Right now, both Ms. Duarte and Mr. Richards are official suspects.
The investigation will resume immediately.
SOS
Text: 555-1863
Exposing Cheaters for Over Three Years
CHAPTER FOUR
KIRA SLAPPED HER HANDS TOGETHER TO SIGNAL the start of practice, her loud clap echoing through the gymnasium. Just then, a cell phone sounded from the bleachers—it had a techno ring tone. I tsked and looked sideways at her. I’d never allowed the girls to have their phones on in the gymnasium.
“That’s me,” Leona called, leaning over to dig through her backpack. “I had my tech guy trace the SOS e-mail to get an IP address.”
“Oh, well, good thinking,” I said, truly impressed. Leona was a better spy than even I had realized.
“Hello?” she said. “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yep. Wait, what ?” Leona’s eyes snapped up to mine.
“What is it?” I asked, my heart beginning to pound in my chest.
Leona continued to stare at me as she nodded, as if the guy on the other end of the line could see her. “Thanks, Greg,” she said absently into the phone. “I’m sure I can track down the rest of the information on my own. Talk to you later.” Leona lowered the phone to her lap and snapped it shut.
I could feel Kira standing there, swinging her head to look between Leona and me. “For Pete’s sake! What is going on?” she squeaked.
“What’s the IP address?” I asked, my voice near a whisper. Leona’s expression reminded me of that day when we’d gotten the fake cheater report on Aiden. Oh, no. Leona had bad news—onehundred percent.
“He said…” She paused and furrowed her brow. “He said that the SOS e-mail was linked to one of our accounts.” Kira reached out to take my arm, steadying herself.
“What?” I asked, Kira’s hands like ice on my skin. “Whose account was it?”
Leona looked down at the phone in her lap, then back up to meet my eyes, swallowing hard. “He said the e-mail came from your computer, Tess. That means…” She faltered. “The copy-Kitten has been in your house.”
Hot fudge sundae! With nuts.
This was not good. I touched my hand to my chest and gasped for breath. Someone had been on my computer. Someone had been in my house!
“I need to sit down,” I said, stumbling toward the bleachers, my sneakers squeaking on the wood floor. My entire world felt tilted.
The girls surrounded me, holding my arms as I sat down. Once there, Leona reached over to pat my thigh. “Hopefully they didn’t take pictures of you while you were sleeping or anything,” she said supportively.
“Leona!” Kira snapped.
“What?” she asked, holding up her hands. “I said hopefully .”
My brain was spinning like a pinwheel. Who would have had the nerve to break into my house? I closed my eyes. It was sort of like, how did I have the nerve to break into the houses of cheaters so many times? Could this be karma?
Leona tapped her shoe. “Tessa, you sure you didn’t know about the e-mails? I mean, they did come from your computer.”
She sounded completely suspicious! I couldn’t believe she’d ask me that. “No! Of course not.”
“You have been different lately, Tess,” Izzie agreed. “Maybe you have PTSOSD.”
“I don’t have post-traumatic SOS disorder! Girls, I promise you. I had nothing to do with this.”
“I believe her,” Kira said loudly. “I checked everyone’s phone records and social calendars against the dates of the e-mails. As far as I can tell, none of us could have done it.”
I exhaled. At least Kira was making sense.
“Sorry,” Izzie apologized to me. “I guess I’m just a little paranoid.”
“We all are,” Leona added.
Suddenly the muscle spasm struck again and I groaned, clutching my lower back.
“Oh, no!” Izzie screamed, nearly falling on top of me. “She’s having a seizure! Does anyone know CPR?”
“Stop,” I tried to say over the frantic squeals of the squad. “I’m fine, girls. Really. It’s just a muscle spasm.”
“Do you want us