Page 34 of Take the Wheel

‘This isn’t cutting it,’ Ari said, finally looking at her properly. ‘I’m finding that necklace. Right now.’

Nancy sighed, stepping forward. ‘No way.’

Ari’s jaw clenched. ‘You’re not stopping me.’

Nancy wanted to argue, but she wasn’t sure there was a point. She’d never seen Ari like this. Though she had her moments of temper, she was never so… locked on. Nancy didn’t know how to handle Ari in this mode.

Ari was already moving, slipping out the door and into the hallway. Nancy followed, irritation growing with every step. ‘Ari, for god’s sake. You don’t even know where her bedroom is!’

‘I’m sure it’s on this corridor,’ Ari said, choosing a door at random. Locked. She tried another. This time, the door swung open, revealing a man in a half-buttoned shirt and a woman in underwear, both frozen in mid-embrace.

‘Sorry!’ Nancy blurted, dragging Ari back and shutting the door in a hurry.

‘That one’s on them. They should have locked it,’ Ari told Nancy.

She barely hesitated before moving to the next one. Another door, another awkward encounter—this time with a woman applying a face mask, shrieking in alarm. She slammed it shut.

‘Oh my god, stop!’ Nancy hissed. ‘You’re going to get us arrested.’

Ari wasn’t listening. ‘I need that necklace.’

‘Right, but do you need to personally traumatise every guest in the process?’ Nancy snapped.

Ari ignored her, marching to another door. She flung it open to find an older man in silk pyjamas reading a book. He blinked. ‘Are you room service?’

‘Nope!’ Ari slammed the door shut.

Another door. Locked. Another door. This time, a teenage girl painting her toenails. She gaped at them, brush frozen mid-air.

‘Hey, I like your—’ Ari started before Nancy yanked her away and closed the door.

‘Stop it!’ Nancy begged.

Ari shook her head and opened another door.

Inside, two men were engaged in what could only be described as an impromptu wrestling match, one halfway through a suplex over the bed.

‘He said I couldn’t pin him!’ one of them said.

‘It’s not gay,’ the other one cried.

‘As you were,’ Nancy muttered, pulling Ari out and shutting the door.

‘I do feel bad about that one,’ Ari said. ‘I hope I didn’t stop them before they worked out their real feelings.’

Nancy groaned. ‘For the love of—’ But Ari had already moved to the next door. Locked.

And then she opened a door to an empty bedroom. Above the bed was a giant portrait of Paris. ‘Fuckingbingo!’ she declared. She darted to the vanity, yanking open drawers.

‘Ari, you can’t just—’

‘It has to be here,’ Ari muttered, tossing aside a pair of earrings. She opened another drawer and stopped. Then she slowly pulled out a small velvet case and clicked it open.

Relief flickered across Ari’s face for half a second. ‘Oh my god. It’s here.’ She looked up. ‘Nancy! I found it!’

‘And what exactly do you think you’re doing?’

Nancy turned slowly, her stomach sinking. This was bad.

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