Her brow quirks. “Snappy dialogue, huh? Sounds like the perfect woman for you.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I say under my breath, hating that Holly instantly pops into my head, because this isn’t the first time I’ve suspected part of the reason I like talking to Cherrybomb so much is because she reminds me of Holly. That’s one of many reasons I want to go through with this meeting—so I can put a different face than Holly’s to Cherrybomb’s name and finally forget that Holly exists. “I’m supposed to meet her at noon, so if you could roast me later, I’d appreciate you helping me now.”
For my own sanity, Ineedto meet this woman.
Suppressing a smirk, Brittany reaches for the phone and studies the screen. “Noom?”
“I’m sure that stands for noon, but I can’t figure out the location.”
“What does ‘X’ stand for?”
“I’m guessing the AI is blocking letters. Or she’s doing it intentionally to get the message through.” I narrow my eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be good at word problems. You do that Workle thing every morning when you’re supposed to be checking the beer kegs.”
She puts a hand on her hip and scowls. “It’sWordle, and I can do both at the same time, thank you very much.” Her face softens. “But I guess you’re right. This is the same kind of thing. Do you know if you can use the same letter twice?”
“This isn’tWheel of Fortune,” I grunt. “And if thereareany rules, I’m obviously breaking them. Do you think you can help me or not?” I feel an irrational surge of anger, but I have to meet this woman, and I’ll be damned if I let a stupid computer get in the way of that.
Just like that stupid computer Holly was supposed to build for Jane.
Stop thinking about Holly!
“Jeez, okay there, Mr. Testy. Give me a second or two to look it over.”
“Well, make it quick. It’s after eleven, and I’m supposed to meet her at noon.”
Her gaze bores into me.
I take a half step back and raise my hands in surrender. “Fine. I’m shutting up now.”
“Wise choice,” she mumbles as she looks at the screen. She grabs an order pad and a pen and writes down the name, xes and all. It’s exactly what she does with Winkle or whatever the hell she calls it, so that makes sense.
I cover for Brittany, even though I’m supposed to be off, and a few minutes later, she says excitedly, “I’ve got it!”
I hurry to her side and look down at the paper. “Big Jump Mountain?”
Only mountain is abbreviated to M.T.
A smug grin lights up her face. “It makes total sense.”
“Why are you counting the space as an ‘X’? Why wouldn’t she just use a space?”
“To throw off the AI, of course,” she says like I’m a total idiot. “Besides, it’s the perfect place for a secret rendezvous—out of town, so no one sees you.”
I consider it for a moment. There’s a mixture of shops, a nice restaurant with outdoor seating, and a small theme park clustered on top of Big Jump Mountain, all of it only accessible by a gondola ride. The last time I went was two years ago, when I took Jane to the theme park for her birthday, but I’m guessing Cherrybomb wants to eat at the restaurant and not on the wooden roller coaster. Then again, with Cherrybomb, there’s no telling.
“Dude, you better get going,” Brittany says, giving me a shove. “You’re gonna be late.”
She’s right. It’ll take me nearly a half hour to get there, then add in the gondola ride…
Even if I hurry, I’m going to be late.
* * *
Traffic is not my friend. I get stuck on the mountain road behind a delivery truck that takes the curves nearly twenty miles below the speed limit.
I’m halfway there when I get a call from Logan. Logan never calls—he’s a texter—so I pick up immediately. This has to be some kind of emergency.
“What happened?” I ask in a panic, ready to turn around and race back to town. “Is it Jane? Did the school call you? Is she okay?”
