Raise the Stakes

by Megan Atwood

  “Danni,” Colin said, his voice stern.

  “Yeah?”

  “Look at me, will you?”

  Danni sighed. Then raised her head. Sure enough, she had a black eye.

  Colin’s fists clenched at his sides. “Who did it?”

  Danni shrugged. “Just ran into somebody from high school on the way to get groceries.”

  “Tell me who, Danni.”

  “Why? So you can go find them and get your ass kicked?”

  “So I can go find them and teach them a lesson.”

  Danni walked out from behind the counter and put her hands on Colin’s shoulders. “Little bro. That’s not how it works. And it’s not your job. People are going to be dumb. I knew that when I came out. It’s just the way it is.”

  “But it shouldn’t be! And what if you get really hurt? Trans people get killed sometimes . . .”

  “I’ve told you, there’s no point worrying about that. I can’t live my life in fear.”

  But Colin couldn’t help worrying.

  Danni was transgender. And in some people’s minds, that just wasn’t allowed.

  For the first thirteen years of Colin’s life, he’d had an older brother—Daniel. They were just a year apart and had always been close. Then, three years ago, Daniel had come to Colin and their mom with some news. He’d never felt like a boy. He always felt like a girl—ever since he was little.

  Apparently this was called gender dysphoria. Colin had to look it up. Since then, he’d learned all sorts of new terms and words. Cisgender, which was what Colin was—comfortable with the gender they were assigned at birth. And transgender—people who felt like their gender didn’t match their biological sex. Colin also learned that gender wasn’t just about being a boy or a girl. It had blown his mind.

  His mom had cried a lot. But mostly because she was so sad about how hard things had been for Danni. And because she knew that a lot of people wouldn’t understand that Danni really was a girl. A lot of people would find it scary. A lot of people would hate Danni. Mrs. Burnett didn’t want Danni to have to go through that.

  Colin’s reaction hadn’t been as cool as his mom’s. He was only fourteen then, and he’d been embarrassed. Plus, this was older brother he had looked up to, turning out to be someone else. Colin felt betrayed.

  But that turned into something different.

  Respect. Admiration. Because Danni chose to be who she was no matter what anyone else said. That took more courage than Colin felt he had in his pinkie. Which was why he desperately wanted to get enough money for Danni to afford gender reassignment surgery, the operation that would make her a biological woman. Danni had dreamed of that operation for years. So that she could finally feel comfortable in her body. That was why Colin needed the Contest’s prize money.

  That, and . . .

  Now that Danni had moved away from the paperwork, Colin got a good look at it. “Are these last month’s numbers?”

  Danni sighed. “Yep.”

  Everything in red. Like the month’s before. And the month’s before that.

  In short, Burnett Hardware was in big trouble.

  Like a tidal wave, the grief of losing his father washed over Colin again. It had been five years, and still the loss hit him like a ton of bricks, out of nowhere. His dad would have a scheme to make sure they got out of the red, or at least one that would make them laugh in the meantime. He was a risk-taker and an eternal optimist. Though Colin’s mom was an optimist too, she was more down-to-earth. And she was sure they’d have to sell the store.

  Both Danni and Colin hated that thought. It would be like losing their dad all over again.

  Colin said, “Listen, we may not have to worry about it soon.”

  Danni furrowed her eyebrows. “Yeah, right. We’re going to win the lottery?”

  Colin shrugged and went behind the counter to stand in front of the computer. “Just . . . I may be working something out.”

  Danni looked at him intently. “Don’t do anything crazy, brother, you understand? You’re a little too much like Dad.”

  Colin grinned. “And that’s a bad thing?”

  Danni smiled back. “It’s an awesome thing. And it’s also scary. Dad had some great ideas, but he also got carried away sometimes. Unrealistic. And that made things worse.”

  Colin didn’t like to think of his dad that way. But he knew Danni had a point. “Hey, don’t worry about me,” he said.

  “Well, back at ya,” said Danni as she headed toward the back of the store.

  Easier said than done, thought Colin.

  CHAPTER 5

  All through his shift, Colin mulled over what Danni had said. The more he thought about it, the more the idea of prize money sounded far-fetched.

  In fact it seemed much more likely that the Benefactor was just using him to do . . . something. Using all of the contestants. And once all the tasks were done, then what? The Benefactor had no reason to follow through and pay him. Colin had no way to hold him accountable. The whole thing—the website, the emails—could just be a giant scam.

  Only instead of Colin giving away his bank account or social security number, he’d given away his time, his effort. His face. The people at SolarStar would remember his face. If Ana planted that bug and then Steinberg found it—he’d remember the weird guy who pretended to be a shareholder. And if somebody used that snap cutter or that footage of the two girls—all that stuff could be traceable back to him. His fingerprints would be all over the snap cutter—same with the bug. And who would believe that some mysterious other person, or people, had told Colin to do these things? The police wouldn’t buy it. Even if he showed them the website, the emails, all of that could be fake—something Colin himself had created. There might be a way to trace it back to the Benefactor . . . or there might not.

  Colin paced behind the counter. This could be really bad. How had he not seen it before?

  Upstairs in the apartment, he could hear his mom’s voice and then Danni’s. They were getting dinner ready, probably. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but their voices were calm, soothing.

  Colin took a deep breath. He was getting carried away here. He didn’t know what the Benefactor planned to do. He couldn’t be sure that the prize money wasn’t real.

  But he could try to find out.

  He had almost two days before his next task. That was plenty of time to figure out whether he wanted to stay in the Contest.

  *****

  “So you decided to skip class this afternoon, huh?”

  Colin’s mom was waiting for him in the kitchen. His shift had just ended, and he’d switched off with Danni again. He’d been looking forward to supper—until now.

  “Um. What?”

  “The vice principal called. He said you were reported absent from your last class.”

  “Oh.” He sat down at the table, trying to figure out what excuse he could give.

  “Well?”

  “Yeah. Sorry, Mom.”

  “That’s it? What were you doing?”

  “I . . . was hanging out with Drew and the guys.”

  His mom closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. “Were you drinking?”

  “No!”

  “Smoking?”

  No, I was in downtown Minneapolis, trying to plant a bug in an office, because someone I don’t know offered me a bunch of money. “Uh—maybe. Just a little.”

  “Is that why you were late to your shift? So I wouldn’t smell it on you?”

  “Mayyyybe.”

  And now for the lecture. Colin’s mom didn’t chew him out very often. Colin usually didn’t give her any reason to. But when she did, she could really get going. Colin sat through it, looked sorry, promised not to do it again. But she still finished up with the clincher: “What do you think your father would say if he were here?”

  Colin swallowed. “Probably that he expects better of me.”

  His mom sighed. “You’re so bright, honey. And you work so hard. I jus
t don’t want you to do something you’ll regret later.”

  “I know, Mom. It won’t happen again.”

  But Colin was still thinking about his dad. If only he could ask his dad for advice—about all of this. Colin had no idea what his dad would think of the Contest.

  But he knew what his mom would think. And Danni.

  That it wasn’t worth it. That it was dangerous and stupid, and that he needed to get out while he could.

  “OK, honey,” said his mom. She sounded exhausted. “I’m trusting you. Go ahead and eat before the food gets cold.”

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “You saw Danni’s eye, right?”

  Her jaw clenched. “I saw it. We talked. She says she’s OK.”

  Colin stared at the fork in his hand. “I wish she didn’t have to deal with this. I wish she could have the surgery . . .”

  “That wouldn’t change how some people see her, Colin. You know the surgery isn’t a magic spell.”

  “No, but . . .” But if Danni could afford college. If she could move out of the family apartment, get a place of her own. If she didn’t have to spend every spare minute working at the store. And if she had the surgery. All of these things together might add up to something closer to the life Danni deserved.

  And none of it would be possible without some sort of magic spell.

  Or ten million dollars.

  He had to find out if it was real. He still hoped—for Danni’s sake, for everyone’s sake—that it could be.

  CHAPTER 6

  Alone in his room that night, Colin opened up his laptop. He needed to figure out what the Contest was really about—what all these tasks were building up to. Then he’d know whether the Benefactor could be trusted. Whether he’d really get the money if he won.

  Colin started with what he knew: SolarStar. He had no trouble finding the company’s website. They made environmentally friendly products—nothing super shady or exciting.

  Next he looked up Huffmann Industries, the company Jennifer McKnight had mentioned. As soon as he clicked on their website, a flash player on the homepage played a video.

  In the video, the sun came up over green grass, and then the pictures changed fast, like they were on fast-forward, to grass growing, clouds blowing, and then people walking. The pictures kept changing—smiling people of all different cultures in front of buildings or the ocean or mountains.

  The voiceover said, “In a changing world, innovation is a precious commodity. And so are you. Here at Alfred Huffmann Industries, we provide what you need to keep up with the fast pace of a busy and fulfilling life.”

  There was more like that, all cheery and vague. When the video ended Colin sat back, frustrated. He’d learned nothing.

  He clicked on a tab called “Companies.” Apparently Huffmann Industries wasn’t just one company. It was almost a dozen—all owned by the same person or people, Colin guessed. These companies did a lot of manufacturing, but other than that they didn’t seem to have much in common. There were also companies that looked like charities—the Huffmann Cancer Foundation and an international medical group called Doctors Together. But SolarStar wasn’t listed anywhere. Probably because Huffmann Industries didn’t own SolarStar, Colin figured. Maybe the two companies were just working together on a one-time project. And maybe that project hadn’t started yet? Or maybe it was top secret?

  Either way, this was probably the partnership the Benefactor had told Colin to complain about.

  So maybe the Benefactor was unhappy about Huffmann Industries and SolarStar working together. Maybe the Benefactor was an investor in SolarStar, a real-life version of the fake Ray Johnson whom Colin had pretended to be. After all, SolarStar was focused on the environment, and Huffmann Industries wasn’t, as far as Colin could tell. In fact, Colin was pretty sure manufacturing tended to involve pollution and damage to natural resources. At least that’s what Danni had said when she was taking that class about climate.

  All right: maybe someone connected with SolarStar was angry about SolarStar teaming up with Huffmann Industries. He was making a lot of guesses here, but if he could find that person, he might just find the Benefactor.

  So now he had to think of a way to do that. Colin looked at the ceiling for inspiration. He couldn’t just find a list of the company’s shareholders online. Hundreds of people could own stock in SolarStar. Maybe thousands—though it seemed like small company, so Colin doubted it had a ton of investors. Still—the Benefactor could be anyone.

  He typed “Huffmann Industries SolarStar partnership” into the search bar. No helpful hits. All he found were several articles about a possible deal between Huffmann Industries and an oil company called ChemOil. The most recent article was about six months old, and it said that the deal had fallen through.

  Colin started to scroll more, but something about the article pinged with him. One minute Huffmann Industries was ready to work with an oil company, and then next minute they were getting cozy with a green energy company? Oil and green energy were as close to opposites as you could get. You might as well buy a fitness center and a candy store at the same time.

  Except that the deal with ChemOil hadn’t actually happened. And the deal with SolarStar either had happened or was about to happen. Colin wondered if anyone involved with ChemOil knew about that. Probably not, if the partnership was still secret or not final yet. But people at Huffmann Industries—they’d know what was going on. And some of them might not like it.

  So someone at SolarStar could be mad the company was partnering with Huffmann Industries. Or someone at Huffmann Industries was mad they were partnering with SolarStar and not ChemOil.

  In short: it could still be anyone.

  Colin skimmed back through the most recent article about the deal falling through with ChemOil, looking for more clues. It quoted Corinne Huffmann, the CEO of Huffmann Industries. “The environmental cost of their proposed pipeline would’ve outweighed its many benefits. Though I’m disappointed in this outcome, we are committed to working toward sustainable energy solutions. That’s good for the planet, and it’s good business.”

  Meanwhile, an anonymous source—a Huffmann Industries “insider”—had said something very different. “Walking away from this deal was a mistake, whether Corinne will admit it or not. ChemOil’s business leadership is unmatched. You can’t replace that with a bunch of half-baked ideas about ‘environmental friendliness.’ That doesn’t amount to anything more than a bunch of sunshine and rainbows. It certainly doesn’t amount to dollar signs.”

  Whoa, though Colin, that’s harsh. Whoever this person was, he or she sounded pissed.

  Pissed enough to want to mess up Huffmann Industries’ new deal with SolarStar? Pissed enough to design a complicated contest just to make that happen? If that was the case, the Benefactor wasn’t connected to SolarStar. He or she was connected to Huffmann Industries.

  And, of course, he or she was still nameless.

  So far.

  Colin lay in bed, and for the first time in a long time, felt his mind calm down enough to feel sleepy. Ever since the contest had started, sleep had become its own dream. But finally, he was getting somewhere. With a small smile, he shut his eyes and drifted off immediately.

  CHAPTER 7

  Wednesday afternoon, after school, Colin kept checking his watch. He only had one more hour till his suspension ended and he could get back into the Contest—if he wanted to. He still couldn’t decide. He hadn’t been able to find any more information since Monday night. His researching was just turning up dead ends and vague business-y stuff he didn’t understand.

  An Asian girl around his age walked into the store.

  Colin put on a smile and said, “Hey there. Can I help you?”

  The girl started like she’d been kicked. “Uh, no. I’m just looking for . . . a hammer.” Colin saw her neck working as she swallowed.

  “Second aisle from the back, about halfway down.”

  “Thank
s.” She gave him a deer-in-the-headlights look as she walked past. He narrowed his eyes. Lots of people liked to steal things from the store. Maybe he should walk with her . . .

  Just then, the phone rang behind the register. The rule was: always answer the phone. Plus, he could see the people in the mirror on the ceiling, which was supposed to help catch shoplifters. He’d keep an eye on the girl.

  He wouldn’t mind doing that either. She was pretty cute, in a serious, buttoned-up kind of way.

  He called, “Let me know if you need anything else,” and picked up the phone, angling his body so that he could watch the mirror.

  “Hello?”

  Silence. He couldn’t even hear breathing on the other end. “Hello?” he said, this time a little angry. He didn’t have time for this.

  “Listen, I’m going to hang up. But thanks for wasting my time.”

  “You’ve been busy.” The voice was a man’s—deep, a little unsteady. “The Benefactor does not approve. Your curiosity could cause problems for you.”

  Colin’s palms were slick with sweat. He could barely hold onto the phone. “Who is this?”

  “Do not question the Benefactor. You will be told all you need to know.” The voice on the other end was definitely wobbling. With nervousness? It also sounded as if he was reading off a script. But that didn’t make it any less terrifying for Colin. “It would be dangerous for you to know more than the Benefactor tells you. Very. Dangerous.”

  “Who are you?” Colin hissed.

  Then all he heard was the dial tone. He stared at the phone stupidly. When the store’s front door clanged shut, he jumped. He realized the girl had left and he hadn’t been checking the mirror to see what she was doing.

  He turned back to the register and saw something that hadn’t been there before. A hammer sat on the counter. Beneath it was a note:

  Do not displease us again. Or it will be the last nail in your coffin.

  CHAPTER 8

  Colin couldn’t stop shaking. The phone call, the threat . . . a death threat. Every doubt he’d had about this Contest exploded into real fear. The stakes had suddenly gotten very, very high.