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“You’re being super rude,” Gabbi said in a snotty tone. “I’m done talking to you.”
“I think your friend is responsible for the other candidates dropping out and disappearing. And if you don’t help me right now, I’ll assume you’re in on it.”
“What? I would never.”
“Was Lance with you last Saturday night?”
“He…” She stopped and thought for a minute. “Well, no. He said he had to work. I haven’t seen him all week. We just met up this morning. Why?”
“That’s the night someone shot at Daisy. Was he around the day the other contestant died in a car accident?”
Gabbi’s brows knit in concentration. “No, actually. He was traveling that weekend. I remember because when I called to tell him about it, he was at the airport coming home.”
Noah raised an eyebrow.
“Look,” Gabbi said. “If he’s doing bad stuff, I don’t know anything about it. I swear.”
“Prove it,” Noah said. “Take me to his room. Right now.”
She took a second to process but finally acquiesced. “Okay. Just to prove it’s not him though.”
Noah guided her through the mass of people to the elevator bay.
“I can’t believe this,” Gabbi said. “But now that you mention it, he has been acting weird lately.”
“He’s in love with you and wants to please you,” Noah said.
“No! We’ve been friends for years, and he’s never said a word.”
“Maybe this is his big move to prove his love for you.”
They got off the elevator, and she led him to room 512. Noah put his ear to the door. Nothing. He pushed a finger to his lips, indicating she keep quiet, and knocked.
“Lance,” he shouted. “It’s an emergency. Gabbi’s hurt and sent me to get you. She needs you.”
The door opened a crack, and Noah shoved his way in, knocking Lance backward. Relief flooded him, but anger quickly took its place. Daisy was tied up and gagged on the bed.
Lance scrambled to his feet, and Noah punched him in the face. He fell hard, and Noah prayed he’d get up so he could hit him again.
There was a needle lying near Daisy’s arm. Her eyes were full of tears and terror. Noah undid the tie holding a cloth around her mouth, and she sucked in air and sobbed.
“Oh, Noah,” she cried. “Thank God you found me. This guy’s a psycho.”
Gabbi came into the room. “What the hell’s going on?” she asked no one in particular.
“After he smothered me unconscious, he planned to inject drugs into me,” Daisy said. “Kill me and make it look like an overdose.”
Tears flowed down her face as Noah pulled out his pocketknife. He cut the zip ties binding her hands and feet, and released the two straps that bound her to the bed. She immediately threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. He held her tight, thankful she was safe. Her body went rigid at the clicking sound of a gun cocking.
“Lance! What are you doing?” Gabbi screeched. “Put the gun down.”
“I’m doing this for you,” Lance said. He’d crawled over to his suitcase, gotten to his feet, and was now pointing a gun at Noah and Daisy.
Noah put Daisy behind him and turned to face Lance. He stood too far away for Noah to disarm him, but close enough that it would be impossible to miss if he shot. And any bullet would pass right through him and still hit Daisy. “Get on the floor,” he said to Daisy without taking his eyes off Lance. He felt her squat behind him.
“No. No,” Gabbi said. “I don’t want this.”
“But you said you wanted to win,” Lance said. “At any cost, you said.”
