Next morning, Russell rang Gillian's bell at the obscene hour of nine. He wasn't surprised when nobody came to the door, so he called her until she picked up and sent him to seventh hell.

Brandon Philips, the FBI analyst Russell had brought with him, was a little surprised at the snarling curses escaping Russell's phone as he chuckled quietly. Then he said the magic word: "Orlando's", and not a minute later Gillian opened the door.

She still wore her sleeping top and her pajamas bottoms, her hair a complete mess and her eyes hardly open. She spun around to head to the kitchen, without even noticing the stranger at her door.

"Tanya must be still sleeping," she grunted when she heard the footsteps following her.

"She'll be here before noon," replied Russell, leading Brandon in.

"Then why the hell are you here so early, the one morning I can sleep in?"

"'Cause I couldn't wait to see you?"

Gillian threw a dishcloth at Russell's face as he chuckled again. Then she spotted Brandon, and the large paper cups he carried.

"And you are?" she grunted, snatching one.

"I'm Brandon Philips, tech analyst with the FBI. Agent Coleman said you guys needed help."

Gillian forced herself to open her eyes a little more and looked him up and down. He was about twenty-seven, spiky hair, thick glasses, wearing baggy jeans and a Doctor Who tee. She scowled and turned to Russell.

"He's no good."

Brandon frowned, puzzled, while Russell scowled back at her.

Gillian sighed. "He's a nerd down to the bone, Russ. He likes Doctor Who, he's sure also a fan of Big Bang Theory, Star Trek and the Star Wars original trilogy—and let me tell you, young man, that I hate that Sheldon boy, but if you like Battlestar Galactica I may spare you. And he's not even thirty. So he and Tanya are gonna fall for each other as soon as they meet. They're gonna spend the rest of the day proving whose kung-fu is stronger to hide that they like each other. And then I'm gonna have T with her head up in the clouds, and you feds are gonna be one tech down, 'cause they're gonna spend their days sending bombs to each other, trying to crash their systems, and their nights meeting at medieval campaigns online, at first to slay each other bloody, and then to fight together in every single battle till an EMP do them part."

Gillian raised her eyebrows—now you get it, darling? Russell laughed while Brandon gawked at her. She dropped herself onto a stool at the bar and focused on her cappuccino.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but how did you know...?" Brandon tried to ask, and he trailed off when he was introduced to one of Gillian's death glares. It made him apologize at the speed of light, while Russell was already laughing so hard, he was grabbing his belly.

"Call me that again and I swear to God I'm gonna send a worm to delete your hentai folders."

Brandon eyes widened in dread. Gillian winked at him—beware, sonny.

Tanya arrived about eleven with more Orlando's to go, which definitely improved Gillian's mood. The wall of the family room had been cleared again, and Russell and Gillian pinned pictures to it, while Brandon worked on his computer at the table.

"What're you doing?" Tanya grunted, proving that having a morning mood was sort of mandatory in the SCU. "I've already done that, Reg. You're wasting your time." She turned to Brandon. "And you are?"

Brandon repeated his polite introduction, getting nothing but a cold nod. Tanya left her things at the other end of the table. Gillian traded a look with Russell and shook her head. Russell smiled.

The girl took her computer to the TV and plugged it in, signaling them to join her. The other three sat on the couch, to watch a quick slideshow she had prepared. It showed a couple of charts presenting the data she and Kurt had gathered.

"Save Tindermann and his friends, there are no large groups of overlaps among the users. There are pairs, but mostly individuals, with no further interaction outside the group. They attend different schools, and they don't share any other activity. They don't even have the other members as social media contacts."

"No other member whatsoever?" asked Russell.

"Nope."

"Let me see if I get it," said Gillian. "I open one of these groups, right? I want it to have members and activity, so I invite... Can I invite anyone?"

Brandon anticipated Tanya, earning a glare from the girl. "Only your contacts, unless you have the exact username of the person you wanna invite. Depending on their security settings, you can just add them to the group or they have to agree to join it."

Tanya nodded. "And once they're in the group, they can invite their own contacts."

"But kids wouldn't bother to find out the exact username of people they don't know," said Russell. "So there has to be someone in the group that knows at least some of the other members, enough to get the group started."

"The ghost user," said Gillian and Tanya.

Russell summed it up. "So we have... let's say fifty kids who don't know each other, but all of them know the same person."

"It has to be a grownup. Some sort of teacher or coach," said Gillian. "Somebody with access to kids from different schools and circles."

"I'll look into it," said Tanya and Brandon at the same time.

Gillian smiled. "Easy, lads, let's use your kung-fu wisely. T, you look for overlaps in their schools' staff. Brandon, you take their other activities."

Tanya and Brandon went to work at the table, while Gillian and Russell lingered before the TV.

"An adult makes sense, you know," commented Russell. "Someone with both access and the skill to get to them."

Gillian nodded. "Someone smart enough to spot those that can be manipulated within a larger group. Then he or she contacts them and recruits them. That's not easy, we're dealing with a cunning bastard." She paused. "Y'know? I'm thinking about what happened the other night, when Fred was able to catch dear little Ben before he set another incendiary device."

"What about it?"

"The other four boys sneaked out at exactly the same time, all of them with backpacks containing picnic stuff, and tried to run away from us like they were doing something wrong. That gave Ben Tindermann all the time he needed to reach the school. Had Fred not been there with Ron's scanner, the boy would've placed his funny device unnoticed." She noticed Russell's frown and sighed. "Point being, it's like they knew we wouldn't be watching Tindermann because of his condition. So they set all that up to drag us along, and give the boy a window to do his thing."

"You think whoever is behind this tipped them off about how to set up a diversion to get away with it."

"Takes more than a bunch of teens to figure out what the police would or wouldn't do. Takes an adult, Russ. This son of a bitch predicted our possible conclusions and moves."

"Psychopaths do make the best profilers, Reg. Think a pedophile, capable of telling which kid to snatch in a park or a mall."

"Shut up," she growled, disgusted, and took a long sip at her cappuccino. "What I don't get is what does this person get from this? Not like he or she has the kids taking on his or her personal revenge or something."

Russell grimaced. "You know psychopaths have their own logic, completely different from regular people."

"Power," she muttered. "That's it. This bastard enjoys the feeling of puppeteering the kids."

Russell nodded. "Meaning he or she is also a narcissist? Makes sense."

"No overlaps in school teachers, Reg," said Tanya.

"Can you lend me a hand?" asked Brandon, winning a smile from the girl.

Gillian strolled back to the table, thinking hard, and said, "Brandon, let Tanya handle it, I want you to start a search nationwide. Dead or attacked teen bullies over the last six months."

"Yes, ma—LT."