by Karen King
“Sure.” I stuffed it into my bag. “See you tomorrow.”
Mum and Dad were sitting in silence. Not a frosty silence like they’d fallen out with each other, but an edgy sort of silence. As if they were too overwrought to speak. I could tell that they were almost at breaking point, waiting for the phone to ring, for news of Josh. The wall clock chimed three times--three o’clock, the time Josh had disappeared exactly one week earlier. Mum and Dad both looked over at the clock, then at each other. Remembering. Probably wishing they could turn back time. Just like I did every day.
I longed to tell them what we’d been doing, but I knew they’d be furious that I’d broken my promise to them. And they would have a total fit if they ever found out I’d helped Jamie hack into Summer’s dad’s computer. But when I thought of Josh and what he must be going through, I knew I’d do anything to prevent it happening to another child. Anything.
I tried to lighten the atmosphere. I made them a cup of tea, chatted a bit but it all got too much effort. So I went up to my room to listen to some music and plan what I was going to wear tomorrow. I’d sorted out a dozen possible outfits and laid them out on my bed, when I became aware of raised voices below. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. It sounded like Mum and Dad were rowing again. I reached out to the comm-panel on the wall and pressed the volume decrease button so I could hear what was going on.
“Morgan! Get down here. Now!”
It was Dad and by the sound of it he was mad at me, not Mum. I wasn’t sure whether that was a relief or not. Quickly switching off the music, I opened my door. “Coming!”
“What’s up?” I asked, making my way downstairs. Mum and Dad were standing in the hall at the bottom of the stairs. Beside them stood Leo.
I knew by the look on their faces I was in mega-trouble.
Chapter Nine
Apparently when Leo had returned home, he’d gone straight to his office to catch up on some work. When he logged onto his computer website, he was greeted by the welcome message saying he’d last accessed the site that afternoon. Only he’d been out all afternoon and hadn’t been near his computer. I groaned as Leo relayed all of that to us in a sorrowful, disappointed voice. Then I remembered that when we’d logged on the welcome message had stated the date and time the website had last been accessed. Why hadn’t any of us thought about that? Then, of course, Leo had looked to see what files had been opened, put two and two together and questioned Summer, who had to confess what we’d done.
He was furious with me. I saw the anger raging on his face, although he tried to conceal it--tried to look and sound extremely disappointed rather than annoyed. I felt a chill run through me as his eyes met mine and I saw the fury in them. I’d always hero-worshipped Leo, often wishing my own dad was as handsome and cool as he was. I hated to see him so angry with me.
“You’ve always been welcomed in our house, Morgan. We’ve treated you like a daughter. Trusted you.” His voice dripped with disappointment. “I can’t believe that you could abuse my trust in such a way.”
“Sorry,” I whispered, looking down at my feet. I truly felt terrible.
“I’m afraid that sorry doesn’t go anywhere near repairing the damage you’ve all done, young lady. Hacking into a Ministry server to access specialized information is a major crime. Surely you know that?”
“Hang on a minute,” Dad said. “Let’s not forget that Morgan didn’t actually touch your computer or hack into the PW server. Your own daughter, helped by Jamie, did that.”
“I’m well aware of that and Summer will, of course, have to face the consequences,” Summer’s dad said. “As will the Harving boy.”
Poor Summer, I thought, mortified. I knew what ‘the consequences’ would be. Her parents would give her long, sorrowful looks, refuse to talk to her unless it was absolutely necessary and generally treat her like an outcast: laughing and joking with each other and Kyle, deliberately leaving her out of the conversation and treats for the next few weeks until they’d completely worn her down. I knew I’d be in trouble with my mum and dad too. But at least when they’d finished yelling at me, they’d give me a hug and things would go back to normal.
“Please don’t punish Summer,” I begged Leo. “She was only trying to help us find Josh and Holly, and to try to stop any other children being kidnapped. We thought that if we got a list of their names we could warn their parents to keep an eye on them. We didn’t mean any harm.” When I thought of Josh and Holly and all the other missing kids I felt the anger rise in me. Was what we’d done so awful? “How would you feel if it was Kyle gone missing? I bet you’d hack into a Ministry server to try and find him.”
His face softened a little. “I realize how worried you are about your brother, Morgan, but this is a job for the law and you should have left it to them. You had no right to hack into my private computer system. It was a gross abuse of my trust, an infringement of those people’s privacy and, even more important, illegal.”
I knew he had every right to be angry. “I’m sorry,” I said again. “But I’d do anything to find Josh and stop those creeps from kidnapping any other children.” I turned to my parents. “And it’s no good leaving it to the law. You know they don’t care about a bunch of missing RADS.”
Mum put her arm around my shoulder. “We understand why you did it but it was wrong. You know that. You broke your word to us and you’ve all committed a serious crime.”
“Are you going to inform the authorities?” Dad asked Leo.
“I’m afraid I have no choice, Neil,” he replied. “I find it extremely worrying that this lad Jamie knows how to hack into the Ministry server and bypass iris scanning. This is obviously a security flaw and must be reported.” He looked at me with a sorrowful expression at me. “Of course, it will mean having to inform the LEF that Morgan--and, indeed, my own daughter--assisted him. Oh, and I’ll have the print out of those names, please, Morgan. That’s classified information.”
It was hopeless trying to deny I had the list. Summer must have already confessed. So I reluctantly went to get it, and handed it to Leo. Thank goodness Summer had emailed it over to Jamie. At least we’d still have a copy.
“We’re sorry for the part Morgan played in this, Leo. But surely there’s been no real harm done,” said Dad.
Summer’s dad raised an eyebrow. “Apart from a serious breach of security you mean?”
“We’re not criminals!” I protested. “We were just trying to save the lives of some little kids!”
Leo sighed. “I realize that and fortunately I do have friends in the Ministry and will, hopefully, be able to reassure them that this unlawful act was done with the best, albeit, misguided intentions. Meanwhile, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you not to contact Summer until we feel we can trust you again.”
“What? You mean I can’t even squilb her?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’d prefer you to wait until we allow Summer to contact you.”
“I agree. I think that it’s best if Morgan and Summer have a break from each other’s company for a while,” Dad said. “I’ll show you out.” He led the way to the front door. Leo nodded at us, then followed.
I braced myself for the inevitable row, resolved that in spite of what had happened I was still going to see Jamie tomorrow. There was some reason why the children were being targeted, and I was determined to find out what it was. Of course there would be no way Summer could come. Her mother would drop her off at school and pick her up again every day to make sure she didn’t go anywhere until they finally decided to forgive her. I’d catch the speedrail and go to see Jamie myself, no matter what Mum and Dad said.
“I suppose I’m grounded too?” I asked when Dad returned from seeing Leo out.
He looked at Mum and sighed. “Your mother and I will have to discuss what to do about this, Morgan. I suggest you go up to your room and think about what you’re going to say to the LEF. I don’t think that Leo will waste much time informing them of you
r actions.”
“We can’t blame him for that, Neil. He’s holds a highly responsible position at the hospital,” Mum said. “Of course he’ll have to tell the authorities.”
I went up to my room and left them to it. I had to think of a way to get out of the house the next day so I could meet Jamie. Mum and Dad were bound to ask where I was going.
What was I thinking of? I had to warn Jamie. Law Enforcement could be on their way to arrest him right then.
I messaged him to ask if he could come online because something major had happened. It’s an emergency! I keyed in and pressed ‘send’.
‘Loggin on now’ came the swift reply.
I switched onto the vid-link and a couple of minutes later filled Jamie in on everything that had happened. “Summer’s Dad was pretty mad,” I said. “I don’t reckon he’ll waste much time sending officers around to your house. I hope you don’t get into serious trouble.”
Jamie looked unperturbed. “He’s bluffing. If he turns me in then he has to turn Summer in too. I don’t think he’ll be too happy to do that, do you?”
I thought back to the look on Leo’s face when he’d been telling me off. “I’m not sure. He can be quite tough when he wants to be. I think you might have to answer some awkward questions soon.”
“I’ll be ready. Don’t worry about me. What about Summer? And you? You both in trouble? Can you still come tomorrow?”
I told him how I was banned from seeing Summer, but that I’d be there, as arranged. “I doubt if we’ll see Summer for a while. Her parents will lock her in her room and throw away the key.” Then I remembered the list. “Oh, and Leo made me give him the list of names and addresses so you’ll need to print out your copy.”
“Already done it,” he replied. “See you tomorrow.”
****
My squilb bleeped an hour later. Summer vidded me. I pressed the accept button, and her image appeared on the screen.
“Hi, Morgan. Is everything okay? You been grounded?”
“Not sure yet. The jury’s still out on that one. How about you?”
“Oh you know my folks. They’ve totally flipped.” She pulled a wry face. “They’re mega mad at me. I’ve been read the riot act, given the silent treatment and will probably be grounded for the next millennium.”
“I’m sorry we’ve got you into all this trouble. I feel terrible. You were only trying to help us.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault. I’d do it all over again if it saves another little kid getting kidnapped. They’ll soon come round soon, you’ll see.”
I wasn’t sure about that. “Your dad looked real mad when he came here. He’s banned me from seeing you and said he’s going to report Jamie to the authorities. I hope Jamie doesn’t get into trouble. Dad said hacking into a Ministry website is a major offence.”
“Don’t worry. Leo’s just over-reacting ‘cos he’s got high security information on his computer. I don’t think he’ll report it. He won’t want me to get a criminal record. But he’ll probably go and see Jamie’s dad. You’d better warn him that we’ve been found out.”
“I have. I’ve just been talking to him.”
“You’re still going to meet him tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“Too true, even if I have to sneak out,” I assured her. “There’s no way I’m giving up on Josh.”
We spend the next few minutes discussing what we should put in the emails to warn the other RAD parents, then Summer whispered that she had to go. “Keep in touch and let me know what’s going on, won’t you? I’ve turned the sound off so no one will hear your messages come through. I might not be able to reply right away but I’ll get back to you when I can.” She gave a little finger wave then her image disappeared.
I was going to miss Summer.
Jamie squilbed me a few minutes later to say that he couldn’t get on the web and asked me to check if his website was still up.
I phoned to tell him. “I can’t get your webpage, it’s disappeared.”
“It’s the Ministry. They’ve taken it down and cut me off.” His voice sounded angry, bitter. “They ordered me to close it down when they came the other night, but I didn’t so they’ve done it for me. They’re trying to shut me up but they won’t succeed. They won’t stop me looking for Holly.”
Chapter Ten
I got up early the next morning and dressed casually in my black jeans, green grunge top and black Kada trainers so as not to arouse suspicion. I put on a light coat of foundation and lip gloss, then tied my hair back into a ponytail, securing the sides with grips--that made my face look less round. Shoving a light jacket in my black shoulder bag, I sneaked downstairs bracing myself for the inquisition. Thankfully there was no sign of Mum and Dad, so I left a note saying I’d be back soon and got out before one of them surfaced.
Spearton was quite a big city, but luckily Jamie lived just a few minutes away from the speedrail station. I messaged him as soon as I got off the railcar to say I’d arrived then looked around for his street. It looked quite similar to the area I lived in: neat, tidy streets with some larger detached, four-storey houses but mostly three storey terraced or semi-detached. I checked the house numbers. Jamie lived in a three storey terraced. Another thing we had in common.
Jamie opened the door after a couple of rings, looking a bit harassed.
“Hi.” I smiled, feeling awkward now that I was actually at his house.
“Hi, Morgan.” He smiled back. There was a smudge of oil on his forehead and he was wearing oil-stained jeans and a baggy grey tee-shirt. “Sorry I didn’t meet you and that I look such a mess. I’ve been working on the bike so we can travel around on it.” He opened the door wide. “Come in.”
“Thanks.” I stepped inside. We were in a narrow hall, a stained green carpet covered the floor and the white walls needed a fresh coat of paint. But then Jamie had said his dad was away a lot so it was no wonder the house looked a bit neglected.
“Fancy a drink?” he asked, leading the way into the kitchen.
Again it needed a coat of paint, but it was clean and tidy. I wondered if that was Jamie’s doing or whether they had a housekeeper.
He opened the cooler and half-turned to me. “Vit juice or soda?”
“Vit juice please.” I wished I didn’t suddenly feel so tongue-tied and gauche just because I was in the house alone with him. It was stupid.
“Are you still offline?” I asked.
“Yep.” He put some ice in two glasses, filled them with vit juice and passed one to me. “Have a seat.” He sat down on one of two bar stools lined up by the worktop.
“Thanks.” I sat next to him, slid my bag off my shoulder and put it on the workshop. “Have you had a visit from the LEF about hacking into Summer’s dad’s computer?” I asked.
“Nope, and I don’t expect to. I reckon her dad will keep that to himself.”
“Is your squilb down too?”
“Partly. All functions working except the ‘net,” he said grimly. “They’re determined to stop me communicating with anyone via the web.”
“Have you had time to look through the list of names and addresses of the other kids? Do any live nearby?”
“Yep. There’s a couple who don’t live far away. One, an eight-year-old girl called Emma, lives in Barton which is only about fifteen minutes from here. She’s got cerebral palsy, like Holly. We’ve got to warn her folks, Morgan.”
“I can send them an email right now from my squilb,” I offered. Jamie wouldn’t be able to contact anyone with his Internet blocked.
“No, let’s go there,” Jamie got down off the stool. “Tell them what’s happened to Holly and Josh, warn them to keep an eye on her. I think they might take more notice if we tell them face-to-face rather than sending an email. What do you think?”
I nodded. “Good idea. You want to go now?”
“No time like the present, before the LEF catch up with me and lock me up.” He took a gulp of his juice, then put
the glass down on the worktop. “Just let me change out of this grubby gear and we’ll be off. Be back in a sec.”
I sipped my drink while I waited for him. It seemed like he lived there by himself most of the time. That must be so lonely. I thought how difficult it had been since Josh had gone, and imagined having to cope with it all by myself like Jamie had done. Especially after losing his mum too. Had his dad given him any support or comfort at all?
Jamie came back in dressed in clean jeans, a black tee shirt, and holding some sheets of paper. “I’ll take the list of missing children. That should convince Emma’s folks that she could be in serious danger. When we come back, we’ll think about the best way to approach the other parents.”
I slid off the stool. “Sounds good to me. Did you say we could travel on your bike?”
“Yeah, if you’re okay with that?”
“Sure.” I wondered what kind of bike he had, hoping it wasn’t a rusty old banger.
“Let’s go then.”
He led me out into the garden where, surrounded by an assortment of tools, was a magnificent Zed bike, black with a silver streak down each side. I looked at the K7 logo on the side and whistled. The K7 was only the coolest thing on two wheels. The sleek, much-sought after Zed bike ran on low-emission fuel and was reputed to be a fantastic ride.
“I hope you put everything back in the right place.” I was only half-joking.
“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe.” Jamie grinned. “I’ve been fitting a new seat, the old one got a bit torn.” He pointed to a black leather seat with a big gash along one side propped against the wall. A larger, thicker black leather seat, with matching saddlebag, was now fixed on the bike.
He handed me a black safety helmet with a silver streak down the side, the same as the bike, and donned a matching one himself. Then he wheeled the bike down the path, out of the garden and onto the road. “I’ll stick your bag in the saddlebag or you might lose it,” he said. I slipped it off my shoulder and handed it him. He opened the saddlebag, put my bag and the papers inside, then secured the buckle. He straddled the bike. “Hop on.”