The Pyramid Chronicles: Tyche Point (#1)

Chapter Thirteen: Snow Queen

Adam's face lit up. "Really?"

Willow's mind was already miles away, working through ideas on how to get back into SCI's servers, how she might be able to unlock some of the encrypted data on the USB, ways she might begin to investigate Scorpion's equipment without being seen. "Sure," she said absentmindedly. "Let me know when the meeting is. I'll make a slideshow or something."

~

Willow hadn't been joking about the slideshow thing. She pulled images from SCI's reports, screencapped their security footage, and included relevant excerpts from files she found on the USB. There was a reason she got good grades and competition awards, after all.

But she didn't just research SCI. While she waited for documents to load and transfer, she checked up on Adam's other friends. Well, his brother's friends, by the look of things.

Eric Ackerman didn't have much of an online presence, just the occasional photo from a family gathering, or at a school function with friends. His closest friend seemed to be Summer Lu, who was more prominent online. She was a junior like Eric and a baseball player on Tyche Point's team.

Willow located another fairly average social media presence for Veronica Martinez, including a few notable science fair projects, as well as some accounts for her twin brother Sam that looked like they hadn't been touched in almost a year. The photos he posted were mostly pictures of art projects.

So, these were the kids that wanted to take on a secret organization? Willow drummed her fingers against her desk. Did she care about Scorpion? They weren't the only bad guys out there, and there were people better equipped to fight them. Despite her abilities, Willow had never been interested in jumping into the fray. She preferred to focus on coding and building equipment.

Her phone lit up. It was a text from Adam, who she'd reluctantly given her number to at the end of lunch. They'd be meeting the Newmans tomorrow afternoon at a motel on the other side of town. Along with, apparently, all of Eric's 'new friends.'

Great. The place was probably rundown and disgusting, and Willow wasn't looking forward to dealing with a bunch of other people in a tiny space. Her, Adam and Eric, Summer, Sam and Veronica...oh, and the Newmans. God, that made eight people total, didn't it?

Willow pushed her annoyance aside—as if it were junk she could just hide in a desk drawer—and went back to work. In a separate folder on her laptop, she set aside all the sales receipts from her father's tech company. That was something she could look at later, although for what purpose, she wasn't entirely sure yet.

~

The other part of the meeting Willow wasn't looking forward to was the drive. She'd told Adam she didn't have a car, and she certainly wasn't going to ask her mom to drive her to a sketchy motel at the edge of town.

So, she wound up standing on the sidewalk in front of her house, waiting for a ride.

Adam pulled up and rolled down the window. "Hey. Thanks again for coming."

"Sure," Willow said as she walked up. "Am I getting in the back?"

"Uh, passenger," Adam replied. "We're giving the others a ride too. Environment, you know? "

Well, at least she wouldn't be crammed in the back with strangers. Willow opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. She threw a glance at the back to see Veronica, Sam, Eric, and Summer squished together.

"Oh, and here." Adam grabbed a cup from the cup holder and held it out to Willow. "I grabbed you a coffee."

Surprised, she froze a moment before gingerly accepting the drink. "Thanks."