Page 153 of The Hunt

“Yes. After you called me earlier, I managed to keep it to myself for a few hours—shocking, I know—but as soon as I posted the stuff online, I filled them in on the whole story,” Tessa replied. “They were going to find out soon anyway. I mean, the wholeworldis about to find out.”

“It’s okay. I’m glad you told them. How are they doing?”

“They’re just as shocked as me. This stuff is seriously crazy. Like, movie-level crazy.”

“No shit,” I muttered. “By the way, how long do you think it’ll take for this stuff to go so viral that the Wilders will hear about it?”

“Some of them might’ve heard already, if that island has decent phone signal and Wi-Fi,” she said. “And any of the younger guys who have Holler on their phone will have seen it for sure. Unless they’ve been too distracted by other stuff to check their phones. But even then, it’s only a matter of time before shit kicks off. So you should really lie low.”

“I’m planning on it,” I said, glancing out the window again. “I just hope Rhett gets back soon.”

“I’m keeping every finger and toe crossed for you guys,” Tessa said. “You have to keep me updated on everything, okay?”

“I will.”

“Anyway, I should probably go now. I just thought of some more content creators I can get in touch with,” she said. “Promise me you’ll watch out for yourself?”

“I will,” I repeated.

Once I’d ended the call, I glanced over at Nikki to see if she’d caught any of the conversation. She was fast asleep, though, her chest rising and falling steadily as small snores escaped her lips.

I turned my attention back to the phone in my hand, feeling the heavy silence in the room settle around me like a shroud. I wanted nothing more than to call Rhett’s satellite phone and ask him how he was doing out on the hunting grounds, but I knew it was a bad idea. He didn’t need the distraction.

Footsteps suddenly echoed in the hall, and I sat up straight, heart racing. A few seconds later, there was a knock at the door, followed by Rhett’s voice. “Hey, it’s just me,” he said. “Can you open up?”

My shoulders sagged with relief. I hurried over to the door, unlocked it, and flung it open to see… Peter.

Oh, no.

No, no, no!

He was holding his phone in one hand, and on the screen, I could see a large white play button on some sort of media file.

“I thought you would’ve learned your lesson about our ability to deepfake voices after the audio messages we sent you last week,” he said, baring his teeth in a malicious smile as he slid his phone into a pocket. “But I suppose not. Some people just never learn.”

“I… how…”

“You want to know what gave you away, Everly?”

I gulped and nodded, unable to speak anymore.

“I’ll give you one thing. That disguise wasamazing.I genuinely didn’t recognize you, even though I’ve known you for most of your life,” he said, smile widening. He paused and dipped his chin toward my left side. “But your wrist gave you away. There were distinct marks on it. Marks that could only come from wearing a very tight wristband for a few days. Even though you removed it, those marks take a while to fade.”

Shit.I wasn’t being paranoid earlier when I thought he was looking at my left hand—he was, but just slightly above it, at my wrist.

I took a faltering step back as he moved closer.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it afterwards. A staff member I was sure I’d never seen before, with those marks on her wrist… I knew something was amiss, but I couldn’t quite figure it out,” he said, rubbing his jaw. Something dark and dangerous was flickering in his eyes. “Then it hit me. Player 50—you—haven’t been seen on any of the feeds since yesterday afternoon. Neither has my son, who I’ve just learned is deceased. And the last person to see him—Rhett Sinclair—lied straight to my face about the situation earlier this afternoon.”

My stomach lurched. “What did he lie about?” I managed to whisper.

“He claimed JJ told him he’s been hiding out in sector L13, where there are a lot of blind spots from the cameras,” Peter said. “But I know this island, and there are no blind spots in that sector. L14 and L12, yes. But not L13.”

“Oh,” I murmured.

“At first, I thought Rhett simply misspoke. A silly mistake. But then I recalled how strangely he’s been acting over the last day,” Peter went on. “He suddenly stopped racking up kills and started spending a lot of time away from the hunting grounds. Sothatmade me think he might be up to something. Then I saw you with Nikki and received the news about my son a few minutes later… and that was it. I finally knew what had happened.”

I gulped again and took another step backward. “Rhett will be back any minute, and he’ll—”

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