Down to the Wire

one misstep and the mansion
will explode.…

In our wet suits, we flutter-kicked our way through the dark ocean. Wirenut first, me second, and TL brought up the rear.

Water plugged my ears, permitting me to hear only my heartbeat and slow deep breaths.

Through my night goggles, I kept my vision focused on Wirenut’s fins.
One misstep rigs the mansion to explode.

Talk about pressure.

We made it through the fence and continued underwater around the island to the east side.

We exited the water and stripped our diving gear, then piled it on the sliver of rocky beach.

From his vest, Wirenut pulled four pressurized suction cups. Two he strapped to his knees and two he held in his hands. TL and I did the same. Air release controlled the suction, allowing for silent attachment and release. They worked on any surface.

Wirenut turned to us, touched his eye, and held up one finger.
Watch closely. One at a time.

TL and I nodded. Wirenut suctioned onto the stone and began a spiderlike crawl. I scrutinized his form, memorizing his technique and rhythm.

He made it to the roof and signaled for me.

One misstep rigs the mansion to explode.

With a deep breath I suctioned onto the wall.

OTHER BOOKS YOU MAY ENJOY

The
Specialists

down to
the wire

Shannon
Greenland

speak
An Imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

SPEAK

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110017, India

Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0745, Auckland, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

Registered Offices: Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Published by Speak, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 2007

10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1

Copyright © Shannon Greenland, 2007

All rights reserved

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Greenland, Shannon.

The specialists : down to the wire / by Shannon Greenland.

p. cm.

Summary: GiGi, a sixteen-year-old computer genius living undercover with a group of teenaged prodigies, goes on a mission with Wirenut, the electronics specialist, when a deadly neurotoxin is stolen and hidden in a small Mediterranean country.

[1. Espionage—Fiction. 2. Orphans—Fiction.] I. Title. II. Title: Down to the wire. PZ7.G8458Sod 2007

[Fic]—dc22 2006102666

ISBN: 978-1-101-65067-7

Printed in the United States of America

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all the girls who gave their critiquing brilliance: Glen McGafferty, Tara Greenbaum, Mari Lacroix, and Courtney Nighbert.

Tons of hoorays for my fab plotting group: Shelly Gilchrist, Tara Greenbaum, and Britta Harris.

A toast to you, Nadia Cornier, for being the coolest agent ever.

And one for you, too, Karen Chaplin. You are, hands down, the dream editor.

To all my young adult friends at Teen Lit Authors, you gals are the best group.

And to all my family in alphabetical order, so none of them will complain I’ve left them out: Bill, Jason, Jim, Mark, Max, Melinda, Naomi, Sharie, and Susan. Thanks for being the best support group a gal could ask for.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Prologue

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Teaser for
The Specialists: The Winning Element

[Prologue]

Using his homemade,
handheld computer, the HOMAS B28, Frankie flipped through prescanned floor plans.

Impenetrable. That’s what all the suppliers, media, and tech journals were bragging about the Rayver Security System.

We’ll just see about that.

He tucked the B28 in his zippered thigh pocket and pulled out a granola bar.

Unwrapping it, Frankie studied the dark New Mexico Museum of History from the sidewalk. Easy enough to get in the front door. Standard nixpho lock with a keypad. Any kindergartener with half an IQ could do it, too.