Read Online Infected by Sophie Littlefield - Free Book Online Page B

the heck is that?”
    “Not
who
, but
what
. It’s a classic cryptanalysis problem,” Carina said. “A variation on the multi-alphabet Beaufort cipher. Walter taught it to me when I was in grade school. When he came over for Thanksgiving one year, he taughtme how to solve it while we waited for the turkey to be ready.”
    “Huh … most people would have probably settled for a game of Chutes and Ladders.”
    “Yeah, well … not my family. It was the same Thanksgiving my mom put the turkey in the oven while it was still frozen. After four hours there was still ice in the middle. She was totally stressed. We ended up eating Bagel Bites.” Solving the Beaufort cipher that day had been the first time Carina understood how much she loved deciphering puzzles, but she didn’t tell Tanner that because a lump was forming in her throat and this was not the time to lose her composure. Her mother had stayed in the kitchen most of that afternoon, on the phone with the Butterball hotline, insisting there had to be
something
they could suggest to fix her ruined meal. She had invited a few interns who worked with her and Walter, and they drank Bloody Marys and polished off an entire cheese tray from the grocery store, watching football on TV and gossiping about people they knew from work. Only Walter had paid any attention to Carina, who had worn her favorite brown corduroy jumper and a turtleneck printed with pumpkins for the occasion.
    Even then, she’d longed for a normal family. She wasn’t entirely sure what it would look like, but from her friends’ lives she gathered that moms cooked for days leading up to the celebration and dads threw footballs around in the backyard with their kids before standing at the head of the table carving the turkey and saying grace.
    It wasn’t that she wanted any of those things—shewouldn’t know how to play football and she wasn’t particularly religious—but her friends, even those who complained about their strict parents and annoying siblings, all seemed to know that they
belonged
. That they were a part of something bigger than just themselves. And Carina hadn’t felt that way for as long as she could remember. Yes, she was a daughter, a niece, and she knew that her mother and uncle loved her. But it was as if they were all planets whose orbits never touched, and Carina would have gladly given up some of the autonomy her friends envied to have someone to go home to, to eat her meals with, even to bicker with.
    “So, he wants you to translate the word
choose
, I take it?” Tanner said, bringing her back to the moment. “Do you remember how?”
    “Of course I do,” Carina said. “Now hush.”
    Tanner was silent while she worked it out in her head. It was complicated, and she had to close her eyes and envision the grid, counting down and across in her imagination to translate each letter, taking into account the one that followed. As she figured out each one, she typed it into the keypad, forcing herself not to rush, hoping the screen wouldn’t time out. There was no telling what would happen if she guessed wrong; Walter might have programmed a lockout in the event of missed guesses.
    As she typed the last letter, holding her breath, the screen went blank and there was a faint mechanical click as the door opened of its own accord.
    “Damn.” Tanner whistled softly through his teeth.
    “Impressive, right?” Carina couldn’t help feeling pleasedwith herself, as well as relieved. The door had opened only an inch or two, not far enough to see into the room, but Carina was no longer as leery, knowing that Walter had left the puzzle in the door for her alone. The panel was already closing, sliding back into its camouflage, and Carina slipped the key out of the lock and put it back in her pocket.
    “Let me go in first,” Tanner said, stepping in front of her.
    Carina knew he was trying to protect her, but she was the one who had dragged him into this mess and if something