I flipped to the next page.
I understand now . . .
After that, every post became more paranoid, speaking in strangeriddles. Then about a month before his death, he started writing in secret code.
All encrypted. The final page, dated the day he died, was filled with nonsense words and strings of letters, but a single row toward the end was different from all the rest. They looked like a dove, rose, forget-me-nots, violets, and a boat.
“Fuck!” I slammed the book closed, rolling off the bed, tucking the picture of my mom in my back pocket. “Dammit, Dad! What do you mean you understand now?”
I only knew of one person who knew my father’s mind, one who could possibly understand his puzzle. My feet ran down the hall, bursting into my uncle’s office, his head snapping up the moment I entered.
“Brex?”
“Can you read this?” I slapped down the book in front of him to one of the encrypted pages.
Andris put on his glasses, moving the journal closer to him, his brows scrunching while he scanned the page.
“It’s not any of the ones we used to communicate with each other.” His finger skimmed over the symbols, flipping through more pages.
Disappointment stampeded on my lungs, deflating them.
“Really? Nothing in there? Even the bottom there? Why is it different?” I motioned to the page again, desperation etching my voice. He was the one I thought would know. “Do you know what he meant?”
“No, I don’t.” Andris’s expression flattened, appearing as deflated as me. “I told you he got extremely paranoid by the end. Stopped talking to me, afraid if I knew too much, it would be dangerous.”
A strangled cry rolled around in my throat, my hand hitting the desk. It was always a step forward and a dozen back.
He held up his finger, grabbing his walkie-talkie off his belt. “Ling, can you come to my office?” He spoke into it, then glanced at me. “She does more magic hacking, but she still is well versed in breaking codes. She’s our best bet to possibly breaking his cipher.”
A pump of hope went back into my lungs. Ling—Ling-ks. A Kitsune fox, she had the magical power to deceive and trick magic spells that she used to hack computers and systems.
Barely thirty seconds later, Ling was next to me, making me jump at her sudden appearance.
“Can you look at this?” Andris turned the book to her. She steppedup to the desk, her dark eyes skimming over the pages. “I know it’s not your forte, but I’m hoping you could try to decipher it.”
Her body was still, only her eyes moving over the page, as if her brain was computing each letter and symbol, running through a database in her mind. The room was silent for a few moments before she spoke.
“No.” She stood.
“What?” I rushed to the desk, shoving the journal back toward her. “Look again, there has to be a way. You can hack the most magical spells in the world.” My voice rose, anxiety nipping at my nerves.
“Exactly,” she responded, unemotional. “Magic spells and computer encryptions. This,” she pointed at the book, “is none of those.”
“Ling...” Andris went up on his feet. “Please, this is very important.”
“I will need more time with it and put it into the database.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Do it.”
“Do what you can, my love.” Andris picked up the journal, handing it to her.
She grabbed it with a nod, slipping out of the room as quiet and fast as she arrived.
Biting my lip, I fought the urge to run after her and tail her every move as if she had the most precious item in the world. To me, she did. I still hadn’t had time to really pore over his words and thoughts, skipping to the end to see if he had any answers.
“She will do everything she can, Brex.” My uncle’s voice drew me back to him. “We will figure it out. No matter how long it takes. Okay?”
I nodded. The sensation that time was running out pumped panic into me. I had no idea why I felt the clock ticking, but it was like a bomb in my gut.
