Missing

by Gabrielle Lord

  73% … 85% …

  The download was taking forever to finish. I couldn’t leave yet.

  Finally, it finished, but that was only the first part. The Stealth Hacker had two parts, and the second was just as important—Cover Tracks.

  Thank goodness that program was much faster. My pulse was racing, the blood pounding in my head. It was still taking way too long. Slow seconds ticked by and then it was done. Frantically, I whipped out the USB from the port, loading it into my phone. I emailed it to BB as the commotion outside the office building got louder. With fumbling fingers, I emailed it to Boges as well.

  I just had time to close down the Mordred Key program as I heard them starting up the stairs. But where could I go? Where could I hide? I looked around the room, realising the lounge would not suffice this time. My heart sank.

  There was no way out.

  As the footsteps rang out on the steel stairway, and my brother’s struggles failed to stop their progress, I desperately spun around, looking for an escape.

  Any second now and they’d be through the door and into Damien’s office. Ryan and I would come face to face and Damien would discover our secret. I thought of Damien’s chilling tone earlier and shivered. He would be furious. What would happen to us after that was anybody’s guess.

  But I knew it couldn’t be good.

  Scholastic Australia

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  First published by Scholastic Australia in 2013.

  This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited in 2013.

  E-PUB/MOBI eISBN 978 1 921990 663

  Original text © Gabrielle Lord, 2013.

  Cover design and internal graphics by Nicole Stofberg.

  Cover copyright © Scholastic Australia, 2013.

  Cover logo designed by Natalie Winter.

  Cover photography: Cal’s head by Wendell Levi Teodoro (www.zeduce.org) © Scholastic Australia 2013; Cal’s body © istockphoto.com/Sacha Bloor; lightning © istockphoto.com/Leonid Tit; sky © istockphoto.com/Miroslav Georgijevic; paraglider © istockphoto.com/Andrzej Burak; cliffs © istockphoto.com/Joakim Leroy; stormy weather © istockphoto.com/o-che. Internal photography and illustration: mobile phone on page 185 © istockphoto.com/pressureUA; world map on page 185 © istockphoto.com/David Vernon; skull on page 185 © istockphoto.com/zmina; tablet computer on page 155 © istockphoto.com/loops7; group playing volleyball on page 155 © istockphoto.com/Eleonora Nazarova; girls playing volleyball on page 155 © istockphoto.com/Iakov Filimonov; group playing guitar on beach on page 155 © istockphoto.com/Kevin Klöpper; row of kayaks on page 155 © istockphoto.com/Laila Røberg; tropical island beach on page 155 © istockphoto.com/Gergana Valcheva; map on pages 146–145 and pages 046–045 © istockphoto.com/Eric Scafetta; icons on pages 146–145 and pages 046–045 © photos.com/John Takai/art12321/Lumumba/joingate; tag on page 049 © istockphoto.com/Robyn Mackenzie; mordred key symbol on page 030 © istockphoto.com/Krystsina Birukova.

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