Page 6 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

When she’d done this a few times, she looked back. “Better the bag than the person youreallywant to punch.”

She threw a few more combos.

“Don’t get even. Get in shape.”

Then she turned off the camera and cranked her music, lost herself for a while. Tried not to think about the fact that (jab) her Visa card was nearly maxed. That (cross) her small savings account dwindled every month rather than grew. That (hook) her expenses regularly outstripped her earnings as a school counselor, a job she’d only landed because of a favor from a friend. That (upper cut) she had no idea how she was going to pay for college for Violet and then Blake without taking on even more debt. That (again) in the years since Miller left, she’d battled sometimes crippling anxiety and insecurity, even as she pretended to be strong for her kids.

Jab. Cross. Hook. Upper Cut. Again. Again. Again. Again.

“Mom.”

Blake stood at the door that led from the garage to the house.

“Hey,” she said, mopping the sweat from her brow, slipping off her gloves.

He came down the few steps, leaned on the workbench where she’d propped up her phone.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “About my glasses.”

She put a tender hand to his cheek. “It’s okay, Blakey. It’s not your fault.”

“I know they’re expensive,” he said. “And I know—money’s always tight now.”

Shame again, sadness, washed up hot. She’d be punching that bag all night and still never get rid of that feeling.

“I have an idea,” he said. “It might be a little crazy.”

He held up his iPhone.

“Maverick,” Blake went on. “He’s doing another game.”

Maverick Dillan was Blake’s idol, a WeWatch celebrity and founder of Maverick’s Extreme Games and Insane Challenges. Wild man, philanthropist, and athlete, he and his posse did stunts around the globe and hosted games where other influencers competed live for their followers.

“The prize is a million dollars,” said Blake with a note of awe.

She felt a tingle of unease. Hadn’t there been something during one of his competitions? Some kind of accident? A girl gone missing?

“Mom,” said Blake, more urgent, “amilliondollars. Plus, think of all the followers you would gain from participating in the challenge. You’d achieve influencer status, for sure. That’s big money on WeWatch.”

“Okay, wow,” she said. “What’s the game?”

He raised his eyebrows, flashed her a grin. “Extreme Hide and Seek, at an abandoned hotel on some remote island.”

How many of those had she watched with Blake? Truthfully, it all seemed a little fake and hollow to Adele, not quite real, something done just for the cameras. People hid in abandoned buildings—supposedly haunted houses, deserted hospitals and prisons, dilapidated asylums—all the while broadcasting live. There was never any real danger. Just some jump scares for the camera,some created drama between contestants. The kids loved it, though.

And Maverick—sometimes he came off as a little unhinged, doing things that were unsafe and reckless. His so-called fail reels—devastating slope wipeouts, precipitous falls, and bone-crunching skateboard crashes—were terrifying. But he always seemed to walk away unharmed. There was something, though, tapping at her memory…something bad had happened during one of the stunts or games. She’d have to search it.

“When does it start?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Two weeks. There’s a spot for one more hider.”

Blake held out his phone for her, showing the page on Extreme’s website where the text was in big red type against a black backdrop.

Maverick’s Extreme Games and Insane Challenges

PRESENTS

The most INTENSE game of hide and seek EVER!

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