“Seriously?” I think back to chem class, when Duncan first told me about my growing popularity. That was probably the moment my career ended, long before Berg threatened to end it. “I could have taken down that photo, scraped Twitter clean of any mention of Prettyboy before it blew up. But I chose between protecting my cover and, oh, five hundred people. Or does that not count for something with you, Berg?”
“This ain’t high school, kid. You don’t get a trophy for doing your job, especially when you created the problem. When thirty thousand people know your face, it’s a good bet your Company work is done. Rogers should have left you in a cubicle, where all hackers should be. Except maybe for the one who led us here. You owe her a slice of pizza, or Katy Perry tickets, or whatever kids consider returning a favor these days.”
There is so much wrong in what he just said, but I can only refute one error at a time, so I start with the most important one. “You think the hacker is the good guy in all this? She’s the reason my best friend is missing.”
“No, she’s the reason we even know about all this. She got word to us a few hours ago about an incursion happening here today.”
“You’ve known about this for a few hours? Why didn’t you move in earlier?” I ask.
“She provided irrefutable proof the lockdown had already happened. Said she could hack us inside if we give her some time. Took us an hour to mobilize, but we’ve been waiting to move in. She called me a few minutes ago to let me know this was the time to strike.”
I bet she did. The moment Katie and I stepped out onto the roof.
“The incursion is most definitely not a hoax. The hacker, on the other hand—”
“If you’re aware of the incursion, why are you out here on the roof instead of inside doing something about it?”
“I locked myself out,” I say, barely audible.
“Say what? I didn’t hear you.”
“I locked myself out.” This time, I almost shout it.
The hacker has been playing me all this time, from long before she called Berg this morning right up until I got that alert from Bunker. She wanted me up here on this roof, messed up in the head about Bunk and locked out by my own hand, when Berg arrived. Because she wanted revenge on me, too—not to kill me like Marchuk wanted, but to wreck my life the same way I wrecked hers.
“Because she wanted me to look like an idiot,” I say aloud without meaning to.
“Well, if that’s true, she succeeded. Take a look,” Berg says, pointing toward the door, which an operative is holding open.
He slaps me on the back like we’re old friends, laughing at me like this is all so hilarious. Berg has no idea, but if he keeps talking, it’s about to be on. Problem is, he’s armed and has a platoon of officers at his command. I have a Swiss Army knife and a sock of ball bearings in my backpack, which means unless I want to get dead, I have to use my words.
“Because she just unlocked it.”
“Sure she did.”
“The breach happened in my sixth-period class, but I’ve neutralized three of the six known hostiles.”
“Actually, you’ve taken out four of them. Don’t forget the one in the art supply closet,” Katie adds, giving me credit for her takedown of the groundskeeper. I guess her cover isn’t blown yet, and she’d like to keep it that way.
Berg looks at Katie as though it’s the first time he’s noticed her. He looks at me as though he doesn’t believe anything we’ve told him so far.
“You took out four highly trained terrorists? All on your own?” Berg asks, but doesn’t wait for me to answer. “That would explain that beating your face took, but not hers. Or did she help you?”
“Peter rescued me, sir,” Katie says.
Berg is silent as he circles Katie and me, his arms crossed. I hope it’s because he’s actually listening to what I’ve been trying to tell him.
“Well, I know the hacker couldn’t have helped you, since she isn’t even in the country. At least you’re well-trained, then. So Rogers did get something right with her pet project.”
I want to call him out on that dig at Rogers and me, but I’m more concerned about the other thing.
“What do you mean, the hacker isn’t even in the country?”
“Look, Smith, we have five hundred civilians in this building and by your count, we still have two hostiles unaccounted for. I should be the one asking you questions. Give me a quick assessment so we can get to work minimizing civilian casualties.”
“There are no civilian casualties, thanks to Peter,” Katie says, forgetting she’s supposed to be playing a confused, terrified, and quiet Carlisle student. Her voice is full of attitude. English attitude still sounds too polite to be intimidating, but I appreciate her having my back.
Berg is probably about to ask who the hell she is, but he’s interrupted by a phone call. His expression tells me he’s not happy about it. He steps away, trying to keep me from hearing his end of the conversation, but returns a minute later, smiling.
“It’s your boss,” Berg says, putting Rogers on speakerphone.
Finally, someone who isn’t out to get me and might actually want to hear what I have to say.
“Peter, Officer Berg has already apprised me of the situation. It sounds like you’ve done an excellent job of containing the crisis, but it’s time to step back and let Berg and his team take over.”
“Ma’am, I don’t know what Berg told you, but he seems to think the hacker is helping us, when she’s the one who set this whole thing up,” I say, trying to keep my voice even, because if I can’t convince Rogers to believe me over Berg, I’m going to lose this fight. “She jammed our communications so we couldn’t get help. She took over the school’s network and security system to turn Carlisle into a prison for five hundred hostages.”
“But Berg told me the hacker is the one who saved the day,” Rogers says.
“No, I saved the day, with help from some friends, one of whom is probably in trouble right now. Two of the hostiles are contained in my chem lab, another is in the art supply closet. And the main prize is knocked out in the office—Pavlo Marchuk. And by the way, boss, a memo that he was out of hiding would have been nice.”
Berg gives me a weird look, and there is silence on the other end of the line. I can tell they’re both impressed. I know Rogers is trying to decide if she’s making the right call by taking me out of the action. I keep going, trying to sell her on the idea that this is my project to finish, and even if Berg takes the lead I should still be part of his team.
“I did all of that without a single civilian casualty. Doesn’t that prove I’m capable of helping Berg see this thing through?”
“Officer Berg, please take me off speakerphone and let me talk to Peter alone.”
Berg does as he’s instructed, with a smile, because he thinks he just won. I snatch the phone from him, barely able to wait until Rogers gives me an order that will wipe that smile right off his face.
“All of that is very impressive, Peter,” Rogers says as I start to walk away from Berg. He grabs my arm to stop me, and comes this close to getting knocked the hell out, but I let it go.
“So I should be part of the team, right? He thinks the hacker—”
“Enough with the hacker, Jake.” I know she’s getting ticked off now, since she’s using my real name. “Don’t you see that your obsession with the hacker is what put those five hundred people in danger in the first place? Your mission to chase down the hacker led you to Carlisle. Marchuk’s mission to take revenge on you led him to Carlisle. We called, tried to warn you there was intel he may have surfaced, but you chose to ignore us.”
“No way. I wouldn’t have ignored … the hacker must have intercepted the message—”
“We all know why the breach happened in your classroom.”
“Boss, just give me one more chance to prove—”
“Jake, stop. It’s over. I truly appreciate you keeping the school safe until help arrived, but it’s time to step back. That’s an order.”
She disconnects without even saying goodbye. I hand the phone back to Berg. He’s right. He has won.
“Do what your boss says and don’t give me any trouble. Time to let the grown-ups take over.”