Frankie looked between Wally and me. “What are we going to do now?”
“Can you reach Lexi?” Wally suggested.
“I can try.” I dialed Lexi’s number. When she didn’t pick up, I left her a message to call back when she had a chance. I added that it was about BioLimbs and urgent, in the hope she’d make a return call to me a priority.
I leaned back in my chair and tried to still my thoughts. In the meantime, what could we do? We were three high school kids who knew squat about how to deal with a mysterious cracker who was apparently trying to control the prostheses of American veterans.
What would Lexi do?
Then…just like that, I knew. I’d set a trap.
The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. If we could uncover the identity of the cracker, it would help us determine the motive and the next steps to take to stop the hacking.
I looked up at Wally. “I’ve got an idea.”
“I’m glad you do, because I’m coming up blank. What have you got?”
“We’re going to catch the cracker ourselves.” I looked between Wally and Frankie. “But I’m going to need both of your help to pull it off.”
Wally’s eyes flashed with interest. “You’ve certainly got my full attention.”
“Mine, too,” Frankie added. “Although I’m not sure what I can contribute.”
“A lot,” I assured her. “Wally, are you in?”
Wally gave me a small salute. “I am. What do you have in mind?”
Grinning, I leaned over my keyboard and showed them.
Chapter Forty-Three
ANGEL SINCLAIR
“A mirror app?” Wally breathed after I’d outlined my plan. “Are you crazy? Wait, don’t answer that. I already know you are if you’re considering this.”
“I’m fully aware this is a dangerous proposition, but it’s the easiest way to trap him at this point,” I said calmly.
“What’s a mirror app?” Frankie asked.
“It’s an exact replica of the original app, including the installation component, but it’s just that…a mirror,” I explained. “The hacker thinks he’s hacking the actual app, when in reality he’s hacking a fake app—one I created to mirror the actual one.”
“How does that trap him?” she asked.
“I’ll tag him. I should be able to pinpoint his location, and it will give me the chance to watch the hacking in real time. That could provide important clues to his or her identity as well. It’s not a perfect solution, but it gives us a fighting chance.”
“What makes you think he’ll be going in to modify the program?” Wally asked.
“I don’t think he’s finished with the code that’s currently in there. He’s got his next target in the crosshairs, but he’s got to refine it. We’re going to stop him.”
“How?” Frankie leaned on the table, her brows scrunched together.
“Because he’ll be making those modifications in the fake app only. None of these instructions will go to anyone’s actual app.”
“But what if someone from BioLimbs has to make legitimate updates?” Wally asked.
“I’ll see it and make sure they get where they need to go,” I said with confidence. “Trust me.”
“Think about it a bit longer, Angel. This is a seriously dangerous proposition,” Wally said, blowing out a breath. “You do know this is illegal, right? If BioLimbs finds out what you’re doing, they could press charges. You could go to jail.”
“Hacking is illegal in whatever format it happens. I know, Wally. I’m willing to take the risk. This is on me, guys, but I need your help.”
Frankie surprised me by putting her hand on the table, palm up. “If we’re talking about saving a life, or lives, I’m in.”
Wally looked at me for a long moment and then laid his hand on top of Frankie’s. “I guess sometimes doing the right thing is dangerous.”
I nodded and laid my hand on top of theirs. “One for all and all for one, then. Now let’s get to work.”
It took nearly five and half hours, including a break for lunch at a nearby deli, before we were finished. Our parents were delirious with the thought that we were working so hard on a Saturday, presumably on homework. No one asked for specifics, so we didn’t volunteer any.
The final product made the time spent worth it. My neck, back, and wrists ached, but Wally and I had successfully set a trap. A clever one, if I did say so myself. We’d created a mirror site. Anyone outside BioLimbs would have to enter through our site to get to the program where the malicious code was hidden. Our site was filled with all kinds of tracking and tracers, so I would know everything about the person who infiltrated. Now Frankie was adding the final visual touches to our site to make everything look legitimate.
I looked over her shoulder for the umpteenth time and whistled at her progress. “How did you create that so fast?”
“How do you write a string of code so fast?” She didn’t lift her gaze from the monitor.
“Practice?” I considered. “Trial and error?”
“Precisely. Plus, I’m copying someone else’s design. That makes it a lot faster than creating something original.”
“Seriously, Frankie, when you talk like that, it totally turns me on,” Wally said. “Can you make fake IDs, too? If so, I may have to marry you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t distract her, Wally.”
“I’m not distracting her. I’m praising her wicked skill. It’s different.”
“In the room, you know.” Frankie paused, flexing her fingers. “Yes, Wally, I can make fake IDs. Not that I’m in that business. I have no intention of going to jail, this particular hack notwithstanding. But I may have made one or two in my past. I’m pretty certain I could do a decent job given enough time and access to the graphics I’d need.”
“Sweet,” Wally said, peering over her other shoulder. “No wonder your posters are so good. I bow to your skill.”
“You may call me QDG. Bowing is allowed. More potato chips would be better.”
“QDG?” Wally asked.
“Queen of digital graphics,” I explained. “Just go with it.”
After a few more minutes, Frankie pushed back from my laptop. “Done. Is this good enough?”
I slid into the vacated seat. “Is it good enough? Frankie, it’s sheer perfection. I’m totally impressed. Amazing work, White Knights. Let me finish this off and we’ll call it a day. A long day.”
I wrote a bit more code and asked for Wally’s review. He tweaked one section and we were done.
I closed my laptop. “Okay, that’s it. The trap is officially set. I will receive an alert if it’s sprung. From there on, it is a matter of tracing back the steps until we find our perpetrator.”
“So we wait?” Frankie asked.
“Welcome to my world,” I said. “We wait.”
Frankie stood, stretched. “Can I be the first to say it feels like I’m in the Scooby gang, except we have Wally’s beat-up car instead of the groovy van? We’re hunting a hacker and saving our vice principal. Totally ace.”
“My car is not beat-up,” Wally protested. “It’s got character, remember?”
“Oh, right,” Frankie said.
“Just so everybody knows, this is not going to be as simple as pulling a plastic mask off the bad guy,” I warned, but I smiled anyway. “But yeah, this mystery-solving thing is pretty cool.”
Frankie grinned. “If we had to assign Scooby-like roles…Angel gets to be Velma, no contest. You’re totally the brain of this operation.”
“Hey,” Wally protested. “I have a brain, too.”
Frankie pretended she didn’t hear him. “I’m definitely not Daphne-like, although I do have my own style of fashion. However, I’m good at making friends, so I’m more like a female version of Shaggy.”
Wally narrowed his eyes at her. “I swear, Frankie, if you say I’m the dog, I’m never driving you anywhere again.”
Frankie and I both laughed
. We slung our laptop bags over our shoulders and headed out of the library.
“Now that we have a logo, I think the White Knights should also have a theme song,” Frankie said.
I stopped in my tracks. “No. Just no. No theme song. I’m putting my foot down on this one.”
“Seriously? You need to loosen up, Angel,” Frankie pouted. “Have some fun.”
“Hey, we just spent the day hacking. What do you mean I don’t know how to have fun?”
“See?” Frankie sighed dramatically. “Point made.”
After we pigged out on ice cream—my treat—Wally drove us home. He dropped me off first and then took Frankie home.
My mom was watching television when I came in. “That was a lot of studying. Ready for dinner?”
“Not really. I just ate ice cream. I kind of have a stomachache.”
“Oh. I was thinking about going to see Mr. Matthews at the hospital, anyway. Want to come with me?”
“No, thanks. But if he’s awake, tell him I said hi.”
She stood and kissed the top of my head. “Sure will. See you in a bit.”
After she left, I went to my room, set up my laptop, and checked the mirror app. Untouched so far.
Now I had some alone time, there were two things I wanted to do. First, check on Nic’s website and see if he’d unveiled a new, shocking lie. Second, I needed to follow up on some leads regarding my dad. I wanted to go through some of the material I’d downloaded from my hack into King’s Security.
I pulled up Nic’s website and my phone dinged, indicating a text. I stood and dug it out of my pocket. It was Colt.
Are you home?
I stared at the words, surprised he still wanted to talk to me and wondering why he cared if I were home or not. I’d been so busy I hadn’t even had time to process the things I’d found out about him and his reasons for leaving St. Michael’s. Now I wished I hadn’t looked and didn’t know. But I did. I’d crossed a line, and now there was no going back.
I perched on the edge of my bed and tapped my phone.
I’m home.
Do you have time to talk? Can I call you, please?
I didn’t want to, but I had to face this sometime. Guilt had already started to make my stomach churn.
Okay.
A few seconds later, my phone rang. I inhaled a deep breath.
“Hello.”
“Hi, Angel. Thanks for taking my call. I wasn’t sure you would.”
“I wasn’t sure I would, either.”
Silence stretched on before he finally spoke. “I owe you an explanation.”
“No. You really don’t. Let’s forget the whole thing, okay? This is on me.”
“This isn’t on you.”
“Fine. End of conversation. Goodbye.”
“Angel, will you listen, please? This is hard enough for me as it is.”
I closed my eyes. “I’m listening.”
Colt was silent for so long I thought he’d hung up. I looked at my phone, but we were still connected.
Finally, he spoke. “I want you to know something about me.”
“Colt, you don’t have to tell me anything.”
“I know. But I want you to know.” He fell silent again, and I could feel how difficult this was for him, which made the guilt twist my stomach up even more.
“You don’t have to say it,” I blurted out. “I…already know. I found out online.” The confession spilled out. Shame, guilt, misery, and embarrassment swept over me.
I waited for him to say something…anything, but there was only silence. The analog clock on the wall my mom had bought when I was six ticked loudly. I braced myself, knowing I deserved every terrible word he was going to say.
“Mad computer skills,” he finally said. “I should have expected that. Did you hack into my former school as well?”
My cheeks heated. “I’m sorry, Colt. Curiosity and a burning need to get to the bottom of every mystery is my worst fault. Yes, I went places I shouldn’t have. But I didn’t tell anyone what I found. I promise you that.”
Again, dead freaking silence. Embarrassment swept through me, hot and fierce. For the first time in my life, I was faced directly with the feelings of a person whose privacy had been hacked. Whose privacy I’d invaded. Although I hadn’t shared any of the information with anyone else, it didn’t absolve me.
Right now, I didn’t like myself very much.
“I made a terrible mistake, Colt. I had no right. My pride was hurt and I was mad. I should have never violated your privacy.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
My shame deepened. “Not that it excuses me whatsoever, but I was so mad you didn’t show. I let my anger get the better of me.”
“I had no idea you would step in for me—take charge of the Brains. That was crazy…and brave.”
“It was sheer desperation. I was completely humiliated in front of the entire school and now, most of cyberspace, losing my shirt—literally—in the process of losing the game. Then you showed up and offered some lame apology. That only made it worse, you know.”
“It wasn’t one of my finer moments,” he admitted.
“I’m really sorry, Colt. This has been a painful lesson for me. I was terribly, horribly wrong to do what I did.”
“I’m sorry, too.”
I was trying to figure out what to say next when I glanced at my open laptop. Nic’s sleazy website had been updated.
The headline, screaming in all caps, read EXCALIBUR’S STAR QUARTERBACK IS GAY!
Chapter Forty-Four
ANGEL SINCLAIR
The breath whooshed out of me as if someone had punched me in the gut. I stood horrified, staring in disbelief at the headline.
“Angel?” Colt said. “Are you still there?”
I couldn’t speak. How did Nic know? It had to be my fault. Nic was obsessed with me, following my every move, and I’d led him straight to Colt.
OMG.
I found my voice. “Colt, do you know a guy named Nic Nerezza?”
“Is he that creepy guy with dark hair, weird eyes, and a smug attitude?”
“That’s him. What you might not know about him is that he’s the one running the disgusting website nothingbutthetruth.com.”
Colt snorted. “You mean the one that spouts everything but the truth? The one printing all that crap about Mr. Matthews?”
“That’s the one. And now…” I gulped. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to say this. Before you called, I was on his website trying to figure out whether it was worth the hack to try to take it down again—”
“Whoa, wait. You hacked that website, too? And brought it down?”
“Well, yes, but that was for a good cause. I brought it down briefly. Nic is a pretty experienced hacker himself, so I can’t keep it down permanently.”
“Okay, first, I’m totally floored you did that. Second, why are you sorry?”
I hesitated. “Because you’re the new headline, Colt.”
“What?”
“I swear I didn’t tell him. I didn’t tell anyone.”
I could hear Colt moving, then typing, presumably pulling up the website himself. Then silence.
“I…don’t know how he found out.” My words ran together. “I think I might have inadvertently led him to you. Nic is obsessed with me, or at least with trying to best me academically. He might have been cyberstalking me. I should have taken special precautions. I feel sick.”
I’d never, ever felt like this about hacking before. This wasn’t why I hacked. This wasn’t me. And yet…I’d invaded his privacy, learned things about him that were none of my business.
Finally, Colt spoke. “I believe you, Angel.” His voice sounded weary, glum. “Apparently, as you discovered, the information is not that hard to uncover if you’re determined to find it.”
“I feel awful, Colt. Worse than awful.”
“Not much to be done about it at this point,” he said. “The cat’s out of the bag, so
to say. Again.”
“That’s why you had to leave St. Michael’s? They found out you’re gay? I mean, who cares?”
“They care. The school has a morality clause as part of their school charter. I made a mistake by confiding in a teacher about my orientation. That teacher betrayed my trust. I could have stayed at St. Michael’s if I’d renounced my orientation and agreed to undergo special counseling. That’s what my parents wanted me to do. I admit I considered it. I had a lot of friends at St. Michael’s, excellent grades, and contributed to several athletic teams. But I’ll be honest. I couldn’t do it—the therapy, the counseling. I just wanted to be who I am.”
I was silent for a minute, absorbing the sadness in his voice. “I had no idea a school could do that.”
“Private religious institutions can. The reasoning is fair—if the student doesn’t respect the beliefs of the school or the church, or lives in a manner that openly rejects those beliefs, the school has the right to expel the student. In my case, after I refused counseling, they let me withdraw instead of being expelled. I appreciated that, at least.”
“That’s just…awful, Colt. What about your parents? Did they know you’re gay?”
“I thought they suspected, but I was wrong. They had no idea. They were devastated, of course. My orientation is something they don’t understand and can’t easily accept, given their beliefs and upbringing. It’s going to take us time. But they’ve supported me anyway, the best they can. I appreciate that. It’s not easy for any of us, but we’re working through it.”
“Does Mr. Matthews know?”
“Yeah, he’s friends with my dad from the Marines. He knows, as does Headmistress Swanson. Mr. Matthews made the transition from St. Michael’s easy for us as a family. He wasn’t judgmental at all, which surprised my dad, I think. It’s also why I wanted to support you and your efforts to help him. I hadn’t intended to come out at Excalibur, because I’m trying to make things easier for my parents until I go to college. I thought I could manage two more years so long as I didn’t have to lie about who I am. I’d started to believe I could fly under the radar and make it to graduation. Then, when you said there were going to be television and camera crews at the melee, I panicked. I didn’t want that kind of exposure in case someone recognized me. Then kids would start talking, and I’d be outed all over again. Excalibur parents would start talking to my parents, and we’d go through the same public hell.”
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