Cold Case

Matt wanted to wipe that arrogant smile off the college kid’s face. “Fine — as long as the next ‘accident’ doesn’t take out the two of you together.”

“Like that’s really going to happen…little boy,” Jones sneered.

Matt didn’t answer. He merely pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. “Anyway, I’m going to leave a copy of my real name and Father Tim’s and the rest of the group’s — just in case. If anything happens to us, you ought to know about it.”

That jarred Father Flannery. “Are you sure that’s wise?”

“Look, if one or both of them are responsible for the hacking, they’ve got the list already,” Matt pointed out. “If not — well, I think we should be pushing the free flow of information among the innocent.”

Kerry Jones looked at the folded piece of paper as if it were about to bite him. “I don’t know what Suze would say about that — it’s a violation of privacy.”

Matt shrugged as he and Father Flannery got up to leave the room. “Hey, I’m just leaving it there,” he said. “I’m not forcing you to read it.” And with that he and Father Tim headed off to contact the next name on the list.

9

“You did what?” The hologram image of P.J. Farris’s handsome face twisted in distress. His words came out more like a yelp.

Leif aimed his best smile at his computer console. “I got you a date for that formal, buddy. Megan O’Malley.”

P.J. grabbed at his head as if he feared it would explode. His fingers left his usually perfectly ordered brown hair standing up in spikes. “How could you — what made you think I wanted a date?” he finally sputtered. “I told you about those tickets because I was hoping to dump them on you, not because I wanted to be saddled with —”

“I don’t think Megan is into saddling,” Leif cut in. “And there was never any hope that I could use the tickets. I’m grounded because of my little collision with Nikki Callivant. But when I heard that she was going to be at this Junior League thing—”

Now it was P.J.’s turn to butt in. “You sicced Megan on me.”

“Hey, I felt sorry for her, knowing she had that nice gown going to waste.”

P.J.’s expression moved from shock to horror. “Oh, Lord, that’s right! She got dumped by that idiot in her homeroom.” He shuddered. “And ever since he did that, he hasn’t had a day’s luck with his computer. Somehow, it manages to catch every virus, every known programming bug comes crawling in, and every piece of useful schoolwork he’s done on it has crashed before he could turn it in.” The young Texan’s blue eyes clung to Leif’s face. “Do you realize what you’ve done to me?”

“I’ve given you a chance to meet Nikki Callivant,” Leif replied calmly. “Her family will probably be at this hoedown as well.”

“You expect me to pick up Nikki Callivant with a date hanging on my arm?” P.J.’s gaze sharpened. “Besides, I always thought you kinda liked Megan.”

Leif could feel his face getting warm. “This is not a date, Farris. It’s an assignment to help Matt. The two of you will be working as a team.”

“Wonderful,” P.J. groused. “So that’s why you stuck me with Ms. Tact, 2025.”

Leif couldn’t help his grin. “If I’d really wanted to frack you over, I’d have brought Maj Greene into this little party.”

P.J. shuddered at the mental image of their group’s most outspoken member rampaging her way through a society ball. “Okay,” he admitted. “This is slightly better. Slightly. And Matt’s pulled my grits from the fire more than once. I owe him. What are you expecting us to do?”

“I want you to check out the family that’s probably threatening to make Matt’s life miserable. Get close and see what the traffic will bear in terms of questioning.” Leif tried to keep his voice light, as if this were the easiest thing in the world. “Since Nikki Callivant is about our age, I think she’s our easiest connection. Her father doesn’t get out in society much. And somehow, I don’t think her grandfather would put up with questions about whatever happened to Priscilla Hadding.”

“Would Nikki Callivant even know about the Hadding case?” P.J. asked, his expression dubious.

“From what I’ve read about the Callivants, she seems to be the most decent person in the family — snotty or not,” Leif replied. “The press likes her, gives her pretty sympathetic coverage. Lots of charity stuff, you know. Maybe, if she doesn’t know about the Hadding case already, you and Megan can get her interested in it.”

Leif spread his hands, putting on his most sincere expression. “I’d do it myself, but I’ve got three strikes against me — I’m grounded, my parents would kill me if I turned up around Nikki Callivant again—”

“And she might kill you the moment she spotted you.” Shaking his head, P.J. gave Leif a wry smile. “So what do you think? I’m supposed to charm this girl while Megan hammers her with questions?”

“That sounds as though it might work,” Leif said.

P.J.’s smile turned a bit more sour. “You know, once — just once — I’d like to be the bad cop in one of your good cop/bad cop productions.”

“It’s just that you’re such a gentleman,” Leif replied lightly. “You always get the plum role. Speaking of which, you’d better call Megan. With only got two days to get ready, she’s got a lot to do — hair stuff, and makeup. The least you could do is take care of the other arrangements. You know — transportation, flowers, high-end restaurant reservation beforehand…”

P.J. gave Leif a dark look. “One day, Anderson…one day…”

The traffic thickened again as Father Flannery steered the car toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Across the Potomac was Virginia. Inside the car the silence was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Matt couldn’t stand it any longer. “Father, I don’t think you’ve said a word since I gave Jones that list,” he said. “Is it really such a problem for you?”

The priest seemed to need a moment to unclench his fingers from the steering wheel. It was safe enough. They’d come to a dead stop somewhere near the middle of the span.

“I’ve been trying to figure out an answer to that question since we got back in this car,” Flannery finally said. “Maybe things are just moving too fast for me. First I’m enjoying an entertaining sim in my all-too-rare free time, then I’m threatened with lawyers, and then a pair of teenagers pierce my privacy as though there’s nothing to it. Then your friend gets his hands on a tracking program with an ease that I find somewhat disturbing. And, heaven help me, I end up helping you unmask the other participants in the sim! Now we’re trying to talk to them, but you’re the only one who seems to be getting anywhere. I’m the grown-up here, but I seem to be following you — a teenage boy — around like a wet-behind-the-ears novice.”

“Are you annoyed? Was I stepping on your toes?”

The priest shook his head in bemusement. “No. I’m just shaken up, and unprepared for this, and I think I’m a little envious at the easy way you’re handling things.”

“Believe me, Father, I’m just feeling my way. Leif and I — and several of our friends — have had a chance to see how the pros do it. We belong to the Net Force Explorers—”

Flannery’s head swung toward him. “Net Force is involved in this?”

The blare of a car horn brought his attention back to the road. They rolled ahead for a car length, then stopped again.

“My friends and I are Net Force Explorers,” Matt quickly explained. “We watch and learn from various professionals in Net Force. Sometimes we do public-service stuff. We don’t have any police powers. But we’ve seen how cases were handled by Net Force Agents.”

And sometimes stuck our noses in — when it seemed necessary, he silently added. But this was strictly personal. Right now Matt was just trying to spare himself, his parents, and the innocent sim participants from the consequences of a hacker’s actions. And when Leif or anybody else offered help, Matt would accept it gladly.