Scavenger Hunt!

To celebrate the upcoming release of Deadlock(June 25th!), my publisher has arranged a Scavenger Hunt! Follow the links at the end of each stop and collect clues along the way! At the end of the Scavenger Hunt, enter your clues to be entered to win the grand prize: a Nespresso Espresso maker and coffee goodies to keep your all-night hacking (or reading) sessions going strong. You might find a few bonus giveaways in hidden links throughout the Scavenger Hunt, too, including print copies of Deadlock!

To get you started, here is the first chapter of Deadlock! I’m so excited for you to meet Lindsey and Jace.

Chapter 1:

I’m going to kill my sister.

Lindsey Morris gritted her teeth into a smile for the photo her jolly Aunt Martha snapped, the silent threat in her head becoming more of an inevitable truth with each passing moment. God knows, it wasn’t unlike her twin sister Lena to flake out on her, but their parents’ fortieth anniversary party was something the two of them had been planning for months. All for Lena to leave Lindsey holding the bag. Again.

Relieved from picture duty at last, she left her parents and hustled in her towering heels across the banquet hall to check on the champagne, dodging cousins and uncles and aunts. She hadn’t seen some of them in years. If a certain sister hadn’t left her running this entire show, she might have had time to stop and catch up with each of them.

All of it had come together nicely, though. Her parents were beaming in front of a life-size poster of one of their wedding pictures, forty years having done nothing to dim their happiness and love for each other. Lindsey snapped a picture of her own before slipping out the door into an echoing hallway to dial Lena. As expected, her sister’s voicemail greeting chirped in her ear.

“Hello?” A long pause ensued, during which Lindsey’s blood pressure spiked. “Gotcha! Sorry, you don’t get to talk to me right now. If you want to talk to me later, better make it good.”

Lindsey waited for the tone. “I don’t want to talk to you. I want to strangle you. Dammit, Lena, where are you?”

Hours passed before she could get away to the blissful solitude of her apartment, where she hoped a glass of wine and a Simpsons marathon might make her feel a little better. But even Bart and Homer’s animated antics weren’t enough. Her anger had burned away to sad ashes, and she couldn’t get her parents’ disappointed faces out of her mind. It would serve Lena right if none of them ever spoke to her again, as drastic as it sounded, but something about Lena made one eager to trust her and believe her when she made the promises she never kept. And the anger Lindsey felt when that inevitably happened could just as easily be turned on herself for enabling her twin, for never enforcing any consequences when Lena flaked out.

But how many times had she tried? How many times had it worked?

Then her glass was empty, and she poured another, sitting alone on her couch and staring at the way the light from the TV played hypnotically through the crimson depths as she swirled the liquid in her glass. Everything she was doing to make herself feel better was having the opposite effect. The fact she had no one to vent her frustrations to made it worse. Bad-mouthing her sister to their parents wasn’t an option, especially today—they were probably on the plane for their anniversary trip to Cabo San Lucas.

Lucky them.

“I need a vacation, too,” Lindsey told her wineglass. It was the only one there to listen. Then, sighing, she set it down on her coffee table and picked up her phone, shooting ramrod straight when she saw that she had somehow missed a text from Lena twenty minutes ago. She’d probably been in the kitchen scavenging.

Sorry. Ran into some trouble. Give Mom and Dad my love. I need a favor. Go to this address and ask him for help. Please. It will all become clear.

An address followed, which Lindsey’s eyes scanned without seeing. Her brain had shorted out on the word “favor.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” she asked her phone, gripping it with a force that threatened to shatter it.

Lena in trouble was nothing new. Ever since high school, on through college, and even after, she’d been getting herself or someone else into shit she couldn’t always talk her way out of. Thinking Lindsey would simply forget about tonight and rush in to help her was simply par for the course, but Jesus, it had to stop sometime, didn’t it?

One thing was for sure. No way was she going to that address, wherever it was. To some strange place to ask someone she didn’t know for—what, even? Who was she supposed to be looking for? She wasn’t about to let Lena make her look like an idiot on top of everything.

No one else could get her off her warm cocoon on the couch to face the biting cold. She didn’t know what she might find at her sister’s apartment; she didn’t care, but she was going all the same. Lena probably wouldn’t be there, but maybe it wouldn’t be too difficult to nose around and find out where she was. Then she would go find her, even if she had to hop on a plane to do it.

There were some things she desperately needed to say to Lena’s face, and it was well past time.

She rushed through her apartment, throwing on a coat and shoving her feet into boots, her pulse pounding in her ears. No one else on earth could push her buttons like this. Lindsey hadn’t trusted Lena since college, her twin’s antics during that particular time of their lives having been the final straw.

Yes, she was her sister. Yes, Lindsey still loved her as such. Gossip sessions, shopping trips, friendship…those areas had always come easily. But real trust?That ship had sailed years ago, when Lena had pulled what was probably her cruelest stunt of all—at least that Lindsey knew of. The skeletons that could lurk hidden in Lena’s closet were enough to give her cold chills. The two of them had the same face, and Lena probably had enough enemies that Lindsey should look over her own shoulder when she walked down the street.

In the back of the Uber she called because wine and rage and driving didn’t mix, she white-knuckled her purse straps all the way to her sister’s apartment, going over everything she wanted to say in her mind in case Lena was there. Confrontation ordinarily tied her tongue up in knots, and no doubt it would this time.

She had to have her words straight in her head or they would slip right out. But niggling in the back of her mind was the fact that their parents would never get over an irreparable rift between them, no matter the cause. It was enough for her to rein in on a few of the epithets she wished to hurl at Lena’s perpetually smug face. But not many.

If Lena was off having a grand adventure with plans to show up next week thinking all was well—she added the epithets back in.

Long ago, Lena had given Lindsey a key to her apartment so she could water her plants while she was away. The plants had died anyway—Lena didn’t even take care of them herself after she got home from wherever she’d been. But Lindsey had hung on to the key, and it had come in handy more than once. She stalked directly to her sister’s door, lifted her fist to beat on it, thought better of it—she might not even answer—and fit the key into the lock.

The sight that greeted her as she flipped the nearby light switch caused her heart to stutter and her breath to catch, momentarily choking her.

Her sister’s apartment was trashed.

Scavenger Hunt: Where are Lindsey’s parents going for their anniversary trip?

Next stop, Melynda Price

Deadlock releases June 25th! You can pick it up in paperback from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold. Add it on Goodreads!

 

 

 

Published by Cherrie Lynn

139,252 thoughts on “Scavenger Hunt!”

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  50. What Proxy Servers Works and Why Beginners Can Start on Everyday Networking: A First Person Explanation For Curious Beginners

    Before I explain anything, I want to be clear about who is writing this.
    I am not a network engineer or a proxy provider, I have no qualifications
    to show you, and I set up no servers specifically to prepare this article.
    Everything below comes from public information and careful
    reasoning, so please treat it as an introduction and verify the details yourself.

    What Writing This Cost Me

    An honest article about what a proxy server is was slow work, as many sources exaggerate either the promise or the danger.

    The text was rewritten more than once, restructured twice, and cleaned of every
    unsupported claim. I checked each statement against open technical references and dropped every claim that lacked a
    source, and I mention this because readers deserve to know
    how a text was made.

    The One Sentence Definition

    A proxy server is a machine placed between you and a website that takes your request, sends it
    on, and returns the reply. Because of that, the site sees the proxy as the
    visitor instead of your device, which explains most uses. I am not a network engineer and I tested no product for this article, so these are plain explanations and not expert instructions, and compare other sources.

    A Simple Picture to Remember

    Picture writing a letter to a company and giving it to
    a messenger who puts their own return address on it, so replies
    reach the messenger first. The messenger passes the answer on to you, and the company never sees your address, though the messenger knows who you are.
    This detail matters because it shows a proxy shifts
    trust to another party and does not remove it, so
    be careful whom you use.

    From Your Device to the Website

    With a proxy, your browser or app sends traffic to the
    proxy address and port first, and the proxy then opens its own connection to the destination. The site answers the proxy, which receives the data and relays it to you
    over your existing connection. This normally takes a fraction of a second, but the
    extra hop adds delay, so speed differs between services,
    and results will differ.

    IP Addresses in Plain Words

    An IP address is the number websites use
    to identify where traffic is coming from,
    much like a street address. Without a proxy the
    site sees the public IP of your home, office, or mobile network, and with one it sees the
    proxy’s address. Sites can still learn your browser, language, and logged in accounts, so changing the
    IP is not the same as becoming invisible, and it is
    easy to forget.

    Everyday Uses

    People use proxies to test how a site looks from other countries, manage business accounts where allowed, collect public data,
    check ads, or add control in company networks. Some uses are routine and harmless and others break site rules or laws,
    and the technology does not decide which one you are doing.
    I would always read the terms of the sites involved and consult a professional when the legal side is unclear,
    because ignorance is no defense.

    Two Directions

    A forward proxy represents the user in front of clients, while a reverse proxy represents a website in front of servers, and both relay traffic for different owners.
    When people buy a proxy they nearly always mean a forward proxy, yet reverse proxies are everywhere handling load balancing, caching, and security.
    Knowing the difference prevents confusion when documents use the word proxy in two different ways, and it is worth learning early.

    HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS

    Proxies use different protocols, mainly HTTP for web traffic, HTTPS capable for encrypted tunnels, and SOCKS for many kinds of connections.
    Your software must support the protocol that your proxy
    uses, or the connection will simply fail with an error that may not
    explain why. When buying or configuring, check the protocol and test with
    a small request before relying on it, and read the provider guide.

    Where the Address Comes From

    Datacenter proxies use hosting company addresses and are fast and cheap, while
    residential proxies use home connection addresses and resemble ordinary visitors.
    Mobile proxies use cellular addresses, and each type has trade offs in cost, speed,
    reliability, and how sites treat the traffic. No type is always best,
    and the choice depends on your task, budget, and the rules of the sites involved,
    and honest providers will explain this.

    Anonymity Levels

    A transparent proxy reveals that it is a proxy and may
    pass your real IP, an anonymous proxy hides your
    IP but admits it is a proxy, and an elite proxy tries to appear normal.

    These labels are loose and providers use them differently, so testing beats trusting
    a label. No proxy hides everything as browsers, cookies,
    and behavior may still identify you, so remember that.

    Rotating and Static Proxies

    A static proxy keeps one IP address for a long time, while a rotating proxy
    changes addresses automatically per request or
    after a set time. Static addresses suit stable identity tasks, and rotating ones suit many requests spread
    across addresses within the rules. Rotation does not excuse bad behavior, and too many requests can harm a website or get you blocked, so
    be considerate.

    Similar but Different

    A VPN usually encrypts all device traffic and routes
    it via a server, while a proxy typically handles one application’s traffic and may not encrypt it.
    Both change the IP websites see but solve different problems,
    and a proxy gives finer control for tasks like testing or data collection. If your goal is general privacy on public networks,
    a reputable VPN is usually more suitable, though I am no expert
    and you should research it, and neither is magic.

    The Biggest Risk

    Since a proxy sits in the middle, its operator may see which sites you visit and, without end to end encryption, the content,
    so operator trustworthiness is the central security question. Free services carry extra risk as some add ads,
    collect data, or use unwilling devices. Never send passwords, banking details,
    or private messages through a proxy you do not fully trust, and prefer encrypted
    connections, and remember the risk.

    Using Proxies Responsibly

    Using a proxy is legal in many countries, but using
    one for fraud, bypassing paid access without rights, harassment, or crime remains
    illegal and unethical. Websites have terms of service, and breaking them can cause blocks, lost data, or complaints, so
    read rules before automating. Laws differ between countries, and
    I am not a lawyer, so please ask a qualified professional about your specific situation, and be honest with yourself.

    Choosing a Provider Wisely

    Good providers explain where addresses come from,
    state clear rules, show transparent pricing, and offer support, while
    red flags are unrealistic promises, unclear sourcing, and payment
    pressure. Read independent reviews cautiously
    since some are paid or fake, and prefer your own small test over rankings online.

    Because I tested none I recommend no one, and suggest comparing
    two or more, and keep your expectations realistic.

    Basic Troubleshooting

    Typical problems are wrong settings, blocked ports, expired logins, protocol mismatches,
    or sites refusing the address, and many can be solved by checking basics one at a time.
    Start by confirming the address, port, username, and password, then test another website, then contact support with
    exact error messages. Changing many things at once hides the cause, so change one setting and retest, and write down what worked.

    Mistakes Beginners Often Make

    A frequent error is trusting free proxy lists, which are often slow, unreliable,
    and unsafe, making them a poor starting point. Another is expecting a proxy to guarantee anonymity or make any activity safe,
    when it only changes the visible address. A third is ignoring site rules and law because the proxy feels like a shield, which can lead to
    blocks or worse, and all three are avoidable.

    A Short Glossary for Beginners

    An IP address identifies where traffic comes from,
    a port is a numbered entrance on a server, and a protocol is the rule
    set machines use to talk. Latency is the delay before data arrives, bandwidth is how much data moves
    in a time, and authentication is proving who you are.
    Learning these words makes provider pages and tutorials simpler, and it keeps
    you confident.

    What You Can Rely On

    I want to restate my limits: I am not an expert, I hold no credentials, and I tested no proxy product for
    this article. These notes condense open sources and general reasoning, and facts like features, costs, and policies shift
    constantly, so please verify everything with official sources.

    The Bottom Line

    Proxies are useful tools with real limits, and knowing both sides will protect you
    from hype and bad choices. Thank you for reading, and I hope the care behind this overview shows.

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