To Catch a Cheat Read online

  “Megan, there’s no way you can —” He stopped once he noticed the look on her face. “I mean, you’re an excellent hacker. The best, even. But Kayla’s very good as well. Think how hard it would be to hack your computer system. Hers would be just as difficult.”

  She sighed. “At least we know her computer password has ten characters and the NVR password has twelve.”

  “What were you doing, counting clicks?”

  “Of course,” Megan said. “Weren’t you?”

  Jackson slipped on his coat as he entered the living room. His parents sat on the couch, watching television. “I know it’s getting late, but can I run over to the de la Cruzes’?” Jackson said. “I need to drop something off.”

  His father didn’t turn away from the TV. “Have fun.”

  “Not so fast,” Jackson’s mother said. “There’s something your father and I want to discuss with you.”

  “Now?” Donald Greene mumbled. “They’re about to go into Final Jeopardy.”

  “Donald …”

  His father sighed, then muted the television. “Sit down, Jackson.”

  Jackson slowly moved to the recliner. His mother stared intently at him, while his father’s gaze remained on the television screen, his lips moving as he read the final clue.

  “Oh, for crying out loud.” Miranda Greene snatched the remote from her husband and paused the television. “The answer is ‘Video Killed the Radio Star.’ ”

  His father scratched his chin. “You could have at least said it in the form of a question.”

  Jackson clicked a few buttons on his new digital watch, a Christmas gift from his grandparents. He hadn’t expected to get much use out of it, but when December came and went without a cell phone, he decided to start wearing it. “Can this wait until I get back? I’ll just be gone for a few minutes.”

  “We’ll let you go in a second,” his father said. “First, your mother and I want to talk about the prank at the school.”

  “Like I said, I didn’t do it.”

  “We’re not saying that you did,” his father said. “But we have questions. How do you explain the notebook?”

  “And Charlie’s messenger bag?” his mother chimed in.

  “I don’t know,” Jackson said. “But I promise, it wasn’t me. Or Charlie.”

  “So you’re saying that you were in the library the entire time?” his father asked.

  Jackson closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He wanted to make sure his voice was sure and steady. It was one thing to keep pieces of the truth from his parents; it was another to outright lie to them. “I didn’t sneak into the school on Saturday afternoon,” he said. “I just started hanging out with Gaby again. There’s no way she’d let me do something so stupid.”

  Donald Greene relaxed in his chair. “Gaby is pretty levelheaded,” he admitted. “You could do worse for a girlfriend.”

  Jackson stiffened. “She’s not my —”

  “I know, I know,” he said, holding up his hands. “Miranda, were we that cute when we first met?”

  “When we first met, you were hitting on my roommate.”

  “No, I was conning your roommate into giving me the phone number to her dorm room. Your dorm room.” He winked. “It worked, didn’t it?”

  “Yes. Much to the disappointment of my parents.” Miranda Greene turned back to her son. “You and Charlie know everything that happens at that school. If you have any idea who pulled the prank, you should tell Dr. Kelsey.”

  Jackson shook his head. “Rule Number Four: Never rat.”

  Miranda Greene crossed her arms and eyed her husband.

  “Jackson, you’re not helping matters,” Donald Greene said. “And to be honest, the Code of Conduct doesn’t always apply — especially in middle school.” He shifted in his seat. “If you know who did it, you should say something. It might go a long way to gaining Dr. Kelsey’s trust.”

  “Dr. Kelsey will never treat me like a normal student,” Jackson said. “Samuel ruined that before I even got to Maplewood.”

  His mother slowly nodded. “He never did get over your brother filling his office with baby crickets.”

  “Allegedly,” Jackson and his father said together. Jackson checked the time again. “Mom, Dad … it’s getting late.”

  “You know, for a girl who’s not your girlfriend, you sure have been spending a lot of time at Gaby’s house,” his father said. “Of course, not when her father’s there….”

  “Are you still afraid of Hector de la Cruz?” His mother laughed. “He’s just giving you a hard time.”

  “Trust me, fathers don’t like anyone dating their daughters. It took months for your granddad to warm up to me.”

  “Try years,” Miranda Greene said. “But Hector really does like you, Jackson.”

  “First of all, I’m not afraid of Gaby’s dad,” Jackson said. “Second, I don’t just spend time with Gaby. I was with Hash and the guys this morning. And tomorrow we’re all hanging at the shed.”

  “Wait,” Jackson’s mother said. “Who exactly is ‘Hash and the guys’?”

  Jackson rubbed the back of his neck. “Hash and Megan. And Bradley. And Charlie. And Gaby.”

  She sat up. “What are you all up to?”

  “Nothing.”

  She turned to Jackson’s father. “Don’t you have anything to say about this?”

  He took the remote from his wife and resumed the show. “As Dad used to say, the crew that plays together stays together.” Then he smiled as the first contestant gave the correct answer. “How about that. You were right.”

  “I’m always right,” Miranda Greene said. She nodded toward the door. “Don’t be over there too long, Jackson. It’s almost time for dinner.”

  Jackson began fastening his coat. “Mom, don’t worry about me and the guys. We’re just getting ready for Mrs. Clark’s exam.” He flashed her the infamous Greene smile. “Honest.”

  Charlie reread the note he had found taped to his bike handlebars that morning. He had recognized Jackson’s handwriting, but the message made no sense. He also had no idea how Jackson had snuck into their garage.

  Although he wanted to ignore the note, he did as it instructed. He was still mad at Jackson for, well … for being right about everything, but he also knew that much of this was his fault. He shouldn’t have talked to Rob and Thom at school. He shouldn’t have moved the meeting from the shed to the newsroom.

  And if he was really being honest with himself, he should never have tried to run his own crew.

  Once at school, he hugged the line of trees adjacent to the parking lot, staying as far away from the building as he could. He stopped at the cedar with the red ribbon tied around its trunk. After leaning his bike against the tree, he crouched at the edge of the parking lot and glanced at the new digital watch he’d found strapped to his bike along with the note. At exactly 7:32:15, he ran full throttle across the parking lot, aiming himself at a large overhead light pole with another red ribbon around it. He stopped at the pole, almost skidding into it, and dropped into a crouch again. He checked his time — eleven seconds. Then, forty-five seconds later, he took off again, this time toward the school garden. He slowed down just enough that he didn’t ram into the fence, then quickly scrambled over the top railing. He landed in a heap, then glanced at the watch again. “Fourteen seconds,” he mumbled.

  “Sixteen.”

  Charlie looked up as Jackson rounded the corner of the wooden toolshed. He held a thermos in each hand, and a stopwatch hung around his neck.

  “I bet Gaby could have done it in eight,” Jackson said as he sat down with his back against the shed.

  Charlie sat down across from him. “Coffee?”

  “Tea. Earl Grey. It’s better for your pores.” Jackson offered him a thermos. “And don’t get too attached to my watch.”

  Charlie drank, then stuck out his tongue. He never understood how Jackson could stomach this stuff. It was way too hot and way too bitter.

 
Jackson started to speak but stopped as a car pulled into the school lot. He waited until it had passed. “Okay. I’m only going to say this once. You pull anything like you did yesterday again, and you’re out.”

  Charlie blinked. But it’s my crew, he wanted to say.

  “First off, you had no business moving the meeting,” Jackson said. “I get it — you’re mad at me for whatever reason — but you can’t let personal feelings cloud your judgment. It makes you sloppy and reckless. I’ve already heard from a few sources that Kelsey knows we were all in the newsroom together.” Jackson took a sip of tea. “And what in the world were you thinking, talking to Rob and Thom? Thanks to you, we’ve got two amateurs tagging along.”

  “But I didn’t tell them about the meeting in the newsroom.”

  “You’ll forgive me if I find that hard to believe,” he said. “Maybe you didn’t tell them. Maybe they followed you that morning. Or maybe they heard from Dr. Kelsey. Or maybe someone else saw us and squealed.”

  Charlie started to speak but decided against it. Now didn’t seem like the time to tell Jackson about seeing Serena Bianchi in the atrium yesterday morning, and again when they were talking to Rob and Thom.

  “All I know is, if you’d kept the meeting at Hashemi’s shed like we planned, and more importantly, if you’d kept your mouth shut, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  Charlie switched the thermos from one hand to the other. “Rob and Thom would have eventually figured out that we were meeting somewhere and would have forced us to include them,” he mumbled, more to the ground than to Jackson.

  “Yes.” Jackson drank from his thermos again. “But not before I’d gotten everyone together to explain the plan.”

  Charlie perked up. “You have a plan?”

  Jackson pulled out his notebook. “It’s a bit rough around the edges, but I think it’ll work.”

  Charlie leaned over and glanced at the notebook, though he hadn’t yet figured out how to read Jackson’s shorthand. “Want to talk it through? Maybe I can help.”

  Jackson flipped through the pages. “I already ran it by Hash.”

  “Oh. I see.” Charlie felt like he’d been pelted with a snowball. “So the only reason you made me go through all that running and jumping and stuff was just to prove that you’re in charge?”

  “No. That’s your part of the plan…. But only if you want to do it.” His gaze met Charlie’s again. “It’s the most complicated task.”

  Charlie understood what Jackson was saying. “Complicated” meant that it posed the biggest risk of getting caught. “I’ll do it.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to force you into —”

  “You’re not forcing me to do anything,” he said. “I’m volunteering.”

  “Fair enough,” Jackson said. “So, like I mentioned yesterday, the cameras are still recording.”

  Charlie ducked. “Like right now?”

  “Don’t worry — Megan ran a few calculations. There’s only one camera close enough to record us out here, and as it’s currently positioned, its aim is too shallow to reach the garden.”

  So Megan knew more than he did too. “Where do I come in?” Charlie asked.

  “With the cameras still recording, we can’t just walk in and steal the test,” Jackson said. “But maybe we can outrun them.”

  Serena readjusted her hat, pulling it lower over her ears, then jogged in place. A few students passed, but she refused to move from her spot on the sidewalk. She was there first, she figured. Let them be the ones to walk around her.

  She hated giving up her usual atrium bench, but she wanted to catch Lincoln as soon as possible that morning. She also wanted to talk to him outside, away from all the other students. Jackson Greene had a lot of friends — friends who were probably more than happy to eavesdrop on his behalf.

  Finally, the Millers’ burgundy minivan pulled into the parking lot. Serena marched forward and met Lincoln as soon as he stepped onto the sidewalk.

  “Um … Good morning?” he mumbled.

  “He’s up to something,” she said. “I know it.”

  Lincoln waved to his mother as she drove off, then turned back to Serena. “You mean Jackson?”

  “Who else? I saw him and Charlie talking in the garden when I got to school this morning. Yesterday morning, he and his entire team met up in the newsroom.”

  “Jackson’s not a member of the newspaper staff.”

  “He is now,” Serena said. “Jackson, Megan, Hashemi — they all joined. I checked myself.”

  “Well, that’s not against the rules —”

  “Then later on Wednesday, I saw Jackson and Charlie plotting something with Rob Richards and Thom Jordan. I couldn’t hear them, but with the way they were talking — all quiet and secretive — I could tell they were up to something devious.” She paused, noticing the deep frown on Lincoln’s face. “Okay, maybe not devious. But still, they’re up to something.”

  “Is that all you have?” Lincoln asked.

  She blew out a long stream of air. “I told Dr. Kelsey and Mr. James about Jackson and his friends. Mr. James reviewed the video footage and confirmed that they were meeting in the newsroom. They think —”

  “Wait. The security system still works?”

  Serena nodded. “Even though the NVR hard drive was stolen, the cameras can still record.”

  Lincoln scratched his head. “How?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask for details.” She really wished Lincoln would stop asking questions and let her finish. “Apparently, because of the way the system works, they can’t use the NVR to sort through the recorded footage — something about it having to be saved on the NVR hard drive, not the cameras.” She took a deep breath. “What’s important is that, in order to monitor Jackson, they need to review all the video from each camera every day before it records over itself. So I volunteered to pitch in.”

  “You agreed to look at twenty-four hours of security camera videos? For all sixteen cameras? Every day?”

  “I’ve got time in the morning and during study hall. And at lunch. And after school.”

  Lincoln started toward the building. Serena fell into step beside him. “Of course, I can’t stop you from helping out,” he said, “but that’s a lot of video to review.”

  Serena had been doing the math herself. Even if she fast-forwarded through each video at its highest speed, it would take an hour to go through each camera.

  “Mr. James said that it’s supposed to go a lot faster with a working NVR,” she said. “Any idea when they’re replacing the hard drive?”

  “Next year. It seems that those hard drives are crazy expensive.” Lincoln stopped at the front doors. “Are you really sure Jackson Greene flooded the school?”

  “Who else is smart enough to pull off a prank like that?”

  “But that’s the thing,” Lincoln said. “Whoever pulled that prank left evidence. Jackson would never have done that.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t Jackson who made the mistake. Maybe it was Charlie. Or Bradley. Or …”

  She trailed off as she saw Charlie de la Cruz biking toward the school. He slowed as he seemed to notice them. Then he turned and headed to another bike rack.

  “He’s avoiding us,” Serena said.

  “Or maybe he just wants to lock his bike up somewhere else.” Lincoln pressed his fingers against his temples. “Okay, I’ll talk to Gaby. Maybe there’s some extra money in the Student Council budget that can go toward a new hard drive.”

  Serena huffed. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

  “She’s fair.”

  “She’s also got googly eyes for Jackson Greene. And she’s Charlie’s twin sister,” Serena said. Clearly, having common sense and being chair of the Honor Board were mutually exclusive.

  Lincoln sighed. “You don’t trust Jackson or any of his friends, do you?”

  “Of course not. Neither does Dr. Kelsey.” She crossed her arms. “And neither should you.”

  Mr.
James pushed enough papers from his desk to clear a spot for his bowl of chicken soup. Then he leaned backward, opened his minifridge, and pulled out a jug of chocolate milk. The only good thing about the cramped security room was that he could reach his microwave, refrigerator, coffeemaker, bookshelves, file cabinets, and pegboard of keys without leaving his chair.

  He hadn’t always been stuck in such a small office. But when Dr. Kelsey had his newfangled security system installed, he moved Mr. James’s office to a location that could accommodate all the new wires and computer equipment: the old storage closet. The room was a museum of sorts, with ancient lamps that had long since been replaced with more energy-efficient models, computer monitors that weighed more than some students, and textbooks that still referred to the USSR and a solar system with nine planets instead of eight.

  Mr. James was supposed to be reviewing the footage from each camera — looking for any suspicious activity from Jackson and his friends. Without the NVR hard drive, he couldn’t review all sixteen camera feeds at once, and was instead forced to pull up each camera’s flash drive separately and review the video one camera at a time.

  Even though Serena could be a bit pushy and melodramatic, Mr. James was glad that she had volunteered to help. They figured she could get through four of the videos a day. That still left twelve for him, and that was just during the week. Dr. Kelsey was now requiring him to come into the school over the weekend to review video then as well.

  He turned off the standing lamp, allowing the large monitor to be the only light in the small room. He figured that maybe he’d take a small nap — only until his soup cooled down. He had just kicked his legs up on the desk when he heard a knock on the door.

  “Mr. James, I’m so glad you’re here,” Megan Feldman said. Mr. James was surprised to see her. Ever since she’d quit the cheerleading squad to spend more time with the Tech Club, he hardly saw her outside the science lab.

  “We need a favor,” Megan continued as she motioned toward the boy behind her. Mr. James recognized him — he worked in either the guidance office or the main office, he wasn’t sure. The boy’s shirt and jeans were splattered with bright red paint.