“We’ll never know.” Lara wanted to remind the director that she’d beat Kirsten in the elevated maze and in the tunnel, but it was better to be gracious. “It was an intense race and Kirsten was a formidable competitor.”
“You have a day and a half before your next event. How do you plan to spend your time?”
“I hope to get permission to leave the arena and see a little of the capital. This is my first visit to D.C.”
Lara saw one of the cameramen swing his focus behind her. Kirsten must have finally come out of the water pit and through the door. Lara resisted looking back.
“Congratulations again.” Minda grabbed Lara’s hand and shoved her arm into the air like a prizefighter. She hoped the viewers were cheering for her in their homes. She would need their popularity points in every phase, especially the final vote. After a moment, Minda nudged her to step aside. It was Kirsten’s last turn to chat up the viewers before heading home. As Lara walked away, pain flooded her legs, but the smile stayed on her face.
She trudged down the wide hallway that circled the arena and passed a technician at a control panel, but no one else. The media only had access to the main lobby area. Lara hoped to find a way out of the building that would allow her to bypass the lobby where many of the contestants hung out. On some level, she wanted their congratulations, yet she’d been a loner for so long, it was habit to avoid social encounters, especially groups.
The gray hallway went on forever, with occasional overhead doors for machinery and a few regular doors for people. Eventually, the hall hooked left and fifty yards later, Lara pushed through double doors into the common area where she’d started. The room held groups of soft chairs, a small cafeteria, and a few NetCom stations that had blocked access to the Gauntlet program and all social media sites. The organizers did their best to keep the participants from learning any details about the arenas before they competed.
A group of contestants swarmed her, offering their congratulations. They slapped her shoulders and gave her high fives, their mouths smiling but their eyes distant, calculating. Even though they couldn’t watch the events, they could see the scoreboards, which were updated constantly.
Jason Copeland gave her a friendly punch to the shoulder. “You kicked ass, old woman.”
Lara fought the urge to put a fist into his solar plexus. “I hear you wanted to go against me in the Challenge, looking for easy points. Seems a little cowardly.”
He grinned. “We’re all here to win, one way or another.”
Aware of the cameras everywhere, Lara grinned back. “Maybe you’ll get a chance against me in the Battle.”
A man with coppery skin and a black ponytail stepped closer. “I’m Makil Johnson, from Georgia. A group of us who don’t compete until tomorrow are having dinner off site. Would you like to join us?”
Still aware of the cameras, Lara reluctantly said, “Sure. Thanks for asking.” She’d beg out of it later. “Do you have a chaperone?” Contestants could only leave the arena and hotel area in groups, and they had to take a chaperone to ensure no one watched the broadcast version of the competition.
Makil nodded. “We’re all set to meet at seven in the hotel lobby.”
“I’ll see you then. You’ll have to excuse me for now. I need to rest for a while.”
“You earned it.” He gave her a nod of approval.
After a hot shower and a small protein and vegetable shake, Lara lay down. Her body was exhausted but she didn’t sleep well even at night, so she would only meditate for a while, then get back up. After a few minutes, the desk NetCom beeped. Lara grudgingly got up to check it. The corner app flashed
She tapped to answer and the box enlarged. Michael Quince and Rob Schakowski, her old homicide-unit partners, grinned and shouted their congratulations. Quince did an end-zone dance that made her laugh. She recognized the conference room in the Eugene Police Department, and it warmed her weary bones to see them. Schak had retired the year before, so he’d made a special effort to join Quince. She was a little sad Jackson wasn’t there.
“Hey! It’s good to see you guys. Thanks for checking in.”
“You killed on the first section,” Schak shouted. “In fact, you’re the first woman to finish the Challenge in less than an hour.”
Lara hadn’t realized that. Trust Schak to have the stats. “It’s wickedly complex. I was going on instinct.” They had to be vague when they talked about the contest. Special software monitored the contestants’ conversations with the outside world to ensure they weren’t hearing advance details. “I mostly got lucky.”
“Bullshit. That save was amazing,” Schak said.
Quince, going gray but still gorgeous, cut in. “I about had a heart attack when you went down, but you were so quick to correct it.”
“You were fast in the tunnels too.” Schak still sounded excited, but a beeping noise cut him off. The software didn’t want him talking about tunnels. If Lara hadn’t already competed, their message probably wouldn’t have come through.
“I hated every minute of it. My knees still hurt. Did you know there were reptiles in there?”
“That’s disgusting.” Schak tried not to laugh.
“I’m surprised you were both able to watch the live feed. How did you know when I was going to compete?” They only announced each Challenge a few hours in advance. The software also blocked viewers from the competitor’s state from voting when their representative ran the course. It kept populous states from having an advantage.
“I was watching at home and waiting,” Schak said. “When I heard them announce your name for the first round, I contacted Jackson and came down here. He watched with us, then had to go out on a lead. He’s working a missing persons case.”
The job always came first for Jackson. She loved that about him. “This means a lot to me, guys.” Lara struggled to keep her voice from cracking. “I appreciate the support.”
“When do you compete again?”
“Not until Wednesday. They’ll run Challenges all day tomorrow and post my time for the Puzzle sometime after five.”
“Good luck. Show ’em how smart you are.”
“Thanks.” Emotions she never thought she’d feel again were bubbling to the surface. “I have to go now. Say hello to everyone for me.” She blew a kiss for fun, then felt foolish and signed off.
At six-thirty, she considered going out to dinner with the group who’d invited her, then decided against it. Her inability to eat solid food meant that most social gatherings were awkward for her. People always pushed her to eat and she never did. She also didn’t bother to explain why. Jackson was the only person who knew for sure about her condition and he understood without being told. Guilt was something he lived with too, even though he had no reason for it. Lara’s guilt was well-earned.
She made another small shake with a banana, milk, and protein powder and drank it while surfing the net for news. She felt like a junkie in need of a fix. She normally tuned in to the news intermittently throughout the day, but now she was going on twenty-four hours without any. The headline was a deadly flash flood in Illinois. She thought about Jason Copeland and wondered if he knew.
As Lara read the details, the door burst open and Kirsten stormed in. Her roommate stopped between the desk and the couch and blocked the path to Lara’s bedroom.
“You little old bitch.” Kirsten’s face twisted with bitterness and her breath reeked of alcohol. “First, you get lucky in the tunnels, then you earn the sympathy vote. It’s pathetic. I should have won the Challenge.”
Lara started to laugh, then remembered the cameras. Had Kirsten forgotten about them or did she no longer care? “It was a fair competition. I’m sorry you’re going home.” It was the best Lara could do. Without the cameras, she would have told her to fuck off.
“Fair? They handicapped me at every phase because I’m younger and better looking.”
“Get real. I’m sure every male viewer in the audience gave you a constant thumbs-up.” Lara didn’t want this fight, but it wasn’t in her nature to roll over either. She knew it was best to isolate herself now. She started to go around her roommate, but Kirsten stepped in her way.
“I could’ve taken you in the Battle for sure.”
