intersection and froze. A radio was playing somewhere to his right.
‘Left, Jack,’ Obi said. ‘Three rooms down.’
Jack glanced up at the security camera, then hurried down the hallway. He grabbed the office door handle, held his breath, opened it and stuck his head inside.
‘Charlie.’
She was tied to a chair, bound and gagged. Her eyes went wide as she realised who it was. Jack hurried over to her and pulled the gag from her mouth. ‘Trap,’ she hissed.
Jack spun round as the massive agent stepped in front of the open door.
A side door opened and another agent in a black suit stood silhouetted in the light. ‘Good morning, Achilles.’
CHAPTER FIVE
Jack glanced around the room. He was sitting at a metal table. There were no windows, no cameras and only one door. He listened but could only hear the low hum of the air conditioning. Cable ties bound his wrists and ankles to a chair. He struggled against the bindings, but it was useless.
The door opened and the lead agent stepped into the room. His cold eyes met Jack’s and didn’t waver as he sat down opposite him. He dropped a thick folder on to the table and stared at Jack, as if he could see deep into his soul.
Jack kept his expression neutral, almost vacant. The man could stare all he wanted. He had no power. He was just another stupid adult in an ignorant world. If they managed to put Jack in a children’s home again, he’d escape. That simple. But somehow Jack knew the agent wanted more. The only thing was, what?
‘My name is Agent Connor.’ There was another long silence before he finally opened the folder in front of him. As he spoke, Connor took time to pronounce each syllable, as if adding weight to his words. ‘So, Achilles,’ he glanced up. ‘You are the Achilles, aren’t you?’
On the outside, Jack managed to keep his expression unreadable. Inside was a different matter. How did this man know who he was? How had they linked Jack with his alias? He was invisible. Had someone grassed him up? He thought of Charlie. No way would she have given them Jack’s hacker name. Then who? How?
Connor’s eyes drifted back to the folder. ‘You’ve been a naughty boy.’ He tapped the file. ‘It says here that Achilles is responsible for some major damage over the years. There are a lot of people who would be interested in talking to you.’ Connor’s lip curled. ‘The world-renowned hacker.’
Jack’s heart sank. This meant his face was now on file too.
Agent Connor cleared his throat and continued to read a list of Jack’s crimes, but Jack didn’t listen; he was remembering his time in the home. The other kids. The tatty furniture ruined by a thousand children. The threadbare carpets. The permanent smell of urine from wet beds. Things like that stuck with you.
Oh, sure, over the years they’d tried to find him a family, but he’d always wound up back in that smelly, noisy home. If there was such a thing as Lady Luck, she never smiled at him.
Jack’s salvation had come from an unlikely source. He remembered the first time Mrs Waverly allowed him to use her computer in the office of the children’s home. He remembered that feeling of wonder, the magic, the way that simple box could open the entire world to him. Take him anywhere. Show him anything. He was a digital explorer, and the internet taught him more than he could ever learn in school.
Once Jack had been everywhere the connection would allow, he wanted to go further, but Mrs Waverly thought he was spending way too much time on the computer and banned him from the office.
Jack was devastated. The internet was his world, his escape. So, he’d resorted to clandestine measures. He had to. No choice. Countless nights he’d crept downstairs to the office, locked the door, turned the brightness on the monitor to low and connected to his world.
That’s how it had all started – playing, learning, experimenting, teaching himself code. But, over the months and years, he wound
‘Left, Jack,’ Obi said. ‘Three rooms down.’
Jack glanced up at the security camera, then hurried down the hallway. He grabbed the office door handle, held his breath, opened it and stuck his head inside.
‘Charlie.’
She was tied to a chair, bound and gagged. Her eyes went wide as she realised who it was. Jack hurried over to her and pulled the gag from her mouth. ‘Trap,’ she hissed.
Jack spun round as the massive agent stepped in front of the open door.
A side door opened and another agent in a black suit stood silhouetted in the light. ‘Good morning, Achilles.’
CHAPTER FIVE
Jack glanced around the room. He was sitting at a metal table. There were no windows, no cameras and only one door. He listened but could only hear the low hum of the air conditioning. Cable ties bound his wrists and ankles to a chair. He struggled against the bindings, but it was useless.
The door opened and the lead agent stepped into the room. His cold eyes met Jack’s and didn’t waver as he sat down opposite him. He dropped a thick folder on to the table and stared at Jack, as if he could see deep into his soul.
Jack kept his expression neutral, almost vacant. The man could stare all he wanted. He had no power. He was just another stupid adult in an ignorant world. If they managed to put Jack in a children’s home again, he’d escape. That simple. But somehow Jack knew the agent wanted more. The only thing was, what?
‘My name is Agent Connor.’ There was another long silence before he finally opened the folder in front of him. As he spoke, Connor took time to pronounce each syllable, as if adding weight to his words. ‘So, Achilles,’ he glanced up. ‘You are the Achilles, aren’t you?’
On the outside, Jack managed to keep his expression unreadable. Inside was a different matter. How did this man know who he was? How had they linked Jack with his alias? He was invisible. Had someone grassed him up? He thought of Charlie. No way would she have given them Jack’s hacker name. Then who? How?
Connor’s eyes drifted back to the folder. ‘You’ve been a naughty boy.’ He tapped the file. ‘It says here that Achilles is responsible for some major damage over the years. There are a lot of people who would be interested in talking to you.’ Connor’s lip curled. ‘The world-renowned hacker.’
Jack’s heart sank. This meant his face was now on file too.
Agent Connor cleared his throat and continued to read a list of Jack’s crimes, but Jack didn’t listen; he was remembering his time in the home. The other kids. The tatty furniture ruined by a thousand children. The threadbare carpets. The permanent smell of urine from wet beds. Things like that stuck with you.
Oh, sure, over the years they’d tried to find him a family, but he’d always wound up back in that smelly, noisy home. If there was such a thing as Lady Luck, she never smiled at him.
Jack’s salvation had come from an unlikely source. He remembered the first time Mrs Waverly allowed him to use her computer in the office of the children’s home. He remembered that feeling of wonder, the magic, the way that simple box could open the entire world to him. Take him anywhere. Show him anything. He was a digital explorer, and the internet taught him more than he could ever learn in school.
Once Jack had been everywhere the connection would allow, he wanted to go further, but Mrs Waverly thought he was spending way too much time on the computer and banned him from the office.
Jack was devastated. The internet was his world, his escape. So, he’d resorted to clandestine measures. He had to. No choice. Countless nights he’d crept downstairs to the office, locked the door, turned the brightness on the monitor to low and connected to his world.
That’s how it had all started – playing, learning, experimenting, teaching himself code. But, over the months and years, he wound
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