Read Online Hawk Moon by Rob MacGregor - Free Book Online

BAD. WE'RE SO MAD, MAD.
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    The second one was followed by initials.
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    I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT YOU, WILL. I'M SURE YOU'D NEVER HURT ANYONE.
    C. R.
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    He puzzled over the initials for a minute, but couldn't place them with anyone he knew. At the top of both notes was the word USER, but no name.
    LANSA (RUNNER), his handle, was at the top of the next letter. It appeared that he'd written it to himself, but he hadn't written it at all.
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    I KNOW WHY, WILL,
    WITHOUT A DOUBT.
    SHE WASN'T TRUE
    AND YOU FOUND OUT.
    YOUR FANZ
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    He rolled his chair back from the cubicle and waved to Charlie Baines.
    "Take a look at this, Charlie."
    Baines, who was wearing the same rumpled clothes he'd worn yesterday, bent over Will's computer and read the message. Then, wrinkling his nose, he studied the series of numbers, letters, and symbols above the rhyme. "Someone's got your new entry code already. That's very interesting."
    "Let me show you something else." Will brought up the other two letters to his screen again. "These have the same handle: USER. Who's that?"
    "Okay, these were both written on one of the generics."
    "What do you mean?"
    "Anyone can use a computer in here on their study hour. You're taking a computer course, so you've got a code. But if you come here on study hour and just want to use a computer, you don't get a personal code. If you want to send something E-mail, you get the generic USER handle. You can change it, if you want, but they didn't."
    "So there's no way of finding out who wrote those two letters."
    "Well, everyone is supposed to sign in. I'd say we get about a couple of dozen people a day using the generics. But the thing is, they don't always sign in, especially if they're only here for a few minutes."
    Aaron, Will thought, wasn't taking a computer course . He recalled the song about him that Aaron had made up at Paige's party. It was the same sort of doggerel that had been sent to him on E-mail.
    He rolled his chair back and looked down the row of cubicles. The one where Aaron had been sitting was empty now. He must have been leaving when Will arrived.
    "What's wrong?" Baines asked.
    Will shook his head. "Nothing." He scrolled down to the third letter. "I wonder why Fanz here doesn't use a generic."
    "Maybe he or she is afraid of getting caught. Using your code is almost foolproof."
    "Almost?"
    Baines stared a moment longer at the screen. "Let me work on it. I'll see what I can find out."
    As soon as school was out, Will drove out to a new ski resort that had just opened a few miles from town. He'd heard that Jerry Wharton was working there for his father, who owned the resort. When Will arrived, the snowmaking machines were at work on the slopes.
    It didn't take long to find Jerry. A woman in the gift shop directed Will to the docking area for the cable cars. When Will stepped up onto the concrete pad where the cars were loaded and unloaded, Jerry glanced at him, then turned his attention to the control panel.
    "What do you want, Lansa ?" he asked, keeping his back to him.
    "Why were you at Ashcroft Sunday?"
    "I was out for a ride and saw all the action so I stopped to take a look." He turned to Will. "Something wrong with me stopping?"
    "Why did you take off when you saw me?"
    "Because I didn't feel like talking to you. You got a problem with that?"
    "Do you know why we were all there?"
    "I heard about your girlfriend. Tough luck."
    Will thought he saw the hint of a faint smile. He struggled to keep himself from lunging at him. Instead, he changed the subject. "What do you know about a drug called the Chill?"
    "What?"
    "The Chill—what do you know about it?"
    Jerry laughed. "Why, do you want to Chill out, Lansa ?"
    "So I guess you've tried it."
    Jerry started to say something, then stopped. He poked Will in the chest with his index finger. "If I were you, I'd keep looking for your girlfriend and stay out of my business."
    Will grabbed him by the front of his jacket. "It