A Teenage Spy Story

Chapter 24: May

Chapter 24: May

"Did you try a Bioscan?" Michael asked me. "There's probably some of Tracy's DNA somewhere."

"I've tried Bioscans. I've tried basically everything. There's an autorun program that shuts down all decryption software seconds after it's plugged in. There's blocks on the external file readers and a lock on the hard drive cover. We can't get in."

"There's got to be a way in." He reached for the laptop, but I held it still.

"No one touches it but me."

"May,"

"It was my mom's. She gave it to me. I keep it."

Michael seemed to think better of it than to fight. "So there's absolutely no way to get in?"

"There's a password, but I'm not sure how many guesses we get, but probably not many. It can't be hacked, overridden or guessed."

"How do we get it?"

"It's a giant puzzle, and my mom hid the clues somewhere, just for me."

"Then you better figure out the puzzle quick," he said authoritatively.

I looked up from the laptop. "Look, just because you're the #2 doesn't mean you can-"

"-How did you know I was #2?" he asked aggressively.

"I pay attention to detail. I figure stuff out."

Michael slammed his hand on the table. "Then figure this out. And you better do it quick."

He walked away as I sighed and pulled up my laptop. After a few minutes of digging through files to see if there were any clues I might have missed when I read my mom's files a million times before, I felt something on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Autumn holding one of her stuffed animals.

"Hey, Autumn," I said with a smile. She didn't realize anything was wrong, and she was so young, I didn't want to ruin it for her.

"Hi!" she said as her little bear waved. "Dotty says hi too."

Don't ask me why she named the bear Dotty. There's no spots on it; it's just a normal purple stuffed bear.

"That's cute," I said out loud.

"Are you busy?" she asked.

I nodded. "But that's ok. I haven't seen you in a while."

"June plays with me."

I hadn't seen June in a while either. I guess I had been so busy with work, I didn't stop to think about my little sisters.

"I'll help you find June," I told her. "I'd like to see her too."

"I don't want to see her. I want to see you," she replied stubbornly.

I sighed. "I really have to get this done."

Autumn looked really sad. I wanted to spend time with her, really. But I couldn't. Not now. Not until everything was fixed.

"Ok. Bye-bye." She walked back out.

I opened my mom's laptop again. It was the same black screen with blue type: UNLOCK.

But I couldn't. I had no idea how to unlock it. I had to clear my head. I packed my stuff up and walked out of the office. I went down the stairs and sat outside one of the dorm rooms. I didn't care whose it was, I just sat down.

After a few minutes, I realized there was someone inside the room. I heard quiet screams and I checked the door. It was Jocelyn's room.

"Jocelyn, can I come in?" I asked. She didn't respond, so I turned the knob and it opened. I braced myself for the worst.

"Shh," I heard a little voice say as I saw a pair of small feet sticking out from under the bed. The shoes had little doodles on them.

"Autumn?" I asked playfully.

"Not Autumn," she responded. I grabbed her feet and pulled her out. When I did, Jocelyn crawled out too.

"Hey. Hope you don't mind. She was just wandering around and I needed to do something," Jocelyn said. "If I'm not doing something, I start thinking about him."

I nodded. "I get it. I have to keep busy."

"I'm really sorry about your dad, by the way. April must be going crazy right now."

"She'll get through," I said.

"I know. But everything was thrown on her at once." Jocelyn sighed and Autumn came over to her and gave her a hug. Then she turned and ran.

"You're it!" she yelled as she climbed on Jocelyn's bed and the blankets fell off the opposite side.

"Not for long!" she yelled back and she ran after her. I smiled and slipped out of the room. They were in good hands.

I didn't know where to go next, so I started wandering. Eventually, I got to the elevator. I went inside and pushed a button. I scanned my card and the elevator went all the way down. I got off and walked to the door I needed.

I opened it as some guards stood by and watched me. "She's not talking," one said.

"She'll talk to me." I sat down across from Janey. Her wrists were chained to a table and she sat in a wooden chair.

"About time one of you showed up. It's been, what, six hours and 34 minutes?" she asked with a smile.

I checked my watch. "How do you do that?"

She leaned back in her chair, and I bet she would've had her arms crossed if they weren't chained down. "Down to the minute?"

I nodded. She smiled more. "I expected you to look like a crazy prisoner when I came in," I admitted.

"It's been six hours, not six years," she replied.

"Yeah, I was distracted and not really thinking," I admitted.

"Is everything ok?" she asked. "Do you have any leads?"

"Michael is convinced that if I get into Tracy's laptop, everything would get better."

"Would it?"

I shook my head. "I don't know."

"Still can't get in?"

"Nope. And I don't even have a clue."

"What about Nattie and Zach? Anything there?"

I shook my head again. "Nothing. Their trail is completely dead and we have no leads on who killed Dad either."

"We can figure it out."

"You're stuck down here," I replied. "We're working on getting you out, but-"

"No. Get Nattie and Zach out first. Then take care of the mole."

"What about you?"

"Once a week. You, Biz, Liz, Michael, or Jocelyn come down. Never the same person in a row. Keep my updated. I'll try to help."

"What about April?"

Janey shook her head. "Too many eyes on her. Even Michael is risky. People will get suspicious if they notice. Go up now, before they think it's been too long."

I nodded and went upstairs. Once the elevator door opened, April ran over to me.

"What?" I asked,

"We might have a lead," she replied.

End Book 2

~~~~~~

I'm not sure when exactly I will get Book 3 up, but hopefully it's soon!  I'd love to hear what you guys think so far, let me know below!

Update: Book 3 will be up soon.  The day (time frame) is related to the book, and whoever comments the correct answer before the prologue is released will received a dedication and a shoutout.

Thanks for reading!