He felt as if he was always scanning the horizon for predators and signs of danger. Girardi might be awaiting trial for his masterminding a plot to assassinate the governor—and kidnapping his daughter in the process—but the crime family was so ingrained in Newcastle, the upcoming trial hardly slowed down the activity at all.
What the fuck were those guys doing here? And why were they watching Harper?
Without thinking, Dash sprang through the crowd.
"There's our other teammate," Dash said, grabbing Harper by the bulky woolen mitten and pulling her along.
When he grabbed her hand, he felt a tingling of heat shoot up his arm. It's all that damn wool she wears. Too much static electricity, Dash thought. God, even her clothes seemed made to annoy him.
"Have you lost your mind? That's not what I'm doing here," Harper protested.
Opal seemed pleased with the idea. "Perfect. We'll have a reporter embedded with one of the teams!" She had a high-pitched, reedy voice that could have summoned every dog within a ten-mile radius.
The word "embedded" hit Dash out of nowhere. It sounded as if someone was getting into bed with the Brute Squad. His filthy mind flashed an unwelcome thought of Harper hopping naked into a giant bed with him, Holden, Levi, Billy, Ricky, and Alex.
Outside of helping Harper do her job, Dash didn't give a crap about the newspaper story; he just wanted to get Harper away from all these strangers who seemed intent on talking to her and away from the mayor, whom Harper seemed determined on grilling. Anybody in any position of authority in this town, Dash was suspicious of their motives and their response to the relentlessly political Harper.
"This is not necessary. I think I got the gist of the place enough to write a story. Not that much to tell," Harper said.
Dash insisted. "We're supposed to have even numbers anyway, and you make eight. Sorry, thems the rules."
Holden, who stood by them holding a brochure, looked at him like he was nuts. "That's nine if you could Declan—"
"Shut it, Holden." Dash brushed past him as he rushed over to the counter to sign his waiver and one for Harper.
She protested that. "Hey. Psycho. I can sign my name on an indemnity waiver."
Dash knew he was acting all out of character, and he also knew everyone, including Declan, was looking at him like he'd lost his marbles. "Good for you, let's go. Declan! What room do we got? Let's do this bitch."
The room they were assigned to was called "Sea Shanty" and was designed to look like a ship's interior.
Somebody locked the door after their team had filed inside, and Billy began hyperventilating.
"I thought you said you'd been buried alive and escaped?" Holden asked.
Billy, banging on a faux porthole in the wall, trying to get air, replied with a wheezy, "I didn't say I escaped."
Dash and Holden exchanged looks.
Levi crossed his arms and said, "Help me understand. You were buried alive but didn't escape. Then, are you the ghost of Billy Sullivan?"
"Listen, smart guy. It was Sonny Girardi, and he did it to shut me up. He dug me out a few minutes later."
Dash's head was about to explode. "Do you mind telling us how that has any correlation to an escape room?"
"I didn't say it did! I was just making conversation!"
Declan interjected by holding up a prop letter he'd found. "Look! A clue!"
"No, you weren't!" Dash shouted at Billy, ignoring Declan.
"Hey, Brain Trust!" Everyone turned and watched as Harper held up the letter. "It's Morse code. I know this. Hang on."
Dash watched in amusement and irritation as Harper showed off her knowledge of Morse code while the group dynamic deteriorated into joking and bickering. Eventually, she deciphered the text and shouted out the next clue.
By that point, everyone else was ignoring her, except for Fiona and Levi, who seemed genuinely into the activity.
The three of them huddled around a periscope and hashed out another clue as each one looked through it, one by one. Dash found his legs eating up the distance over to the periscope and asking if he could have a look.
Harper looked at him in surprise. "Oh. You've decided you're not too cool to participate now?"
Dash shrugged. "It's too loud over there. I can't handle the arguing," was the excuse he gave.
Harper laughed. "Be my guest. How you bunch of gorillas ever managed to band together to prevent a political assassination is beyond my scope of comprehension. No offense, Fiona."
Fiona lifted one shoulder. "I get it."
Levi exclaimed, "Hey, why are you directing no offense at my girlfriend and not me?"
Harper smirked. "Can't imagine."
Dash shot her a look. "I was trying to be nice. You don't always have to show off."
Harper cocked her head and clucked at him sympathetically. "Aww, but it takes hardly any effort."
"I heard that. And maybe I just won't sign any of your wildlife petitions anymore," Holden said from across the room, where he and Billy were trying to jimmy the lock with Levi's switchblade.
Dash glared at Harper. "Great job. How does it feel to know you offended the nicest person in the room?"
Billy grunted as the lock refused to give. "Why don't you just kiss her already, Dash."
His temper about to erupt, Dash stepped toward Billy. That was it. Once and for all, he was going to shut the mouth of that feral little runt. But as he moved, something rattled below his feet.
He paused, bounced up and down for a moment, and then bounced a little bit harder. He felt floorboards move, and the rattle echoed against something hollow.
