Riot rolled his eyes. “Organ harvesting, human cloning. You think these genealogy testing kits advertised on TV are just so you can find out if your great-grandparents came over from Ireland versus Scotland? Fuck no. It’s to round out the government’s collection of our genetic codes.”
Kevin stared at him for a moment, then turned to Neela. “Sorry, but I think I love him more.”
“Clean!” Greg cried, stepping away from Persey to stand in front of Neela. Whatever he’d been looking for, Persey didn’t have it.
“Why would anyone want to cheat at an escape room competition?” Persey asked as Greg patted Neela down.
Kevin laughed. “I can think of about ten million reasons.”
“Egomaniacs,” Neela suggested. “Or I suppose anyone suffering from an acute personality disorder. Probably from the cluster B or cluster C groups—histrionic, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent, even perhaps obsessive-compulsive. I could see arguments as to why any of these disorders would drive a person to cheat on a seemingly irrelevant game like this.”
“True.” Persey had personal experience with enough egomaniacs and narcissists to see Neela’s point.
“True,” Neela repeated, then laughed good-naturedly. She was totally unfazed by Greg, who added her phone to the collection in his shoulder bag. “I like your style. Tell it like it is. Use three words instead of twenty. The opposite of me, right? A veritable Zelda Fitzgerald of understatement.”
Persey had no idea what she was talking about, but she was relatively sure Neela meant it as a compliment. Her energy gave Persey a headache, and yet she couldn’t help but smile. Neela was right: they were complementary opposites.
“Clean!” Greg said, backing away from Neela with his electro-whatever detector as he moved to Kevin.
“Excuse me,” Arlo said, holding her hands up in defense. “But what if we don’t want Lime Boy’s hands all over us, huh?”
“The. Fuck.” Mackenzie snorted. “Not used to having a man’s hands on you?”
Arlo scowled but didn’t respond to the taunt. “I didn’t sign a consent form. It is wholly within my rights to request some other form of a search. An X-ray machine. Or…or a female agent.”
“This isn’t the TSA, Ms. Wu,” Leah said. “You don’t have an option. Unless you’d rather leave now and forfeit your spot in the competition?” Leah gestured toward the main door. “It’s not too late.”
Arlo eyed the door, then Greg, then Leah, weighing her options. “Fine,” she said. “But I’m going to lodge a formal complaint with the owners when this is over.”
“Duly noted,” Leah said, smiling with everything but her voice.
“Bee tee dubs,” Wes said, arms stretched out to his side as Greg moved to him. “Who are the owners of Escape-Capades these days? Since, you know, what happened…”
“Escape-Capades is controlled by an LLC,” Leah responded coolly, “registered with the state of Nevada. All board members are part of the public record.”
“Okay, but…Hey!” Wes jumped as Greg, removed something from the former’s hoodie pocket. “That’s mine.”
“Sir, no electronics.” Greg wrenched his arm away as Wes attempted to wrestle the item out of his hand.
“What is it?” Leah asked.
Wes finally managed to extricate his property from Greg, then held the item up between two fingers for her to see. “It’s a fucking vape pen.”
“Electronic or mechanical?” Leah asked.
Wes’s brows scrunched together. “Um…”
An imperceptible sigh left Leah’s lips. “Does it use a battery?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then I’m terribly sorry, but you can either relinquish the device or thank you very much for your time, Mr. Song.”
Wes looked as if he was going to punch Greg in the face as he dropped the e-cigarette into the driver’s open hand, kicking the leg of a nearby table as he turned away, sulking.
A taut, tense silence settled over the room as one by one, Greg searched the remaining contestants, confiscating possible devices and clearing them of additional electronics. The competition had started, and everyone’s game face was in full effect.
“Wonderful,” Leah said as Greg deposited his backpack full of contraband at her feet like an offering to the queen. She glanced into the open bag, making a summary account of its contents, then nodded swiftly to Greg, dismissing him. As he exited, Leah stood before the large bookcase. “Will you please follow me?” Then she pulled a leather-bound volume from the middle shelf, releasing a lock. With a heavy creak that felt like it came directly from a haunted-house movie, the entire bookcase swung inward, exposing a secret passageway.
“Just like the exit from the Hidden Library!” Kevin said.
“I knew it was behind one of the bookcases,” Riot said, peeling