Code(24)

“This watch is at thirty seconds. Counting down.”

My scalp began to tingle. “Down to what?”

“How should I know!?!”

“Turn it off!” Shelton yelped.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

“How?” I ran my fingers along the edge of the container. “We don’t even know what this is!”

“Fifteen seconds.” Sweat beaded Hi’s brow.

“It’s nothing,” Ben grumbled. “A stupid trick to scare us.”

“Ten.”

Hi had barely said the word when the first message dissolved, and was replaced by a new pair of words: You’re Dead!

“Oh no!” Shelton began backing away. “No no no no no!”

Beep! Beep! Beep!

“Run!” I yelled. “Hi, ditch it!”

Hi flung the cache into a corner and bolted for the door, hot on Shelton’s heels. Ben and I were a step behind.

How much time left? I’d lost the count. Seven seconds? Three?

Something furry flew past me, arrowing straight for the beeping package.

I froze in horror.

“Cooper!”

How did he get inside!?

I whipped the beam his way. Coop had clamped the cache in his jaws and was shaking it like a giant bilge rat.

The box emitted a screeching tone that grew into a high-pitched whistle.

Coop went still, the package locked in his teeth.

Terrified, I lunged toward my wolfdog.

An arm circled my waist and dragged me to the ground.

“Get down!” Ben shouted.

“Coop!” I screamed, trying to claw free. “Cooper, no!”

Click.

BANG.





CHAPTER 13





A blinding light flashed in the inky blackness.

Once. Twice.

Coop yelped and dropped the cache, then scrambled a hasty retreat.

Flaring, I saw shards of color shoot outward from the container. Red. Blue. Yellow. Green. Fluttering scraps that twirled in and out of the flashlight beams. The chamber echoed with hoots, horns, and whistles that seemed impossibly loud.

“What the hell?” Hi gasped, spitting dust. “What happened? What’s that noise?”

“Coop!” I grabbed a flashlight and rushed to my wolfdog. Coop had backed into a corner and slumped to the ground. “You okay, boy?”

He was panting, and blood trickled through the fur of his lower jaw. Heart pounding, I probed his body for wounds. Finding none, I cautiously grasped his snout. Coop tried to pull away, but I held him firmly.

“Everything’s fine,” I cooed, holding the flashlight in one hand and prying open his mouth with the other. “Just give me one look.”

A red weal ran across Coop’s tongue. The roof of his mouth was black with soot, and blood oozed from the base of a lower incisor. That seemed to be it. Thankfully, he wasn’t badly hurt.

I exhaled, suddenly aware I’d been holding my breath.

“Confetti.” Hi was crouching in the doorway, waving a flashlight. “It’s raining freaking confetti in here!”

“And the box is playing carnival music.” Shelton’s shirt and face were caked with dust. “Fake bomb. This was a friggin’ prank!”

I realized that no one was flaring.

“Not so fake.” My fury rose as I stroked my wolfdog’s head. “Coop’s tongue is cut, and the roof of his mouth is burned.”

“Shh!” Ben hissed.

The music had stopped. A low ringing filled the room.

“Great.” Shelton backed toward the door. “Round two.”

Furious, I stormed across the room and kicked the box. The boys flinched as it ricocheted off the wall and broke into pieces.

Something flat, black, and rectangular lay inside the wreckage.

“Are you insane!?!” Shelton shrieked. “It already exploded once!”

“That piece of crap injured my dog!” I nearly shook with rage. “When I find out who built it . . .”

“We won’t get anywhere by breaking the thing,” Hi said. “So how's ’bout getting a grip, huh?”

I nodded, blood still boiling.

Gamemaster, you’ve made an enemy.

“An iPad.” Ben stood over the wreckage, light in hand. “That’s what’s ringing.”

“Seriously?” Shelton inched toward Ben’s side. “This guy left a freaking iPad? Is that normal?”

“Not even close.” Hi joined the huddle, smacking dirt from his shorts. “An iPad’s way too valuable to cache. The first to find it would steal it for sure.”

Ben tapped the screen. A yellow background appeared, framing four words written in scrolling, purple calligraphy. Welcome to The Game.

Shelton groaned.

“The Game again?” I was reading over Ben’s shoulder. “That’s my last nerve.”

A swipe bar appeared below the message.

“Should I unlock it?” Ben asked.

“No way,” Shelton said. “Whatever game this is, I ain’t playing.”

“Do it.” I wasn’t making a suggestion. “We’re tracking this wacko down.”

“I’m with Tory,” Hi said. “We need intel, and the iPad’s our only lead.”