📚 NANCY DREW📓
in
🎠SNOW MYSTERY🎠
by Ann ♪
~A Nancy Drew Fanfic~
Chapter Twelve
Miranda droned on. “Your faith and confidence in me will only grow. Especially when I tell you of my proactive way of handling attacks on Hopeville and how I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. I’m even going to come to your aid despite the wrongs against me.” She paused dramatically. “I have just been informed that the town’s computer system has just been breached. Hopeville has just been taken hostage with ransomware. Someone is keeping it locked and virtually inaccessible until someone is paid a lot of money to unlock it.”
Expected sounds of loud murmurings and gasps of alarm filled the dining area. Katie nudged her husband Norm when he kept eating the delicious dessert. He couldn’t help it, he had gotten used to tuning out anything Miranda said. Shoving the last big bite in his mouth and quickly savoring it, he then appropriately added his voice to the others, to pretend to buy what Miranda was saying. “Oh no!” He threw in a gasp for good measure.
Katie gave him a look and he returned it with a ultra-innocent one. They knew about the Boomerang program and were glad it had gotten installed and running in time. Even if the computer system had been hacked, Miranda wouldn’t be someone they’d trust to fix the situation.
“Now, everyone can rest assured that I can rescue the vulnerable system of Hopeville. It is fortunate for you I’ve had experience in fighting ransomware with great success. Had you not realized your errors, you would have been without hope. Without safety and without hope in Hopeville.”
Norm hoped he could keep the cake he’d eaten beyond this nauseating speech. He was starting to have doubts about that.
Nancy listened closely to Miranda, not fooled for a second by the verbal fertilizer being spoken. As soon as the dinner and music were over and dessert had been started, Nancy had gotten a text from Phil. His Boomerang program had done its job, which had deflected the attack, picked up the virtual path of its origin and bounced it back to the source. Miranda had not gotten that info yet.
In her peripheral, Nancy could see Emmie look over at her urgently. Emmie really wanted to say something, but Nancy had asked her not to interrupt Miranda’s speech so that they could glean clues from it. Yet, maybe this was the right time to make a challenge to her speech; it could be very helpful. Miranda thought she had them all ready to believe her and go along with whatever she said. Nancy gave a slight nod to Emmie, who perked up immediately at being able to say something.
“Oh, sugar cookies,” Emmie’s comment carried very clearly during the dramatic pause Miranda had thought would make everyone even more worked up to do something unintelligent, like trust Miranda.
“I beg your pardon?” Miranda never seemed warm and friendly, but this was subzero icy.
Emmie spoke in her upbeat, no nonsense way. “You’re not our hope. If you were, we’d be in big trouble.”
“You think ransomware isn’t big trouble?” demanded Miranda. “I don’t appreciate this interruption. Emmie, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were behind this! You’ve already tried to destroy the town of Hopeville. My town!” Miranda tried to sound as outraged and indignant as possible.
“Typical, accuse someone else of what you’re guilty of.” Emmie rolled her eyes.
“Are you accusing me? Something needs to be done around here!” Miranda went into a tirade, ranting, fuming, yelling, signs that her true character was tyrannical and bratty. She spewed angry rhetoric blaming others for problems real and imagined.
Emmie shook her head and laughed a couple of times during Miranda’s rant, but didn’t say anything else. She didn’t have to. Miranda’s words and actions said it all very loudly – that Miranda was a bratty, unreasonable nut.
The mayor finally managed to calm Miranda down, even though Miranda had mentioned several times that she felt she would do a better job if she were mayor. In fact, she’d planned to announce she’d be running for that office during the dinner, as Nancy suspected.
“I know how to appeal to those who have attacked us with ransomware and will negotiate successfully to free the system.” Miranda didn’t want to let go of the spotlight.
Nancy whispered to Ned, “And give in. To herself.”
When Miranda finally shut up, the mayor thanked everyone for coming and people began to leave. Nancy kept her focus on Miranda and went to talk with her on the way out. As they discussed the dinner, Nancy noticed Miranda’s attention was on Emmie, who was about to exit the restaurant. She’s anticipating what she’s planned to happen. A murder. Nancy stilled a shiver at Miranda’s unfeeling, greedy coldness that emanated from the ex-councilwoman.
The chilly night air met them as they stopped outside the elegantly structured restaurant. Emmie never bothered with a valet and Miranda knew that. Walking confidently to her car, Emmie paused and looked in her purse for a few long moments. Once she was finished with that, she waved to some of the other banquet attendees then stopped and schmoozed a little with friends. All in clear view of Miranda.
Nancy had continued interviewing Miranda, but her subject was getting more and more distracted.
“Is something wrong?” asked Nancy in an innocent tone. Miranda had just interrupted herself with a grunt of irritation as Emmie finished talking and had reached out to open the car door to get in, but started looking at her phone instead.
“Hmmm?” Miranda glanced at Nancy as if she’d forgotten she was there. “Uh, no, fine, everything’s fine.”
It took a lot of control on Nancy’s part not to laugh at least a little. She didn’t dare look at Ned, because she knew he would be struggling with that as well, and they’d both just lose it.
“Get. In. The. Stu. Pid. Car,” it sounded like Miranda muttered under her breath, but Nancy wasn’t positive whether she really had or it was just Nancy’s imagination.
A strategically placed truck idled in front of Miranda’s vehicle, blocking it temporarily from view during the distraction Emmie was providing. At the prearranged signal, the driver rolled away.
Finally, just about the time that Miranda looked like she was going to go make Emmie get in, the potential victim opened the door. Then she got in. Next she turned on the engine.
Miranda stood there with her mouth almost hanging open when nothing happened to Emmie’s car – or Emmie. Then Miranda jumped when an explosion came. Not from Emmie’s car, though.
Everyone there looked at the plume of smoke and flames, contained in one specific area, as they shot up in the air. From the exact spot that Miranda had seen the valet park her car. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing now.
“Um, do you still want me to bring your car to you?” asked the valet, Ed Wallace, Jr..
Miranda turned a moment to stare and glare at him before going back to gawking at where her ride had been parked, so shiny and expensive. Not anymore. Smokey flames flew up harmlessly with no one close enough to get even a little singed.
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Hardy and Drew Mysteries 