One of Us Is Next - Karen M. McManus Page 0,42

need my hands free. You can let the conversation lapse at any point.” I type a bunch of search terms into Google and add, “Have you ever wondered how somebody can block their number from showing up in a text?”

“Is that a rhetorical question or are you going to tell me?”

“I’m looking it up right now.” I wait a few beats until my screen fills. “There are three ways, according to wikiHow.”

“Are you sure wikiHow is the authority on this subject?”

“It’s a starting point.” I clear my throat. To be honest, it’s embarrassing to remember how eighteen months ago, I was hacking into Simon’s About That control panel to grab evidence the police had missed, and now? I’m Googling wikiHow entries. I wish I understood mobile technology half as well as computer and network systems. “So, this says you can use a messaging website, an app, or an email address.”

“Okay. And this is helpful why?”

“It’s foundational knowledge. The more important question is, how do you trace a number from an anonymous message?” I frown at my screen. “Ugh, the top Google result is from three years ago. That’s not a good sign.”

Knox is quiet for a while as I read, and then he says, “Maeve, if you’re worried about Unknown then maybe you should just text back Dare. Those are harmless.”

“Jules kissing Nate wasn’t harmless.”

“True,” Knox concedes. “But it could have been in different circumstances. If Nate and Bronwyn were solid, she might’ve been annoyed at Jules planting one on her boyfriend, but she would’ve gotten over it. She wouldn’t have been mad at him for it, anyway. Or Jules could’ve picked someone else and made it into more of a friendly thing. Like a kiss on the cheek.” His voice turns musing. “Or maybe that would have been considered cheating the game.”

A window pops onto my screen, and I pause. It’s a PingMe alert: The website you are monitoring has been updated. I’ve been getting these constantly for Vengeance Is Mine, on both my phone and my laptop, and I’m starting to regret setting it up. There’s nothing useful, just lots of creepy venting. At least Jellyfish seems to have calmed down lately. Still, I open a new browser tab anyway and type in the familiar URL.

This time, there’s a string of posts by someone named Darkestmind—and as soon as I see the name, I recognize it as the person who piqued my interest in the first place. The one who mentioned Simon, and Bayview.

“Knox,” I say eagerly. “Darkestmind is posting again.”

“Huh? Who’s doing what?”

“On the revenge forum,” I say, and hear Knox sigh through the phone.

“Are you still stalking that place?”

“Shh. I’m reading.” I scan the short string of posts:

Cheers to all of us who are GETTING SHIT DONE this week.

And by us, I mean Bayview2020 and me.

Tip for the uninitiated: don’t screw with us.

“He’s talking about Bayview again,” I report. “Or more specifically, someone who has Bayview in their user name. I’ll bet it’s someone who goes to school with us.”

“Or—now, this is just a thought, but hear me out—maybe it’s a weird Simon fanboy who uses the name because they’re a weird Simon fanboy. Which we know, because they’re hanging out on a weird Simon fanboy subforum,” Knox says.

I take a screenshot of the posts before hitting Refresh. “Are you being sarcastic?” I ask mildly. I’m not surprised Knox isn’t taking me seriously; Bronwyn didn’t either until my research made national news on Mikhail Powers Investigates.

“Very.”

When the page reloads, I yell so loudly and triumphantly that Knox lets out a muted “ow” on the other end of the line. “AHA! I knew it!” I say, my chest thumping with excitement. “There’s a new post from Darkestmind and listen to what it says: I’ve always wanted to out-Simon Simon and damn it, I think I have. More to come soon. Tick-tock. Tick-freaking-tock, Knox! That’s exactly what Unknown says when they’re getting ready to send another Truth or Dare prompt. It’s the same person!”

“Okay. That is admittedly interesting,” Knox says. “Could be a coincidence, though.”

“No way. There are no coincidences when it comes to this sort of thing. He mentioned Simon, too, so there’s that whole gossip-as-a-weapon connection. This is our guy.”

“Great. So now what? How do you find out who Darkestmind actually is?”

Some of my excitement ebbs away. “Well. That’s Phase Two, obviously, and I will get to that…later.”

Knox’s voice fades, like he’s holding his phone at a distance. “Okay, yeah, sorry. I’ll be