“They want the money already in the house,” Harlow said softly. Stella knew exactly what she was remembering. “Payable immediately. Jewel told me and Stella it would be cash.”

“Why won’t Ethan just give them the money, then?” Alex asked.

“Because they can’t,” Francis said. “The safe can only be opened by whoever wins The Cruelest Jewel.”

“So, the ‘kidnappers’ need us to keep playing the game because it’s the easiest way to get a million dollars without raising suspicion outside the house!” Luna said, practically jumping up and down. “I don’t know for sure, but if you tried to withdraw a million dollars from a bank, cash or digitally, that would raise some serious red flags. They think that if we know she’s missing, we’ll just hand it over to get Jewel back.”

“Exactly,” Francis said. “Ethan is trying to decide whether or not to ask us to keep playing, but there’s another problem.” His gaze shifted to Harlow, who then said, “Goddamn it.”

Stella happened to look at Luna at the exact moment she looked at her. One confused face mirrored the other.

Harlow removed her sunglasses, placing them on the counter. She sat down under the window. Her entire body slumped in defeat—shoulders sagging, chin barely raised, hands limp in her lap. “I never should have come here.”

“Too late for that? Yeah?”

“Shut up, Stella,” she said with a weak smile. “Jewel woke me up this morning, saying she wanted to talk to me. She asked me to go to her room.”

“Why didn’t you just talk in your room?” Alex asked.

“Because there aren’t any cameras in Jewel’s room. Shit.” Francis rubbed his face.

“We both walked in, and only I walked out,” Harlow said, nodding. “And now she’s missing.”

So Harlow knew the last place Jewel was seen was her bedroom. No wonder she didn’t want to go down the dark passageway earlier. Well, that and the whole being-traumatized-from-being-buried-alive thing.

“And they think you’re in on the kidnapping. That you helped,” Francis said. “That’s the other reason why Ethan hasn’t sent us home. They’re trying to keep you here.”

Luna asked, “What happened when you were in her room? What did you talk about?” Was that jealousy Stella heard in Luna’s tone?

“Jewel said she wanted to ask me if I was okay, off the record, and Stella told her to be nice to me because I was upset.”

Alex asked, “Wait, if she wanted to talk in private why didn’t she just go into your bathroom? It’s closer.”

Harlow said, “That occurred to me when that fake cop started yelling in my face. When I left the room, she was there, fine, alive, breathing, and very much not missing, sitting in this stupid half chair thing.”