but this was an opportunity to explain away Max’s behavior today, if they played things right. But if they raised any suspicions, his dad could be arrested for interfering in their investigation.
“My friend Ming.” Ming was a forward on Monte Vida’s soccer team, and definitely not a friend. Max didn’t even remember his last name.
“You’re calling from his phone?” Bradley asked.
“Yeah. . . Why?”
“Because I have your phone right here.”
“How’d you get it?” Max started to move into the left lane when a car zoomed past from his blind spot. He swerved back over to the right and a horn blared. He bet the FBI would realize he was on the road and would be analyzing that recording for clues to his whereabouts.
“A federal agent dropped it off after school since you weren’t there to collect it today.”
“Great. I was starting to go into withdrawal without it.”
“I know what you’re going to ask. It’s working just fine,” Bradley said.
That meant the Feds had what they needed from the phone. They wouldn’t have returned it otherwise.
“Oh, and Courtney called the house looking for you. She sounded upset,” Bradley said.
“Yeah, we argued after the debate. Maybe we need some time apart.”
“That’s probably a good idea, Sport.”
So the Feds had gotten to her too.
“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up?” Bradley asked.
“Yeah. Thanks though. Hey, I should let you go back to work.”
“Well, it’s a school night, so remember your curfew.”
Max didn’t have a curfew, and if he did, Dad would never notice if he kept to it or not.
“Of course.” It felt like they’d been on the phone too long, but Max had one more important thing to say, and he wasn’t sure when he’d have another chance. “I love you, Dad.”
“You too, Ace. Be safe.” Bradley clicked off.
That was that. There was no going back. He would have to face this head-on.
Max switched off the phone and pulled out the battery. He checked his map and made a quick change in plans: He would take a short detour away from his true destination and ditch the phone at a service station, in case the Feds had managed to get a fix on him.
What were they after? If they just wanted to talk to Max about the text message and his connection to Evan, they were going about it in a shady and aggressive way. Granted, Max running at the first sight of them had probably convinced them they had good reason to pursue him.
Unlike at Evan’s place, the FBI wouldn’t find a shred of evidence of Max’s past as a hacker. It might be unusual for a teenager to own three laptops, but he was the son of a computer geek. There was nothing more incriminating in his room than porn and some pirated media on his hard drives. When Max made a clean break from hacking, he’d never looked back. Until now.
Max grabbed a quick bite and a replacement phone at the next rest stop, then he pushed on, mulling over the call and the strange turn his life had taken the rest of the way to Roseburg.
He reached the Denny’s several hours early for his meeting with DoubleThink, so he parked in the lot beside a row of cargo trucks and napped as best he could manage in the compact car—which wasn’t well, even as exhausted as he was. He finally dragged himself into the restaurant at seven, in search of a more comfortable seat and a cup of coffee to wake him up.
The inside of the Roseburg Denny’s looked exactly like the one in Granville, where Max and Evan had spent countless late nights eating pancakes and chicken fingers to fuel their online misadventures. Even the picture placemats were identical. The resemblance was oddly comforting; after driving north 450 miles, it felt like his home was still close-by, even though he’d never been farther from it. The restaurant was nearly empty aside from a few big guys who were older, hairier, and wearing way more plaid than Max. They didn’t set off any alarm bells. He didn’t think any of
“My friend Ming.” Ming was a forward on Monte Vida’s soccer team, and definitely not a friend. Max didn’t even remember his last name.
“You’re calling from his phone?” Bradley asked.
“Yeah. . . Why?”
“Because I have your phone right here.”
“How’d you get it?” Max started to move into the left lane when a car zoomed past from his blind spot. He swerved back over to the right and a horn blared. He bet the FBI would realize he was on the road and would be analyzing that recording for clues to his whereabouts.
“A federal agent dropped it off after school since you weren’t there to collect it today.”
“Great. I was starting to go into withdrawal without it.”
“I know what you’re going to ask. It’s working just fine,” Bradley said.
That meant the Feds had what they needed from the phone. They wouldn’t have returned it otherwise.
“Oh, and Courtney called the house looking for you. She sounded upset,” Bradley said.
“Yeah, we argued after the debate. Maybe we need some time apart.”
“That’s probably a good idea, Sport.”
So the Feds had gotten to her too.
“You sure you don’t want me to pick you up?” Bradley asked.
“Yeah. Thanks though. Hey, I should let you go back to work.”
“Well, it’s a school night, so remember your curfew.”
Max didn’t have a curfew, and if he did, Dad would never notice if he kept to it or not.
“Of course.” It felt like they’d been on the phone too long, but Max had one more important thing to say, and he wasn’t sure when he’d have another chance. “I love you, Dad.”
“You too, Ace. Be safe.” Bradley clicked off.
That was that. There was no going back. He would have to face this head-on.
Max switched off the phone and pulled out the battery. He checked his map and made a quick change in plans: He would take a short detour away from his true destination and ditch the phone at a service station, in case the Feds had managed to get a fix on him.
What were they after? If they just wanted to talk to Max about the text message and his connection to Evan, they were going about it in a shady and aggressive way. Granted, Max running at the first sight of them had probably convinced them they had good reason to pursue him.
Unlike at Evan’s place, the FBI wouldn’t find a shred of evidence of Max’s past as a hacker. It might be unusual for a teenager to own three laptops, but he was the son of a computer geek. There was nothing more incriminating in his room than porn and some pirated media on his hard drives. When Max made a clean break from hacking, he’d never looked back. Until now.
Max grabbed a quick bite and a replacement phone at the next rest stop, then he pushed on, mulling over the call and the strange turn his life had taken the rest of the way to Roseburg.
He reached the Denny’s several hours early for his meeting with DoubleThink, so he parked in the lot beside a row of cargo trucks and napped as best he could manage in the compact car—which wasn’t well, even as exhausted as he was. He finally dragged himself into the restaurant at seven, in search of a more comfortable seat and a cup of coffee to wake him up.
The inside of the Roseburg Denny’s looked exactly like the one in Granville, where Max and Evan had spent countless late nights eating pancakes and chicken fingers to fuel their online misadventures. Even the picture placemats were identical. The resemblance was oddly comforting; after driving north 450 miles, it felt like his home was still close-by, even though he’d never been farther from it. The restaurant was nearly empty aside from a few big guys who were older, hairier, and wearing way more plaid than Max. They didn’t set off any alarm bells. He didn’t think any of
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