Fear made his usually quick fingers stumble over the letters as he typed: How bad is it?

He held his breath as he watched the gray text bubbles on his screen. They were little nuclear clouds of doom.

doctors say pretty bad. she’s lucky to be alive

He frowned. How do you know what the doctors said?

i’m her brother joey

Of course.

It made perfect sense. He remembered that Leah had a kid brother. But he had never met him.

Matt texted: Call me now.

Within seconds, the phone rang. He sprang to his feet. “Condor.” He didn’t want to reveal his identity to Leah’s brother yet. Just in case the police had set him up to this.

“It’s Joey.” From the break in his voice, it sounded like this kid was definitely still in school.

“Tell me what’s going on down there.”

“It’s crazy. There are reporters and police everywhere.”

“What about Leah? How bad is it?”

“She had surgery right away. They said she almost died.” Joey’s voice faltered.

Matt’s grip on the phone tightened as if it was Leah’s hand and he would never let go. “Has she said anything to you?”

“She isn’t conscious yet.”

Were Joey’s parents trying to protect him from the truth? Was she in a coma? He needed to see her.

He cleared his throat. “Did she speak to the police before her surgery?”

Joey’s voice lowered. “I don’t think so. But they are guarding her room.”

“Okay.” Matt circled the room, trying to collect his thoughts. “Have they found AggroBoy?”

“I don’t think so. They don’t even know who he is. They were trying to find out his name from Leah before her surgery but she had a tube stuck in her throat.”

Matt’s thoughts jumped on top of one another. Slow down. He needed to think this through. “Did they find anything on her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you know where her laptop is?”

“She usually keeps it in her bedroom.”

“Go get it.”

Joey paused. “What do I do with it when I find it?”

“Hide it until I get there.”

“You’re coming to Halifax?” The kid’s voice broke.

“Yes. This is a mess. And if the cops get hold of Leah’s computer, the Forum could go down.”

What he couldn’t tell Joey was that he could not bear to think of Leah lying unconscious and near dead in that hospital bed, while he was thousands of miles away.

“Okay.” Joey sounded scared. “What if the cops catch me?”

Matt stopped in front of the picture window. Out in the distance, a massive container ship slid past the horizon.

He needed to inspire confidence in the kid. “They won’t catch you. Go now, before they execute a search warrant on Leah’s apartment. And cover your head.”