Swipe

that means this girl must have a connection to the Department.”
    “Like I said, her dad being an agent would make sense.”
    Peck nodded.
    “So what now? What do we do about Logan? He’s a threat.”
    “Yes. He’s a threat. But he’s not unstoppable. We have to regroup. Keep on him—”
    “That’s the thing, Peck. I . . . I don’t think I’m your guy.”
    “You’re wrong,” Peck said. “You are. You brought us Meg, right?”
    “Yeah, but—” Blake protested.
    “You warned me about Trenton, didn’t you?”
    “Yeah, but, Peck—”
    “You’re good at this, Blake. I can’t have you getting cold feet.”
    “What about Jo?”
    “What about her? She’s busy with her own tasks.”
    Blake thought for a moment. “Look, I’m not getting cold feet. I can trail this new girl maybe a little bit, but—”
    “Don’t lose sight of the goal. I don’t care about her ,” Peck said. “I care about her as she pertains to Logan . I care about everyone as they pertain to Logan. He’s our biggest concern right now; he was even before all this happened—”
    “And I can’t keep spying on him, Peck, I’m sorry, but I can’t. He’s seen me. Twice. I’ve been careless.”
    “Stop apologizing.”
    “It’s not just the risk of eyeing his house anymore—that kid sees me anywhere and he’s calling the cops. Then they get to me, and they use me to get to you, and it’s all over. Right?”
    “That’s right,” Peck said. “You’re right. That’s all I needed to hear. Our next steps, then, have been decided for us.”
    “Eddie? Tyler?”
    “No. I don’t trust them,” Peck said. “Not for something like this.”
    “But the goal is still—”
    “Yes. The goal is the same.”
    “I don’t know what to tell you, Peck. He’s too suspicious now. And with that girl by his side, he’s too aggressive. We needed a precise amount of fear for him to do as we said. Like Meg. We had it with Logan. I really think we did. But it’s gone now.”
    “You’re exactly right, Blake. It’s gone.” Peck put his hand on Blake’s shoulder. “You’ve done great,” he said. “I want you to lie low for a while. Keep an eye on Meg. I hear she’s . . . restless.”
    “Okay,” Blake said. “But what about Logan? The clock’s ticking. Soon as November comes around—”
    “Oh, I know,” Peck said. He took the plate from Blake’s lap and rested it on the podium behind him. “So we move to Plan B. Logan is simply too important to let go. Jo made a new contact for me last year, to help keep tabs on our other target.”
    “ Another target? Who?”
    Peck hesitated, weighing whether or not to tell him. Finally he decided. “It’s a boy named Dane. He’s what you might call . . . a cyberpunk. Has a rock band. He’s a rebel.”
    “You think we need to pounce on him too?”
    “I do. Yes.”
    “He seem worried yet?”
    “No,” Peck said, rubbing his eyes. “But he should be.”
    “Well, who’s the contact?”
    “Don’t worry yourself with that,” Peck said. “The important thing is Logan. It appears, now, that our contact will need to track him too. Which is fine,” he added before Blake could apologize again. “I can arrange that. And anyway, this person, while not as experienced as you, does have a distinct . . . advantage . . . in our particular situation.”
    “What’s that?” Blake asked.
    “Logan’s trust.”
    Blake frowned. “I don’t follow.”
    “Fear is a powerful manipulator. It’s been our strategy all along. But when you can get it . . . if you can get it . . . trust works even better. Best, in fact.” Peck paused, thinking. “Our contact is a student at Spokie Middle, even shares a few classes with Logan.
    Has for years.”
    “And you got this person working for us?”
    “That’s right,” Peck said.
    “Logan’s own classmate, spying on him at school? Leading him right into our hands? Without him even knowing it?”
    “Now that we need this person to, yes.” Peck shrugged. “Plan B.”
    Blake smiled.
    And Peck returned to reading his book.

SEVEN

DUST ON THE LAM
    1
    I GOT IT WORKING. WE’RE IN BUSINESS,” Erin practically shouted over the tablet connection.
    Logan had been asleep, but the excitement woke him quickly. “Got what? What are you up to?” Logan asked it with a sigh, knowing he wouldn’t like the answer. He was more than exhausted—he was ashamed and reeling. For him, the night had ended in a huge fight with his dad—the biggest they’d