The Deadly Dare Mysteries

by Malorie Blackman

  ‘OK!’ Bullet replied cheerfully and he carried on with what he was doing.

  With deft fingers, Jade signed on to her Internet account and went through the directory of her email messages.

  ‘Have you told anyone else about your dad trying to contact you?’ Ricky whispered.

  Jade shook her head.

  ‘What about your uncle?’ Theo remembered.

  ‘What uncle?’

  ‘Your Uncle Pascoe. We saw him yesterday. He told us to tell you he’s staying at the … the Bishop’s Arms bed and breakfast hotel.’

  ‘My Uncle Pascoe? What’re you talking about? I don’t have an Uncle Pascoe,’ Jade said, confused.

  ‘He said he’s your godfather but he’s been away. He … he didn’t know about your dad. When we told him he was really upset. He wanted your address …’

  ‘You didn’t tell him …’

  ‘Of course not,’ Theo denied.

  ‘I’ll have to ask my mum about him, but I certainly don’t remember him.’ Jade frowned. ‘Uncle Pascoe …? That doesn’t ring a bell at all.’

  She turned slowly back to the screen and selected the last message listed.

  To: JDriscoll@JDriscoll.private.uk

  From: PDriscoll@PDriscoll.private.uk

  Darling Jade,

  I saw you and three of your friends go into our house yesterday. I hope you didn’t tell them about me. I hope you didn’t show them the messages I’ve been sending you. No one must know about me but you. I won’t be able to talk to you any more if you tell others about me. Don’t even tell your mum. She wouldn’t understand. No one understands except you. Have you found my package yet? I need it desperately. Don’t stop searching until you find it. Time is running out. And remember, not a word to anyone – or you’ll never hear from me again. Remember, I’m watching.

  Dad.

  Ricky and Theo studied the message carefully.

  ‘Now d’you see why you mustn’t become involved. You’ll scare Dad away if you do. I’ve got to sort this out for myself,’ Jade whispered.

  I saw you and three of your friends go into our house yesterday …

  Theo’s blood turned to ice-water. Yesterday, as they entered Jade’s house, Theo had had the uneasy feeling that someone, somewhere was watching them. And now his worst suspicions were being confirmed. They were being watched.

  Theo swallowed hard and clenched his fists, and forced himself to calm down.

  ‘Hang on! Your dad mentioned a package in one of the other emails we saw.’ Ricky frowned. ‘Didn’t he say something about delivering it once you’d found it?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Jade replied reluctantly.

  ‘What package was he talking about?’ Theo asked.

  ‘I don’t know. I still haven’t found it yet.’

  ‘Do you know where or who you’re meant to deliver the package to?’ said Theo.

  Jade didn’t answer.

  ‘Did your dad go into more details about the package in one of his other emails? Maybe in one of the messages that you didn’t show us?’

  Jade looked away from Theo, chewing on her bottom lip.

  ‘Jade …’

  ‘No, Theo,’ Ricky interrupted. ‘Jade has to make up her mind once and for all about us. We can’t push her.’

  Anxiously, Theo watched Jade. Ricky was right. They couldn’t stop now. It wouldn’t be right. Theo wanted to find out what was going on just as much as Ricky did. But it was up to Jade now.

  What would she decide?

  Chapter Thirteen

  A Dirty, Rotten Trick

  ‘OK. BUT YOU must do what I say with no arguments,’ Jade said at last.

  ‘No problem.’

  ‘Agreed.’

  ‘And you can’t change your mind or withhold information or anything like that,’ Ricky added. ‘We’re going to see this through till the end.’

  The end. What would that be, Theo wondered. And how would they recognize it? Was it simply a case of finding this mysterious package and delivering it? Would Jade’s dad really go away and rest in peace once the package had reached its final destination? Somehow, Theo didn’t think it would be that simple.

  ‘I guess the first thing I should tell you is … I think I found the package this morning,’ said Jade.

  ‘What was it?’ Theo asked eagerly.

  Just at that moment, Angela came through the door. ‘Sorry, I’m late. What’s going on?’ Angela headed straight for them.

  ‘Can we tell her?’ Ricky asked carefully.

  Jade considered, then nodded. Ricky beckoned Angela closer. For once, Bullet’s computer screen did not have one hundred per cent of his attention.

  ‘Jade thinks she’s found the package that her dad wanted her to find,’ Ricky whispered.

  ‘Oh? What was it then?’ Angela asked.

  They all turned to Jade, waiting for the answer.

  Jade dug deep into her coat pocket. ‘I think Dad is after this.’ She took out a small, brown, padded envelope with ‘Private’ written across it in sloping writing.

  ‘Is that your dad’s handwriting? Can you be sure?’

  ‘What’s in it?’

  ‘Have you opened it yet?’

  The questions came thick and fast. Jade looked slightly overwhelmed.

  ‘Yes, it is my dad’s writing. Yes, I am sure. And I don’t know what’s in it ’cos I haven’t opened it yet,’ Jade shot back before gulping for breath.

  ‘Well? What’re you waiting for?’ Angela asked impatiently.

  Ricky shook his head. Theo sighed. Angela was at it again! But to everyone’s surprise, Jade burst out laughing.

  ‘Angela, I never used to like you – but I do now!’ Jade smiled.

  ‘Oh, thanks!’ Angela raised her eyebrows.

  ‘I didn’t mean that the way it came out,’ Jade said quickly. She paused. ‘Actually, I think I did!’

  ‘Oh, thanks!’ Angela said again.

  Angela and Jade smiled at each other.

  ‘I was wondering whether or not I should open the envelope,’ said Jade. ‘But I think I’ll follow Angela’s advice.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Ricky asked.

  ‘No.’ Jade shook her head after a long pause, ‘But I’m going to do it anyway.’

  She tore open the envelope immediately, as if she wanted to do it before she could possibly change her mind, and peered in. Her eyes widened in surprise. Theo thought the suspense would kill him. He longed to just snatch the envelope from Jade and take a look for himself but he had to wait. Jade turned the envelope over and shook the contents out into her hand. There were two unlabelled CDs in clear plastic cases.

  ‘Is that it?’ Angela asked.

  Jade took another look in the envelope, then nodded.

  ‘I wonder why your dad was so desperate for you to find those and deliver them,’ Angela mused out loud.

  ‘Let’s have a look and see what’s on them,’ Ricky suggested.

  ‘D’you think we should? I mean, I don’t want Dad to … to get upset with me.’

  ‘I don’t see why he’d get upset with you just because we’re trying to help,’ said Ricky carefully.

  ‘It seems to me that you need all the help you can get,’ Theo added.

  ‘Your dad should be glad that you’re not alone in this, that your friends are prepared to do what they can to help sort this out,’ said Angela.

  ‘I suppose so.’ Jade didn’t sound totally convinced.

  She looked around and gave a half-hearted smile. Angela was right about that at least. She didn’t want to go through all this alone. She looked at Theo, Ricky and Angela in turn, her gaze speculative. She was surprised at all of them, but especially Ricky. He seemed almost desperate to help her. She remembered that he’d been in serious trouble himself a while ago. She didn’t know too much about it – Ricky had refused to speak about it and Theo had warned everyone off who was even a little bit curious. Was that it? Did Ricky think she was in a similar situation to him and
that’s why he was so keen to help? If that was it then he had got hold of totally the wrong end of the stick.

  Jade still remembered the howl of anguish that had erupted from her when her mum had told her about her dad. She had refused to believe it, as if not believing it would somehow change the fact that her dad had died. And then the weeks and weeks of anger. Anger at her mum, anger at her dad, anger at the world. Anger that she had buried deep within as she turned in on herself, terrified to let out what she was really feeling. She wouldn’t go back to that again. At least this way, she had something, some small part of her dad to talk to.

  And if she was right about Ricky’s motives for helping her, what about the others? What was in it for them?

  ‘Why are you all doing this?’ Jade couldn’t help asking.

  ‘Doing what? Helping you?’ asked Theo.

  ‘This isn’t just so you can have a case for your new detective agency?’ Jade asked suspiciously.

  ‘This has nothing to do with Theo’s idea about starting a detective agency and you know it,’ Ricky said calmly. ‘Stop trying to push us away. It won’t work.’

  Silence. Then Jade smiled. ‘So which disk should I try first?’

  ‘Either one,’ said Ricky.

  Jade placed a CD in the disk drive and pulled her chair closer to the keyboard. ‘I’ll see what’s on the disk first before I do anything else.’

  They all watched as Jade moved the mouse and clicked on icons to display the disk contents.

  >DIR A:

  >LOST IN CYBO1. PGM

  LOST IN CYBO2. PGM

  LOST IN CYBO TEST3. PGM

  ATLANTIS. PGM

  ATLANTIS1. PGM

  ATLANTIS2. PGM

  DIARY. EXE

  INSTALL. EXE

  SETUP. EXE

  ‘What are those files then?’ Bullet’s voice came out of nowhere, making everyone jump.

  ‘Bullet, this is private,’ Theo pointed out.

  ‘That’s OK. I’m not about to tell anyone, am I?’ Bullet said cheerfully. ‘And besides, I reckon Jade needs my help. I’m the computer expert in this room.’

  ‘And modest with it,’ Theo muttered.

  ‘I don’t believe in false modesty,’ Bullet replied with a beaming smile. ‘So what’re all those files then?’

  ‘Look, more and more people seem to be getting involved in this,’ Jade said firmly. ‘I want everyone in this room to promise that it won’t go any further. I’ll tell you four and that’s it. No more.’

  ‘We promise,’ everyone said immediately.

  ‘All right then,’ Jade said. ‘To answer your question, Bullet, I don’t know what these files are.’

  ‘Step aside then.’ Bullet elbowed his way to the computer and stood over Jade like a vulture, waiting for her to stand up. Eyebrows raised, Jade got to her feet.

  ‘Let me try and install it. That seems like a good place to start,’ said Bullet.

  Everyone watched avidly as Bullet ran the INSTALL program. The message flashed up on the screen.

  ‘Whilst we’re waiting for that, I’ll let Dad know that I think I’ve found what he’s been asking for,’ said Jade.

  Jade moved to the next screen and started up her Internet account using her name and password.

  ‘Don’t tell him that you’re trying to find out what’s on the disk though,’ Theo warned.

  ‘Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to,’ Jade replied.

  To: PDriscoll@PDriscoll.private.uk

  From: JDriscoll@JDriscoll.private.uk

  Dear Dad,

  How are you? I think I’ve finally found what you’re looking for. I’m sorry it took so long but I was looking for a big parcel rather than a small, padded envelope. The envelope has two CD-RW computer disks in it. Is this what you were after? If so, what should I do next? Will I be able to see you? Please let me know. I’d love to see you. I wouldn’t be frightened – honest. I’m at school, but I’ll wait around in the computer room for a while in case you’re able to reply to this message immediately.

  Love,

  Jade.

  Jade clicked on the button before standing up. She joined the others to see how far Bullet had got.

  ‘It’s asking me to insert the other CD now.’ Bullet explained the self-evident message on the screen.

  ‘Go on then,’ Angela prompted eagerly.

  Bullet inserted the second CD into its drive and pressed the key as directed. All at once, it was as if the hard disk drive went crazy. It spun and clicked and whirred in a frenzy.

  ‘These disks don’t have a virus on them, do they?’ Bullet asked worried.

  ‘How should I know?’ Jade replied.

  ‘I think I should have run the virus checking software first.’ Bullet’s eyebrows knitted together with anxiety.

  ‘Mrs Sumonu is going to hit the roof if you’ve introduced a virus onto one of her precious computers,’ Ricky pointed out unhelpfully.

  ‘I should definitely have run the virus checking software,’ Bullet muttered. ‘Mrs Sumonu is always saying that if we bring disks in from outside, we must make sure they’re clean first.’

  ‘I’m sure it’ll be OK,’ Theo said doubtfully.

  ‘At least this is a stand-alone computer,’ Bullet said. ‘We should be grateful for that.’

  ‘Bullet, you’re so clever! What does that mean – stand-alone computer?’ Angela asked.

  Theo shook his head as he watched Angela. The tone of her voice and the expression on her face conjured up a single word in his mind – simpering!

  ‘It means that if Jade’s disks do contain a virus, at least it won’t be passed down the school network to all the other computers in the room,’ Bullet explained. ‘The three machines on this side of the room haven’t been connected up to the school network yet.’

  ‘I really don’t like the sound of that.’ Theo pointed to the processor casing.

  The disk drive sounded like it was revving up to take off. Then all at once, the noise stopped. Bullet watched the screen, waiting for some clue as to what just happened.

  ‘It wants a password now to continue.’ Bullet frowned.

  They all turned to Jade, expectantly.

  ‘Don’t look at me. You all know as much as I do now.’ Jade shook her head.

  ‘What was your dad’s name?’ asked Bullet.

  ‘Not was. Is,’ Jade corrected, firmly. ‘His name is Paul.’

  No one spoke. Theo shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Jade really didn’t believe that her dad was dead. And thinking about it, if her dad could still talk to her, if he could still communicate, then surely he wasn’t really dead – not in the real sense of the word. Theo wasn’t sure what to think any more. Death and dying and being dead were subjects he didn’t like to think about. They were taboo subjects and as soon as they entered his head, he always pushed them out again. It was as if just to think about them was to invite them in to do their damage. Theo didn’t want that. And try as he might, he just couldn’t get comfortable around Jade when she talked about her father. Truth to tell, he was afraid that the death of her dad might somehow be … contagious.

  ‘I’ll type your dad’s name in as the password,’ Bullet suggested. ‘Although I’d be really surprised if your dad had chosen anything as obvious as that.’

  He hadn’t. A warning message flashed on the screen.

  INVALID PASSWORD. 1 OF 3. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.

  ‘Bullet, what does that mean? 1 of 3?’ Angela asked.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Bullet said slowly. ‘I’ll try another password.’

  ‘Which one this time?’ asked Ricky.

  ‘I’ll try Jade’s name,’ said Bullet.

  And although he could type using all ten fingers, Bullet typed in J-A-D-E using only his index finger to ensure that every keystroke was correct.

  INVALID PASSWORD. 2 OF 3. PLEASE TRY AGAIN.

  ‘I thought so.’ Bullet withdrew his fingers from the keyboard as if it had suddenly turned w
hite hot.

  ‘You thought what?’ Ricky questioned.

  ‘I’ve got one more chance to get the password right,’ Bullet replied.

  ‘And if you don’t get it right?’

  ‘The best that will happen is the installation program will just stop,’ said Bullet.

  ‘And the worst?’ Theo didn’t want to, but he had to ask.

  ‘It depends on how malicious the installation program is,’ Bullet replied. ‘It can be anything from wiping out the directory it was being installed into, to erasing the whole hard disk.’

  ‘It can’t do that … can it?’ Ricky asked aghast.

  ‘Easily,’ Bullet said grimly.

  ‘But that hard disk has got lots of people’s classwork and homework on it,’ said Ricky.

  ‘I know. We won’t be too popular if the disk gets wiped.’

  ‘No kidding,’ Theo scoffed. ‘Now tell us something we don’t know.’

  ‘Maybe we should quit while we’re ahead?’ Angela suggested.

  ‘But we can’t give up now. You all said you’d help me. You’re not going to give up at the first hurdle, are you? Jade protested.

  ‘We can still do this. I’ll backup the hard disk first, just as a safety precaution. Then we can try re-installing the software on your dad’s disks again,’ said Bullet.

  ‘Go on then,’ Jade agreed reluctantly.

  Bullet put a blank CD into the second CD drive and tried to get a file listing. But the installation program wouldn’t let him.

  Bullet hit the key. Nothing happened. He pressed it again. Then pressed it simultaneously with the key. Still nothing happened. Bullet’s expression was stony as he tried with the key, and together and and together. But he was still in the installation program.

  ‘Just take the disk out of the drive,’ Theo suggested.

  Bullet pressed the eject button but nothing happened. He tried again. Same result.

  ‘There’s one last thing we can try but if this doesn’t work, we’ve got problems.’ He shook his head.

  ‘Should we start panicking yet?’ Ricky asked, eyebrows raised.

  ‘Not yet,’ Bullet replied.

  He tried holding down the and keys all at the same time.

  WARNING: IF THE COMPUTER IS RESET AT THIS TIME, ALL DATA ON THE HARD DISK WILL BE ERASED. PLEASE ENTER THE INSTALLATION PASSWORD.