"How do I send a message?"

Boling clicked on a button at the bottom of the screen and a box opened. "Just like any instant message now. Type your message and hit 'Return.' Remember, use abbreviations and leetspeak if you can. The easiest thing to do is just substitute the number three for e and four for a."

Dance took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking as she stared at the animated face of the killer.

"Stryker, U R g00d." The words appeared in a balloon over Greenleaf's head as the avatar approached.

"who r u?" Stryker stood back, gripping a sword.

"I'm just some lus3r."

Boling told her, "Not bad, but forget grammar and punctuation. No caps, no periods. Question marks are okay."

Dance continued, "saw u fight u r el33t." Her breath was coming fast; tension rose within her.

"Excellent," Boling whispered.

"what is your realm?"

"What's he mean?" Dance asked, feeling a sprinkle of panic.

"I think he's asking for your country or the guild you're in. There'd be hundreds of them. I don't know any in this game. Tell him you're a newbie." He spelled it. "That's somebody new to a game, but who wants to learn."

"just newbie, play for fun, thought u could t33ch"

There was a pause.

"u mean u r sum n00b"

"What's that?" Dance asked.

"Newbie's just a beginner. A n00b is a loser, somebody who's egotistical and incompetent. It's an insult. Travis has been called a n00b a lot online. LOL him but say you're not. You really want to learn from him."

"lol, but no d00d, i w4nt to learn"

"R U hot?"

Dance asked Boling, "Is he coming on to me?"

"I don't know. It's an odd question under the circumstances."

"sorta people tell me"

"u board funny"

"Shit, he's catching on that there's a delay in your keyboarding. He's suspicious. Change the subject back to him."

"like really w4nt to learn, what can u t33ch me?"

A pause. Then: "1 thing"

Dance typed, "whats that?"

Another hesitation.

Then words appeared in the balloon above Travis's avatar. "2 die"

And though Dance felt an instinct to slam an arrow key or slide the touchpad to lift an arm and protect herself, there was no time.

Tags: Jeffery Deaver Kathryn Dance Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net