Read No Test for the Wicked: A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, Book Five for Free Online

on her. She’d fit right in. I’m serious. Look at her.”
    Both men turned to stare at me. Self-conscious, I reached up and touched my ponytail. While I appreciated Ben’s full support, I wasn’t sure I was thrilled with his utter certainty that I could pass as seventeen or eighteen. I had expected at least a
bit
more resistance.
    I cleared my throat. “Um, the students wear uniforms. Technically, I’d be in a green and white plaid skirt, white polo shirt and green sweater, not ripped jeans.”
    “Hell, that’s even better.” Ben slapped his thigh. “She’ll blend in perfectly.”
    “I’m not sure about this,” Finn said.
    “Why?” Ben shifted in his seat. “Lexi has accurately described the situation. We all know it’s going to be near impossible to stop the hacking because every damn student at the school is an insider threat. These are smart kids. Lexi can isolate the networks and the system all she wants, but all the kids need is one teacher who forgets to shut down or leaves their password taped to their desk. This is an organized group with a leader. Finding the ringleader and teaching the group a lesson from the inside—one hacker to another—is
exactly
the way to shut this group down and keep it down. We don’t want these kids to get a taste for what it’s like to cross the line from a little harmless hacking to illegal cracking. In order to get the kids to listen, she has to become one of them. Her talent alone will be enough to get her noticed by the best and the brightest in the school and they should bring her right into the group. Once she’s in, the hard part is done.”
    I decided it was time for me take control of the conversation.
    “Well, I don’t know if it would be
that
simple, Ben, but it would definitely be a start to determining how and why they’re cracking, and what I can do about it.”
    I glanced over at Finn and rubbed my temples. “Look, Finn, the group at the school is apparently quite well organized and has a ringleader. I need to find out who it is and give him or her a lesson from the inside. This is exactly the way to shut this group down. Ben gets it. In order to get them to listen to me and understand what I’m saying, I have to become one of them to show them I
am
one of them.”
    “So, you’re certain going undercover like this will help you shut them down just like that?”
    “Not just like that, but I have a plan.”
    “What if someone recognizes you? You’ve been on a television show. Bonnie recognized you.”
    I shrugged. “Plausible deniability. If I’m recognized I can say I’m sometimes mistaken for that woman on the television show. No biggie, really. I can handle it. It will take me all of thirty minutes to create an alternate identity that Bonnie or Ron can upload to the school system. The kids that matter will check me out there.”
    “Agreed,” Ben said emphatically. “Not to mention that I hardly recognized you on that show and I
know
you. The clothes and hairstyles made you look really different—in a good way, of course. Not that you don’t look good now. I didn’t mean that to be an insult. Just you don’t look good in that glamorous, really pretty way on a daily basis. Except I didn’t mean that in a sexually harassing way.”
    “Jeez. I know, Ben.”
    “Good, because these days a guy can’t say a thing about a woman without getting into trouble. That being said, I’d suggest changing your hair color as an extra precaution. Go blonde. I guarantee no one would recognize you then.”
    My mouth fell open. “Blonde?”
    “No one on this planet, perhaps in the entire universe, would recognize you then.”
    “I don’t know if that’s necessary.” My stomach lurched queasily.
    He chuckled. “Going undercover as a high school student is less extreme than dyeing your hair?”
    “Totally.”
    Finn looked between Ben and me. “Do you think you can really pull this off, Lexi?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe. I’m definitely on