The Year I Became Isabella Anders (Sunnyvale, #1)

Kai glances at me from the corner of his eye and the guy tracks his gaze. Even with the beer in my system, I still squirm as he scrutinizes me.

“Who’s your friend?” he asks Kai, giving a chin nod in my direction.

I shyly wave back.

“This is Isa.” Kai drags his hand over his head, tugging off his knitted cap. He ruffles his fingers through his hair, causing the strands to go askew. “She’s actually the one who’s in need of your ever-so-awesome services.”

“Is that so?” he asks thoughtfully.

I smile warily, unsure what to say. Kai hasn’t even told me who this guy is or what his services are, and it feels like I have a bundle of crazed-out monkeys inside my tummy.

“She cool?” he asks Kai, straightening his stance.

“Yep. I’ll even vouch for her,” Kai says, crossing his arms.

Okay, I don’t care what he says. Kai is so in the mafia.

The guy mulls it over a second or two then sticks out his hand toward me. “Isa, I’m Big Doug.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Big Doug.” I take his hand and shake it, hoping he doesn’t lick me like Bradon did.

“My pleasure. My pleasure.” His hand dwarfs mine as he gives it a soft squeeze. Then he pulls away, moves back, and motions for us to come inside. “Welcome to my paradise.”

Big Doug’s paradise consists of four brick walls, a floor cluttered with boxes, old candy wrappers, and soda cans, and a table covered in computer screens, wires, modems, and all sorts of electronic stuff I know I’ve never seen before.

“Are you a hacker or something?” I don’t mean to say it aloud, and I slap my hand over my mouth, worried I’ve crossed a line.

Luckily, Big Doug seems fine with it. “Hacking’s just one of my talents.” He waddles over to the table, kicking trash out of the way. Facing us, he sits down on the edge of the table. “But the question is . . . what talent do you want? Because I got a lot. All cost money, of course. I take cash or credit, depending on how well I know you.”

My gaze slides to Kai and he shrugs, like what? I want to ask him so many questions, starting with how he knows a hacker, but I’m not about to ask in front of Big Doug.

“Just put it on my tab.” Kai places a hand on the small of my back, trying to reassure me. “You know I’m good for it.”

Tab? Huh?

“Oh, okay. I didn’t realize this was your thing.” Big Doug stares at me just long enough to make me squirm then he fastens his attention on Kai. “So what’s the job?”

Kai retrieves my birth certificate from his pocket and hands it over, giving Big Doug a quick explanation of what’s been going on.

“I was hoping you could take a look at the certificate and see if it’s a fake or not,” Kai says when he’s finished explaining about my mom. “And if it is, I was hoping you’d have a couple of ideas on how to track her mom down.”

Big Doug fiddles with the corner of the certificate. “All you know is her name’s Bella?” he asks, and Kai nods. “And your father’s name is Henry Anders, right?” This time, he directs his question at me.

I nod, crossing my fingers he’ll do this. This may be illegal, but it still seems way less terrifying than asking my dad.

“I have one question before I agree to do this,” Big Doug says to me. “Why not just ask your dad who she is?”

“Because he doesn’t want me to know who she is, for some reason,” I explain. “I didn’t even know about her up until a few months ago.”

“Are you even sure she’s alive?” he asks, setting the certificate down on the table beside one of the computers.

I shake my head, folding my arm around my stomach as my gut twists into knots. “I don’t know anything other than I lived with her for the first few years of my life before I went to live with my dad . . . and her name is Bella.”

He bobs his head up and down. “Okay, give me a couple of weeks, and I’ll see what I can come up with.”

“Thanks, man,” Kai says, sticking out his fist again.

The two of them bump knuckles again then Kai and I head out the door. I don’t say anything else until we’ve reached the back patio. The guys that were there earlier have abandoned the lawn chairs and the entire area is quiet.

“Okay, what the hell was that?” I spin to face Kai, spreading my arms out to the side.

“What do you ‘mean what the hell was that’?” Kai stares up at the stars. “That was me helping you out.”

“That was some sketchy stuff. And how do you even know Big Doug?”

“I met him through Bradon. Did a little work for him a while back.” He’s still transfixed by the stars, so I pinch his arm to get him to look at me. “Ow.” He chuckles, meeting my gaze as he laughs. “What was that for?”

“I just want to know that you’re not going to get into trouble for that,” I say, putting my hands on my hips.