Page 28 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

Alex was worried, Angeline knew that much. They’d gone over the books recently,and things were…not great. Revenue was falling precipitously. Followers were dropping off by the thousands a day. There had been some bad press, rumors of an FBI investigation into Mav’s charitable giving. The investigation into the disappearance of Chloe Miranda was ongoing, the case being amped up by a popular podcaster.

“Is this about the lawsuits?”

There were several, including complainants who claimed they were injured during stunts they’d mimicked from Maverick’s escapades. The online group Moms Against Maverick was vigorously campaigning for WeWatch to drop Maverick altogether.

One of the founding mothers had a kid who would be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. No amount of money offered so far would satisfy his mother or get her to stop campaigning against Extreme. Her last email had been scathing, sizzling with rage and heartbreak.

You’re a role model to young boys. They worship you. Look at my son. He had everything ahead of him. Now he can’t walk—won’t walk again. Ever.

Before they’d left the country, Alex had doubled their previous offer. The family of the injured child had not responded.

“No,” he said. “Not the lawsuits.”

He ran a hand over the crown of his head, didn’t seem to want to meet her eyes.

“Then, what?”

“Yeah, Alex.”

Maverick came up behind Angeline; she felt his heat on her back. He dropped a hand on her shoulder.

“What’s going on?” Maverick’s tone was heavy and dark, unfamiliar. Angeline turned to look at him and didn’t like what she saw on his face. Maverick was slow to anger. But when he lost his temper it was a train wreck.

Alex rose and folded his arms around his slim middle. On his T-shirt,a chubby cat held an enormous bloody knife, eyes innocent.What?the graphic’s text read.

Then Hector came in through the suite door. He was trying to be quiet, looked up, startled to see everyone.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Alex thinks we need to talk,” said Maverick.

“There’s no time to talk,” said Hector, pushing inside. “We’re T-minus twelve hours. Permits are in, contestants arriving. Time to pack up and go to the site.”

Angeline and Alex locked eyes. She felt a little jolt of dread.

“We can talk later,” he said. “Just administrative stuff.”

“Alex,” said Angeline.

“It’s cool,” he said, still not looking at her. “Later.”

Then he pushed by Hector and was gone.

“What’s his problem?” asked Hector, looking back and forth between Angeline and Maverick.

“He needs to chill,” said Maverick. “All he does is worry these days.”

“There’s a lot going on,” said Ange, wondering if she should go after Alex.

“Don’tyoustart, too,” Mav said, an unpleasant edge to his voice.

She was about to throw down, but then she just ran out of steam.

Last night, after Maverick had fallen sound asleep, she’d logged onto WeWatch at two in the morning and started digging through the comments on the live broadcast, looking for the one that had upset Mav. Because when you couldn’t sleep it was always a good idea to go on social media and seek out the people who actively hated you and everything you stood for.

After scrolling for a while, she finally found it. MavIsALiar with the three skull emojis.

MavIsALiar:Keep playing, Mav. But you will pay for what you’ve done. Tell the truth. Where is Chloe Miranda?

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