by Jack Heath
'How can Doug's family be sure they're safe here, though?'
'We offered them new identities.' Arno leaned forward, threading her fingers together. 'But they refused to take them. Doug's parents don't trust the police anymore—I suppose I don't blame them. It was Frink who organised their last move, so Viper probably knew where they were going before they did. Anyway, they said they were sick of running. And Doug said he didn't want to leave his friends.'
EPILOGUE
'You forgot one thing,' Snake Man told the alien queen. 'I can shed my skin.'
'Noooo!' the alien shrieked.
Bess threw some popcorn at the screen. 'This is dumb.'
'It might be the silliest movie that has ever existed,' Doug agreed, resting his feet on the coffee table.
'Hey, I was happy to watch it alone,' Jarli said. He hated it when people made fun of movies he liked. 'You two insisted on coming over.'
'Only because a plane crash stopped me from watching it the first time,' Bess said. 'It would feel like defeat to not be here.'
'So you're not enjoying it, you're just stubborn.'
'Determined,' Bess corrected.
'And you definitely weren't crying when Snake Man's sister—'
'No,' Bess snapped. 'I just needed to blow my nose.'
Jarli's phone buzzed.
'You said you wouldn't use your app on me,' Bess complained.
'That wasn't my app.' Jarli picked up the phone. It was a message from an unknown sender.
Spiders of fear danced on Jarli's spine. He showed the message to Bess.
Her eyes widened. 'Could be just someone messing with you,' she said. Jarli had received death threats and other sinister communications when his app first went viral.
'Could be,' he agreed.
'I think this movie might actually be worse than the plane crash that destroyed my house,' Doug said, oblivious.
'Shut up. Look at this.' Jarli showed him the message. His phone buzzed again as a second text came in.
'Scanner,' Jarli and Doug said, at the same moment.
'Who?' Bess asked.
'Give me a second.' Jarli went to the front door and opened it. No-one was there, but an unfamiliar car was parked on the other side of the Street. A black sedan, recently washed.
The headlights flashed twice, signalling Jarli.
Jarli walked over. The window rolled down. The driver was Scanner.
'Get in,' he said.
Jarli hopped into the passenger side. The car smelled like it had been washed recently. The seat was soft and warm. Jarli thought there might be an automatic seat warmer under there. Maybe this was Viper's car.
Scanner didn't wait for Jarli to put his seatbelt on. He pulled out onto the road and zoomed off.
'Did you tell Detective Arno about me?' Scanner asked.
'No,' Jarli said.
'Good. Because this is far from over. We still don't know why Viper wanted a second RCG weapon after he'd already brought down the plane.'
'Maybe to sell to a terrorist group?' Jarli couldn't remember who had suggested this, but the idea had stuck in his mind.
'No. If that was the case, Viper wouldn't have tried to blow up the factory to cover up the theft. He would have wanted everyone to know he had an RCG to sell. Instead, he was trying to make it look like they had all been destroyed. Which means he had a second target, and we don't know who. That makes me nervous. I don't like not knowing things.'
'Where are we going?' Jarli asked.
'Just around the block,' Scanner said. 'This car is low-jacked. If I stop in one place for too long, it sends a notification to Viper. There was an audio bug too, but I disabled it. He can't hear us.'
'Do you know who he is?'
'Not yet.' Scanner reached the end of the street and turned the corner. 'I've identified several other people who work for him, but most of them haven't met him and all of them are chipped. They won't help the cops.'
'So why are you here?'
'I wanted to tell you that Viper is no longer actively pursuing you, your family or your friends. As far as he knows, you don't have any important information.'
'As far as he knows?'
Scanner turned another corner. 'You know about me. He doesn't.'
It sounded like a threat.
'I don't know anything about you,' Jarli said. 'I don't even know your name.'
'You know I work for Viper and that I'm actually a cop. That's enough to make you a danger to me.'
The car was driving faster and faster. Jarli gripped the sides of his seat.
'You've foiled Viper's plans twice now,' Scanner continued, 'and met several of his operatives. If he realises he has a leak in his organisation, he might start to wonder if you know who it is. This would leave me in a difficult position.'
Jarli thought about Priya—the pilot who had nearly been sacrificed to identify Viper. How many more people was the government WILLING TO KILL to expose him?
Scanner swerved, hard. The g-forces pushed Jarli towards the passenger door. He suddenly wondered if Scanner was trying to roll the car. He could make it look like Jarli died in a car accident.
But then Viper would know he had picked Jarli up. And Scanner could just as easily die in the crash.
The car screeched to a stop. Jarli looked out the window and saw his own house. They had gone all the way around the block.
'So stay out of Viper's way,' Scanner said. 'Forget all about him. And maybe he'll forget about you, too.'
'Is that a threat?' Jarli asked.
'It's advice,' Scanner said. 'Now get out.'
Jarli climbed out of the car shakily. It sped off as soon as he closed the door, leaving a haze of exhaust in the air.
Published by Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd
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First edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited, 2018.
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited, 2018.
E-PUB/MOBI eISBN: 978-1-76027-277-7
Text © Jack Heath 2018.
Illustration and design copyright © Scholastic Australia, 2018. Additional illustrations. Cover: big explosion © Alexyz3d/Shutterstock. com; burning vehicle © LutsenkoLarissa/Shutterstock.com; concrete floor © leolintang/Shutterstock.com; demolished house © Gabor Tinz/ Shutterstock.com; fire © polygraphus/Shutterstock.com; fire and explosion © Jackan/Shutterstock.com; plane ruins © Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock.com; realistic fiery explosion © ARENA Creative/Shutterstock.com; Runners on sprint © aarows/Shutterstock.com; running man © istockphoto.com/ PeteSherrard; turboprop © Ivan Cholakov/Shutterstock.com. Internals: banner © istockphoto.com/Lava4images; frame © istockphoto.com/ gn8; grunge border © Gordan/Shutterstock.com; map icon © ananaline/ Shutterstock.com; smiley faces © cTermit/Shutterstock.com; sports © Luciano Cosmo/Shutterstock.com.
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