54 pages • 1 hour read
Ruth WareZero Days
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 8: “Saturday, February 11: Minus One Day”
Part 8, Chapter 1 Summary
Jack hitchhikes to the highway service station where she is supposed to meet Madrox, the hacker with whom she made a deal: £20,000 of Bitcoin for a burner phone with Gabe’s number. As they pull into the parking lot, the driver who picked her up, Bill Watts, says that he knows who she is. Jack feels deathly ill. Her entire torso hurts, and now she feels as though she might pass out. Bill assures her that he won’t turn her in for two reasons: He can tell she isn’t a murderer, and he doesn’t trust the police because he served time in his youth for something he didn’t do. Bill asks how she will get home. He tells her to tell other drivers at the station that she’s his niece, and one of them will help her. Jack is overwhelmed by his kindness.
She steps out of the truck and crosses the lot. The hooded man waiting for her is young, and he looks as nervous as Jack feels. Jack makes him laugh, trying to create rapport. She doesn’t want to pay him until she is sure that the phone works. Madrox calls his partner and tells him to route Gabe’s number to the burner phone in his hand. Jack dials Gabe’s number, and the burner rings. In return, she transfers the Bitcoin to Madrox’s account, aware that this is her last hope, as the phone will now lead the police to her.
Madrox tells Jack that she transferred less than they agreed upon. She checked the exchange rate the day before, when they made the deal, but the value of Bitcoin fluctuates, and it isn’t worth as much today. Madrox demands the rest of the money or else the deal is off. Jack explains that she has nothing else. He sees her diamond engagement ring. She doesn’t want to give it to him, but she hands it over. Madrox gives her the phone, and she sinks to her knees in the rain.
Part 8, Chapter 2 Summary
Jack goes to the station bathroom and looks at her wound. Angry red streaks lead away from it in all directions. All she can do is redress it. She barely recognizes herself in the mirror and laments the loss of her ring, “the last tangible piece of [Gabe] [she] had” (292). She buys food with her last few pounds and opens her laptop. She triggers the two-factor authentication and awaits the code. The code arrives, Jack punches it in, and Gabe’s backup files appear.
Part 8, Chapter 3 Summary
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of files, and Jack scrolls until she finds a folder labeled “Unsubmitted.” In it, she sees a document that references a problem with the code in Cerberus’s newest app, a note to speak with Cole about it, and a reminder to report it to Cerberus the following week. This app gives parents access to their children’s contacts, browsing history, and location, and a backdoor in this code would grant someone access to this information. Suddenly, the swapped phone rings. Knowing it has already transmitted her location, Jack answers. It takes her a moment, but she recognizes the voice on the other end as Malik’s.
Part 8, Chapter 4 Summary
Jack identifies herself and reflects on everything Malik got right, despite the one big thing she got wrong: Jack’s guilt. Malik speaks sympathetically, but Jack knows it’s a strategy. Jack tells Malik about Cole’s part in Gabe’s murder and insists he be arrested immediately. She knows she cannot give herself up and risk Malik misunderstanding the significance of what she found. Jack must make it public to guarantee the public knows and she is exonerated.
Quickly, Jack crosses the overpass to the service station on the other side of the highway as a half dozen police cars arrive at the station she just left. Jack finds a driver, Mike Rake, who knows Bill. When she claims to be Bill’s niece as instructed, he offers her a ride. She explains that her partner recently died, and Mike says he was afraid that she was being abused. She is shocked to think she looks like a battered woman. Jack falls asleep. Mike wakes her when they are near her stop. She struggles to express her gratitude, and he watches with obvious concern as she gets down and walks away. Jack heads toward Cole’s flat. It is midnight, and she is beyond exhausted, but this is the last hurdle.
Part 8 Analysis
Once again, Jack is overwhelmed by the Kindness of Strangers. First, Bill gives her a ride to the service station to meet Madrox, even knowing who she is. His fatherly concern touches her, especially when he provides her with a way to get home. Then, Mike happily gives Jack a ride back to London. He is as concerned about her safety as Bill had been. Jack reflects that “Gabe’s death had brought [her] close to the worst of humankind—but there were still good people out there” (279), and this helps her to keep going and avoid despair. For all the people like Cole or Madrox, there are others like Bill and Mike.
Jack’s horror at what might happen if Cerberus’s new app harvests information about children for criminals emphasizes the Dangers of Technology. Cole’s coding could make it possible for people to keep tabs on the children of political rivals, celebrities, and so on. It could give kidnappers access to children’s locations in real time. It is bad enough to think about the malicious hacking of adults’ devices, but the idea of children being targeted is even more horrifying.
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By Ruth Ware
