Chapter 28

<<Kiss me, and you will see how important I am, Sylvia Plath,>> JanusFlyTrap tweets.

My lips are sore in a really good way as I float into my mom’s hospital room. Nothing can bring me down.

For once I have my mom to myself without Peter; she’s lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“Hi, Mom,” I say, bouncing to her side. “Can’t wait to show you these pictures.”

Her chin dips so she can see me, and I fiddle with the albums on my phone to reveal the recent pictures of Assured Destruction. I hold the phone above her and I swipe through exterior and interior shots, ending with the one of her new bed, which includes a special bar to help her get in and out. Seeing it, her lips twitch in a smile, but she remains silent.

I bury the phone in my pocket and touch her wrist. “Are you all right, Mom?”

She nods, but a tear breaks from the corner of her eye and runs past her temple.

“What happened?”

“I’m so sorry,” she chokes. “I’m so sorry.”

“What? What’s going on?”

I expect her to say something like she’s sold Assured Destruction, or maybe that she’s still sick and not ready to return to work.

“Peter told me everything,” she says.

“Oh—”

She places a finger to my lips. “You don’t have to say anything, I’ve been too absent as a mother, and I’m sorry.” She removes her finger to struggle into a seated position. I press the button to raise the back of the bed, and she bats away my hand. “That’s what I’m talking about. I’m checking out of the hospital tonight and I’m going to start taking care of you.”

“Listen, Mom, it’s okay. Depression isn’t something you snap out of. And what Peter did. It’s all right, he—”

“It’s all right that he used you as a contact for a gang? The same gang that recently kidnapped you and showed you where they killed your father and then proceeded to firebomb your home? It’s all right?”

“You … you broke up?” I ask.

“Janus, I never want to see that man again.” Her eyes hold an icy clarity that I haven’t seen for months.

Peter didn’t have to do this. Why would he do this?

“I don’t want you anywhere near him or that gang,” she says.

And then I understand. Maybe it’s because I’m only starting to figure out the depths of my feeling for Jonny. That a relationship is so much more than thinking someone’s cute and making out until your lips hurt. It’s sacrifice, and Peter’s paying ultimately. He did this to keep me from carrying out my plan. It was the only thing I held over him. And he took it away. He really is my Obi-wan Kenobi.

“He loves you,” I whisper. “He really does.”

“That may be so, but I love you, and he broke my trust.”

“But he didn’t need to say anything.”

My mom squints at me. “You mean I didn’t need to know?”

“I wanted you to get better.”

“Well I am,” she says. “Tomorrow morning Assured Destruction reopens for business and I’ll be at the cash.”

I can’t imagine how much she must be hurting.

“And you’re grounded,” she adds.

“What?”

“Peter told me your plans. That you want to infiltrate this … gang.”

Wow, he really told her everything. I really didn’t think he’d do it. After years of tracking these gangsters, he’s walking away. A shudder brings my shoulders to my ears. This was his big chance.

“Mom, Peter himself said we can’t go to the police, and I really don’t want to wake up to smoke ever again. Have you seen what’s going on out there?” I point at the window. “The Zombie Worm is still everywhere and I’m betting that this Bitchain gang is growing stronger. They killed Dad. Who will stop them?”

“Not a sixteen-year-old girl.”

“Seventeen!”

My mom freezes and her face screws with sorrow. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. Your birthday.”

And then I start laughing.

“What?” she asks.

“I’d forgotten too,” I say, and I laugh some more until my mom finally smiles.

A nurse ducks her head in and shushes me.

“She’s a real bitch,” I whisper and my mom grabs my fingers, then bursts into great guffaws.

“She is.”

“Shush!” the nurse hisses from the corridor.

“Wouldn’t want the depressed patient laughing,” my mom quips, tears of mirth and pain streaming down her face. And we’re laughing again, holding each other, despite everything.

I’m first to stop. The answer to my question coming to me. Who is going to stop Bitchain? Peter. He didn’t want me to give him twenty-four hours in order to take precautions. He wanted a head start.

“I need a computer,” I say. But there’s none here. “I have to go.”

“Jan—”

“Sorry, mom,” I say. “I have to go.”

“But you’re grounded.”

And it sounds so out of place that I actually chuckle. “I know. I promise not to do anything dumb.” Like your ex-boyfriend.

Inside of twenty minutes I’m back at Assured Destruction, booting up my laptop, armor on and lip bitten.

I call Peter. No answer.

I open the browser, click on Darkslinger, log in …

 

You are expunged.

 

No, no, no!

I create a new account and am welcomed on Darkslinger. A minute later I’ve seen a list of CrowBar’s posts. He’s called me out. Told everyone that I used to work for the cops, used my having spread the anti-virus around for free as proof. Says he knows who I am and will give my name to the highest bidder. OMG. I know he doesn’t mean to, but still.

PM me, Sw1ftM3rcy responded. And that’s it. Peter’s setting himself up to enter Bitchain and maybe that’s what he had in mind all along.

Can I help him? Can I help a former secret agent? Probably not. Maybe the best thing for him is for me to let him go and hope he returns triumphant.

But that’s not the Janus way. I’ve just been helped by dozens of strangers. I can’t stand by and let someone I care about down.

Do I care about him? The man with the gleaming teeth and the meaty fists? My mom sure does.

Maybe I don’t have a choice. My heart lodges in my throat as I open the second-most popular thread of the day. It’s mine, or rather Lolz’s. Somebody has cracked Peter’s encryption and the code I copied over is there for everyone to read.

 

Congratulations! You’re a hacker! Better than that, to crack my encryption you’re elite. Or 31173 in 1337 sp3@k. 101.

 

Even though I can barely breathe, all I can think is make the l337 speak stop.

 

What? You really didn’t expect me to give you a hard drive with actual data on it, did you? There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who do not.

 

This is a bad geek joke. In binary, 10 is the number 2.

 

If you can crack this, it means that it’s time for you to understand a few things.

 

Yes, I’m Peter, but I’m also CrowBar on Darkslinger. A former USPS agent—one of the good guys. Just like you. The funny thing about retirement is that no one ever really prepares for it, and I still have big—

 

That’s where it cuts off. Big plans, I bet. I’d only copied a portion of the code over, but it’s enough. Peter’s cover is blown, which means he’s walking into a trap. And it’s all because he trusted me. And I distrusted him.

What do I tell Mom? What do I do? I’m hyperventilating over my desk. The idiot.

This year’s Darwin Award winner? @Pumpkineatr, JanusFlyTrap tweets.

Idiot.

I need help.

@HairySays, @Paradise57, @TuleSays, @Heckleena, @GumpsSays, @FrannieMouth, come to Assured Destruction pls. #GOGOSHADOWNET, JanusFlyTrap tweets.

Hopefully that makes it out to them all.

#Gogoshadownet together hah! shadownet forever, Frannie replies and there’s pretty much only one person who I bet caught the Power Rangers reference. Hannah’s on her way and that chick is tougher than she looks. But strong enough to take on a gang? No way. None of us are.