“That’s for me to know and you to research on the internet,” Stella said. “While Francis is off being his best super spy self with Nicole to keep him honest, the rest of us will stay here and put the game versus reality theory to the test.”

RECONNAISSANCE

SATURDAY, 2:08 P.M.

Francis waited until they had made it down the hall before asking, “What are you thinking?”

“About?” Nicole refused to read between his lines anymore.

“All of it. Back there, almost everyone offered up some kind of guess or rebuttal. You didn’t.”

So, he had noticed her intentional silence. Honestly, she’d been super lost in the bathroom. Luna and Stella simply moved faster than she did. Nicole needed time to compile data and process things one step at a time. More of a slow, calculated burn than lightning fast and whip smart like them.

But that didn’t mean she was useless.

“Luna and Stella had it under control. I trust them,” she said.

“You just met them.”

“I just met you too.”

Francis blinked at her a few times, mouth forming a silent and surprised, oh.

“I want to see the best in people for as long as I can,” she said. “Usually right up until they do something to convince me that I shouldn’t.”

Stella had sent her off with Francis for a reason. It was so strange—even though parts of the game still weren’t clicking for her, she knew precisely what Stella expected her to do.

Nicole hadn’t had time to come up with a solid plan of action. Between the JEWEL IS MISSING announcement, being interrogated by what she hoped were rent-a-cops, and trying to figure out exactly what was going on, all the questions and inconsistencies that had formed around Francis had been put on involuntary hold.

“Do you know where Ethan and Olive are?”

Francis shook his head. “We have to make a stop first. I know they won’t talk to me if you’re there, but I have an idea.” He had led her back to the main foyer. She hadn’t seen it since they’d first arrived.

Nicole expected him to take her to one of the staircases, but at the last second, he curved to the right.

“This hallway has a nook that the cameras can’t see,” he whispered. “Unless security is watching our every move, it’ll take them a while to figure out where we went.” They stopped in front of an empty space of wall tucked into a corner, and he started counting, stopping at thirty. “They’re not coming,” he said with a pleased grin. “If they were watching us, the second we dropped out of sight they would have immediately started tracking us through the tablets. They would’ve found us by now to escort us back to our suites.”

“Thirty seconds?”