“Is this your way of flirting with me?”

Reuben looked up from his task and she could see his white teeth. “I don’t flirt, sugar. I don’t need to.”

“Then I don’t get it. Why all the concern? You said yourself this game is about everyone for themselves.”

“It is. Or at least it will be after we get a few others to drop out. But for now I need you.”

“And when you’re done needing me?” she asked.

“I’ll break you like a bad habit.” His smile grew wider even as he took her injured hand and began to wrap it up, this time in the white shirt.

“Good to know,” she muttered.

“I play to win.”

Talia lifted her chin, instinctively reacting to the challenge in his tone. “So do I.”

Dear Reader,

This month marks the first anniversary of Silhouette Bombshell. And just when you thought the bookshelves couldn’t get any hotter, we’re kicking off our second year with a killer lineup of innovative, compelling stories featuring heroines that will thrill you, inspire you and keep you turning pages! Sit back, relax and enjoy the read….

Once a thief, always a thief? The heroine of author Michele Hauf’s Once a Thief says no way! But when her archenemy frames her for theft, she’s got to beat him at his own game to keep her new life, a new love and the freedom she won at such great cost….

When hijackers steal her billion-dollar satellite and threaten to use it as a weapon, a NASA scientist must work with a know-it-all counterterrorist expert to save the day. The heat is on in Kathryn Jensen’s exhilarating Hot Pursuit!

A Palm Beach socialite-turned-attorney gets into a killer’s sites when she’s called on to defend a friend for murder, in Courting Danger by Carol Stephenson. It’ll take some fancy legal moves—and a major society shake-up—to see that justice is served.

And how far might someone go to win a million dollars? The heroine of The Contestant, by Stephanie Doyle, begins to suspect that one of her fellow reality TV show competitors might have resorted to murder—could it be the sexy ex-cop with the killer smile?

Enjoy all four, and when you’re done, tell us what you think! Send your comments to me c/o Silhouette Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

Sincerely,

Natashya Wilson

Associate Senior Editor, Silhouette Bombshell

The Contestant
Stephanie Doyle

www.millsandboon.co.uk

STEPHANIE DOYLE

is a dedicated traveler who has climbed Croagh Patrick in Ireland, snowshoed on Mount Rainier, crawled through ancient kivas of the Anasazi in Arizona and explored the badlands of South Dakota all in the pursuit of the next great adventure. A firm believer that great adventures can lead to great stories, she continues to seek new challenges that will trigger her next idea. Next stop: the Galapagos Islands!

Stephanie began writing at age fifteen. At eighteen she submitted her first story to Harlequin and by twenty-six she was published. She lives in South Jersey with her two cats, Alexandria Hamilton and Theodora Roosevelt.

For my sisters Mary Kay and Megan—the two strongest swimmers I know. Your unwavering support means more to me than you will ever realize. So much so you each get your own room at the beach house.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Prologue

Summer Olympics, Sydney, 2000

“What a crowd we have here tonight, Susan.”

At the subtle request from the NBC sports commentator, the cameraman pulled the stationary camera back on its wheels and slowly scanned the crowd filling the aquatic center where the ten-meter platform diving competition was being held. The smell of chlorine filled the air and reflections from the brilliantly blue pool gave the impression of a water wonderland. After sweeping over the cheering audience, he returned the bulky eye to the pair of talking heads seated on the bench in the production booth, each of them wearing matching red shirts, khaki shorts and wide smiles. In his headset, he could hear chatter from the production people upstairs to the camera crew located on either side of the pool, preparing them for the next dive.

“Absolutely, John. The surprise standout, Talia Mooney from the United States, and Chu Lau from the ever-dominant Chinese diving team are really putting on a show for them.”

“Would you agree that Talia especially has been in perfect form all day?”

“I do indeed agree. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her perform at this level. Not at previous trials, certainly not on the world stage. And I have to say, John, that I know this young woman. Talia is not a real big fan of performing. She loves diving, and I think she likes testing herself against her peers—she’s definitely a tough competitor. I just don’t think she likes the attention that comes with doing it on a large stage. But she’s not going to be able to avoid that now. This is her fifth dive. She’s in a strong second-place position with only fourteen-year-old Chu Lau from China in front of her. Given the rest of Talia’s dives, if she executes, she has the difficulty elements necessary possibly to overtake Chu Lau for first.”

“Why don’t you break down this dive for us?”

“It’s an arm-stand back double pike. It’s got a difficulty level of three point two. Talia will start this from a handstand position. She’ll fall back into two complete somersaults in the pike position before entering the water. It’s one of Talia’s favorites. It’s difficult, but it shows her gracefulness.”

“Graceful seems to be the right word, Susan. Given her significant size over Chu Lau—probably six inches in height and at least twenty pounds—it’s amazing that Talia doesn’t create any more splash upon impact into the water.”

“That’s all about technique, John. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are. If you’re not executing the dive correctly, you’re going to make a splash.”

“It looks like Talia is next.”

“And I love this part about her, as well. She’s completely still on the platform. She’s not shaking out muscles or doing anything that would detract from the overall impact of her long, slim body. She may not like being on stage, but she knows how to do it right to create an image of fluidness even before she goes into the dive. Remember this is a judged competition where every point counts.”

Knowing the camera was steady on the heads, the cameraman tilted his neck toward the monitor on his right that was broadcasting the event. The production guys upstairs would know when to cut from the pool to the announcers and would in turn let him know. For now everything was focused on the girl on top of the sky-high platform.

Man, she was something. He couldn’t help but admire the length of her body. Like one lean line wearing nothing more than a clingy blue tank suit. Her legs seemed to go on to forever and her broad shoulders suggested that she was just as strong in the water as she was flying through the air. Her hair was short and choppy and so icy blond that when it was dry it looked like a color only an angel might lay claim to. Certainly not a color any chemical could reproduce. And the way her nose curved up made her seem sweetly innocent despite the fact that she was a woman brave enough to fly thirty feet through the air.

Yes, she was a tall drink of water, as his long-dead father would have said. And he was too damn old himself to be having such thoughts. But what the hell, a man could look, couldn’t he? Tearing his gaze away from the monitor he once again focused on the heads.

“Look at that handstand in the air,” Susan noted. “Strong, straight, no shaking arms, she holds it, holds it, holds it, and there she goes.”

Wow, the cameraman thought. Good dive.

“Wow,” John said.

“Wow is right, John. She ripped that one. Beautiful quick rotation and another smooth entry into the water. Given the difficulty I wouldn’t be surprised to see eights and nines on this…. And I’m right! Look at those scores. This is really exciting for Talia.”

“Now wait a minute. What’s that? Do you see the way she’s holding her hand?”

“Uh-oh, that’s her coach coming over.”

This time there was more chatter in his headset. The production people were shouting quick orders to keep a camera on the girl and the coach no matter what. And the on-the-spot guy was being told to get into position.

“He’s looking at it now, but she seems to be shaking her head at him. I can’t see anything in the replay that looks as though it might have caused an injury. But she’s moving away from her coach and heading for the whirlpool. I think she’s okay. Either way, she’s rinsing off and getting ready for the next dive.”

“Did she even see those scores?”

“If she didn’t someone is telling her now. Two more dives like that and Talia has a shot at the gold.”

“While some of the other divers take their position on the platform, let’s talk about diving. Susan, I don’t think people realize how physically demanding this sport can be.”

“Absolutely, John. Everyone remembers Greg Louganis smacking his head on the springboard, and falling almost lifelessly into the water. And that is a very real danger. Both on the springboard and the platform, the goal is to create height at the time of takeoff rather than distance from the board. As a result, divers’ heads can come perilously close to the edge. In addition to that is the fact that their bodies are hitting the water at speeds up to thirty-seven miles per hour. That’s a lot of pounding on a body over time. If you’re off position even slightly, you can easily break a bone, dislocate a shoulder, wrench a knee. And no one is perfect all of the time. So many of these divers have experienced injuries at least once, if not several times over the course of their careers. Pain becomes a constant companion in their lives.”

“I can see Talia climbing the steps to the top of the platform and she is really favoring that hand.”

“Yes, something is definitely wrong with her right hand, but whatever it is it’s not bad enough to keep her from these last dives apparently. Like I said, Talia is a tough competitor. She knows she’s close. She’s not going to let pain get in her way.”

“What’s this next dive?”

“It’s a forward twisting three-and-a-half pike somersault. Again with the difficulty level this could bring in a lot of points, but I have to say if there is something wrong with her hand, it is going to be very hard for her to enter the water cleanly. Obviously, it’s the hands that are first to make impact with the water. A diver’s hands are pushed flat at the last second which creates an entrance for them and helps to lessen water movement when their bodies follow.”

“And if she broke some fingers on that last dive?”

“I don’t even want to contemplate the pain involved at impact.”

“She’s on the board now. Chu Lau made steady sevens on her last go-round.”

“Again, still polished. Still very poised. John, if she’s in agony right now then she deserves an Oscar, as well as a gold medal, because she sure doesn’t look it. And here she goes… Excellent twisting motion, perfect turns… Oh no, look at that splash. Definitely not as clean as her others have been. I think, if I can see the replay, yes, John, she changed her hand position. She always does right hand down and grips with her left. This time she’s put the left hand first perhaps in an attempt to shield her injury.”

“What will this do to her scores?”

“We’ll have to see. There is no specific rule that relates to the size of the splash. This isn’t like figure skating where it’s a set deduction. The judges should be looking for how vertical her entry was. But this is a subjective sport and the truth is the judges really like to see as little water as possible. Here are her scores now.”

“They’re not bad, Susan.”

“They’re not bad at all, John. Seven-and-a-half and eights. It was a really good dive, perfect form in the air, very vertical entry with just a slight imperfection at the end. Depending on what Chu Lau does with her next dive, Talia could still have a chance.”

The cameraman’s attention once again turned to the chatter in his headset as the production people gave the okay to cut to poolside. He was told that the on-the-spot guy was in position. He held up his hand and made the motion to the commentators that they needed to cut to him.

“Susan, let’s see if we can talk to our correspondent, Chuck, who is down at the poolside now. Chuck, what is the situation down there?”

The cameraman again took his eyes off the two in front of him to watch the monitor. Chuck’s face filled the screen. The camera guy downstairs was doing a good job of keeping the activity of the divers in the camera’s view without letting it get too distracting.

“Well, John, Susan, I had it confirmed. On her fifth dive Talia did break two of her fingers, I believe the first two on her right hand, as well as dislocated the other two fingers at the knuckles. I got a quick glance at her hand before her coach covered it up with a towel and it’s already starting to swell pretty badly. They’re not letting reporters in the locker room, but I’ve been told they’re going to try to pop the two fingers back into place and wrap the other two with tape. I’m also told that she will be executing her final dive. I’ll let you know when I have more. Back to you, John.”

Upon Chuck’s lead-in the cameraman quickly checked to see that the heads were centered in the monitor.

“That’s amazing.”

“Why do you say that, Susan?”

“First that she had the will to dive in the first place knowing what it was going to feel like when she entered the water. And second that she was able to change the order of her hands, something that’s probably routine for her, without really blowing it. I’ve never seen a diver able to switch technique midcompetition and be successful. Like I said before, Talia is a gritty competitor and she is obviously not going to give up without a fight.”

“Here is Chu Lau up on the platform now. She can secure the gold with a total score of eighty-four-point-two points.”

“Which, given her difficulty level, means she’s looking for sevens and eights. But I do want to comment here, John. You can really see the difference in maturity between these two divers. Chu Lau is only fourteen compared to Talia, who is almost ten years older. She doesn’t walk with any real confidence. I would like to see those shoulders back a little more. But when it comes to diving there is no one more precise with her positioning. This dive is an inward twisting two-and-a-half tuck somersault. There she goes. Man, she’s quick in the air.”

“Whoa. That’s going to be tough to beat, isn’t it, Susan?”

“That’s going to be very tough to beat, John. She was really perfect, in the air, in the water and…there it is. She’s gotten what she needs. The gold is hers. Given the degree of difficulty on Talia’s next dive there is no way she can overtake Chu Lau. Not even with tens.”

“Do you think Talia will even bother at this point?”

“If I was her coach, I would tell her to sit it out and take a no dive. She actually has enough points that, even without the last dive and given her competition’s next dive, she will probably still come in third. Bronze is a very respectable finish. She can’t win gold, but she could do some real damage to her hand by going for the silver.”

“Isn’t that her coming out of the locker room?”

“She’s probably just checking the scores. Figuring out what the situation is. That’s her coach talking to her now. Telling her it’s over.”

“Is it my imagination, Susan, or do they look like they’re fighting?”

“She’s definitely shaking him off. And—I don’t believe it—she’s heading for the steps. I can see the tape around the first two fingers. She’s climbing up. John, I’m shocked. She’s going to dive.”

“This is amazing. She knows she can’t win. Her fingers are broken.”

“Forgive me, but I’m actually getting a little choked up at this. I happen to know that this is Talia’s last competition. She’s waited to go to college, felt she couldn’t focus on school and diving at the same time. She told me she would be attending Tulane in Louisiana this fall. I think she wants to finish this out. It’s really a remarkable display of courage.”

“You don’t think she’s looking to win silver?”

“I don’t think she cares about the medals at this point, John. I think she simply wants to dive her last dive. She’s on the platform. Her scheduled dive was going to be a backward three— Wait, I can see she’s changed that. She’s facing forward on the platform. She’s not doing her listed dive…and look at that. She’s going with the swan. The original dive, really…and perfect. Just perfect, John. Beautiful takeoff, absolutely elegant in the air, no splash at all. That’s what a ten looks like, John. Only that wasn’t for points. That was for her. I think we just saw Talia Mooney say goodbye to diving.”

The cameraman watched as the girl climbed out of the pool. The guy downstairs was using the shoulder camera to follow her progress and once again he was getting the call from upstairs to tell the two announcers to cut to Chuck. He made the motion with his hand for them to stop talking and watched the monitor as Chuck raced to try and catch the girl. He knew the business was all about catching the right moment, but he couldn’t help but think that they should just leave her alone.

“Talia, can you talk to us for a second?”

She turned around and everyone watching was able to see her reluctance, her pain and her strength in keeping it all together as she evidently struggled to hold back tears. It was a great shot. And it was going to make for some fabulous TV.

“Let me start with…how’s the hand?”

“Uh…it hurts. I’m going to go get some X rays taken and see what the damage is.”

“Talia, you were so close to gold. What were you thinking when you knew it had slipped from your grasp? And what prompted you to make that last dive?”

“I wanted to go out on my terms. And it’s my favorite dive.”

“You can see the scores, tens, but of course without the difficulty it’s not a lot of points. Wait, I’m just now hearing in my earpiece that you did earn enough to win silver. Talia, you’re an Olympic silver-medal winner. Congratulations.”

“Silver’s great,” she smiled genuinely, brushing a tear from her cheek.

“And will this be your last competition?”

“Absolutely. No offense, Chuck, but I hope I never have to have a camera shoved in my face again.”

The cameraman in the booth upstairs smiled.

Chapter 1

“Hello! My name is Evan Aiken and I am your host for what is going to be the adventure of a lifetime for eight lucky contestants. This is a game for the strong and for the determined. This show will go beyond survival and challenge each of these contestants’ ultimate endurance. Okay, Joe, cut. That works.”

Joe, the cameraman, whose large frame had been perched somewhat precariously on the bow of the boat, lowered the large battery-powered shoulder camera to his lap.

Talia Mooney was curious what would happen if she picked it up and tossed it over the side of the skiff into the Pacific Ocean. She had a hunch Evan wouldn’t be pleased.

How the hell did I get here?

It wasn’t the first time Talia had thought it, but now that she was actually being filmed, it was starting to hit home that for the next several weeks, however long it would take to whittle down eight contestants to one, her life was going to be played out in front of a camera. Again.

She was going to kill her father when she got back. Despite the fact that she was doing this to save his damn hide.

“I’m in a wee bit of trouble, my dear.”

He always liked to bring out the Irish whenever he was telling her bad news. He thought it softened the blow. The more wees he added, the worse the news. She should have hung up after wee number three.

Instead she’d dutifully driven from her apartment in Miami to Islamorada in the Keys, to the marina and the boat she’d called home since her mother died of cancer when she was only ten. Her father had supported both of them by taking sport fishers out on day tours. And while growing up on the Slainte wasn’t exactly a routine childhood, it had allowed her always to be close to her two favorite things: the water and her dad.

Of course she’d go to him in his hour of need, as he called it. She loved the rascal, despite his tragic flaw. The man was the ultimate dreamer. In truth it had been his idealism and hope that had urged her on throughout her diving career. She would have been content diving for fun. A competition here or there because she liked the challenge of testing herself.

But her father had dreams of Olympic gold.

An adult now, she could recognize that being an idealist and a romantic probably wasn’t the worst flaw to have. If only it didn’t make him such an easy mark.

“He had maps. Maps and charts and a diary. He knew the course the Spanish galleon was headed on when it sank. And there were records of Spanish royalty onboard. It would have been filled to the brim with doubloons.”

“Did you see this map?”

“I— Well…I…was going to…eventually. I suppose.”

Fifty thousand dollars. Fifty thousand dollars he’d borrowed—not from a bank since no respectable institution would dare give him that kind of money, but from a local loan shark, a muscle-bound goon named Rocco. Then Colin Mooney had handed all that money over to a man named Buck Rogers in the hopes of finding lost treasure and quadrupling his investment.

As if the name alone hadn’t been a clue that the treasure hunter was a fake.

Mooney’s Sport Fishing Tours barely made that much in a season, let alone in enough time to make a decent repayment that would keep the shark off Colin’s back. Of course, Buck Rogers was already long gone with the fake maps and the cash. And the loan shark was getting antsy.

Everybody in the small island community knew that Rocco was a bad imitation of a mob thug, but when it came to getting his money back, he wouldn’t mess around. If he didn’t outright kill her father as a lesson to others not to cross him, then he’d certainly take out a knee or two. And without his legs, her father wouldn’t be able to make a living on a boat.

“You’re my only hope.”

Talia grimaced as she recalled his plea. She’d just finished college at the ripe age of twenty-eight, she had no savings, no job yet, and no way to bail her father out of this latest mess. She’d offered up her silver medal to auction off on eBay, but he refused to let her part with it. That’s when he’d shown her the application.

Ultimate Endurance. A reality-TV game show where the prize was one million dollars. He’d sent in her information, her picture and a video of her competing. Apparently the producers had gone for it. If she could outlast just a few of the contestants, she could bring back enough prize money to pay off Rocco and save her father’s knees.

She’d spent her life on the water and camping on various islands. Her mother had been Australian and had loved the outdoors, so they’d often vacationed on islands in the South Pacific. From an early age, her mother had taught Talia how to fish with her hands, make a fire, make shelter and stay away from deadly predators.

“A few weeks on a remote island competing against seven people who you know you can beat doing something you love to do…to save my very life. Is that so much to ask?”

As an added push, he’d reminded her that she wasn’t having much luck finding a job in her chosen profession and that a little extra pocket cash might help to tide her over. Granted his reason for her failure to land a job was ridiculous. He’d said it was because no one interviewing her would ever believe she was an accountant.

But she was. Or at least she wanted to be. It was what her degree read.

She even believed that being a former Olympian might give her an edge when it came to finding an entry position in an accounting firm, but now she was seriously considering removing it from her résumé. Each time she went in for an interview, the human-resource person would start asking about her hand—as if after four-and-a-half years it might still hurt—and end it with the question: “Are you really sure you would be satisfied with a job where you do nothing but sit in a cubicle all day working on a computer?”

Yes! That was exactly what she wanted. She wanted to wear business suits instead of bathing suits. She wanted to walk in pumps instead of bare feet. She wanted to have a normal job, in a normal company and have a normal apartment that didn’t rock when the wind picked up.

It was during those moments of rejection that she wished her mother was still alive. Because as much as her father didn’t understand her need to be taken seriously as a smart businesswoman, she knew her mother would have. Her mother may have married a dreamer, but she had been all about hard work and getting the job done whatever the cost.

But instead of being on another interview right now, here Talia was with her father’s life in jeopardy, back to wearing a bikini and cutoff jean shorts, riding in a boat with a camera, en route to an island with a bunch of people who were all after the same prize. There was nothing normal about this.

She absolutely was going to kill her father when she got back.

For now there was nothing to do but play the game. She sat quietly on the bench seat with three of the other players while a second speedboat, being piloted by a crewman who worked for the show, was behind them carrying the other cameraman, Dino—a short, stout, bald man with a round face—plus the other four contenders for Ultimate Endurance.

Ultimate Endurance? They had to be kidding.

Two of the contestants were well over fifty—Iris and Gus. One was a grandmother, the other a former military officer who looked gritty, but would that translate to real toughness on a deserted island? Then there was Sam, a soft-looking marketing executive who liked to smile and tell stories and who, Talia suspected, was closer to fifty than he let on.

Also appealing to the fortysomething demographic was Nancy. She was a last-minute replacement for the other fortysomething housewife who had dropped out. It was just luck that Nancy had decided to take a vacation to Hawaii and was available when the show needed her. A sweet-faced, overweight divorcée, from the moment she’d stepped on the yacht she’d alternated between some form of sheer ecstasy for having made it on to the show or wrenching tears at being separated from her children. The woman was an emotional roller coaster and liked to gather sympathy by telling everyone how her rotten ex-husband had dumped her for a younger, more adventurous woman.

However, Talia couldn’t help but feel protective of Nancy. The divorcée was so far out of her element, Talia didn’t know how she was still functioning. And it was only going to get worse.

Until this point they had been cruising on a luxury yacht from Hawaii to the remote destination in the South Pacific just past the Vanuatu Islands in the Melanesian chain. Now they were on their way to the island they would be calling home, and Talia believed that the reality of the situation was finally beginning to settle in with everyone, especially Nancy, who had been suspiciously quiet during the trip.

Or she could have been seasick. It was a tough call.

Still, Talia had to be grateful that she wasn’t sharing the short excursion with Marlie. An impossibly young, ridiculously skinny—especially since she was about to go at least a few days without a regular meal—wanna-be starlet, Marlie was clearly more interested in fame than the million-dollar prize. She had spent the entire journey sucking up to—if not actually sucking off—Dino, so that when filming began he would always try to catch her from the right. It was her best side.

When she asked Talia what her best side was, Talia had named her backside. The others who had been nearby when she made this declaration had chuckled. It wasn’t completely a joke. She had a pretty firm butt.

Sam, Marlie and Gus were on the second boat with Tommy. Another slim young gun with a lot of attitude and eyes that instantly made Talia think of a snake. He’d carried a blue backpack with him wherever he went on the yacht, claiming he wanted to be prepared in case the host planned a surprise drop-off. Since for most of the trip they were at least a hundred miles from any inkling of land, Talia thought that idea unlikely.

She suspected he had something in that backpack he didn’t want anyone to know about, so he refused to let it out of his sight. Considering they were about to take part on a survival show, that probably meant he’d stocked food.

Not that Evan seemed to care a whole lot about the rules. His hosting duties didn’t seem to extend that far. Also a late addition to the show, he obviously was struggling to learn all the nuances of the game himself, as he’d been useless at answering any of the questions from the group.

Tommy didn’t worry her though. Cheaters rarely did. No, if there was one person in this group she needed to be worried about beating, it was the man sitting across from her.

Reuben Serrano was strong, with lean muscles along his body that didn’t bulge but were defined well enough to suggest significant strength. He carried a little thickness in his middle, although she suspected that he’d packed on some of those pounds for the game. Not that the extra weight made him look fat or soft. Just more substantial.

From the beginning, he’d worn a stone-faced expression giving everyone around him the impression that he was someone who would fight dirty should the occasion call for it. And then there were the eight thousand other silent signals he’d sent out that said don’t get close and you won’t get hurt.

Except with her.

Getting close was all he seemed to want to do with her. Each night at dinner, he sat next to her. Each time the group gathered, he was at her side. Even if they were all sitting by the poolside or watching a movie or having a drink at the bar, it was a good bet where she was, he wasn’t far behind.

Added to that was the way he watched her…. It wasn’t sexual so much as it was predatory. Either he had guessed that she was his biggest competition and was plotting how to eliminate her or he was planning on knocking her over the head and dragging her off to the nearest cave to ravish her as soon as they got to the island.

Given that hint of primitiveness she detected in him, she couldn’t help but wonder what type of woman in this millennium could handle dating such a caveman. Not that she knew if he even had a girlfriend, or a wife for that matter. He’d said nothing about his past, his job, where he came from or who he was. He talked only about the game and about winning.

Actually, it wasn’t a bad strategy. Talia had decided early to take her cue from him. She’d never been a social butterfly—although she imagined she could give Reuben lessons on congeniality—but she knew it was smarter to play a little quieter than she normally would have. The less sharing on a game like this, with a group like this, the better. With each story that the others told, there was always a weakness to be found and possibly exploited.

To her surprise, Evan hadn’t said anything about her past Olympic experience. Maybe he was waiting for the most dramatic moment, maybe he forgot or maybe he didn’t know. He’d barely managed everyone’s names when they had first come onboard. And since no one had mentioned anything about it, she’d said nothing about it, either. Nor had she told anybody about her life growing up on a boat or her experience with fishing.

Her father had gotten her into this because he needed the money. It was important that she not lose sight of that. If she was going to put herself, her face, her whole life in the spotlight again, then it was damn well going to pay off. To the tune of one million dollars.

“Joe, the camera seemed to be slipping a bit toward the end of that. Are you sure you still had me in the frame?”

Joe, the veteran of the two cameramen, gave his boss a dirty look.

“How long have I been doing this?” It was clearly a rhetorical question.

“Fine. Whatever. Just checking,” Evan said and waved him off.

Talia tugged a bit at the constraints of her life jacket. She hadn’t been forced to wear one since she’d learned how to swim shortly after her fourth birthday. For someone as comfortable in the water as out of it, she felt ridiculous wearing the bulky equipment. That and it rubbed against her shoulders that had been left bare by the bikini top.

Nancy, however, who was sitting next to her on the bench, in a T-shirt and baggy shorts that did everything they could to conceal her chubby body, was hugging the orange preserver close to her chest.

“Do you think we’re going to have to swim?”

Talia considered the question. They were going to be stranded on an island surrounded by water for an unknown amount of time. It was a pretty good bet they were going to have to swim. But she knew that what Nancy was truly worrying about was the swim to the island. Talia tried to smile reassuringly. “Probably not too far. You can swim though, right?”

“Oh, definitely,” Nancy answered. “I’ve been taking lessons at my local Y for months now. Just to get ready for this.”

Months. Talia smiled, but didn’t say anything and thought about the likelihood of Nancy being able to swim more than a mile to shore. Often Talia had been called upon to watch over casual sport fishermen, who liked to drink hard under a hot sun only to want a relaxing swim after a day of fishing. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d had to pull one of those guys from the water or at least hold their heads up until her father could come to the rescue. So she was reasonably sure she could get Nancy to shore, but then she glanced at Iris, the grandmother, and considered the odds of getting both of them to safely to the island.

“What about you, Iris? You a swimmer?”

The older woman gave an affirmative nod. “All my life. One mile a day. Don’t you worry about me. I’ll get there in one piece.”

Talia sighed inwardly with relief. Until she realized Reuben’s intense focus was directed at her. She raised her eyes and met his stare, a silent dare for him to speak up.

“Hey, Pollyanna, the game is called Ultimate Endurance not Love Thy Neighbor.”

“So you’re saying we shouldn’t count on you for help. I hope I’m not hurting your feelings when I tell you I had already reached that conclusion. No wait. I take that back. I know I’m not hurting your feelings.”

His lips twitched. “All I’m saying is that it’s not a team sport. Every man…and woman…is on his own.”

There it was again. Something in his expression, the way he seemed to single her out, had the hair rising on the back of her neck. It was ridiculous. He was wearing dark sunglasses over his eyes; she didn’t really know that he was looking at her. But she swore that she could feel the heat of his gaze through his shades. This guy was dangerous. She just wasn’t sure in how many ways.

“I can take care of myself,” Nancy proclaimed, apparently sensing that she was the weak link. She was right.

Talia reached out to pat her hand gently and caught Reuben’s smirk. It didn’t matter. The future was looming in the shape of an island that was growing larger on the horizon. It seemed to explode out of the clear aqua water, and Talia figured since it was probably nothing more than a big volcano island, that’s exactly what it had done a couple of hundred years ago.

“Okay, Joe. Get ready.”

Talia heard the host’s commands and tensed. They were still a good mile or so from the shore. The water was shallowing out underneath the boat and she could see clear through it to the shadows of the coral reef below. She considered the predators, moray eels, gray reef sharks, tiger sharks and a sundry of fish that could bite hard enough to take a chunk out of a person. Not to mention the coral itself. If someone fell out of the boat the wrong way and impacted with the reef, it could rip flesh open, spilling blood into the water. Which would serve only to attract the predators they all very much needed to avoid.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Talia questioned Evan as the boat slowed to a bob in the water.

The host smiled, his stupid teeth practically gleaming in the sun. “Of course it is. If anything happens we can always pull you back on the boat. Don’t forget the cameras will be watching you the whole time.”

Talia wanted to ask who would be watching out for trouble in the water, but she figured Nancy was currently bumping up against a panic attack and there was no reason to suggest anything that might trigger it.

“What’s the matter, Pollyanna?” Reuben jibed. “Getting scared?”

“What do you think?”

He didn’t answer right away. Instead he smiled. “No, I don’t think you’re scared. Of the water, anyway.”

His smile widened. It was the first time she’d seen his teeth since the trip began. They were almost as white and as straight as Evan’s. Only Reuben’s smile wasn’t so much fake as it was menacing…and perversely exciting.

The second boat moved alongside and everyone nodded to each other, their expressions cautious, but also anticipatory. Both cameramen sprang into action, focusing in on the contestants one at a time. Talia did her best not to look away.

“Okay folks, here’s how it’s going to work. For the first part of this game we will be separating you into two teams. Not randomly though. This is going to be Darwinism at its purest. The first four that make it to the island, thereby the strongest, will be one team. The final four will be on the other. Once everyone gets to the island I’ll explain how the first few days are going to work. Until then, this is a race and I’m the starter. Ready. Set. Go.”

Everyone scrambled for the single backpacks that they were allowed to bring. They were only supposed to have contained some basic clothing, sneakers and, for the women, some feminine products. But the way Tommy was clutching his made Talia wonder if he hadn’t included gold along with his illegal ration of food.

It didn’t matter. It was time to focus on getting everyone safely to the island. She watched as the group from the second boat jumped overboard and began to swim. When she didn’t see any lingering signs of a brownish fluid floating to the top of the water, she assumed that they had made it safely over the reef.

Nancy was about to fall backward into the ocean, when Talia stopped her. “No. You’ve got to watch what you’re doing,” she said pointing to the shadows underneath the surface. “Check out the other side.”

Nancy bobbed her head and scrambled for the other side of the boat, while Talia stripped off her life jacket. Reuben had already stashed his glasses in his sack and dumped the jacket in the boat, but she could see he was cautiously assessing the situation rather than diving right in. Iris was also still searching for a safe spot.

“You need to the move the boat in farther,” she told Evan. “We’re sitting on top of a chunk of coral reef. It’s too dangerous.”

“This game isn’t about making it easier for you,” he stated heavily.

“Idiot,” she cursed under her breath. He was trying to make it seem dramatic, when the truth was if anyone got cut open, they would be in serious danger, if not from predators then certainly from an infection.

“There’s a clear spot here,” Reuben called to them, already in the water and treading in a way that told her there was enough depth for them to jump. Then he was off, swimming toward the shore.

Knowing she couldn’t play the game as ruthlessly, leaving her competitors to fend for themselves, she helped Iris into the water, and then turned to Nancy.

“Let’s go.”

“Maybe I should take off the jacket, too.”

“No, I think you’ll feel more comfortable with it on.” The woman had no idea the physical strength it would require swimming such a long distance in the ocean. She’d been practicing in a pool. It was the difference between driving on a highway versus racing a car in the Indy 500.

“But don’t you think it will slow me down? This is a race.”

A race that Talia had already given up the idea of winning. Someone was going to need to stay with the older woman for the duration to make sure she got to the beach. The fact that Nancy didn’t understand that she needed help wasn’t good, either. The last thing Talia needed to deal with was ego, as well as the trials of getting them both to the shore.

“Sometimes slow and steady wins it,” Talia told her encouragingly. “Let’s go.”

She got Nancy over the side and into the water. Then she hooked the woman’s backpack over one shoulder and her own over the other. The weight in both was trivial and Talia was easily able to manage them. She waited a moment as Nancy tried to acclimate herself and then jumped in behind her.

The ocean was warm and buoyant and for Talia it was like putting on a cozy sweater. She allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of floating, practically weightlessly in the salty surroundings. Swimming wasn’t as much fun as diving. But it was a close second—head and shoulders above walking or running.

Why anyone chose another method of exercise that involved panting, sweating and pain, when swimming was all about being fluid, comfortable and relaxed, she would never know. But this wasn’t a vacation. It was time for her to get to work.

Using a breaststroke helped Talia to keep the packs on her shoulders, as well as giving her a nice, easy stroke to conserve energy. She also was able to continually survey the group in front of her. She swam up next to Nancy, who was working her arms in a modified freestroke form. The divorcée was doing a lot of splashing, but she wasn’t going very far.

Splashing wasn’t as problematic as blood, but they definitely could do with less of it.

“Take it easy. We’ve got a long way to go. Just kick your legs nice and easy, not too deep, and move your arms like this.”

In an exaggerated motion, Talia showed her the move she wanted her to emulate.

“O-k-k-kay,” Nancy chattered with what only could be nerves as the water was a balmy temperature.

Together they moved, making slow but steady progress to shore. Talia used the time to study her opponents. Iris, as she’d indicated, was a sound swimmer. Seemingly in no hurry, she moved at an easy pace, lopping one arm over the other, her head twisting out of the water with each stroke to take in air. Currently, Tommy was the closest to the shore. He was doing a lot of splashing, too, but his momentum was carrying him forward at a fast clip.

Gus was swimming along behind him, but Talia could see that the former military man was keeping an eye on Marlie, who was basically dog-paddling her way to the beach. Sam was a few feet behind Marlie and struggling. He had chosen to leave his life jacket on, too, which was a good thing considering his uncoordinated moves. Fortunately, he was kicking strongly, propelling himself forward.

Not surprising, Reuben was the strongest swimmer. Maybe even as strong as she was. He was eating up the ocean stroke after stroke as cleanly as a hot knife cutting through an ice-cream cake. The thought made her mouth water slightly…the ice cream, not the man.

“How you doing, Nancy?” Talia called over her shoulder. The woman was a few feet back, but she was kicking her legs consistently. Not waiting for an answer, Talia dipped her head below the surface, eyes open as she surveyed the blurry perimeter. She could see the movement of creatures beneath the surface, not too clearly, but clear enough to make out the basic shape of the fish. Small fish. So far so good, she thought.

The sound of the small motorboats trailing them greeted her ears as she came up for air. Turning on her back to tread water, she watched the two cameramen focusing in on their natural prey—dramatic humans. Purposefully, she dipped beneath the water again when she saw Dino turn her way. Below the surface, she rolled her body over.

That’s when she saw it. Out of the corner of her eye. A large shadow moving so gracefully, it would have made her gasp had she seen it safely from the boat.

Actually, it made her gasp anyway.

Purposefully, she kept her movements fluid as she surfaced for air. Raising her hand she tried to get the attention of one of the boats, but both were too far off in either direction to notice. Evan was steering Joe toward Tommy, who was going to be the first to reach the shore, and the crewman who had piloted the other boat was a few yards behind Reuben about thirty feet off to the right.

The shadow loomed to her left, but didn’t seem to come any closer. There were no deliberate moves to indicate any sort of intent to attack so, theoretically, there was no need to worry. The trick was going to be alerting Nancy without panicking her.

Talia moved back and came up beside the older woman who was still making progress. “Not too much farther. Think you can pick it up a step?” she calmly suggested.

“Oh, I don’t think I could go faster,” she panted. “But you don’t have to wait for me. You’re going to lose the race.”

“That’s okay,” Talia said casually, her eyes searching for trouble. The shadow was out of view, but that wasn’t a good sign. She would have much preferred having a bead on the big fish the entire way to the beach.

To keep the woman calm, and herself for that matter, Talia swam around Nancy a few times, checking the perimeter and chattering about her fellow contestants. “Looks like Tommy and Marlie are going to win. I don’t mind if I’m not on that team. Too much talking, if you ask me.”

The veracity of the statement made the older woman attempt a smile despite her evident unease. No one could deny that Marlie and Tommy loved to talk, mostly about themselves. They were perfect candidates for a show such as this as they believed they were worthy of having every word and every event in their lives filmed for the benefit of others’ entertainment.

Glancing up again, Talia saw that Tommy had, in fact, reached the shore first. He’d had a pretty good head start. Then he walked backed into the water and tugged Marlie up to the beach with him, leaving Gus to fend for himself. But Gus was close enough, and so was Sam, that Talia didn’t have to worry about either of them. Iris, too, was now standing in the shallow water and, even though it was a well-known fact that shark attacks often occurred close to shore, Talia figured there was enough interest in the deeper water to keep the big fish occupied.

Taking another dip, Talia studied the sea in front of her but saw nothing. When she popped her head up, she could see that Reuben hadn’t made it to the island yet, which was strange given his previous pace. He should have overtaken at least Gus and certainly Sam. Then she saw where his gaze was pinned. He started shouting for the boat, but it didn’t seem as if the crewman could hear what he was saying.

“Oh! Oh, my goodness!”

Instantly, Talia turned around only to see Nancy freeze with sudden horror as a straight dorsal fin rose out of the water and swam directly in front of her, cutting between them.

“Don’t move,” Talia shouted. Judging by the shape and color of the fin, it was a gray reef shark, and not too big considering how long they could get. Maybe four feet. Maybe five. Its movements were still easy and unthreatening. At this point, he looked as though he was simply checking out the new breed of fish in town. If Talia remembered correctly from her mother, the gray reef would hunch its back before it attacked. As long as they avoided any unnecessary splashing or signs of distress that might incite the animal to think they were prey, it should just leave them alone.

“Shhh…shhhhaaar…”

“Keep it together. And no splashing.”

Coming up along Nancy’s right side, Talia wrapped an arm around the other woman’s waist and tried to propel her forward, but when she tugged, she felt resistance. Immediately, Talia sank and discovered that Nancy had gotten her shorts caught on a piece of the reef that projected from the ocean floor.

Popping up for a quick breath, she couldn’t miss Nancy’s frightened gaze. The woman was on the verge of wigging out and once that happened there would be no reasoning with her.

“Nancy, I need you to listen to me. I need you to stay calm. No splashing. Just relax.”

“But…I can’t…it’s— Did you see it?”

“It’s just a fish, and you’re bigger. Trust me when I tell you it doesn’t want anything to do with you. But you’re caught on part of the reef and if you move and get cut you’re going to bleed.”

Bleed had been the wrong word to use. If it was possible, Nancy’s eyes grew rounder. But at least now she was so frightened that she wasn’t capable of movement. Diving again, Talia went to work on the cotton material. It had been hooked over a piece of shell formation, much like a fish caught on a line. She hated to do it, but the easiest way out was simply to break off the coral. Considering it was a crime to tamper with the reef in Australia, she really hoped the camera didn’t catch this on tape.

And that’s when she felt him. Barely a brush of something large against her leg. Sleek, scaly and smooth. She stilled and slowly turned her head back and saw the pug face of the gray coming directly at her. But its jaw was shut and its position in the water was still unthreatening. It slid past her head, but she watched it as it turned around, coming back for another pass.

Like any skilled predator, it seemed to be waiting for her to make the wrong move before it pounced. She was doing everything she could to remain still, but her heart was pumping with adrenaline and the need for oxygen was becoming urgent.

Come on, you bastard. There has to be something tastier in the water than me. How about a turtle?

Suddenly, she saw a disturbance in the water to the far right. The motion caught the shark’s attention and it went to investigate. Moving quickly, Talia snapped off the coral, then kicked hard to the surface.

Nancy, clearly having felt her release, was swimming with a purpose now, and Talia was right behind her. They were only a few yards away from the point where the water would be shallow enough for them to stand. With her fastest stroke, the freestyle, Talia gave it everything she had.

Finally, her hand touched the sand on the down-stroke and she pulled herself to her feet and onto the shore, the backpacks dropping from her shoulders to the sand. Just to her left, the group was pulling Nancy out of the water. Not surprisingly, she had broken into tears as soon as she realized she was safe. Both boats pulled up to the beach to make sure everyone was okay. Or to watch a hysterical Nancy do a bad interpretation from a Jaws movie. It was hard to tell.

Talia had other concerns. She scanned the water looking for Reuben and saw him a few yards down the beach crawling on hands and knees, his chest visibly heaving with effort as he sucked in lungfuls of air. She ran to him.

“You okay?” she asked as soon as she reached him.

“I was moving fast,” he puffed, but after a few breaths he seemed to recover.

“You splashed deliberately? With a shark in the water? Not the brightest idea.” Even though it had given her the time she needed to get Nancy loose and moving, it had still been a crazy move.

He smirked. “Yeah, well, I’m a city boy and it was the best I could come up with. So much for our protection.” He pointed down the beach where Joe and Dino were both hovering while Evan knelt beside Nancy, patting her hand. Either the host was really rattled by what could have happened or he was a pretty good actor because he seemed truly shaken.

As well he should be, Talia thought. “These waters are dangerous. These people think it’s a game, but—”

“But there be sharks in the water,” he quoted in a bad imitation of a pirate. “Hell, I wouldn’t be shocked if the damn thing was some toothless trained animal sent to drum up a reaction.”

She gave him a doubtful look, but she could tell by his expression that even he didn’t buy it.

“Guess it turns out you’re a hero, after all.”

“Don’t get any ideas,” he warned her. “I just figured if something was going to take a bite out of your ass it was going to be me.”

He wiggled his eyebrows and she was forced to smile at his outrageousness.

Just like a predator. “There are tastier fish in the sea,” she murmured, echoing her earlier thoughts.

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

Talia ignored that and the fact that, for the first time, he was making his intentions known. Instead she concentrated on the personality revelation.

“You’re not fooling me. I don’t know why, given your surly attitude, but I had a hunch you weren’t one of the bad guys.”

A weak hunch, but a hunch nonetheless. And in a weird way, the role fit him better. He was still a hard-ass, but now she knew he was something else, too.

“Don’t give me that much credit,” he growled even as he got to his feet. “Once I saw Tommy and Marlie finish first I figured I would wait it out and take my chances with team two, even if it meant tangling with a big fish. Those two talk too damn much.”

Chapter 2

“You okay?”

Reuben asked the question of Nancy as he and Talia approached the group. Almost in unison the rest of the pack turned their heads as if just realizing that there had been other people in the water with the shark. There were looks of guilt from some, but not from all.

Nancy bobbed her head in answer to his question and Talia crouched down so she could check the pupils of her eyes. A blanket from one of the boats had been wrapped around her in an attempt to prevent shock. Given that her eyes weren’t dilated and she was no longer shaking, Talia reasoned that the woman was in pretty good condition, all things considered.

“It was really a shark, wasn’t it?”

This time it was Talia’s turn to nod her head in reply. There was no point hiding the truth from her now that it was over.

“I was in the water with it. I was swimming with…wow,” Nancy sighed. Then something akin to excitement lit her eyes. “Well, that was certainly dangerous and adventurous, wasn’t it? And I got out of the water on my own. Wait until my husband and kids see that!”

Talia glanced over her shoulder at Reuben at the comment that Nancy had gotten out of the water alone. He merely shrugged and then fell into the sand butt first, his arms resting casually on his knees. He was in a T-shirt and bathing trunks, and the T-shirt was clinging to his skin showing off firm pecks and hardened little nipples.

She recalled his remark about biting her ass, and her body shivered a little. Not because of him, she told herself, just…because.

“Okay, if we are all recovered from our first adventure—” Evan began to say.

“Our adventure? I don’t remember seeing you in the water, Evan,” Reuben stated.

“Yes, well, I would have jumped in to rescue you all of course…had that been necessary. Thankfully, it wasn’t. So let me explain the next phase of the game,” he said quickly.

“As I mentioned, for some of the early contests, we will be pitting team against team. Team one—Tommy, Marlie, Gus and Sam—against team two—Iris, Nancy, Talia and Reuben. You all will be sharing one camp, but for the team that wins a game, each member of that team will receive one of the items you chose and ranked in order of necessity before the show began. The losing team will receive nothing.

“Remember, this isn’t about politics. It’s about Darwinism. Anyone on the losing team will have the opportunity to pull themselves out of the game citing that they are a weak link. If no one chooses to leave, then as a group you will vote to decide who the strongest member of the team is. Then that person, and that person alone, can choose to eject who he or she considers the weakest link. Or not. It’s that person’s call. It’s a game of attrition, folks. Eventually, most of you will be broken to the point where leaving will be your only choice until there is only—”

“Hold it,” Joe called out. “I’m low on juice.” He lowered the camera off his shoulder and took a look at the battery gauge on the pack that was hooked around his waist. “Dino, focus in on Evan so we can get this last shot, will you?”

Dino, who had been circling the group trying to catch the riveted faces of the contestants, Talia assumed, steered his camera in the direction of Evan.

“We need that last line again,” Joe told the host.

“Eventually, most of you will be broken to the point where leaving will be your only choice…until there is only one person left.”

“Got it,” Dino called. Then he also lowered the bulky camera from his shoulder.

Seeing both cameras turned off, Talia breathed a sigh of relief, then chastised herself. She was going to have to get used to this if she planned on sticking it out for the next few weeks. Or months.

Could it go that long?

She turned and saw Reuben leaning back on his elbows, his face toward the sun, almost ridiculously relaxed considering what they just had been through. He certainly looked comfortable in this element despite being a city boy. If he was telling the truth about that. In a game like this it was hard to know.

“Okay, let’s head out,” Evan suggested.

“To where?” Reuben wanted to know.

“There is an inlet at the other end of the island. We’ve put up some shark netting across the gap so it will be safe to fish. You’ll camp on that beach,” Evan explained as he directed everyone back to the boats.

“Then why in the hell did you drop us off here?” Gus questioned, clearly irritated with the host.

“The inlet is too enclosed,” Joe explained. “There wasn’t enough good light for filming and out here the water is clearer so we could get shots of some of the fish.”

“TV reality as opposed to real reality,” Talia muttered. She wasn’t going to let it bother her. This was a game for entertainment that she was playing for money. Like Wheel of Fortune. If they wanted to film in good light, that was fine by her. “Are we going to have to swim again from the inlet to the beach?”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly,” Nancy objected as she got to her feet. “Not after what happened.”

“No,” Evan told her. “We’ll take you by boat. Then one boat will go back to the yacht, and the other that has our equipment, the radio and some emergency kits will stay on the island in another part. But it will be hidden and only I will know the location of the boat so don’t think of trying to look for it or trying to get any information from Joe or Dino.”

Talia rolled her eyes at Evan’s attempt to sound menacing. The man was about as threatening as a schoolgirl.

They all loaded back into the boats, each team sticking together, and cruised around the island to where the beach jutted out and then into the inlet that Evan had described. The vessel slid over the netting and Talia could see everyone watching it, wondering if it would be enough to hold back a shark intent on getting inside. It was impossible to know. All they could do was have faith. A lot of it.

The gap between the two stretches of land was only about thirty feet wide. The shape reminded Talia of a horseshoe that was pinched at the top. And she now understood what they meant about the light. The foliage on either side served to shade the inlet, darkening it to the point that only beams of sunlight broke through. The water seemed a darker, deeper blue. More menacing than the previous site in many ways because you couldn’t see beneath the surface.

At the base of the inlet was a stretch of white beach bordering the water. To the left it looked as if the water moved even farther inland creating what Talia imagined would be a lagoon, although she couldn’t see it from her position. The pure white sand was guarded by the trees, bushes and brush. She noted the palm trees, banyan trees, bamboo shoots and massive ferns, all indigenous to the South Pacific. No need for any fake scenery here. It looked just the way it was supposed to look—a remote tropical island.

For the first time she considered that this place, this island would be her home for a while. She wasn’t displeased. It was spectacularly beautiful. Turning away from the view, she studied the people in the boat, trying to assess their reactions, wondering if they saw what she did—a secluded beach protected from the harsh sun by shade and a lagoon that would make for easy fishing.

For her, it was a place where she could live for as long as she needed.

Iris was smiling softly. Nancy still looked a little out of it, no doubt envisioning how she would relay the story of her close encounter with the shark to her ex-husband. Reuben, predictably, was giving nothing away. But when he realized she was watching him, his mouth turned up in what she was coming to know was a half smirk, half smile.

“Looks a little bit like paradise, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” she replied casually.

“Then I guess that would make you Eve.”

“And I guess that would make you the snake,” she returned, refusing to fall for his crude charm.

Undeterred by her sharp tongue, he tilted his head back and laughed full out. Quickly, she looked to the view so he wouldn’t see her own smile. If this was going to be home, then these people were going to be family. Learning to live with them would be as much of a challenge as surviving the elements. But dealing with Reuben, Talia sensed, was going to make those other two obstacles seem easy in comparison.

What in the heck was she going to do if it ended up just the two of them in the end?

Deciding that she was borrowing trouble she didn’t need, Talia instead focused on the immediate situation. The boats landed and everyone unloaded themselves and their belongings to the beach. Backpacks were tossed on the sand in a rough circle as a marker for the most likely camp. All except Tommy’s, that is, which was firmly on his shoulders.

One of the boats took off for the yacht. “How far away are we from the yacht?” Sam asked Evan. “I mean, in case there is a real emergency.”

“It’s anchored about two miles off shore,” Evan explained. “And I contact them daily by radio. Also if something serious were to happen, we’re not that far from the coast of Australia.”

“And what about you guys?” Tommy asked, pointing to the two cameramen. “Where do you guys stay?”

“That we can’t tell you,” Evan said. “It will be easier for you this way, so you’re not tempted to find our camp. Joe and Dino will take shifts filming throughout the day. At night, for the most part, you’ll be on your own. We’ll leave you with a walkie-talkie that should be used only in an emergency. That’s it. Any other questions?”

“Yes, where do I go to get my nails done?” Marlie laughed at her own joke, and so did Tommy. They were the only two.

“Okay, Joe and I will head back. Dino, you can film until your pack runs low and let us know when to pick you up.” Evan turned over the walkie-talkie to the cameraman. “For the rest of the day I suggest you guys concentrate on building a camp. I don’t have to tell you that fire is your first priority. And I’m allowed to tell you that not too far inland is a freshwater stream. The water should be boiled before drinking it, but there is more than enough for everyone. We’ve left a metal bucket at the stream for you to use. Tomorrow will be your first ‘necessity event.’ Oh, and you will all need these.”

Evan reached into the boat and pulled out a waterproof sack. He unzipped it and Talia could see what was inside. Eight portable microphones. Reluctantly she took one. It had a clip that she could hook onto her shorts. She’d insisted on the jeans as strongly as her father had insisted on the bikini.

“After all, girlie, showing a little skin might get you some new endorsement deals.”

Her last commercial after the Olympic games had been for Ace bandages. She’d taken half the money and paid a semester of college. She’d given the other half to her father, who turned around and used it to finance a search for a legendary pirate’s sunken treasure in the Caribbean. He didn’t find it. But he’d had fun.

“And isn’t that what life is about, girlie?”

Maybe it wasn’t too late, she thought sinisterly. Maybe she could still turn him over to Rocco and ask the loan shark not to be too rough. It was a definite possibility.

The rest of the group imitated her action with the microphone, then stood back as Evan and Joe got back into the boat and headed out of the inlet. Dino hefted the camera on his bulky shoulder and got to work.

“Okay,” Gus began. “This is the part where we start telling each other what to do because we each think we know best. So before that happens and we all get pissed off, does anyone have any serious camping experience?”

Talia raised her hand. So did Gus. “Then how about we try getting a fire started,” Talia suggested. “Someone else should go for water. And we’ll need something to sleep on.”

“Why?” Tommy wanted to know. “We can sleep on the sand. It will be soft.”

“And filled with sand mites that will eat you alive. Trust me.”

“I can get the water,” Iris volunteered. “I’ll take Marlie and Nancy.”

“What?” Tommy said sneering. “You think girls can find water better than men?”

“No, she thinks you, me and Sam are the best candidates to get wood for the fire, and logs and ferns for us to sleep on,” Reuben told the younger man. “You got a problem with that?”

And there it was, Talia thought. The first gauntlet being thrown. Reuben was immediately stepping into the role of alpha male and was all but daring Tommy to try and take it from him.

“Whatever,” Tommy muttered. “Let the girls go find the water.”

Round one: Reuben.

She wasn’t surprised.

“How do you want to do this, Gus?” Talia asked him, indicating the method they would use to start the fire.

“I’m pretty good with two sticks.”

Talia understood that meant scraping one stick that served as a spear against the other that served as a shell to create enough friction to cause a spark.

“Then let’s start looking for something that will work, as well as some dry brush,” she concluded.

All at once people were moving. Deciding to follow the men or deciding to follow Marlie, it was quite obvious who Dino was going to film. Talia for one was glad to see him go. Meanwhile, Reuben pushed into the brush surrounding the beach, instructing Sam and Tommy on what they were looking for.

Gus found the first piece of the puzzle—a thick, dry piece of bark that was curved. Talia paired it with a stick that had a sharp point. Then they found some stringy remains of a palm leaf that would serve as kindling and got to work.

Talia held the bark in place and watched as Gus made quick back-and-forth motions with the stick. The tip snapped off but he continued to work it in staccato thrusts. In the meantime, Reuben gathered some significantly sized pieces of wood that he dropped near Talia for use when the fire finally caught.

She glanced at the pile quickly. “We want the driest pieces you can find.”

“Oh. The dry wood. Sure, no problem. I’ll just go to the dry side of the island.”

She ignored his sarcasm and instead concentrated on the small pile of brush they’d placed where the bark and stick connected. She could feel the bark growing warmer, but that was a long way away from hot.

“I’m done,” Gus panted. “I need a break.”

They switched tasks and Talia worked the sharp branch against the bark. The key was consistency. Hard, fast strokes delivered unceasingly would not only create the friction they needed, but also exacerbate it.

“That’s it. Keep it going.”

“I’m getting tired,” she warned him, preparing him for the next switch. “Now.”

Moving fast so as not to lose the momentum or the heat, they switched and Gus went back to work. After a time, they switched again and Talia was working the stick. Around them the men already had brought back enough materials to set up a mat to sleep on for the night and Iris had returned triumphantly with a pail of water.

Their tasks complete, the group focused on Talia and Gus. The tension was tangible considering the stakes. If this worked, they could boil water and have some warmth tonight. If they failed, everyone would suffer. As the sun started to set, and all of their clothes still damp from the earlier swim, it was clear that the group was starting to get a little cold and very thirsty.

Talia worked the stick in her hands, feeling it scrape against her palms. Blisters had already formed and burst making her hands slick with blood and ooze. Still, she worked, beyond the pain in her shoulders, beyond the stinging and beyond the fatigue.

Moving past pain was nothing new to her. She’d done exactly that each day of her training. It was expected, by her coach and by her. It might have been years since she’d pushed herself quite this hard, but the old routine came back like riding a bicycle.

“You’re bleeding. Stop and let me finish.” Reuben was standing over her shoulder and evidently could see the blood coating the stick in her hands.

“I’m almost there. I can feel it. Gus?”

“There have been a few embers,” he reported. “But nothing’s caught yet.”

“I said stop. You’re hurting yourself.”

She shot a glance at Reuben, which she hoped sent the message to back off. He was doing it again, laying down the gauntlet and expecting her to bend to his will.

Fat chance.

“If you don’t stop, I’m pulling you off.”

“What’s your problem, man? Let her finish.” This came from Tommy who was apparently already annoyed with his older, stronger counterpart.

“Yeah.” Marlie backed up Tommy, her loyalties formed.

“Honey, your hands are bleeding,” Iris commented.

“Oh my goodness, blood.” Nancy, it seemed, was squeamish around the stuff.

Talia could sense that her time was running out. Despite the protests from the group, she understood, probably better than anyone, that Reuben wasn’t going to be swayed once he set his mind to something. She knew because she recognized the trait in herself, which was why she couldn’t stop when she was so close. With even faster strokes, she pushed the stick harder and…

There it was. Red embers catching against the dry strands. Then a small single blue flame dancing among the brush.

“You got it,” Gus proclaimed.

She didn’t need to be told. Gently she backed off the stick. “Add a little more brush to the bark, not too much. You don’t want to suffocate it. Fire needs to breathe.”

But Talia could see that Gus knew his way around the process. Slowly they added bits of debris, blowing gently on the small fire to give it the oxygen it craved until there was a significant flame.

“Over here,” Sam directed them. While Tommy and Reuben had seen to the bedding, Sam had stacked a tripod of wood and packed it with more driftwood and sun-singed palms that would serve as kindling.

Eight pairs of interested eyes, and one spectator with a third eye, watched as the fire caught and surged inside its new home.

“We’ll have to take shifts so that it stays lit at all times,” Gus told the group. “We don’t want to feed it so that it gets too big, and we want to make sure that we can transport some of it if it rains.”

Talia turned her hands over and studied her now dirtied and bloodied appendages. “Yes. I don’t want to have to do that every day.”

Reuben walked over to her and circled her wrists with his hands, holding her palms up for inspection. He grimaced, then tugged her toward the water. “I told you to stop.”

“And I ignored you. You might have to get used to that from me. I’m not Tommy.”

He pulled up short and glared at her. “That much I have figured out.” Forcibly, he dunked her hands in the water.

Since rinsing the wounds had been her plan, she didn’t fight him. She figured part of her strategy for dealing with him would be to conserve as much energy as possible. As long as they were headed in the same direction, she had no problem letting him take the lead. Then when it came time to buck him, she’d have the wherewithal to do it.

Together they bent over the salt water up to their elbows. Talia watched for any signs of smaller predators that might be attracted by the blood, but stopped worrying as soon as she saw her hands were clean.

“I don’t need you getting an infection that would take you out of the game.”

“Worried about me again.” It was more of a statement this time. She shook her head. “First saving me from the shark, then from myself. Who’s the Pollyanna now?”

“I have my reasons” was his only response.

She straightened and looked at her hands. Pieces of skin were missing but, other than that, she was fine. “I know you do.”

He narrowed his eyes to study her. “What do you do? I mean back in the real world.” It was unexpected. He’d been so insistent about keeping his own secrets that she felt taken aback by his sudden curiosity.

“What do you do?” she countered.

He scowled at her nonanswer. “I asked you first.”

“So?”

He huffed then shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really do anything anymore.”

“Then you’d better hope you do well in this game. It sounds like you could use the money.”

With that she left him and made her way to the group. The fire was gaining strength among the logs. Gus and Iris were creating a makeshift skewer that could hold the bucket for boiling water and would also be useful for when they started catching fish.

Reuben rejoined the camp and found his backpack. He reached into it and pulled out a sealed plastic bag then stepped in front of Talia cutting her off from anyone watching.

“Let me see your hands again.”

“They’re fine.”

“Hey, camera guy,” Reuben called out to the man who was currently filming the fire as if it were another contestant on the show.

“Dino,” the portly man answered, supplying his name without stopping his filming.

“Right. Do we have a first-aid kit?”

“There was one in the boat.”

That was answer enough since the boat was gone. Talia heard Reuben muttering under his breath, but couldn’t make out what he was saying. He opened the bag and extracted two T-shirts. One white and one black. Both dry.

“Nice trick,” she noted. All her stuff was wet from the swim. She planned to lay everything out overnight to dry and realized she should have planned better. A dry shirt to change into would have felt good. She couldn’t help but be somewhat annoyed that Reuben had been one step ahead of her in that regard.

“Lucky for you I thought of it. We’ll use them as bandages.” He started to wrap one of his shirts around her hand, but she pulled it back.

“I don’t need your help,” she countered.

“They need to be covered. You scraped them raw and bugs will have a feast if you don’t wrap them up.”

He was right. She winced at the image of bugs eating the exposed flesh. But still she didn’t understand his motivation.

“Is this another way of flirting with me?” And more importantly, was he flirting with her as part of some strategy to win the game? Or did he simply want to get her into bed?

He looked up from his task and she could see his white teeth. “I don’t flirt, sugar. I don’t need to.”

“Then I don’t get it. Why all the concern? You said yourself this game is about everyone fending for themselves.”

“It is. Or at least it will be after we get a few of the others off.” He took a step closer to her, invading her space. “But for now I need you.”

Uncontrollably, her breath caught in reaction to his nearness. “And when you’re done needing me?”

“I’ll break you like a bad habit.” His smile grew wider, even as he took a step back and reached for her other hand to wrap up.

“Good to know,” she muttered.

“I play to win.”

Talia lifted her chin, instinctively reacting to the challenge in his tone. “So do I.”

“Should be an interesting game.”

He finished and Talia noted the solid job he’d done with the makeshift bandages. The shirts were tied loosely enough so that her wounds would get some air, but securely enough to keep any critters out. The man understood the basics of first aid, it seemed.

They moved closer to the group, who were now circled around the fire. Clothes were being laid out to dry and everyone was picking a spot on the bed they had crafted. The men had done a good job of finding enough big logs and securing them together with leaves and vines to make what was essentially a large raft, then covering it with palms that had been rinsed in the water first. It wasn’t as soft as sand, but it was definitely smarter.

Talia glanced down at the last two spots left to her and Reuben on the end.

“You’ll take the inside spot,” Reuben told her, dropping his sack to claim his place.

“Great,” she murmured. She was going to be sandwiched between Gus and Reuben. On the plus side, she’d have the benefit of their body heat. On the downside, her body was reacting a little too warmly to the idea of sharing space with Reuben.

Eventually the sun finished its descent over the western horizon and Dino called to Evan for his escape. Building the camp had left them little time for gathering food or trying to fish, so the general consensus was that they would go hungry tonight and start early in the morning. At least they had been able to boil the water so that everyone had something to drink.

“Wow, my stomach really hurts,” Marlie whined.

They were circled around the fire, no one yet ready to call it a night. The air was beginning to cool and Talia watched as a scattering of clouds drifted overhead, periodically blocking her view of the fabulously starry sky. She was dry, warm, a bit hungry, but overall quite content.

She’d forgotten how much she loved camping. As a family, she and her parents had taken trips several times a year before her mother had gotten sick. Then after she was gone, Talia and her father had continued the tradition. It had been difficult at first trying to pretend to have fun when they both knew how much they were missing the same person, but eventually she and her dad had been able to take comfort in each other. They’d developed a camaraderie that hadn’t existed before and had become a unit of two.

Unfortunately as she’d grown into her teens, her training and competition schedule had left them little time for vacations. She made a mental note that when she got back to civilization she was going to rekindle this particular tradition. If she didn’t decide to murder her father…then she would ask him to come along, too.

“You’re just hungry,” Gus responded to Marlie’s complaint.

“Are you sure? What if it’s some kind of parasite in the water?”

“No one else is feeling sick, dear.” The soft words came from Iris. Talia could see she was rolling her eyes at the young woman. Iris and Talia shared a conspiratorial smile.

“But it really hurts,” Marlie complained, this time with a high-pitched quality in her voice that had Reuben, who was on Talia’s right, clicking his teeth together as his jaw clenched shut.

“Are you kidding?” he asked. “This is day one.”

“So?” Marlie’s lower lip protruded in a pout worthy of a three-year-old.

“So if you can’t handle a few hunger pains, little girl—”

Talia reached out and patted his hand, stopping what she imagined would have been a blistering tirade. After all, it was day one. There was no point in him making enemies of everyone.

“I have an idea,” Talia suggested. “Why don’t we play a game? It will take our minds off how hungry we are.”

“Good idea,” Sam said, backing her up.

“What kind of game?” Tommy wanted to know.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “How about we go around the circle and say what each of us would do with the million dollars if we won?”

“I’ll start,” Iris began. “I’m going to buy a luxury condo in an over-fifty community. There’s one I’ve got my eye on. It’s got a pool and a community center that holds bridge tournaments every month.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with the money other than I hope it will keep me from having to be one of those greeter guys at the local Wal-Mart. I really hate those guys,” Gus explained. “It’s not about the money for me. I really came to see if I’ve still got it.”

“You did a pretty good job with the fire,” Talia pointed out.

“Yes, I did,” he said, smiling proudly. “I think maybe I’d get a log cabin. In the woods somewhere near a lake where I can fish all day long.”

“Fishing? Boring,” Tommy groaned.

“You think, huh? Well, what’s your big idea?”

Tommy was sitting back, his weight resting on his palms behind him. “That’s easy. I’m never going to work again. No more bullshit ‘do this’ and ‘do that.’ No more waking up at the same time every morning to do the same damn thing every day. I’m just going to be, you know. Just be.”

Talia heard Reuben muttering again, and could only imagine what he was saying under his breath.

“I know what I’m going to do,” Marlie chimed in. “First, I’m going to see what kind of exposure being on this show gets me in the entertainment industry.”

Talia took in the tiny triangles of cloth barely covering Marlie’s chest and decided that the twenty-year-old didn’t have to worry about being underexposed.

“Then I’m going to hire a manager because really the only way to get an agent in Hollywood is to have a quality manager. And I’ll need a publicist. I mean, a publicist can make all the difference in a career. Oh, and, of course, implants.”

“Of course,” Talia concurred tongue-in-cheek and watched every man’s head turn as if pulled by some natural force in the direction of Marlie’s breasts.

“I think you look good now,” Tommy said in what Talia assumed was an attempt to lay the groundwork for a seduction. He was going to have to get behind Dino though, who it seemed had already laid a claim.

“Oh, I know. But in Hollywood bigger is really better. For boobs, anyway.”

Talia had to swallow a chuckle. Then she glanced at Nancy who was currently checking out her own significant chest, probably thinking that being bigger had never gotten her anywhere. And Talia resisted the instinctive urge to check out her own two handfuls to see how they measured up. Not that she had to look. It seemed Reuben already had his eyes on them. She met his blatant stare with a scowl, but he wasn’t intimidated in the least. He did, however, mouth the word perfect.

Ridiculously flustered and needing a distraction, she turned to the housewife. “What about you, Nancy? What would you do with a million dollars?”

“I don’t know. I mean, of course I would pay for my children’s education.” Her voice broke on the word children, but she quickly recovered. “I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been a little emotional.”

A little? Again, Talia had to bite back words and instead listened to what the woman was saying.

“It’s just that my husband leaving me for that…girl…really shook me up. I came here because I wanted to prove to him and to my kids and to myself that I wasn’t some boring old housewife. Maybe if I win, I’ll have a makeover and get myself a younger boyfriend. That would show him.” She laughed at the idea, but there was a definite twinkle in her eyes.

“See, now I’m going to be predictable,” Sam explained. “I came here because my therapist said it would be good for me. I guess I’m having what you call a midlife crisis. So if I win, I want what all fortysomething guys going through a midlife crisis want…a cherry-red Porsche so I can get a hot young girlfriend.”

There was a smattering of chuckles, then the group grew quiet and looked to Reuben who was sitting next to Sam. A moment passed where Talia thought he would stick to his strategy and say nothing about himself. She was about to speak up when he blurted out his intentions for the money.

“I’m going to buy a bar.”

That was it. No other explanation forthcoming, but he’d played along and Talia figured that counted for something. He was at least making a small effort to be a part of the group. She wasn’t sure why, but she thought that was important.

“Your turn, Talia,” Iris instructed.

“My dad…” She hesitated, deciding that it wasn’t really fair to share her father’s screwup with strangers, and modified her story. “He likes to hunt for treasure. You know…sunken ships. It costs money for equipment and information. I would help him do that. Other than that, the money is going to help me bide my time until I get a job.”

“What do you do?” Nancy inquired.

Talia could feel Reuben sit up straighter, knowing he was going to get an answer to the question he’d asked her earlier. Since she’d defied him merely to be difficult, she didn’t see the harm in answering Nancy.

“I’m an accountant.”

“Bullshit,” Reuben erupted.

She turned sharply toward him. “I am. I have my degree in accounting. I still have to take my CPA exams, though.”

“If you’re an accountant, sugar, then I’m a priest. And trust me when I tell you I ain’t no priest.”

“She can be an accountant if she wants to be,” Tommy snapped, more to buck Reuben than to support Talia, she knew.

Reuben’s eyes didn’t leave her face when he said, “Whatever.” He stood and addressed the group. “Game’s over. I suggest we try to get some sleep.”

Talia stood, too, and considered pursuing him for an answer as to why he was so adamant that she couldn’t be an accountant. Just because she was on a reality show didn’t mean she didn’t have a serious life with a very serious career waiting for her back home. Exactly what she’d planned from the moment she’d finished her last dive. Her father’s predicament was only postponing it.

But by the time she made her way to the pseudo-bed, Reuben was already stretched out at the edge of the primitive futon, using his backpack as a headrest. His arms were crossed over his chest, his eyes were closed. He was clearly done talking for the night.

Everyone else made their way onto the mat, also, people shifting and struggling to get comfortable, using their T-shirts and packs as cushions and blankets. Talia stared down at the small space left to her and considered how bad the sand mites really could be.

Then Reuben’s eyes opened, peering through the darkness directly at her. He uncrossed his arms and patted the space next to him in a blatant invitation.

Lying down with bugs or a snake?

It was definitely a tough call. But she rationalized her decision with the knowledge that she had no fear of snakes. At least one she was pretty sure wouldn’t bite her in front of the group.

Stepping over his body, Talia settled down between him and Gus and heard what could only be described as a sigh of deep satisfaction. It hadn’t come from Gus.

Bastard.

Chapter 3

She was warm. Toasty warm. So comfortable that it forced her from a sound sleep because her subconscious knew that she wasn’t supposed to be quite this comfortable.

Why?

That’s right, she was on an island. Camping. Outside. Her back should be stiff, her limbs cold from exposure despite the moderate temperature. Instead she was…mmm.

Talia opened her eyes and found herself staring into the face of a sleeping Reuben. He had one hand under his cheek, the other wrapped snuggly around her waist. Her shirt-covered hands were tucked up between them, gently resting on his chest. And one of his legs was draped casually over her thigh, while her leg had slipped in between his.

Against her back she felt nothing and when she turned her head to glance over her shoulder, she could see Gus on his side, facing Iris. Except that he wasn’t covering Iris like a candy wrapper. No, only Talia and Reuben were tucked together like a couple used to sleeping together.

She pushed against his chest gently to create some space, but the instant she did his grip tightened.

“Closer,” he muttered, pulling her toward him more tightly.

She felt his strong frame pressed against her body from her toes to her shoulders and willfully denied the tingle throughout her body as a result of his morning erection pressed into her belly.

Okay, the tingle was getting a little too hot to ignore. Not good.

Fortunately, another tingling sensation, the feeling that she was being watched—a far worse sensation—brought her immediately to the present. Turning her head and raising it a little bit, she spotted the camera staring at her. It looked like an alien Peeping Tom with arms and legs and one eye.

“Hmm,” Reuben growled, then moved his hips in a suggestive invitation against hers.

“Okay, that does it. Show’s over.” With a firm thump against his chest, Talia sent an unsuspecting Reuben rolling off the makeshift mattress onto the sand.

His eyes popped open. “Hey!”

But he quieted immediately once he saw the camera. Then, as if realizing what had just happened, and the state he was currently in, he had at least enough shame to blush slightly.

“Joe, you might want to keep that camera pointed away from me. I understand this is supposed to be a family show.”

Talia watched Joe’s shoulders shake, then he moved on to his next target, Iris, who was up and had a troubled expression on her face. It was barely dawn—far too early for the bad news Iris was about to impart. Talia wasn’t sure what could have gone wrong between the time they had fallen asleep and the time they woke, but she needed to find out.

Her first concern, however, was her hands and making sure they had healed enough not to be a nuisance for the duration of her stay. Of course, if there was a problem she only had herself to blame.

In hindsight she could admit that she’d pushed herself deliberately to prove to Reuben that she could do it. It wasn’t dissimilar to the response she’d always had whenever her diving coach had told her there was something she couldn’t do. She was going to have to work on that. Accountants made sensible decisions, not stubborn ones.

She gingerly removed the cotton T-shirts from around her hands. Studying them, she saw a few patches of missing skin, but no bleeding and nothing so red that she was worried about infection.

Tossing the shirts at Reuben’s face, she said, “Thanks for them. And for the record, I’m not playing the role of your stuffed teddy bear for the duration of this game.”

Reuben pulled the shirts off his head and smirked. “Funny, my stuffed teddy bear never gave me a hard-on in the morning.”

Since she knew he was baiting her, she did the only thing a respectable woman could do in this situation and ignored him. The goal of this adventure was very clear. Stay long enough to win enough cash to bail her father out and give herself a little breathing room to find a job. Period. Getting involved with the other players, in any way, should be the furthest thing from her mind.

Not that she was buying Reuben’s crude attempt at seduction. It was no doubt nothing more than a strategy for him to win. He probably thought that by seducing her he could control her. That wasn’t going to happen. He might be wielding his blatant sexual allure like some kind of sword, but she had no intention of being skewered. Not when she wasn’t sure she even liked him.

Making her way over to Iris, she braced herself for whatever bad news the woman had to report. She got a pretty good indication when she saw that the bucket they had used to collect fresh water yesterday was empty.

“What happened?” Talia asked even as the others were sitting up, some looking in their direction, others going through their individual morning rituals.

“There’s a hole in the bucket.”

Talia took the metal bucket from the older woman’s hand and stared down at the tiny but visible hole smack-dab in the center of the pail.

Dino and Joe were both at camp this morning filming, but Evan was missing.

“Hey, Joe,” Talia said, calling him over. “Is this supposed to be some kind of warped challenge?”

The older man looked at the bucket, but shrugged his shoulders.

“Got me. Evan didn’t say anything. He dropped us off early to film and took the boat back to work on getting the game set up for today.”

“What are we going to do without water?” Iris wanted to know.

At this point, most of the group had been alerted to the fact that they had a problem. Talia wasn’t convinced that this was the result of faulty equipment. It seemed too staged. Probably a gimmick to garner a reaction from the group. But why there was a hole in the bucket didn’t matter as much as what they were going to do now. How were they going to carry and boil water?

“Let me see.” Reuben sauntered over and took the pail from Talia. He frowned when he saw the hole. “It was full last night, right?”

“It was when we brought it back from the stream,” Marlie added. “I remember. It was heavy.”

“We must not have noticed the hole,” Iris suggested. “It must have been dripping all night and gotten bigger.”

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