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Twenty-Six
DEVIN
It turned out we weren’t just stopping in Las Vegas, we were staying the next twenty-four hours on the strip. And were weren’t crashing out at any old hotel, we were being put up at the Bellagio of all places.
“This is amazing!” Brooke cried excitedly as we were handed our room keys.
The infamous dancing fountains and gorgeous vaulted lobby made me both excited and nervous. And that’s because I knew the place came with a caveat. That when our off-day was over and the Race started up again we’d be tasked with doing something ridiculous. Something like swimming for coins in those giant fountains, or rappelling down the side of the hotel from the roof all the way to the street.
“What do you think they’re gonna make us do?” Brooke asked, virtually reading my mind.
“Doesn’t matter,” I grinned wearily. I held up the key cards we’d just been given. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Brooke paused, her face going two shades redder as she glanced nervously at the boom mic still hanging over our heads. Turning her back to the cameras for a moment, she shot me a ‘what the fuck are you doing?’ expression. I laughed.
“What were you—”
“Hot showers and coffee?” I blurted.
“Hell yes!” she grinned. With energy I didn’t know she still possessed, she deftly snatched her room key from my hand. “Meet you back here in an hour.”
We hit the elevators together, even though our rooms were on different floors. I had a four-person suite, just like always. Hayden and Reese should’ve been here already, if not for the delay. It turned out the other site’s bus had a small breakdown in the desert that put them an hour or two behind.
“Walk you to your room?” I asked, trying to look chivalrous in front of the cameras. Danny’s two-person crew had taken over once we’d gotten off the bus. In contrast to our dust-covered weariness, he looked fresh as a daisy and ready to film our every move, just like always.
“Sure,” Brooke chuckled.
I noticed the other half of the crew remained on the elevator. Either they were prepping for Hayden and Reese’s arrival, or they were going to cover another set of contestants. Either way, it left usalmostalone.
Alone enough that it gave me an idea…
Don’t.
An idea that could be really, really good.
Seriously, don’t risk it.
Or it could be cataclysmically bad.
Devin!
We followed the hall until finally we stood before Brooke’s room. The voice in my head was practically screaming now, admonishing me for what I was about to do. I was about to take a risk. A big one. One that could backfire if I was wrong about something.
Or someone…
“You get breaks, don’t you Danny?”
I said the words so sharply and abruptly Danny didn’t even realize I was directly addressing him. But there I was, breaking the fourth wall. In response he slowly lowered the camera’s lens, pointing it at the floor.
“Of course,” he shrugged, looking very awkward. “Once I’m relived by another operator, we usually—”
The little running light at the top of the camera had blinked off for a moment. A moment was all I needed.
“Ten-thousand dollars of my winnings if you take off for fifteen minutes.”
It took a moment for the cameraman to realize what I’d just said. When he did, his face went utterly and completely blank. Like he’d seen a ghost.
“You’re saying you’ll give me—”
