I knocked on the door and stepped inside. “Hey, guys? Do you have a minute?”
Marla groaned and tugged the pillow against her face tighter. “Right now?”
I might not have more time later, I thought, but didn’t speak it aloud. “No time like the present,” I said, keeping an upbeat note in my voice as I approached the side of their bed. “It’s important.”
That got Jendan’s attention. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, focusing his gaze on me. “Something wrong?”
“You could say that.”
Marla sat upright and squinted at me, her short mom hairdo spiky on one side from the night’s sleep. “What is it? Not the Power challenge?”
“Nope, but something you need to hear before we go into the next vote. It impacts everyone’s game.”
That got their attention. “What is it?” Jendan asked.
I gestured at the door. “Can we get Brodie? I want him to hear this.”
Five minutes later, Jendan and Marla were somewhat awake, so I steered them back to the Queen room, where I’d left Brodie. As soon as they filed in after me, I checked the hall to make sure no one else was around and then shut the door and locked it. In the room, Brodie was still snoring, flat on his back this time, arms sprawled wide. I moved to his side and gave him a gentle shake. “Hey, wake up.”
He immediately wrapped his arms around my waist and tried to drag me down next to him. “Mmmm. Come back to bed.”
“Brodie, don’t.” I pulled out of his arms, shooting an embarrassed look at Jendan and Marla. “You’re still drunk and we have company.”
“I’m not drunk, baby,” he murmured, and one eye cracked open.
“You are if you’re calling me ‘baby.’ Wake up.” I ignored the suspicious looks Jendan and Marla were giving me. Shit. If they thought I had a relationship with Brodie, this could make things difficult. “Don’t be weird.”
“Weird, huh?” He scrubbed at his face and peered at the two standing behind me, as if just now realizing we weren’t alone. “Hey guys.”
“I brought them in here because we all need to have a discussion,” I told him, moving to a corner of the bed—away from Brodie’s arms—and sitting down, a leg curled under me. “I found out some interesting things when you guys were drunk last night.”
“Oh?” Marla glanced around and grabbed the nearest chair. Jendan continued standing, arms crossed, though he stood near Marla’s chair. “Good interesting or bad interesting?” She looked uneasy.
I forced a laugh. “Isn’t all ‘interesting’ bad in this game?”
Brodie sat up, yawning. “So what is it?”
I took a deep breath and then laid it all out on the table. “I had a long talk with Casper last night. He’s going to talk Jayme and Fido into nominating you guys because he wants to make a big move and stir things up. Once you guys are up on the block, Marla’s going to be the one to go.”
Marla’s gasp was audible. “Me? What did I do?”
“You’re the stronger player,” I said simply. “You have kids, so you’re more approachable, and you’re less of a threat in competitions, so he’s worried you’re going to fly under the radar to the very end.”
She looked at Jendan, frowning. “Should we…”
He shrugged at her. “Tell them. Won’t hurt anything at this point.”
She glanced back at me. “We’ve already talked with Jayme and Fido. They said they were nominating you two and that you’d be going home, Kandis. The plan’s to keep Brodie.”
I nodded. “I know. Casper told me. But then he changed his mind.”
Marla’s motherly expression became shrewd. “You know we could go to him and ask him which story is the truth. You might be lying.”
“Yeah, I thought you might say that.” Hiding my budding excitement, I pulled the small hand-held recorder out of my pocket. “Which is why I thought you might want to hear this for yourself.”
This time, the room was dead silent.
After a long moment, Marla spoke. “You’ve been recording us? Are you serious?”
Brodie just looked confused. “So we’re telling everyone about the recordings, now?”
Marla gave my partner a dirty look.
I gestured at the silent Jendan. “ Jendan gave this to me. It was in the ghost-hunting equipment, remember? You’re supposed to use it to capture EVPs but I noticed that it also captures conversations pretty well.”
“I can’t believe you’ve been recording us!” Marla was pissed, two bright spots of color in her wan cheeks. “That is so shady!”
“It’s to your benefit,” I told her. “Because if I hadn’t, you guys would be going home in the next nomination. Just listen, okay?”
And I clicked the recorder on so it could start at the beginning of the conversation I’d had with Casper. I let the damning evidence play, not stopping it to add commentary. Even hearing it sounded awesome—Casper spilling all of his plans and me quietly agreeing and listening as he plotted against everyone, even the people he was supposedly aligned with. I glanced at the other three people in the room as it played, gauging their reactions. Marla’s face was flushed, though I didn’t know if it was anger or embarrassment. Jendan was impassive, and Brodie was listening with a thoughtful expression on his face.
The last few moments of the conversation played back, Casper’s voice not stealthy in the slightest. “So…this is a big move. You’re with me? If we put up Marla and Jendan, you’ll vote Marla?”
My voice. “I would if the house was going to. I don’t want to go out on my own and then have her gunning for me if she survives the vote.”
“Oh, it’ll go that way. You watch and see. And this conversation between you and me? Never happened.”
“Got it.”
“I’m serious. One word of this getting out, little missy, and I will deny all of it. I’ll just tell them you’re starting trouble to save your hide and make sure your ass is booted out the door as quickly as possible. You get me?”
“I understand. You can trust me.”
Casper sounded disgustingly confident. Smug, even. “I know I can. Because your back’s against a wall. You’ve got no options but me.”
I clicked the tape recorder off and waited.
Brodie was the first to speak. “He threatened you? That f**king a**hole. I should go have a nice long talk with him—“
“No,” I said quickly. Aw, hell. This was exactly the way I didn’t want the conversation to go. “Don’t say anything. Let him believe everything is on the up and up.” I looked over at Marla and Jendan. “What are you guys thinking?”
“I’m pissed,” Marla said. Her arms crossed over her chest. “And how can we trust you, Kandis? You sat there and recorded him spilling his guts. And on tape, you’re agreeing to vote me off. How can I trust you not to?”
“Marla, come on. Think for a moment.” I scooted forward on the bed, tossing the recorder down. “If I wanted to go through with his plan, why would I say anything to you? Anything to any of you?” I gestured at all three of them. “We had the votes to get Marla out even before I said anything. Me, Sunnie, Casper, Jayme and Fido. That’s five. You’d be toast before you even knew what happened. As for trusting me, I’m coming to you with this information so we can switch it up. I want to work with you guys. Jendan and I have been allied since day one. I don’t intend on changing that. In fact, I want the four people in the room here to go to the end together.”
Silence.
After a moment, Marla said, “Brodie, you’re constantly flirting with Sunnie and Jayme.” Her mouth turned into a prim line. “Not to mention your partner here. How do we know you’re willing to partner to the end?”
I looked at Brodie. That was a good question, and one I wouldn’t mind the answer to as well.
Brodie only grinned. “My strategy coming in was to flirt. I think it’s doing pretty well for me so far. But Kandis is my girl. I’m with her. She’s got my back, and I have hers. The other two are just harmless flirting. As long as they’re with me, they’re not against me.”
Jendan said nothing, but Marla harrumphed again. “So how do we trust you?”
“You either do or you don’t,” Brodie said, still smiling. “Sounds like I’m safe either way.”
“Yeah, great,” she snapped.
“Look, let’s calm down,” Jendan said. “I trust Kandis. Like she said, she’s had my back since day one. She’s shared information to help keep me—keep us—safe.”
“Has she,” Brodie murmured speculatively, glancing over at me.
“You know this,” I told him. We’d even argued about it.
He leaned in. “Yeah, but I’m just curious how much sharing has been going on.”
I rolled my eyes at his accusation. I’d deal with Brodie later. Right now I needed to concentrate on the other team, not mine. I clasped my hands and gave Marla and Jendan a beseeching look. “So can we please, please work together? I think if the four of us come together, we can surprise all of them and take control of this game. We just have to make sure that we stick together.”
“So how do we do this?” Marla asked me, still skeptical. “You must have an idea.”
“I do,” I said slowly, doing my best not to twitch. “But I need your help. I need you two to go to Jayme and Fido and tell them that you want them to nominate Casper and Sunnie.”
“Why not you?” Marla asked. “You’re the one with the tape.”
“I am. I’m also the current nominee of choice. Don’t you think it’ll look a bit fishy if I go to them and beg for my life? It’ll look less sneaky if it comes from you guys, and then our alliance can fly under the radar.”
“And what do we tell Fido and Jayme?”
I shrugged. “Tell them the truth—that you overheard a conversation with Casper where he was saying he wanted to vote one of them out. Let paranoia do the rest.”
Marla and Jendan exchanged a glance. After a moment, Marla put her hand out. “I think I want the tape recorder back.”
I got up and brought it to her. “I’m not doing this to screw you guys. I promise. I know that if we work together, we can get to the final four.”
Marla stood up and looked at her partner again and then back to me. “You know we’re going to have to discuss this privately before we come to an agreement.”
I nodded. Of course. “Just…if you guys decide to try and use this to vote me out, let me know first, okay?”
“We will,” Jendan said. “And thanks for letting us know, Kandis.”
“You can trust me,” I assured him.
He smiled at me and nodded and then left the room with Marla. As soon as they exited the Queen room, I turned back to Brodie, who had a frown on his face.