The 39 Clues Turbulence (2 page)

“Sorry,” Amy said, turning away so Ian wouldn’t see that her face had turned bright red.

“Quite all right. I had forgotten you do things differently across the pond.” He took a step back to look at Amy. “I take it jeans are the latest in evening wear here in the wild west?” He made an exaggerated show of narrowing his eyes. “Is that a juice stain on your blouse? How fetching.”

Amy tried to ignore the prickle on her skin caused by Ian’s gaze. As usual, he was dressed like a model from a country club brochure. But even though the expensive shirt and perfectly pressed khakis looked the same as always, there was something different about him. The old Ian had mastered the art of always looking like he was waiting for his private jet, maintaining a confident, slightly bored demeanor at all times. This Ian stood with his shoulders a little hunched and his arms folded across his chest, as if he were trying to protect something deep inside of him — or trying to keep something from spilling out.

“Juice stains will be the least of your worries when I’m done with you,” Amy said, avoiding Ian’s eyes. “I have a big weekend planned for all of us. Come on, I’ll show you guys to the dorms.” She turned around and motioned for Ian to follow her up the stairs.

“Dorms?” Amy heard Natalie call from behind her. “You’re joking, right?”

“Don’t worry,” Hamilton said as he raced ahead, carrying both his and Natalie’s suitcases. “Madison doesn’t sleepwalk anymore.”

“Bring that back!” Natalie shouted as she ran up after him. “I’m going to stay at the Ritz-Carlton.”

“Is that where they make the crackers?” Madison asked. “I’m coming, too!”

Amy tilted her head down to check her watch. “Hey, Dan,” she called without looking up. “Make sure everyone meets in the library in a hour, okay?”

There was no answer, only a loud
thud
from upstairs, followed by a muffled “whoo-hoo.” Amy winced as the chandelier began to sway. “
Dan?
” She raised her head and glanced around the foyer. She was all alone.

Two hours later, Amy was forced to accept that her weekend schedule might have been a tad ambitious. She gave a weak smile to Professor Morris, the MIT instructor whom she’d paid to lead their cryptography workshop. They were sitting across from each other in the otherwise empty library, a perfect replica of Amy’s favorite room in Grace’s old house. The sun was setting, and amber light spilled through the openings in the maroon curtains that grazed the floor like elegant ball gowns. Amy had spent months tracking down the same oak bookshelves that had lined the walls, and was still in the process of filling them. It broke her heart to think of the thousands of books that had been lost in the fire that destroyed the original mansion — almost as painful as losing a friend. After Amy’s parents died, Grace’s library had become the only place she felt truly safe. She used to spend hours curled up in the window seat, poring through her favorite books, grateful for the opportunity to spend time with people she knew would never leave her.

Amy wished she could pull out a book right now. Anything to avoid making small talk with the stern man scowling at her from across the room. With each passing moment, the silence grew heavier, until Amy could almost feel it pressing against her skin. The door pushed open and Amy sighed — finally, someone else had arrived. But it was just Saladin. The Mau strode across the room, his tail held high, and promptly began to rub against Professor Morris’s leg, leaving a layer of long silver hairs clinging to the professor’s wool trousers.

“Saladin,” Amy chided, grateful for an excuse to break the silence. “Stop it.”

Professor Morris grimaced slightly, then stood up. “I’m sorry, Miss Cahill, but I don’t have all evening. It appears that the other students have more pressing obligations, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Amy jumped up from her chair. “No! I mean, just five more minutes. They’re all in the house . . . somewhere. I’ll go look again.” She dashed toward the door, leaving Professor Morris and Saladin staring at each other.

I’m going to kill them
, Amy thought as she ran up the stairs, ignoring the pain in her protesting muscles. But then a grim truth surfaced through her rage.
Or the Vespers will do it for me
.

She slowed down when she reached the top of the stairs, taking care not to slip on the plastic tarp that covered the floor. The top level of the house — the site of their new command center — was still under construction. The lights were off, but there were sounds coming from the end of the hallway. Amy stepped carefully over a clump of wires and turned sideways to avoid bumping into a tower of cardboard boxes. A thin sliver of light shone from under the door to the screening room Amy had built in order to analyze surveillance footage and host video chats with Cahills around the world. She opened the door and gasped. Dan, Hamilton, and Madison were hurtling across the room, vaulting over the rows of leather armchairs as they swatted one another with plastic lightsabers. Amy didn’t even have to look at the screen to know that
Star Wars
was playing. The volume was up so loud that the room shook every time Darth Vader exhaled. She marched up to the control panel and shut the system off.

“Noooo!” Dan yelled, rushing toward her with his lightsaber waving in the air.

Amy grabbed the weapon and held it above her head. “What are you guys
doing
?” she demanded. “I told you we were meeting in the library. There’s a guest speaker.” She took a breath and forced herself to smile. “We’re going to practice code-breaking. It’ll be fun!”

Dan rolled his eyes at Hamilton. “I told you she’s lost it.”

“Cuckoo,” Madison said, making a
she’s so crazy
gesture.

Amy felt her chest tighten as she dropped the lightsaber. She was used to people laughing at her. But Grace’s house had always been the one place where no one made fun of her. Where she had felt safe. The Clue hunt had stolen that from her as well.

Dan’s mocking smile faded as he stared at Amy. For a moment, he looked like a little boy again. But then his expression hardened. “Come on, guys. I think Reagan and Natalie are in the pool. Let’s use the scuba gear to sneak up on them.” Hamilton and Madison dropped their lightsabers and bounded out of the room. Amy could hear their shouts echoing down the hall. Dan stayed where he was, facing Amy but not quite meeting her eyes. “We’re allowed to have fun, you know.” He stared at the wall over Amy’s shoulder. “After all we’ve been through, we deserve it.”

Amy was tempted to stretch her hand out and ruffle his hair, but something kept her still. “We need to be ready. They’re coming for us, Dan.”

He turned his head and looked at her with an expression she’d never seen before. The room was dark, and the weak light shining through the window cast a strange shadow on his face. He walked over to the discarded lightsaber and picked it up, holding it out in front of him like an archaeologist examining a relic from another era. “I know they are,” he said, without facing her. “But there’s nothing we can do.” He turned around and walked slowly out of the room.

The vast backyard was dark and still. He knew from hacking into her bank account that the girl had spent almost half a million dollars on security. Between the electric fence, motion sensors, and body-heat detectors, there hadn’t been so much as a squirrel on the grass in six months.

But he was no squirrel.

The searchlight beam passed over the yard like a great white shark gliding lazily over the ocean floor.

He smiled as he stepped under the shadow of a large oak tree, and looked up at the light shining faintly from the third-floor window. According to the surveillance footage, Amy often spent the night in her command center trying to gain information about her new enemy. And yet she had found nothing.

Vesper One turned around and began walking through the darkness, guided by the low drone of the electric fence. When he reached the edge of the lawn, he removed a small device from his pocket, held it against the barrier, and pushed the button. There was a loud buzz, then silence.

Vesper One scaled the fence with ease, landing noiselessly on the other side. He’d already arranged for Vesper Six to take care of the children.

In the distance, he heard a crash, followed by a chorus of laughter and angry shouts.

Or perhaps they’d save Six the trouble and remove themselves from the equation.

Either way, he had other business to attend to.

As he stepped forward, a black car pulled up to the curb as if he’d conjured it from the shadows. Vesper One slid into the backseat and closed the door. “Boston.” There was one final item to attend to before he could put his plan in motion. It was time to eliminate the last Guardian.

The next morning Jonah Wizard arrived fresh off his concert tour via helicopter at six
a.m.
and landed on the front lawn, triggering the alarm system. By the time Amy had convinced the Attleboro police department that everything was under control, the other Cahills had gone back to bed and slept through the tumbling lessons. Most of them came down in time for jujitsu training, but once it became clear that Madison’s idea of a “light tap” could knock out a linebacker, the crowd began to dwindle.

The worst part of it was that every time Amy tried to get their attention, they ignored her. It didn’t matter that she’d spent months arranging for expert linguists and champion martial artists to come to the house. Every time she raised her voice loud enough to make them look at her, she blushed and began to stutter. Yet it wasn’t the wasted time or money that bothered Amy. It was the fact that these people weren’t strangers. They were her family. She’d thought that, after everything they’d gone through, they’d be excited to work together. But it was as if the events of last year had never happened.

At least the skydiving trip seemed to be working out. The Holts were excited to go, and everyone else had been too tired to argue. The bus Amy had chartered was silent as they drove through the Bristol County countryside toward the private airstrip. Everyone was asleep except for Amy and Jonah, who had been oddly quiet since his arrival that morning.

Amy was sitting in the row behind Jonah and watched as he pulled out his iPhone and turned to face the window. He fiddled with it for a moment, and the glow from the screen illuminated his famous face. The phone remained lit just long enough for Amy to see the corner of Jonah’s mouth droop before the phone went dark. He sighed softly and put the phone away.