“Also, she has a TrendList key chain,” Luke admitted.

“Way to bury the lede.” Jay shook his head. “So what’s your plan?”

Luke grabbed the printout of his character sheet and stuffed it into a folder. “I’ve met these women. I have an in. By inserting myself into the sim, I can use them to cozy up to the reporter, gather intel.”

“I don’t know about this.” His sister wrinkled her nose. “‘Use them’?” She shook her head. “That’s not like you, Luke.”

“Bad choice of words,” he admitted.

“Take advantage of?” Vijay suggested.

Luke scowled at his friend. “If you mean take advantage of the circumstances, then yes.” Guilt nipped at his conscience, but he ignored the unpleasant feeling and focused on what was important. Nailing this opening. Score his bonus. Helping Mrs. W. get what she wanted so she would help him get what he wanted. That was the plan. He was simply making adjustments to ensure the plan worked. “They’re here to take part in a role-playing game, right? I’m simply going to be part of that game, too.”

“Hm.” Penelope made a noise, unconvinced. She opened Luke’s folder and scanned his newly created character profile. “You named yourself Lance?”

“Nice. Make sure you pick ‘Romantic picnic brunch for two’ as your bonus activity,” Jay suggested.

“Maybe I will.” Luke shot back. “I like brunch.”

“Don’t make me put you both in time-out,” Penelope warned. “Now, let’s go over the details of your plan, Lance.”

“First of all, you need to pretend you don’t know who I am.” Luke focused on his sister. “When you’re running the game, if we happen to cross paths, you have to act like we’re meeting for the first time.”

“Why should I do that?” Pen wondered.

“I don’t want the three of them thinking I work for the resort. They’ll question the motives behind everything I do.”

“You’re going to lie to these women?” His sister’s tone made it clear she was still not a fan of this plan.

“It’s a game, Pen,” Luke soothed, feeling another twinge of guilt at the manipulation he was planning. “It’s not lying; it’s pretending. The whole thing is made up anyway.”

She bit her lip, and he knew she was mulling it over. Pen may have been the one to find this job, but as the developer, Luke was in charge of the simulation. He was the project manager, and in the end he got to call the shots. But he also valued his sister’s opinion. She glanced at the monitor where a bellhop was loading the women’s bags onto a luggage cart. “This could be a disaster.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he grumbled.

She turned to Vijay. “What do you think?”