Page 16 of Reclaiming Adelaide

Really helpful.

“What do you want?” I looked around him, checking for a black truck, then continued walking to my waiting Uber around the corner.

“To warn you.”

“About what exactly?” I grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled him into my neighbor’s yard, behind the six-foot hedges bordering the front yard. “Why?”

“Things went wild in the last few weeks, but you weren’t there. Holeo said it was because you resigned but wouldn’t say why, and then things went dark.”

“Dark?”

“He went into hiding. We thought maybe you went with him since it was such perfect timing, but then Skipper died, and Torpedo… he’s in critical condition… Shot in his own home. Can you believe that?”

My heart leaped, spiking the pressure in my brain. “How do you know that?”

Weren’t we an anonymous group of hackers?

“It’s all over the news.” He raised his shoulders as though I should pay more attention to the workings going on in the world. “Why did you start asking questions?”

The news?But how…

“What does it matter? I asked Holeo a few things, and he gave me an answer.”

I glanced around the hedge, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Eyes were everywhere, and they raised the hairs on the back of my neck, setting my senses aflame.

“Why do you keep looking around?”

“Franklin… Crysis. Whoever you are, I need to leave.”

He grabbed my elbow. “Wait.”

“Make it quick,” I said, shaking him off. If I didn’t hurry, my Uber would disappear, then I’d be stuck… again.

“What do you know about Sev Shun?”

I choked. “Come again?”

“That’s who you’re running from, isn’t it?”

I faltered as my heart raced. “That’s not possible. We haven’t even hit them yet.”

He shook his head, my paranoia bleeding into him as he looked around. “That’s what I thought. But Holeo had a different agenda… a personal vendetta.”

“What for?”

Franklin sighed and pulled out his phone, showing me a newspaper article.

A high school IT team went to Mexico City, Mexico, for a hack-a-thon. While they were there, a bomb exploded, killing three of their classmates and two Mexican students. No one was arrested or came forward to take responsibility. The Mexican government assumed the cartel was behind it, catching innocent civilians in their retaliation. It wasn’t the first time that had happened.

“Where does Black Dog come into all of this?”

“Black Dog?Ah.Right.” He faltered, and I gave him a guarded look. “They were the ones responsible.”

“And how do you know that?”

“A picture from an article, I think Ye—Holeo said.” He planted his feet wide, his arms crossing over his chest.

“How did he know for sure it was them?”

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