Fake ID

Nick does not fully understand what Dustin’s dangerous information implies. He tells Dustin to keep quiet just as Burke walks in. The mayor orders Nick to leave the room and never contact Dustin again. Nick fears for Dustin’s safety, but leaves as the nurse comes in.

Nick lies to Reya that Dustin was lightheaded and didn’t remember anything. She says they must go back to their original plan of searching the journalism room to find Eli‘s notes. Nick agrees. First, however, he wants to contact Bricks for some advice. When he searches for a way to contact his godfather, he realizes Bricks sent him an urgent message two days before.

Nick wants to ask Bricks for advice about his situation with the mayor and Whispertown. Instead, Bricks tells Nick that his mother has been trying to raise money from old acquaintances in Philadelphia so that she can take Nick and leave WITSEC. Concerned because he once was in love with Nick’s mom, Bricks passes along his phone number so Nick’s mom can call him if she really wants help getting away. This is too dangerous for Nick, who tells Bricks that he has to go and throws the burner phone into the lake. Not only did he not get any good advice, but he also now has bigger problems.

Nick contemplates how to get past the padlock on the journalism room door. He could make a “bump key” that would allow him to unlock the door, but Reya texts with a better way and asks him to meet her in the science hallway after class.

As he approaches the rendezvous, he hears students chanting that there is a fight between two girls. Reya drags Callie around the hallway for trying to steal her man. Knowing this fake fight is ostensibly about himself, Nick still can’t help his attraction: “I might be in love” (203). As the vice principal breaks up the fight, Reya tears away from him and shoves another student. No one notices her dropping the vice principal’s keys into Nick’s pocket.

Nick uses the keys to get into the journalism classroom, where he searches for any information Eli might have left. There are too many books to look through, but a stepladder leads him to a slightly askew tile in the ceiling, where he finds a lunch box with a flash drive. Nick and Reya, who is suspended for two weeks, take the flash drive home, only to discover that it is password protected.

For several days, Reya and Nick struggle to figure out Eli’s password. In the meantime, Dustin goes home from the hospital. Nick tells Dustin that he and Reya are working on something.

When Nick listens to an old voice mail from Eli, it occurs to him that Eli might have used a password related to video games, since he loved playing them so much. Armed with this idea, Reya quickly figures out what the password is, opens the flash drive, and discovers a file called “Whispertown.”

Nick tells us that “The worst day of my life began with a kiss from my mother” (211). Donna has prepared breakfast, but when James tries to watch TV, she knocks the remote out of his hand. She repeatedly mentions the fact that things change and they won’t always have each other. James leaves to get a bagel. Nick knows that his mother is preparing to run; he wants to solve Eli’s murder and get to the bottom of Whispertown before they go away, particularly since he believes his father may be involved in the conspiracy. He kisses his mother and leaves for Reya’s house.

Reya has discovered the meaning of Whispertown. It is a government code word for a project to flood one community—Stepton—with many families in WITSEC.

Eli’s research is thorough. There are many emails in which the mayor negotiated with government officials to bring in particularly undesirable WITSEC families. The government calls them the worst of the worst. Reya calls them scum. Nick realizes his family is part of Whispertown.

Something is bothering Reya, however: Eli said that there are family concerns that need to be taken into consideration.

Reya’s mother reminds Nick that it is time for him to go to school. Reya offers to drive Nick to school in her Volkswagen and pick him up afterward so they can work on the final password to see what other files may be locked. She gives her keys to Nick and tells him how to start the car remotely. When he does, there is an explosion, knocking them down inside the house. The Volkswagen has blown up. When he goes outside, Nick sees that Reya’s mother is unconscious.

Nick races back inside the house and calls 911. Reya runs out to her mother. Nick kneels down beside Reya, who cradles her mother and does not speak to him. Realizing the police will be there soon, Nick gets on his bike and pedals to his father’s workplace.

Shocked at his son’s appearance, James asks what’s going on. Nick immediately confronts him with the word “Whispertown.” In a tense conversation in the parking lot, Nick demands that his father tell him what he is involved with because kids are dying. At last, James explains everything.

James explains that the family had actually been kicked out of WITSEC before he begged Bertram for another chance. Bertram put him in contact with Mayor Burke, who found out that James was good with numbers. Burke brought him to Stepton to alter accounts so no one would realize Burke was embezzling government money, and so that they could make it look like the community was safe for WITSEC families. Nick confronts his father about his failings. Although he had promised to hand over the flash drive if his father came clean, Nick decides not to hand the data over. He tells James that someone tried to blow up Reya in her car, gets on his bicycle, and rides away.

Nick tries to understand who would want to blow up Reya. It doesn’t seem to be something that would be in the playbook of any of the suspects. Suddenly, an SUV strikes him from behind, knocking him off the side of the road. Zach and his friends pick Nick up and throw him in the back of the SUV, driving off.

A flashback returns to the woods, where Nick/Tony watches his father James/Robert decide whether to shoot the young man. Robert goes back and forth with his boss about whether his job should involve taking someone’s life. Ultimately Robert refuses to do it. The mobster remarks that this means Robert’s only usefulness is his accounting skill: “You are so lucky none of these idiots are proficient in math” (234). With that, he executes the young man. The shot occurs at the moment that the headlights of the SUV, which are on a timer, go out. Fearing he will be seen, Tony jumps into the back of the SUV, rattling the tools. His father goes to check out the noise, sees Tony, and tells the boss the tools fell over. The boss makes Robert to bury the body since he didn’t perform the execution. This is the beginning of the deterioration of his father’s relationship with his boss and the deterioration of his parents’ marriage. Soon after, they go into the witness protection program.

In the present, Nick realizes Zach is taking him to the construction site of the mayor’s new town center. There, Zach pounds a baseball bat on the ground. While Nick realizes that there is no one to save him, his experiences and his street smarts kick in, inspiring a strange confidence: “For the first time, I realized the odds were in my favor” (239). As Zach threatens him, Nick plays mind games, giving Zach advice about getting away with what they are about to do. He explains that the four teens are guilty of kidnapping, aggravated assault, reckless driving, and attempted murder. Also, because he is Black and the boys are white, this is a hate crime, which makes it a federal offense. As Nick describes what will happen in prison to the increasingly doubtful gang, he slowly edges toward Zach, yanks the bat out of his hands, and knocks Zach to the ground. Nick pounds the dirt beside Zach’s head with the bat several times, frightening Zach so much that he wets his pants. Though Nick knows he could get away with doing whatever he wants to Zach, he throws the bat away and tells them to leave. Having no other way to get back, Nick texts Dustin, who promises to come immediately and pick him up.

Dustin picks up Nick at the construction site. They also pick up Reya, who is at the hospital; her uncle Miguel is there and makes her nervous. Dustin, Reya, and Nick discuss what they have found out about Whispertown. They conclude that all the violence is the result of Mayor Burke and Miguel Rios plotting to embezzle money from the government while trying to cover their tracks. Reya wants to get the flash drive from her room, not realizing that the drive is in Nick’s pocket and that it is broken after the incident with Zach at the construction site. Dustin suggests that they can find safe harbor at his house, where the police will not bother them and they can figure out their next move.

As Dustin, Reya, and Nick sit in Dustin’s bedroom trying to decide what to do, they hear Mayor Burke come in and shout for Dustin. Dustin tells the others to remain quiet in his room while he goes down to deal with his father. Because they believe that Burke has abused his son physically, Reya and Nick want to call for help, but they don’t trust the local police, so Nick goes to Dustin’s computer to find the number of the state police. The argument downstairs becomes more heated. As Nick searches for the number of the Virginia troopers, a persistent email keeps popping up. Nick clicks on it and sees a long series of emails from someone named FuegoGirl. When he opens one, he is stunned to see a photograph of Pilar’s baby, whose eyes look just like Dustin’s.

As Nick considers the implications of the fact that Dustin is the father of Pilar’s baby, he suddenly realizes that Dustin may be behind the car accident that claimed the lives of his two friends. Just then, Nick and Reya hear a crashing sound downstairs. Reya rushes out first, followed by Nick. In the mayor’s study, they see Dustin sitting on the floor by the gun cabinet, which has been broken open, and Burke lying seemingly dead on the floor, with a head wound caused by his boxing trophy. Dustin seems to be crying, though he sheds no tears. Dustin explains that what happened to his father was an accident, but Nick has a hard time believing it. Reya helps Dustin to his feet. Suddenly, when Burke’s groans reveals that he is still alive, Dustin picks up the boxing trophy and bashes his father’s head with it twice more. He then grabs a rifle from the gun cabinet and points it at Nick and Reya alternately.

As Dustin holds the gun, he finally tells the truth. He caused the accident that killed Lorenz and Carrey. He was also the one who slit Eli’s wrists in the journalism room. And he is the father of Pilar’s baby. Burke tried to cover up what Dustin did in the journalism room by sending people in to remove any evidence. Now Dustin is improvising, trying to decide the best way to cover his tracks. Nick sees that Dustin is about to shoot them both.

Nick realizes that if he can control the barrel of the rifle, he can control the gun. He ducks as Dustin is about to shoot him and wrestles the rifle away from Dustin, and the two fight. Dustin is a good boxer, and he uses his arm cast as a club. While he is stronger, Nick is more resourceful. Nick throws a handful of glass shards into Dustin’s face, tackles him, and pummels him mercilessly. Reya picks up the rifle and tells Nick to move so she can shoot Dustin. Nick stands up and slowly takes the rifle away from her.

Not trusting the police, Nick calls James for help. However, Sheriff Hill arrives and places Nick under arrest.

An ambulance also arrives. Paramedics patch up Nick. They take away Burke’s body and Dustin, handcuffed to a gurney. Reya and Nick are taken to the police station in separate cars. Nick ends up in an interrogation room with Hill, who explains that he is not really under arrest—the theatrics are just to cut down on questions from other police officers. Hill wants to understand everything that has happened so that the guilty parties can be prosecuted. He convinces Nick to explain everything, even though Nick is very reluctant.

Soon James comes to take Nick home. Nick’s mother is gone. She left a letter explaining that she is leaving without Nick to keep him safe: “WITSEC won’t abandon a minor. You’ll be safe. Which is my strongest desire” (275). Nick wants to go after her immediately, but James points out that they have no idea where to go to look for Donna.

The next morning, Deputy Marshal Bertram shows up to speak with James and Nick. The Whispertown initiative will move forward; Bertram wants James and Nick to stay in the program so they can monitor its success in the community. Because of his false accounting, James has made Whispertown look successful, though in fact it is not. When James tells Bertram that Donna is gone, Bertram responds that this means she is now officially out of the program. Angered by this comment, Nick splashes water in Bertram’s face and runs up the stairs to his room.

Later, James promises Nick that they can use all the city’s resources to track down Donna’s movements. In the meanwhile, James will continue to siphon money from Whispertown. When they have enough to live on and find Donna, then they will both go to be with her.

Even though he does not have a driver’s license, Nick drives his mother’s car to Reya’s house. He sees people working to fix up the house. Inside, he speaks to Reya’s mother and to Miguel Rios. Reya asks how Nick knew the shady things they discussed, like how to make a bump key and the laws around Zach’s attack. When Nick doesn’t answer, she plays a video of Eli saying that he is pretty sure that Nick is in WITSEC.

Reya asks Nick if he is in the witness protection program. Even though he has been told never to admit it, Nick tells her the truth: how long he’s been in the program, his real name, and his background. Reya decides that she does not want to be associated with Nick anymore. She pledges to continue the work that her brother started to unmask the Whispertown project and orders Nick to leave.

Needing some advice, Nick tries to call Bricks. Maric, James’s old mob boss, picks up the call. Maric has no idea who is calling, but this means it is unsafe for Nick to reach out to Bricks.

After everything, a lot of rumors go around the high school, but no one really knows who has been the malefactor. Zach spreads the rumor that Nick is actually at fault somehow, though he will not confront Nick face to face.

In the following week, the vice principal summons Nick to the journalism room. Now renamed the Elijah Cruz Journalism Annex, it has been refitted with new equipment by Miguel Rios. The paper is going digital. This is Reya’s first day back after her two-week suspension. She comes into the room when Nick is there and hears that the vice principal wants Nick to be the new journalism editor. Nick accepts on the condition that they change the paper’s name from the Rebel Yell. Reya declines the offer to run the paper with Nick.

Nick continues to work with James to search for Donna. His father embezzles the money they will need to leave the witness protection program once they find her. Nick estimates that it will take from three to six months to escape. He decides the time has come for him to make his own future; he will not rely on WITSEC to create an identity for him any longer.