by David Estes
Chapter Eleven: I know your secret!
As soon as the “gorilla” had disappeared, Nikki flew away from the town. She saw at least a dozen flashes of light from bystanders’ cameras as she took off. She wasn’t worried about being caught on camera, because she was wearing the mask. She was much more worried about who the mysterious vanishing gorilla was.
Her dad had arrived home while she was away, and now both her parents were watching the news, which was flipping between photos of the destruction at Town Hall and Nikki standing across from the gorilla. A couple of reporters were analyzing the events and arguing about the true identity of the masked perpetrators.
“Hi,” Nikki said. Her parents were clearly shocked by the news story, as they barely noticed her arrival. “I’m going to check my e-mail,” Nikki hollered over her shoulder as she bounded up the stairs.
She heard her mom say, “Okay, dinner in a half-hour.”
Hoping to talk to Spencer, she logged onto the internet using the laptop her parents had given her for her 9th birthday. Nikki signed into her instant messenger, or IM, and sent Spencer a short message.
“Hi,” she said. Spencer was nearly always logged onto IM when he wasn’t with Nikki, so he responded immediately. Their conversation went like this:
SpicNSpence29: hi there, snickerdoodle
NikkNack14: bad news
SpicNSpence29: what?
NikkNack14: check Cragglyville news
SpicNSpence29: wow! is that u with the old man mask?
NikkNack14: yep
SpicNSpence29: who’s the gorilla?
NikkNack14: no idea, but can’t be up 2 any good. he took my picture
SpicNSpence29: why would he do that?
NikkNack14: i dunno…i am scared. he is strong, destroyed the stone steps
SpicNSpence29: don’t worry, i will b home soon. geronimo!
NikkNack14: can’t wait 2 see u
SpicNSpence29: u too, c u later alligator
NikkNack14: ttyl
Nikki was about to log off her IM when she received another message, but this one was not from Spencer. It was from JimJim1212 and it read, “Hello, Nikki. I know your secret.” Her heart stopped beating for a second and then, panicking, Nikki tapped the log out button and exited instant messenger.
She sat there for a second, trying to breathe. How could someone have found out her secret identity already? And how could they have sent her a message? She had her IM security settings set up so that only people on her “Friends List” could send her a message. And JimJim1212 was definitely not on her list.
She logged into her e-mail account and a notification popped up: “You Have No New Messages.” To double-check, she clicked on “Send/Receive Messages” and sure enough, a new e-mail popped up from [email protected]. It read:
“Dear Nikki,
I know that you and your friend, Spencer, have been keeping a secret. I know who you are and I want to meet you. I promise I won’t tell anyone about you, because I understand how you feel. I have a secret too.
Jimmy”
She snapped her laptop lid shut. Who is Jimmy? she asked herself. Was he the gorilla? She needed to find out, and soon. But this was a complicated matter that would require Spencer’s help. It would have to wait until tomorrow.