Back to the email.
Delete the post. Delete your account. Scrub every trace.
“It’s the same person. Forum troll is email sender. Which means...”
I wrote:
Someone who knows. Doesn’t want us asking where THEY can see.
“Exactly.” She chewed her bottom lip. “So who is ‘they’? The people who put the chip in you? The people hunting you?”
Both? Same?
“And this person...” She gestured at the email. “Knows enough to identify you by codename, knows where the chip came from, knows what ‘they’ did to you, knows my name...”
Her gaze found mine.
“But instead of turning us in or killing us themselves, they’re warning us.”
I nodded.
“Why?”
Good question.
I reached for the laptop, pulling it closer. My fingers found the keyboard, awkward, hunt-and-peck typing, but functional.
I hit reply.
Clare grabbed my wrist. “Wait. What are you...”
I typed anyway.
Who are you?
“Xavier, no. If they’re trying to protect us by scaring us off, engaging is...”
I kept typing.
Why warn us
I hit send.
The whoosh of outgoing mail felt final.
Clare stared at the screen. Then at me.
“That was either very smart or incredibly stupid.”
I shrugged. Wrote: Only way to know
She sighed.
“You’re right. God help me, you’re right. We have nothing else.”
We waited.
One minute. Two.
