thing, especially when lives were in danger. “Fine. You want to know?” I recounted everything from my invitation to the internship up until running into him in the hallway, leaving out only the paint, certain things about Mason, and my missing time. I finished with, “So what should I do?”

Travis sat quietly for a while, focused on something in the distance, a hard look on his face. His arm was slung over the back of the couch.

“That’s fucked up,” he said finally.

I burst out laughing. “You’re brilliant. Why didn’t I think of that?”

He grinned, then shoved my feet off his lap, and I sat up straight.

“So, PC was going to try and break the twins out?” Travis asked, suddenly dark again.

“PC now?”

“Prince Charming.”

“He promised he wouldn’t,” I said, panic setting in. “He wouldn’t, would he? I mean he could put those girls in danger too. And Carl van Morris.”

“He’s never been one to keep his word,” Travis said, standing and stretching so his thin T-shirt rode up, revealing several inches of toned stomach.

“What happened between Mason and your sister?” I asked.

He dropped his arms and spun around. “What did he tell you?”

“He said he was an ass. That he’d been rebelling against his family.”

“Right,” Travis said. “He’s the victim.”