Page 24 of Guarding Truth
“No—I mean, Ivy sort of did…long story—but she’s helping me sort through this mess.”
“Well, sort through this,” Blake said as he dropped his phone onto the table with a clank. “I just received this on the way over.” The video opened with bold white letters on a black screen, and Caleb and Juliette leaned in for a better view.
This is Rushmore. You have something we want. And we have something you want.
The video rolled and showed a man gagged and tied to a chair. Caleb gasped. “That’s Theo Payne. He’s our operations director.”
“Now do you see the need for a bodyguard?” Juliette whispered.
Caleb’s pulse raced. His job had invited danger right to his doorstep. He refused to let Ivy be the next to become the target.
* * *
TUESDAY, 2:00 P.M.
English class was such a bore. Who cared where the comma went?
Today they were talking about Shakespeare’sTwelfth Night. It was just some old dumb play. Why did they have to learn about this stuff when she needed to be perfecting her computer and math skills? Reading and writing just got in the way.
At least she had her phone back. She stuck it between the pages of her English textbook and made eye contact with the teacher to appear engaged. While looking up, she managed to scroll to her chat app at the same time. She’d told her new friend all about the break-in at the apartment after she’d bailed on gaming.
Well, CyberLane was a friend, even though they’d never met in real life. At least they went to the same school. And CyberLane understood Ivy in ways most people couldn’t.
CYBERLANE121: I’ve got a project for us. A real hacker project. My brother is going to pay us to try and crack his program. He works for the government. Are you in?
Ivy blinked at the whiteboard as the teacher wrote a bunch of words. If it wasn’t numbers, Ivy was out. Besides, all she had to do was take a quick scan of the board and commit everything to memory, and she’d ace every test. She’d raise her eyes up now and again to make sure she’d captured a mental image of whatever was written.
A real-life hacker job? Her first? This was what she wanted Uncle Caleb to teach her. She could become the world’s best white hacker, testing systems to prevent the real hackers from succeeding.
Her stomach churned as she thought about last night. She needed to come clean about stealing Uncle Caleb’s laptop. He might be mad about her hacking, but he needed to know about the program. Last night, she’d made the decision to stay quiet about the laptop so that she could work on the code. Just for one more day. Tonight, she planned to come clean and give her uncle the laptop. Then he’d take the threat seriously.
The program was the most intriguing thing she’d ever come across. It would do serious damage if it were released. If it worked.
But maybe CyberLane could help her make contact with actual hackers so they might figure out who was behind the break-in. Then the police would have information necessary to arrest them. She knew without a doubt they were searching for the laptop she’d taken. And if she tracked them down, Uncle Caleb would be safe. The hackers had stopped communicating in the email account, so she didn’t have much else to go on.
She vowed to come clean when she got home today. It was the right thing to do. But she’d help any way she could. Her uncle might see her as a little girl, but she’d put her skills to good use and prove she was capable of more than just math homework. Especially if it kept her uncle safe.
Ivy kept her eyes on the board and tried to type with the page of her book covering her phone.
IREMEMBER4LIFE: I’m in. Send me the deets
CYBERLANE121: Maybe we should meet in person. Can you skip second period tomorrow?
IREMEMBER4LIFE: Duh. Gladly. Meet by the bleachers at the soccer field?
CYBERLANE121: C U there
“Ms. Covington? Why don’t you answer the question for us?”
Busted. All eyes turned to Ivy. She scrolled through her memory database for mental snapshots of whatever was on the board. Not even knowing the question, she threw out the first thing that might make sense.
“I think this quote from Shakespeare sums it up best. ‘Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.’”
She held her breath. Mrs. Taylor nodded and smiled. “Nice answer.” The teacher called on a different student, who had obviously not been paying attention. The kid squirmed.
That was a close call. She should probably do a little better at paying attention. But her mind drifted back to CyberLane’s message.
What if greatness was about to be thrust upon her? While she relished the thought of a real hacker job, she had ulterior motives. She wanted more information on the people that had targeted her uncle. The one that had their sights set on her family.