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“We have a little more information about what to expect,” Carter announced once we were together near the bedroom door in the back of his plane—that room saw more action than I did.
Oliver snatched Gwen’s arm to keep her from falling when a bit more turbulence snuck up on us, and Gwen gave him a small smile of thanks.
For a minute, some of us had thought Gwen and Oliver might wind up dating. At one of our teammates’ weddings in the spring, even when Oliver had been glaring at Gwen’s date, it hadn’t been because of jealousy, but because he knew her date, and not a shocker, the guy was a dick.
But lucky for Oliver’s life (as in Wyatt not needing to kill him), it was clear who Oliver wanted—the woman he “couldn’t stand.”
“So, what do we know?” I folded my arms, uneasy for so many reasons.
“There are twenty-four contestants and on day one they split people into three groups of eight,” Mya began. “For the first week, the teams will compete against each other in different events. By the end of the week, one team is eliminated. By Friday, we’ll be down to sixteen people, and it’ll be couples against couples from that point on.”
“That’s assuming we’re still there by Friday,” Carter said. “I’d prefer we wrap up this op before then.”
Mya shot Carter an uneasy look. “I get that, I do. But this undercover assignment is different from our norm. Eyes and ears on us a lot. We’ll need to be extra—”
“Stealthy,” Gwen finished for her, giving Carter a pointed look.
Carter grunted out, “I’m stealthy.”
“Sure, but you won’t blend in. Not there. Maybe when you’re kitted up in your military gear you can, um . . . but in a suit you stand out a bit more. In jeans, too.” A blush I didn’t want to see on Gwen made its way to her cheeks. She freed her blonde hair from its ponytail, allowing the waves to partially hide the red appearing on her neck.
Carter took a step back, bumping into Mason. I wasn’t used to seeing that man uneasy, but Gray’s niece seemed to trigger his defenses.
Yeah, please, keep the wall up between you two. Don’t make me fight ya.
“Are we wearing microphones?” Ah, Mason for the win with the all-important question. He also saved Gwen from potentially turning as red as a Crayola crayon.
Shit. How in the hell would we talk in private about the op if someone was always listening?
Gwen shook her head. “No, it’s not a traditional show like the ones on a professional streaming network. But I did hack the lodge’s camera system. Looks like they did things mostly old school—wired cameras instead of wireless ones to record us when they don’t have a camera person directly on us. The Wi-Fi is spotty in the jungle, so I went ahead and created a code for Gray to use to hack those camera feeds from the outside so they can keep an eye on us.”
“But if the signal is shit at the lodge, doesn’t that mean Gray might lose us on camera?” I hated to point that out, but I assumed Gwen, a cyber genius, would have an answer to that.
“Yeah, they’ll have to link up to a satellite to maintain the signal. Once they’ve got a SAT-feed, they’ll be good to go,” Gwen reassured us with easy confidence as she reached for her laptop from the couch and popped it open. “I’ve gone ahead and marked all the safe spots free of cameras and Wi-Fi where we can talk in private if need be.”
“If they’re using mostly wired cams, we should be able to spot those areas fairly easily, too,” I noted. “Do they take our phones when we arrive, too?” How would we communicate with Gray if we were going in dark?
“No tech allowed. Not even phones, but we’ll sneak one in so we can touch base with Gray.” Gwen’s eyes went to Carter’s crotch as if suggesting he hide his phone where we’d hopefully not be searched. Carter glared at her, then pivoted his focus back to her screen, waiting for her to continue. “Um, so, with the Wi-Fi being shit, that also means—”
“The bad guy is probably on-site watching the show in real time to pick his next victim,” Mason interrupted her.
“Exactly.” Gwen nodded. “I have a feeling the person responsible for the missing women won’t ever show their face on screen for Gray and his team to see and run a background check, even though I’m sure they’ll be on-site.”
Which is why we’re undercover and not going to be in the jungle with Gray tomorrow watching from afar. “Unless there are two assholes. One working for the show relaying information and footage to someone at a safe distance away.” In my experience, there was often more than one target.
“True,” Gwen responded. “I’ll also do my best to tiptoe around and see what I can hear or find out, too.” She’d left that detail out back at the hangar, presumably so her father didn’t tie her down and stop her from boarding the jet.
“Why you? Why not one of us?” Oliver asked, his thoughts circling around the same concerns as mine: what if you get caught?
A sly smile crossed Gwen’s lips. “This wouldn’t be my first time snooping around a place, even with cameras on me. I’ve got this, just trust me.”
“And I’d like to return you home safely to your father.” Carter’s sharp tone seemed to catch Gwen off guard, but she schooled her expression quickly as he continued his mini lecture. “Let’s not have you wind up becoming one of the missing girls.”
“I appreciate the concern, but I have a bag full of toys that’ll help us.” A nervous laugh fell from Gwen’s lips. “That sounded kinky.” She waved a dismissive hand, brushing off her comment. “Anyway, what I mean is, I have some gadgets I’ll plant around the property to be our eyes and ears on those trying to stay behind the scenes.”
“And Gray can pick up on the signals?” This was sounding more like a doable plan, except for the Gwen-creeping-around-the-property part.
But there was one lingering question on my mind. How in the hell did we prevent ourselves from getting axed in week one? “If we’re going to have to stay longer than Friday, who picks who stays and who goes? How are the winners chosen?”
