The Winning Element (25 page)
One way or another, we’d know where everything was going down.
On Our morning break The next day, David texted me. HEY. BEEN BUSY. A LOT OF UNEXPECTED THINGS ARE GOING ON. TELL YOU LATER. WANTED YOU TO KNOW I GOT YOUR MESSAGE.
What unexpected things? BE SAFE, I texted back.
“Ana?” TL approached me in the lobby.
I showed him David’s text. “What’s going on?” I whispered.
TL shook his head. “I’m not at liberty to say right now.”
I
hated
when TL did that.
hated
when TL did that.
“Patience,” he said.
Patience was usually a strong point for me, but not when it came to all this top-secret stuff. I didn’t like not being in the know.
“The lip reader just texted me that Eduardo has a video conference call scheduled in five minutes.” He started walking to the elevator. “Let’s go. You’re going to hack into it. Chapling already knows and has Parrot ready.”
My heart gave one giant leap. A video call was exactly what we needed. Hopefully, we’d find out something worthwhile.
TL keyed a message into his cell. “I’ll let Beaker know to cover for us.”
We rode the elevator up and hurried into my room. I snatched the laptop from my case, powered up, and keyed in my scrambler code. In the bottom-left corner of the screen I brought up The Fly’s software and watched as Eduardo opened his laptop. He plugged in an interpreter box and typed in a password. I watched closely, memorizing it.
I zoomed in on the interpreter box and read its model number. Then I zoomed in on the screen and saw which conferencing software he was using.
Chapling appeared in the bottom-right corner in a video feed. “What do you got?”
“He’s using the micro parley software,” I told Chapling.
“One second.” Chapling’s fingers raced over his keyboard. “Sending it to you now.”
My screen flicked as my laptop accepted the software Chapling sent me.
“Got it,” I told him, activating it.
Through the micro parley software, I hacked into the interpreter box on Eduardo’s computer and entered his password. The upper-left corner of my screen mirrored Eduardo’s computer exactly.
I signaled TL, and he sat down beside me on the bed.
Parrot appeared in the upper-right corner of my screen, wearing a headset.
I ran a quick stereophonic code patching Eduardo’s audio to Parrot. At that exact second, a dark-haired man appeared on Eduardo’s screen. He began speaking in another language. Parrot gave a nod to let us know the transmission was coming through.
Chapling’s fingers raced across his keyboard again. “That’s Eduardo’s brother, Pedro.”
Parrot began translating simultaneously with the movement of their mouths. He preceded each translation with the name of the person speaking.
“Pedro: Eduardo, how are you?”
“Eduardo: Fine brother, you?”
“Pedro: Fine. I’m missing my son’s soccer game.”
“Eduardo: I’m missing lunch.”
I looked over at TL. “Is this for real? They’re talking about stupid stuff.”
He shook his head. “Could be code for something.”
“Pedro: I ordered pizza for lunch and it came wrong. I had to send it back.”
“Eduardo: Did you get your money back?”
“Pedro: No. They made me a new one for a discounted price.”
“Eduardo: When’s the new pizza getting delivered?”
“Pedro: At the time we previously discussed.”
“Eduardo: Are you waiting on me then?”
“Pedro: Yes, I know you’ll be hungry.”
“Eduardo: And where is it being delivered?”
“Pedro: The emporium.”
Eduardo nodded and signed off.
Parrot took off his headset with a shrug. “Sorry, guys.”
With a disappointed smile, I waved at him. “Thanks, Parrot.”
I clicked a few keys, and he disappeared from my screen.
Chapling lifted his bushy brows. “Obviously the pizza is the shipment.”
Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. Made sense, though.
TL nodded. “I agree. Get cranking on emporium,” he told Chapling, “and see what you can come up with.”
Chapling nodded and clicked off.
I powered down. “Now what?”
“Back to cheerleading rehearsal.”
I trudged through the hotel beside TL, wishing that call would have gone better. I didn’t feel like we’d gotten anything.
For the rest of the day, Beaker and I went about our rehearsal /dance/smiley annoying daily routine. Eduardo and his men didn’t move from their suite. According to a text I received from Nalani, they’d even canceled maid service.
Same held true for the next day, too. I didn’t want to say anything, but four guys in a room without maid service? Can anyone say yuck?
They did have food service. But the waiter had been instructed to leave the cart outside the presidential suite in the morning and pick it up at nine P.M.
I spent that night restless, thinking about David. I didn’t try calling or texting him back. Something was going on, and he didn’t need me crowding him. I wanted to ask TL again, but I knew it’d get me nowhere.
At this point, I felt that the mission had stalled. And I was beginning to wonder if it would even come to fruition.
I checked The Fly’s film. The lip reader’s report came back with nothing significant. Chapling had figured out emporium meant warehouse, but there were dozens of warehouses on Barracuda Key and the surrounding islands. So basically, we still had nothing.
I had morphed into Beaker, snarling at everything and everybody. If Eduardo didn’t do something soon, this mission would be over. All my research and planning would go down the proverbial drain.
[13]
Late The next morning, the last day of America’s Cheer, I stood in the lobby with Beaker, Lessy, and Jessy, tuning out the twins as they prattled on and on about who had said what to whom. In just a few minutes we would go into our final America’s Cheer meeting and find out who had made the national team. Our mission cover would be done—we’d have to leave and Eduardo would escape capture once again.
Suddenly, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and my whole body jolted. I yanked it free, checked the display, and my heart kicked into overdrive with what I read.
Beaker yanked her phone from her pocket, too.
Simultaneously, we punched in our passwords to decode the encryption, and I read the text message from TL: EV ON THE MOVE. HEADING TOWARD FRONT DOORS OF HOTEL. ETA: 3 MINUTES.
Both our phones vibrated again.
Nalani this time. EV GO.
Our phones vibrated again.
The lip reader. EV MOVING
Jessy and Lessy leaned in. “Lord, someone wants you two pretty bad.”
Quickly, I pocketed my phone. “Just our coach.”
“Yeah,” Beaker agreed. “He can be a real pest.”
I gave Lessy a little nudge toward the rehearsal hall. “You two go on in. We’ll be there in a few minutes. Remember, today’s the last day. We’ll all find out if we’re part of the new America’s Cheer team.”
“Yay,” Jessy sarcastically enthused, linking arms with her sister. “Don’t be late, you two. I don’t feel like listening to you get yelled at.”
“Or watching you run laps around the room.” Lessy hopped in place. "L-A-T-E! Sorry we’re late!”
Laughing, Beaker and I waved them on. They disappeared inside the room, and we bolted out the hotel’s doors and across the portico to the palm trees lining the other side.
A bellman approached us. “Anything I can help you with, ladies?”
Beaker flashed him a smile. “No thanks. We’re fine. We’re just, um, waiting for someone.”
The bellman bowed. “As you wish.”
He backed away, and I slipped my backpack from my shoulder. I unzipped the front pocket and rifled around. Chapstick, pen, lollipop . . .where the heck were the simulated mosquito sting pencils?
Bouncing her leg, Beaker watched me. “Hurry,” she murmured.
I stifled the urge
to
hurry. Jerky, quick movements would draw too much attention. This was supposed to be a casual conversation between Beaker and me as we stood here under the palms.
to
hurry. Jerky, quick movements would draw too much attention. This was supposed to be a casual conversation between Beaker and me as we stood here under the palms.
“I’m about to rip that from your hands,” she gritted. “Eduardo’s going to walk out those doors any second.”
Purposefully ignoring her, I continued searching with a tiny bit of panic settling in. They were in here last night. I lifted a piece of paper and underneath lay two sting pencils. My heart gave a relieved beat. Oh, thank God.
I grabbed them and handed one to her. “Remember,” I said through a smile, “we’re supposed to be hanging out talking. Not about to shoot someone with one of these.”
She plucked the pencil from my hand, narrowing her eyes, and I knew she was about to do something ornery. “Oh!” Loudly, she faked a laugh. “Is that what we’re supposed to be doing?” Hahahahaha. “Oh, silly me. And to think, one would wonder.” Hahahahaha.
Bellmen began to turn and look.
I kept my smile in place as I put my backpack on the ground. “You can shut up now.”
“Ohhh,” she breathed, dramatically wiping her eyes.
I narrowed mine. Smart a—
The hotel doors opened, and we immediately snapped into our planned positions.
I lifted the eraser end of the mechanical pencil to my mouth and pretended to chew on it. Beaker stepped slightly in front of me to give the appearance I was looking at her instead of over her shoulder.
“So, anyway,” Beaker struck up a nonsense conversation, “I told the guy no way. I mean, what was he thinking asking me that? And then that girl . . .”
Pretending to hang on her every word, I watched Eduardo and his men stride through the hotel’s doors. They were all dressed in suits, leaving only their hands, necks, and faces exposed. The only place I could shoot the tracker.
“. . . and I was like, no way.” Beaker flipped her hand in the air. “I mean, who was she kidding, right? Saying all that. Oh, and then . . .”
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