The 39 Clues [Cahills vs. Vespers] 05 - Trust No One (19 page)

He scowled. “I should have asked that first,” he muttered.

Jake shook his head. “The answer would have been no anyway,” he said.

“I have an idea,” Atticus said. “What if you and Amy go to New York to make the drop, and me and Jake try to find out more about the Archimedes connection?”

Dan hesitated. On the one hand, they needed to find out what the Vespers were up to. On the other . . .

“No,” he said. “I need to get you back to Attleboro, where you’ll be safe from the Vespers. Or at least, safer.”

“Listen,” Atticus said, his voice pleading. “Two people have gotten hurt because of me — first you and now Dr. Siffright. You can’t cut me out of this — can’t you see, I have to DO something? And besides, I’m the only one who knows anything about Archimedes.”

Doubt prickled Dan’s thoughts.

It’s funny — I never want Amy to boss me around. But now that she’s not, I’m not sure what to do. And it’s only been, like, five minutes. How has she done it for so long?

“If you
were
going to research Archimedes, where would you go?” Dan asked.

“Italy,” Atticus replied without hesitation. “Sicily, to be specific. That’s where he worked.”

“I thought he was Greek,” Jake said.

“He was. Sicily was part of the Greek empire back then.”

Italy,
Dan thought.
That’s not too far from London. Jonah and Hamilton could be there in, like, a few hours.

Ham and Jonah researching Archimedes? Not exactly the ideal scenario. Sheesh, how did Amy make up her mind about stuff like this?

“It’s not like we have much choice,” Dan said aloud. “And if they try and don’t come up with anything, we won’t be any worse off, right?”

“Who are you talking about?” Jake said.

“Hamilton and Jonah,” Dan said. He tapped in the number on his phone.

“Let me talk to them when you’re done,” Atticus said. “I can give them a few ideas about where to start.”

Jonah and Hamilton, having rested up as instructed, were ready to go. Dan told them to send regular updates whether they had any news or not.

Next Dan called the hospital. No change in Dr. Siffright’s condition, which Dan chose to see as a good thing. Then he decided to contact their Madrigal connections in Brazil to ask them to keep an eye on her. He was pleased when he thought of this.

Dan went back to the other room. To his immense relief, Amy was up and about, packing her things. He looked at her closely and saw that his relief had been premature: She still had that exhausted, empty look in her eyes and seemed to be moving like a sleepwalker.

“Need any help?” he asked.

“Nope,” she said.

“Jonah and Ham are going to Sicily.”

“Mmm.”

She was “responsive” — wasn’t that what TV-show doctors said? And wasn’t it always a good thing, as opposed to when a patient was “unresponsive”?

She’ll be okay,
Dan told himself.

Please, let her be okay.

They retraced their path: a small plane back to São Paulo, then a jet to New York. On the jet, Jake put Atticus in a middle seat, between himself and Dan. Amy sat in the row behind them.

Jake was taking no chances. Maybe Isabel’s three attacks were just meant to frighten them. But if the third attack was supposed to be fatal, she had failed — and would surely try again.

“When you go to the bathroom, I go with you,” Jake growled at his brother.

He was true to his word. He went into the tiny cubicle and checked it out first; only then did he let Atticus enter. Alone, for which Atticus expressed sarcastic gratitude.

Then Jake waited and walked with Atticus back to their seats, his eyes roving over the other passengers. It was strange how everyone over the age of about twelve looked either suspicious or suspiciously innocent.

Atticus dozed off. Determined not to fall asleep himself, Jake asked Dan for anything he had on the Vespers.

Dan e-mailed him a file. “Take a look at this,” he said in a low voice. “That’s the list Erasmus got from Mr. McIntyre. I’ve looked at it a few times, but I can’t figure it out.”

It was a list of locations. Nothing more, no text or explanation.

Kathmandu

Sierra de Córdoba

Pompeii

Delhi

Oakland

Araucania

Tonga

Manila

Kodiak

Istanbul

Quito

Nyanyanu

There were two places Jake had never heard of — Araucania and Nyanyanu — but he knew the rest.

There’s got to be a reason that these are all listed together. Okay, start with the obvious. Pompeii — first thing I think of is the volcano eruption.

Jake’s eyes widened.

No way.

It can’t be that easy.

He took a breath to calm down and then began mentally ticking off some of the other places on the list.

Delhi, earthquake.

Oakland, earthquake.

Istanbul, earthquake.

Quito, earthquake.

“Subduction zones,” he whispered.

He reached across a sleeping Atticus to nudge Dan. “This list,” he said, “it’s subduction zones. Places where the earth’s crust is unstable, where there are fault lines. You know, lots of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, things like that.” Jake stared at the list again. “I don’t know them all, but the ones I do know, it’s too many to be just a coincidence.”

Dan looked over the back of his seat at Amy, who was staring out the window. “Can I see your phone?” he asked politely. They’d all been using a similar tone of voice when talking to her, as if she were made of glass and would shatter if they spoke too loud.

She didn’t speak, but gave him the phone. Dan tapped at it. “This is from Ian,” he said, showing Jake an e-mail. “He sent it to me after we talked to him at Yale. He was tracking Isabel, remember? And he made a list of places she’s been to recently. Supposedly with her charity — Aid Works Wonders. But look at the two lists.”

Alaska

Quito

Delhi

Nepal

Istanbul

Jake glanced back and forth between the phone screen and the document on his laptop.

“Quito, Delhi, Istanbul on both lists,” Dan said, “but what about the other two?”

“They match, too,” Jake said. “Alaska — Kodiak. Nepal — Kathmandu.”

“Nice,” Dan said. “But what does it mean? Ian says he’s sure that the charity is a cover for something else.”

“Well, if we assume that Isabel is trying to get to all the places on the Vespers’ list —”

Jake saw Dan’s face go pale. “Isabel and the Vespers,” he whispered. “Isabel must be one.”

Jake said, “Sorry, did I miss something? Didn’t we know that already, from the way she’s been going after Atticus?”

Dan shook his head. “You don’t understand. I don’t just mean that she’s a Vesper. I mean she must be
One —
Vesper One.”

Then a strange expression of what looked like relief seemed to cross Dan’s face. “And if she’s Vesper One, that means Dad isn’t —” He stopped abruptly.

Jake blinked in confusion. “Dad? Whose dad?”

“Never mind,” Dan said hastily. “I meant — um, it’s bad. Really bad.”

Jake shivered.

Isabel in command of the entire Vesper juggernaut was a horror beyond imagining.

Until now, Vesper One had been a frightening, mysterious shadow. But that had changed. V-1 was a known quantity: The Cahills had had far too much experience with the extent of Isabel’s ruthlessness. They would need every tool at their disposal to fight her.

And that included the serum.

At least having it on hand,
Dan thought for the hundredth time.
Not necessarily using it. But having it, just in case . . .

One thing Dan knew for sure. They had already lost Phoenix and Alistair. No one else was going to die on his watch. No matter what it took.

So far, Dan had managed to procure thirty-two Clues; the thirty-third was the serum formula in his head. That meant six were missing. He had to get those and then actually create the serum. To do that, he would need a lab.

The strategy of using Madrigal connections to watch over Dr. Siffright had given him a really good idea. Dan sent several e-mails, and the Madrigal machine kicked into action. By the time the plane landed at Kennedy Airport, Dan had replies assuring him that the remaining ingredients, a lab at Columbia University, and a postdoctoral student in the chemistry department would be at his disposal whenever he needed them.

It was midafternoon in New York, but everyone was exhausted. “We might as well get some sleep until we hear from her again,” Dan said.

No one had to ask who he meant.

Jake and Atticus took the room next to Amy and Dan’s. Dan lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. But he made himself stay awake until he heard Amy’s breathing grow slow and even in sleep. Then he got up and wrote a note:

Amy — couldn’t sleep, hanging out with Atticus. — D.

Dan tiptoed out of the room. He knocked quietly on the next door. “It’s me,” he called softly.

Jake opened the door.

“Amy’s asleep,” Dan said. “I think we should leave her alone for a while — she really needs to rest.”

“No argument from me,” Jake said.

“Okay — I’m going to get some sleep, too,” Dan said.

He went back to the other room. He set Amy’s phone to
VIBRATE
, then grabbed his backpack. On the way out of the hotel, he stopped at the front desk and asked them to hold all calls.

He hated the thought of leaving Amy alone in the room. But Jake was nearby, and Dan knew he might not have another chance to get away. He’d done what he could to make sure no one would miss him for at least a few hours.

At curbside, Dan sent a text message. Then he hailed a cab.

“Columbia University,” he said.

“You sure about this?”

Jonah stared at his reflection in a bathroom mirror at Gatwick Airport, outside London. Hamilton had picked out some new clothes for him: a plain gray T-shirt, dull khaki trousers, and a blue nylon zip-up windbreaker.

“I’m sure,” Ham said firmly. “No bling allowed.”