The Celebrity Conundrum

Alex and Jonah walked in silence to the elevator. Jonah pressed the button and the doors opened almost immediately. The waited for the family in the elevator to leave, then they rode it to the top.
“Thank you.” Alex said. It was almost inaudible.

Jonah smiled, “For what?” The elevator doors opened and they stepped out onto the 101st floor. There was dining tables, where rich people were eating, and windows that looked out onto the city.

“Well, for getting me away from that Doug guy,” Alex said, walking alongside Jonah to the windows, “And for taking me up here.”

“Your welcome then,” Jonah said. He was playing with his fingers, cracking them, shaking them, and pulling them, “Would you like something to eat? I’ll pay.”

“No, thanks. It looks expensive.” Alex shook her head, “Thanks for the offer. Look! That’s Elizabeth’s apartment.”

Jonah shifted his gaze from Alex to the window, “Oh, yeah, cool.”

Alex’s phone buzzed, it was Avery, “Elizabeth is going to cry again, they need us.”

Jonah groaned, “OK, let’s go.” They walked together to the elevator and rode down to the bottom floor. They found the rest of the group in the main part of the museum, Zoey was patting Elizabeth’s shoulder.

Elizabeth looked up. "Did I interrupt your date?" she asked, her eyes glassy, not exactly crying yet.

Jonah flushed. Zoey rolled her eyes at him. "She's upset so let's get out of here."



Now that everyone was in the car, Jonah started the engine and drove out of the parking lot. "Where are we going first?"

"Let's go to my apartment. Avery's car is there anyway." Elizabeth croaked out. Zoey and Jonah, who were at the front of the SUV, shared a look. Elizabeth sound depressed almost.

"We'll find Charles, Liz." Zoey said.

Elizabeth smirked. "We need to find who the hell BM is first. And then I'll beat the heck out of her and chuck her into hell." she said, her voice raising after every word.

"Mood swing..." Jonah whispered quietly so that only Zoey could hear.

Avery, who was beside her, raised his eyebrows, and shifted uncomfortably.

Soon enough after moments of silence, and only silence, they had reached Elizabeth's apartment. Her mood had changed completely as soon as she saw her home. Avery and Alex stayed outside and watched as Jonah, Alex, and Elizabeth headed up the stairs into the building.

After a minute, Avery turned to look at Alex. "Should we head back to the hostel now?" he asked.

“Hm?” Alex said. She wasn’t listening, she was thinking about what Elizabeth said. How was your date? It must have been a joke.

Avery repeated the question and Alex responded, “We should probably tell them.”

"They know." Avery said. "We told them earlier, remember?" It was a sort of lie, but Avery said it anyway. They had, after all, indirectly told them that.

He felt too tired to go up all those stairs, stop them, tell them they were leaving, and come back down all those stairs. "If it makes you feel better, Zoey gave me her number. I'll text her and let her know." he said. Without waiting for a reply from Alex, he sent off a message to Zoey.

Me: Hey, it's me, Avery. If it's okay with you, we're leaving. Could you please let Liz know?

Almost immediately after, there was a reply.

Zoey: Hi! Liz is ok with it. See ya 2morrow.

Avery showed Alex the message and smiled. "Good now?"

“Good.” Alex replied, “Lets go.”

Alex and Avery walked to his car together. Alex occasionally checked her phone, expecting a text from her dads. Alex opened the door and sat in the passenger seat of the car and Avery drove.

“So… this was certainly unexpected,” Alex said as Avery pulled out of the parking spot.

"Indeed." Avery replied. "We didn't even find any clues in the lab or the museum. And not much in the State Building either other than the list of names. Liz cut the list down to twenty names. And they're all female." he explained shortly. He continued driving and soon they were on the highway.

“OK. I think the next step is to check the Chrysler Building, then talk to anyone on the list with access to the basement.”

Alex paused for a moment, “To be honest with you, I don’t think he’s in a skyscraper. That would be too hard for BM to keep him concealed.”

Avery mulled over what Alex said. Maybe it was true that Charles wasn't hidden in a skyscraper. It really would be too hard to keep him concealed. But maybe he really wasn't trapped in any sort of skyscraper and it was a trick?

Avery slammed on the brakes. He almost forgot to stop at the red light. A car honked behind them.

"Can you repeat the riddle again?" Avery asked. "The one that BM left us in the car? I sorta forgot it."

“Let me think.” Alex said, trying to remember the riddle, “OK, it was: ‘Right above where I claim Charles mine, you can find views so divine. If you want to find your precious brother, do it soon because he may never recover.’”

Alex thought for a moment, “What else could views refer to? Videos, instagram posts…”

After a moment of silence and continuous driving, Avery snapped his fingers. "The theaters!" he exclaimed, swerving. A car honked again behind him and he flinched. "Sorry." he muttered.

"Think about it though. Views so divine. We see views in the theaters too! Not just skyscrapers!" Excitement bubbled up inside him. Then he slumped. "How many theaters are there in New York?" he asked meekly.

Alex quickly searched it on her phone, “Uh, at least a hundred. But, if you only focus on Manhattan, there’s about 25. How are we supposed to narrow it down? We can’t get a list like the skyscrapers!”

Avery was silent. Eventually, they reached their hostel. He parked, turned off the engine but didn't unlock the doors yet. "Alex? What do you think of Jonah?" he asked, his voice was low.

“That’s quite a change in topics, dude,” Alex awkwardly laughed, “He’s pretty nice, has a weird personality. Seems like he always switches moods.”

Alex paused, “Why?”

Avery bit the inside of his cheek. "Yeah. Okay. No reason." he smiled. Hopefully it didn't seem too fake. "Just wondering."

Since it was getting pretty awkward in the car, he rushed out and Alex followed suit. They entered the hostel, rode up the elevator - which was as awkward as ever - and unlocked the door to their suite.

“Finally!” Alex exclaimed, falling onto the bed, “You know, I’m glad we’re sleeping here tonight. I could not do a couch two nights in a row.”

She grabbed her bag and selected clothes to sleep in.