Game of Fear Read Online Free PDF Page B

helicopters every day. I can’t believe I need someone to act as my legal guardian here while I go to the Academy.”
    “Yeah, being a sixteen-and-a-half-year-old genius is tough. Imagine being tapped by the government for your code-breaking skills. You poor, deprived child.”
    “It was either that or go to jail after I hacked into the NSA to give them a taste of their own medicine.”
    “Don’t remind me. I had the FBI at my door. And not for a security clearance interview.” Deb sat up straight and stared down her sister. “You and your new buddies aren’t screwing around with that stuff anymore, are you?”
    “Would I do that?” Ashley batted her eyes, but Deb just shook her head in dismay. “Seriously, I’m legit. The only thing we’re doing is hacking our way through Point of Entry , a video game that gives bored little brainiacs like us a legal way to hone our skills.”
    “Ashley, you’re not still playing that stupid game, are you?”
    “There’s nothing stupid about P.O.E. We just broke through to Level 88, and it took more brain cells than all my Academy courses combined. Justin and Mylo were talking about going out to celebrate since they helped me break the last codes. It’s fun working with a team instead of staring at the screen alone in my room.”
    Deb stood and walked into the kitchen. She poured a glass of orange juice and took a sip, studying her sister across the bar. She searched for the right words, but she just had to say it. “I’d still feel a lot better if you weren’t doing anything that remotely resembled hacking. Especially with Justin. You two came too close to getting locked up.”
    “My advisor gave me the latest version of P.O.E.,” Ashley protested. “He said, with my background, I might enjoy the challenge. Lighten up. It’s only a video game, after all. Besides, I’m tired of being the too-smart-for-other-kids-to-do-normal-things-with geek. I want to be normal.”
    “It’s a game where you pretend to break into banks, follow money trails, plant evidence on computers, and take down governments.”
    “And catch the bad guys,” Ashley added. “It’s harmless fun. The guys like the shoot-’em-up, and I like the math and computer stuff. Besides, if I go into Intelligence—like the Academy counselors seem to think I should—I’ll need the practice. I have to be able to think like the bad guys.”
    Why couldn’t her sister be like other kids? Deb placed her empty glass in the sink and foraged for a handful of granola. “Well, behave yourself. Your imagination is a little too creative sometimes, and the morals depicted in those games are questionable at best.” Deb tempered her tone, knowing she’d get nowhere with Ashley. “I have enough to worry about with everyone in the family deployed to the Middle East right now. I don’t need you in jail, too.”
    Ashley saluted. “Yes, ma’am. Orders duly noted. Pretend games only. Maintain my integrity. Got it covered, Admiral Lansing.”
    Deb laughed at the nickname Ashley had stuck her with. So she was bossy where her little sister was concerned. Ashley’s moniker for her might have been General Lansing, but their father had already laid claim to that title. Deb hadn’t stayed in the Army long enough to give him any real competition for the rank.
    She took in the impish look on her sister’s face. “You’re lucky I love you, brat, because you are truly a wiseass. That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble someday.”
    “That’s not what Justin says.” Ashley batted her eyelashes and smiled.
    “Great. Now I have something else to worry about.” Deb glanced at her watch. “You have school in the morning and I don’t like you traveling the roads this late at night, even if it is interstate most of the way. Why don’t you stay over and leave early in the morning? I’ll call in for you.”
    Ashley shook her head with a sigh. “I promised the guy I’d get his car back before weekend curfew