The Secret Cipher by Whitaker Ringwald Read Free Book Online Page A

Juniper
    TO: Jacqueline Malone
    SUBJECT: How Are You?

    I’d opened it, but it was empty. Nothing. Had she started to contact me, then changed her mind?
    But that night, after convincing Mom to let me go to Boston, and after watching the terrible news story about the bank robber, I got an email I never expected.

    FROM: Isaac Romero
    TO: Jacqueline Malone
    SUBJECT: I’m Your Father
    When I first read it, my stomach went into a knot. Was this some sort of trick? Normally I wouldn’t open an email from someone I didn’t know, and technically, I didn’t know him. I’d spent most of my life not even hearing his name. Mom always told me he was someone she’d dated briefly, nothing more. She’d raised me on her own. Even though I’d asked about him lots and lots of times, she’d never told me the truth.
    But then I met Great-Aunt Juniper, and it turned out she knew the truth about my father—that he was a professional thief. Mom had tried to protect me from the truth. Or maybe she was trying to protect herself from embarrassment. I’m not sure.
    It turned out he’d been arrested. And he chose not to contact her, or tell her where he was, which is pretty cruddy. And so, I grew up not knowing him.
    But now I knew the truth. And thanks to the internet, he’d found my address.
    So I opened it.

    Dear Jacqueline,
    It must seem strange to hear from me after all of these years. How are you?
    Your father, Isaac Romero
    When I read that, I felt faint. I had to make sure this wasn’t some kind of identity-stealing trick, so I wrote back.

    FROM: Jacqueline Malone
    TO: Isaac Romero
    SUBJECT: Hello
    Dear Mr. Romero,
    I am fine but how do I know that you are who you say you are?
    Sincerely, Jax

    The reply took only a minute.

    FROM: Isaac Romero
    TO: Jacqueline Malone
    SUBJECT: Re: Hello
    Dear Jacqueline, I met your mother while I was working for your great-aunt Juniper. And I made you a special box, which Juniper mailed to you foryour birthday. I hope that information proves to you that I am your father.
    I am currently incarcerated at Brookville Federal Prison Camp in Rhode Island. I am not allowed to make phone calls.
    It was him! My father was contacting me!
    I didn’t call Ethan and tell him what was going on. Perhaps that was a mistake but the truth was, I was ashamed. Ethan’s father was a great guy who spent time with his kids, did all the things fathers are supposed to do. And my dad was in jail. I wanted to talk to him without anyone knowing. This felt very private.
    So I googled the prison and here’s what I learned. Brookville Federal Prison Camp was called a camp because it was a minimum-security prison. If you’re not a violent threat to society, you might go to one of those places. I read an article by a man who’d been in Brookville. Most of the Brookville inmates had committed “white collar” crimes—which meant they were greedy thieves but they weren’t violent. Prison camps are sometimes called Club Fed because they have thingslike tennis courts, running tracks, weight rooms, and libraries. The article was all about how the biggest problem inside was finding ways to fill the endless hours. Many inmates took classes. Some chose to work jobs they would have never worked on the outside, like in the kitchen, or doing clerical work or gardening. Reading was a favorite activity. Friends and family could send books to the inmates, but only paperbacks. I wondered if my dad liked to read travel guides. Did we have that in common?
    There were so many things I wanted to tell him. Luckily, Mom was already asleep. So I started writing.

    FROM: Jacqueline Malone
    TO: Isaac Romero
    SUBJECT: Re: Hello
    Dear Mr. Romero,
    It is nice to hear from you. I never knew your name or anything about you. Great-Aunt Juniper gave me the box that you made. It was really nice. We figured out how to open it. Thank you for making it. I am twelve years oldnow, but