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She hadnÆt eaten a decent meal in days, practically hadnÆt seen her own bed in just as long, and in spite of all her efforts, the site was still in as precarious a position as when this whole disaster had struck.

SheÆd always had a soft spot for programmers, website designers and all manner of geek or nerd, but ever since her site was hacked, she hated the species with a vengeance. She imagined some army of nerds sitting in a basement somewhere thinking up ways and means of destroying other peopleÆs livelihood. It was digital vandalism, pure and simple, and if she could drag those shits through their monitor and skin them alive, she would.

She now settled back in her chair and rubbed her tired eyes. SheÆd managed to convince Norwell to stick with her, and the man had pulled off no mean feat by securing the site and plugging any hole that had made them vulnerable in the first place. Now all she had to do was convince people that this had been just a slight hiccup and that soon things would all go back to normal.

Oh, heck. Who was she kidding? Things would never go back to normal. ItÆs one thing for a single person to have their private information leaked, but quite another for a happily married husband suddenly to see his name associated with a dating site. Judging from the avalanche of online abuse the site had suffered in the last twelve hours, a lot of people were very upset with her right now.

Then again, if youÆre going to cheat on your spouse, why not have the guts to come out into the open and admit to it? Why blame the middlemanùor middlewoman, as in this case? She was, after all, simply a conduit for these peopleÆs adulterous ways.

And as she tried to focus on the letters on her laptop screen, which all seemed to dance and do the boogie-woogie, she suddenly thought she heard a sound coming from the big office next to her own corner office.

ôHello!ö she called out. ôWhoÆs there?ö

Probably a cleaner. Or someone having forgotten their wallet or phone.

But when she focused and listened some more, she didnÆt hear anything, and soon was immersed in the email she was writing once more. She wanted to shoot this one off now, so everyone would receive it in the morning when they arrived for work. It was one of those missives from the big brass that people tend to write at a time of crisis. Rallying thetroops, and hoping they wonÆt leave what they perceive as a sinking ship.

And as she was trying to think up a nice turn of phrase that wouldnÆt sound as harsh as ædisaster,Æ suddenly she thought she heard the sound of a footfall. And when she looked up, at first she couldnÆt really see anything, what with her eyesight having suffered from the strain of looking at a laptop screen for hours on end.

But when she finally focused, she saw that a black-clad person had materialized in her office. The figure was simply standing there, staring at her for some reason.

ôYes?ö she said, frowning. ôWhat do you want?ö

But even as she spoke the words, the person shifted, and she saw they were holding what looked like a bow in their hands. Then the bow was raised, and before she fully realized what she was seeing, there was a swooshing sound, then athwack! and pain suddenly bloomed in her chest.

She gasped to draw breath, but it was to no avail.

Her lungs refused to comply with such a simple demand.

Perhaps it was because her heart had already stopped beating.

Chapter 9

I really hadnÆt thought weÆd be back at the offices of Valina Fawn so quickly. Only whereas yesterday we were there for an exclusive interview with the siteÆs principals, today we were there in a completely different capacity. One that wasnÆt quite as pleasant.

ôItÆs strange, isnÆt it, Max?ö said Dooley when we found ourselves staring up at the not-quite-alive Valina. ôYesterday she was alive, and now sheÆs dead. How did that happen?ö

ôThatÆs for Chase and Odelia to find out,ö I said as I studied the body more closely.

ôNo, but I mean, we only saw her yesterday, and now sheÆs gone. It makes you think.ö

ôYes, it most certainly does. For instance, who might have done this to her?ö

ôI was thinking more about life and death and that kind of stuff,ö said my friend the philosopher. ôI mean, the human body is quite fragile, isnÆt it? That it only takes a minor incident like this to make it stop functioning at full capacity?ö

ôNot just the human body, Dooley. Any body will stop functioning when you shoot an arrow through its heart.ö

ôBut why, Max? ShouldnÆt the heart be made of sterner stuff? ItÆs just a little bit of metal, after all. No reason why that should stop the heart from working properly.ö

ôWell, it would appear it did the trick in this case,ö I said.

ôWho found her?ö asked Chase to one of the officers on the scene.

ôCleaner, sir. Came in here around seven to clean the office and called it in. Said she had a lot of trouble convincing the dispatcher that she was reporting an actual crime.ö

ôWhat do you mean?ö