Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 123155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“What’s the big news?” I asked as I stepped inside the house. Everyone was gathered around the kitchen area, leaving barely any room to stand.
“Olive smiled,” Mark said, grinning at me. “Heard my voice and smiled.”
“It was probably gas,” my mom said.
“It wasn’t gas,” Mark argued.
“That’s the news?” I asked. The look on his face was adorable, but I’d been hoping for something bigger. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that she’d been smiling at random for the past few days.
“No, that’s not the only news,” Forrest drawled. He looked like he was about to either start laughing or roll his eyes. “Wilson and that woman from the FAM have been doin’ their thing—”
“Turns out Kaley is a hacker,” Lu said, grinning. “Between her and Wilson, they’ve been all up in FAM’s shit. Bank records, Web history, you name it, they’ve seen it.”
“And?” I asked.
“Looks like Warren kid is off on his own,” my dad said. “While the group is trying to find out what happened, he’s been puttin’ ’em off, wheelin’ and dealin’, and generally makin’ himself look real guilty.”
“That’s good news,” Eli said when my expression didn’t change. “Means there’s an opening for a few words from a concerned party.”
“You’re going to make contact?” I asked, my stomach twisting with anxiety.
“Wilson is,” Mark said, his eyes meeting mine. “On your go-ahead.”
“Why mine?” I blurted.
“Because it’s your ass in a sling,” Forrest said. “We think this is the way to go, but if you’re not comfortable with it, we’ll find another way.”
“Is there another way?”
“I can find him and take care of it,” my dad said flatly. “Give me about a week, and this is over.”
“And then you’ve got a target on your back for every racist white kid on the west coast,” Cam retorted.
“No one would see me,” my dad said, brushing him off.
I looked at Mark again. “What do you think?” I asked quietly.
“I think we make contact,” he said firmly. “We’ll go from there.”
“Okay,” I said with a nod.
Forrest immediately pulled out his phone, and the rest of us spread out around the house and outside. The place was way too small for eight people and a baby, but somehow, we were making it work. Thankfully, we’d had some breaks in the nearly constant rain, so we could at least hang outside occasionally.
“How you feeling?” Mark asked, dropping down next to me on the couch. Olive was curled up against his chest sleeping, and I couldn’t help but lean down to look at her face. She was such a calm baby, it was amazing to me that she didn’t seem to realize that she was surrounded by turmoil.
“I’m okay,” I answered as I leaned back up. “I hope Wilson contacting the militia doesn’t backfire.”
“Either way, Drake Warren’s a dead man,” Mark said with a sigh, leaning back against the couch. “Only thing up in the air is who’s gonna do it.”
“Maybe I should have let my dad—” I stopped mid-sentence and shook my head. “I’m not putting that on his conscience.”
“Not sure it would even be a blip on his radar,” Mark mumbled dryly. “You just worry about you, yeah? We’ll do what we have to.”
“We don’t even know where he is,” I pointed out. “I don’t know how any of you are going to find him.”
“That was the other part of Wilson’s news,” Mark replied.
“What?”
“The Campbell girl.” He smiled, and a hundred memories raced through my mind of when he’d given me that exact same look, right before he’d gotten away with something he shouldn’t have. “She’s a serious hacker. She got into Warren’s cell phone.”
“No fucking way,” I breathed.
“Yep. They’re keeping an eye on it, and they know exactly where he is.”
“Where?” I asked instantly.
“Central California, last time I talked to Wilson.”
I let out a long breath. He was hours away.
“Those burner phones my dad always gives me suddenly don’t seem so crazy,” I murmured.
Mark laughed. “What?”
I shook my head, relief and something like hope making me feel almost dizzy. “Every time I see him, he gives me a burner phone and tells me to stop using a plan,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “He even sent me one in the mail a few times.”
He laughed again.
“I just gave them away,” I said with a shrug. “Why the hell would I need a burner? No one is looking for me, or hacking into my shit.” I widened my eyes and lifted my eyebrows.
“Jokes on you,” he said teasingly.
“I still don’t understand how all of this happened,” I said, shaking my head.
“You’ve got a big heart,” Mark replied. “And you always see the good in people.”
I scoffed.
“Don’t make that noise at me,” he said, reaching over to give my knee a squeeze. “You might be a porcupine, but you’ve got a soft underbelly.”
“Bite your tongue,” I joked.