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I ducked just in time. The rock whizzed past my head, close enough for me to feel the slight breeze it made.

“Oh!” I cried, staring around wildly.

The sound of running footsteps snapped me out of my shock. Whoever had thrown the rock had been hiding behind my car! I gave chase, squinting against the fading daylight to try to identify exactly who it was I was chasing. But all I could see was a flash of dark fabric as whoever it was rounded a thick stand of trees between the parking lot and the next curve in the road. I put on a burst of speed, but before I could reach the trees I heard the roar of a car engine coming to life. By the time I made it around to get a view of the road, all that was visible was a cloud of dust disappearing around the curve.

I turned and dashed back to my loaner car. I’d left it unlocked with the key in the ignition, so all I had to do was jump in and turn the key….

Click.

Instead of the sound of the engine coming to life, all I heard was a weak clicking sound. I tried again. Nothing. The car was dead!

I groaned, dropping my head against the steering wheel. Obviously, my attacker had made sure I wouldn’t be able to follow. All I could do was listen helplessly to the last fading echoes of the other vehicle making its getaway.

I wish Bess was here, I thought. Even if she couldn’t get this car started quickly enough to go after him, she’d probably be able to ID the getaway car just by listening to it roar away.

Realizing that such thoughts weren’t going to help me now, I turned my focus to what had just happened. Had the rock thrower followed me from the coffee shop and seized the opportunity to attack? I shivered slightly at the thought, suddenly feeling very vulnerable sitting there all alone in a nonfunctional car in the darkening Sunday evening….

I grabbed my cell phone (which the garage guys had returned when they’d brought the loaner car) and dialed Ned’s cell. It went straight to voice mail, so I tried his home number.

“Ned’s not here, Nancy,” Mrs. Nickerson told me. “He and his father got a call about forty-five minutes ago to drive out to Farmingville and cover some big accident over there.”

“Thanks. No message. I’ll call him later.” I bit my lip as I hung up and stared at the phone in my hand. Farmingville was a half-hour drive from River Heights. If Mrs. Nickerson’s time estimation was accurate — and knowing her, it probably was — that meant Ned must have left almost immediately after he’d called Ibrahim. It also meant there was no way he’d been messing around on BetterLife half an hour ago when I’d made those plans with NedNick02. It seemed I’d been tricked!

I should have seen it earlier, I thought, giving myself a mental kick in the behind. First the weird advances, then him not answering the laptop question…

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Trying to live half my life online was throwing off my sleuthing instincts, and I didn’t like it.

Lifting the phone again, I punched in Bess’s number, hoping she was back from her party by now. She was, and immediately agreed to come to my rescue.

“Just sit tight until I get there,” she ordered. “And it wouldn’t be a bad idea to lock the car doors. Just in case.”

“I’ll be here,” I replied.

As soon as I hung up, I opened the door and climbed out of the car. No way was I sitting in a locked car when I could be doing some sleuthing. Besides, my attacker was long gone. If he or she came back, I’d hear the car in plenty of time to decide what to do.

I wandered around the park, trying to spot anything suspicious in the rapidly fading light. There were lots of footprints in the dirt at the edge of the parking lot, but that didn’t tell me much. The park was a popular spot for hikers and sightseers as well as picnickers, and it had been a nice day.

Next I headed over to check out the spot where I’d been standing when the rock had come flying at me. For the first time, I noticed that the rock hadn’t gone over the edge of the bluff as I’d assumed. It was wedged into the slats of the safety railing. And unless the weak light was playing tricks on my eyes, there was something scrawled on it in black marker!

I grabbed it with both hands, jerking it loose from the railing. When I lifted it up for a better look, I could read what it said: MYOB.

Not exactly obscure netspeak. Someone wanted me to mind my own business. Interesting…

By the time Bess arrived, I hadn’t reached any new conclusions about my discovery. Still, I couldn’t help feeling a teensy bit more optimistic than I had been before. Even after almost being knocked out, it was somehow comforting to have a real, solid, nonvirtual clue in hand!

“Amateur stuff,” Bess declared as soon as she took a look at the car. “The fuel filter’s yanked loose. Don’t worry, I’ll have this thing running again in a jiff.”

She grabbed a few tools from her car and got to work under mine. Fortunately she’d had the foresight to change from whatever she’d worn to the party to jeans and a polo shirt — Bess’s version of dressing down. While she was working, I filled her in on what had happened.

“Wow, you’re lucky you turned around when you did,” she said when I finished, sitting up and staring at me with wide, worried blue eyes. “What if that rock had hit you on the head? You might’ve been knocked right over the railing.”

“I know.” I shuddered at the thought. “It’s one thing to have someone after VirtualNancy online, but this is getting a little too real.”

Bess nodded. “It’s weird how real life and online life are overlapping again. Just like with Shannon. I think you should be really careful until you figure out who’s doing this.”

“Don’t worry. I plan to be.” I flashed back to what ParteeGrl21 had told me once about being cautious about the information you gave out online. “In both worlds.”

When I got home, Dad was still at the office and Hannah was engrossed in a TV show. “Want something to eat, Nancy?” she asked when I walked into the den to say hi.

“Maybe a little later. But don’t worry, I’ll get it myself.” I left her to her show and went up to my room.

When I logged on to BetterLife, a message from UrNewReality was waiting for me. There was no subject line, and when I clicked to open it, I found only one line of text:

LUV LIFE GOT U DOWN?

Дата добавления: 2017-01-14