The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 2: A King's Ransom

by Jude Watson

  With the reverence of a scholar, he carefully turned the pages. “It’s in Latin,” he said. “My Latin is pretty good, but I can’t translate the entire book.”

  “I don’t think Jane wanted us to,” Amy said. “She hid the map somewhere inside the pages. I’m sure of it.”

  “Just shake the book,” Dan advised. “Something will fall out.”

  Atticus looked horrified. “Shake a sixteenth- century book? I couldn’t do that.”

  “I could.”

  Atticus emitted a squeak as Dan grabbed the book and turned it upside down. Nothing fell out. Atticus snatched the book back and hugged it.

  “Dude, it’s a book, not a puppy,” Dan said.

  “Let’s examine the endpapers,” Amy said.

  Carefully, Atticus opened the book again. “Nothing in the front.” He turned the book over. “Wait a second … there’s something here. It’s like the book has been repaired. I mean, that makes sense … it’s more than four hundred years old… .” He peeled back a small section of endpaper. “There’s something under here,” he said excitedly. “I think we found the map!”

  Cheyenne peeked over her book. Amy and Dan had disappeared into one of the side rooms with that skinny kid. The hunky teenager had gone into the library director’s office.

  Casper lurked in the stacks. Cheyenne closed her book and joined him.

  “The map has got to be here,” Cheyenne said. “We can trail them after they leave. There are some dark alleys between here and their hotel. I know you’re looking forward to that.”

  “I have a better idea, and it’s even more fun,” Casper said. “We can get rid of them in one stroke and steal the map.”

  “In one stroke?” Cheyenne asked doubtfully.

  “One stroke of a match.” Casper waved at the books in the stacks. “This will go up like a torch. But I can set the fire so that it doesn’t burn down the whole place — though, let’s face it, who would miss a library?”

  Cheyenne nodded. “Totally.”

  “Here’s the best part — I checked out the fire system in the research rooms with the old stuff — halon! Sucks all the oxygen out of the room. Turns you into a fish on a dock.” Casper grabbed his throat and made gasping noises. “The whole place shuts down while we evacuate, I make sure the Cahills get stuck in the room of no air, they turn the systems back on, and we sneak back in and grab the map while the dead bodies of Amy and Dan look on. Presto change-o, we are winners!”

  Cheyenne waved at the stacks. “You would destroy thousands of priceless antique books and papers just to get your hands on that map?”

  “Is that so wrong?”

  “Cool,” Cheyenne said. “I’m in.”

  Atticus peeled back the last of the endpaper. A parcel was folded flat and wrapped in paper. A piece of notepaper sat on top.

  “It matches the paper from Jane’s notebook,” Amy murmured.

  Atticus read it aloud in a nervous voice.

  “There’s that G again,” Amy murmured. “Grace?”

  “No,” Atticus whispered. “Guardian.” He seemed to be in a daze, staring down at Jane’s note.

  Before Amy could ask him what he meant, Dan broke in impatiently.

  “C’mon. Let’s see what the parcel is.”

  “Right.” Atticus unfolded the parcel and spread it on the desk. Amy recognized it immediately.

  “It’s the de Virga!” she exclaimed. “Thank you, Jane!”

  “It’s amazing,” Atticus breathed.

  It just looked like an old map to Dan, but he leaned over to study it. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing to a spot.

  “That’s the compass rose,” Atticus murmured. “Shows the direction of the compass. It’s right over Central Asia. The detail on this thing is amazing. Look at the coast of Africa!”

  A light began blinking red over their heads. Amy looked up just as the siren went off. “Great. What a time for a fire drill.”

  “We’ve got to conceal the map somehow,” Dan said.

  “Wait a second,” Atticus said. “You guys are going to steal it?”

  “We have to,” Amy told him.

  “But Jake said — ”

  “Never mind Jake. Dan, can you get it under your sweatshirt?”

  “Under his sweatshirt? Are you crazy?” Atticus cringed as Dan folded the parchment.

  “Believe me, A, we’ve got a good reason,” Dan told him.

  “Atticus, can you go find Jake?” Amy asked. “We’re right behind you. Whatever you do, keep Mavel away from here. And, um, there’s no need to tell Jake that we stole the map. Yet.”

  Amy crossed to the window in the door. Library patrons packed up and were leaving in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, she spotted two tall blond young people. Casper and Cheyenne stood in a corner, watching. What were they doing here? Her pulse hammered out a frantic beat.

  “Atticus, I need you to go now,” Amy said, making sure her voice was level. “We’ll explain everything outside. Tell Jake … tell him he has to trust me.” Not that he would. But Amy couldn’t put Atticus in danger.

  Amy took a firm hold of Atticus’s arm. She opened the door and gently shoved him out, then closed it.

  To her shock, she heard the lock click. The automatic lock had engaged.

  Atticus pulled frantically on the door. Amy tried to open it from her side. It wouldn’t budge.

  The halon gas!

  She whipped her head around to spy the fire panel.

  HALON GAS ACTIVATED!

  OXYGEN LEVEL 20%

  This was no drill. This was really happening.

  As she watched, the indicator beeped.

  OXYGEN LEVEL 19%

  Atticus took off at a run.

  “Dan?” Amy’s voice shook. “We have a problem.”

  “We sure do,” Dan said, adjusting his shirt. “This parchment is really itchy.”

  OXYGEN LEVEL 18%

  “I just saw Casper and Cheyenne outside. This isn’t a drill! The halon gas suppression system has been activated! And the door is locked!”

  Dan looked at the oxygen level, then made a run at the door. He pulled at it. Just then Casper Wyoming’s face appeared at the glass panel. He waved and mouthed “Bye-bye.”

  Then he kept on walking.

  “Atticus saw what happened,” Amy said, her voice trembling. “He’ll do something… . He’ll get Jake!”

  “With Casper and Cheyenne around? Don’t count on it. We have to do something.”

  OXYGEN LEVEL 16%

  Amy felt her pulse race. Was it the dropping oxygen level, or her own fear rising?

  Dan began kicking at the door. Amy pounded on the glass.

  There was nobody to hear. The building had been completely evacuated. Smoke was now billowing out of the stacks at the opposite end of the wide room. Amy saw orange licks of fire.

  “We have to do something!” Amy’s breath was short. The effort of pounding against the glass had exhausted her. That wasn’t a good sign.

  “The computer,” she said to Dan. “It’s hooked to the server. You could hack in — disrupt the alarm!”

  Dan hurried over to the computer.

  OXYGEN LEVEL 13%

  “We have to hurry,” Amy said. “Oxygen depletion affects your brain. You can’t think… .”

  “I’d have to get past the fire wall… .”

  Amy felt her temples pound. “What was it that the hacker taught us? The back door option … you can get into their e-mail and go on from there… .”

  “I remember, but I’m no Evan.”

  “You’re just as smart as he is,” Amy said firmly. “You can do it.”

  Dan began punching out a string of code.

  OXYGEN L
EVEL 11%

  Looking over his shoulder, Amy tried to concentrate on Dan’s numbers. It seemed like an incredible effort. Dan made a mistake and had to back up.

  OXYGEN LEVEL 9%

  “I’m in!” Dan leaned forward. “Now to get Att … Attleboro… .” His breath was quick, and he wiped at the sweat on his forehead. “I’ve got Evan!”

  Amy watched as Dan typed out HALON GAS CZECH LIBRARY SYSTEM HELP

  It took a moment. Then they saw the words appear I’M ON IT

  “He’ll … have to … hack into the system through this terminal,” Dan said.

  Amy clutched the chair back as a wave of dizziness washed over her. “Dan …”

  He looked over his shoulder at her. Perspiration streaked his face, and his eyes were glassy.

  OXYGEN LEVEL 7%

  They were close to passing out. Amy slid down to the floor. Dan slumped down next to her. She felt his hand reach for hers. If it was over, they’d go together.

  Jake was out. Stretched on the ground, a lump on the back of his head and the world swimming in front of his eyes. One minute he was running after Atticus, the next, he was down. Some Nordic-looking guy had been next to him and suddenly managed — Jake wasn’t sure how — to check him right into a wall.

  He forced himself to his knees. He saw a screaming Atticus being held by a blond young woman. She appeared to be trying to hold him back from running back into the burning building. But she was grip- ping him too tightly… .

  Atticus met his gaze. “DAN AND AMY!” he screamed.

  The blonde pressed Atticus’s head against her chest as if to comfort him. Jake saw with horror that she was actually muffling his scream.

  He struggled to his feet. He had to get to his brother. But Dan and Amy were still in the library! Through the pounding pain in his head, he pushed forward, even before he knew which way to go.

  Amy felt sick.

  Dan’s voice was weak. “He’ll … do it… .”

  She looked over at the oxygen indicator.

  OXYGEN LEVEL 6%

  The siren stopped. From somewhere far away she heard a click. The lock!

  Fighting her nausea and weakness, Amy crawled to the door and reached up for the knob. It seemed so impossibly high. Her fingers grabbed at air. Finally, with an enormous effort, she raised herself up and gripped it. The door felt as heavy as iron. She yanked at it with all her strength, and it opened.

  She fell forward into the hallway outside. She took a breath. It was smoky and it made her cough, but it was air. As oxygen filled her lungs, she felt stronger.

  She made her way unsteadily back to Dan. He was half conscious. She lifted him to his feet and half dragged him out the door.

  He leaned over, coughing, taking shallow breaths.

  They stumbled down the corridor. Two firemen appeared at the end of the hall. As soon as they saw Amy and Dan struggling to walk, they rushed forward.

  Amy felt herself being lifted up and cradled like a baby. Coughing, she was carried out the door. The air felt so pure and sweet.

  She saw Jake pushing through the crowd toward them, Atticus at his side. And, off to the side, the tall Wyoming twins walked rapidly toward the tram stop. Cheyenne was limping.

  Amy felt too tired to care. She was laid down on a patch of cold stone and it felt as luxurious as a bed. An emergency technician checked her over and put an oxygen mask on her face.

  “Is she going to be okay?” Jake asked. His concerned face swam in front of her.

  “She’ll be fine,” the technician assured him.

  Atticus hovered near Dan, almost in tears.

  Dan lifted one hand slowly, patted his chest, and gave Amy a nod. He had the map.

  Rome, Italy

  William McIntyre sat in his hotel room in Rome, file folders stacked to one side. He tried not to think about what time it was in Massachusetts. Jet lag lasted whole days for him now. His body felt tired, but he needed to push himself a little longer before he allowed himself to rest.

  Amy and Dan were on his mind. He had the utmost confidence in their abilities, but that didn’t mean he didn’t worry constantly. He hadn’t imagined anything could be more challenging and difficult than the search for the Clues, but this was proving to be so. Lives were at stake. And Vesper One … the fact that he could engineer this scheme, with hostages taken from all over the world … with kidnapping a boy of twelve … well, this was a new level of depravity.

  He had confidence in all of them, not just Amy and Dan — Erasmus, Sinead, Ian, Hamilton, Jonah — even that boyfriend of Amy’s had turned out to be a worthy member of the team.

  If only he didn’t feel as though they were missing something.

  Something crucial.

  He had come to Rome to meet with Erasmus, but first, he needed to consult with a client. That little thing that was nagging at him — he needed to dig a little deeper. But the client meeting hadn’t panned out. All he was able to get was a stack of old files.

  McIntyre slipped the first folder off the stack and opened it. He began to read in his usual careful fashion. After plowing through a third of the stack, he suddenly straightened and began to read more intently.

  He paused to kick off his shoes and order coffee and sandwiches from room service. He moved to the couch in order to spread out. He put some documents on the coffee table, separating them into piles.

  It was with dawning horror that he realized that his instincts were right.

  Why hadn’t he seen these connections before? He had been such a fool.

  Amy and Dan were in greater danger than he thought.

  He jumped up to retrieve his secure cell phone to call Attleboro, but there was a knock at the door.

  “Room service, signore.”

  Of course, the sandwiches. That was fast. He couldn’t imagine eating now, but he called, “Entrare — come in.”

  McIntyre kept his gaze on the paper he was reading. “Just put it on the desk, per favore.”

  He stood to sign the bill. The waiter had his back to McIntyre as he put down the tray.

  McIntyre had exactly three seconds to notice several things. Water glass not quite full. Napkin folded imprecisely. Smear of butter on the metal dome covering the plate.

  He made the conclusion with equal speed. Someone had picked up a used tray from the hallway and then tried to make it look fresh.

  He had only a few more seconds to react. With one glance at the waiter he knew he was in no shape to take him on. He would go down fighting, but the best he could do was leave something behind.

  Behind his back, he crumpled the paper. Then he leaned down as if for his wallet and stuffed the paper in his empty shoe.

  The waiter turned, and McIntyre saw his face for the first time.

  For a long second, the two just stared at each other. Then the intruder rushed toward him.

  “It’s you!” McIntyre gasped.

  The needle sank into his neck.

  The smile on the face from the past was the last thing McIntyre saw before his knees gave way.

  The firemen insisted that Amy and Dan get checked out at the hospital, but they refused. Katja Mavel either felt totally guilty or totally responsible and afraid to get sued, because she offered to take them to her own doctor. “But they were signed out!” she kept telling the firemen, wringing her hands.

  In the end Amy prevailed, promising at the first sign of weakness or discomfort to head for a doctor. They were feeling fine, she told everyone earnestly. She was anxious to be gone. Her brother had a stolen map underneath his shirt.

  “You should come with us,” Atticus urged. “We’re staying with this professor, a friend of our father’s. The apartment goes on for miles — we even have our own sitting room. He won’t mind if you stay, I g
uarantee it.”

  Amy glanced at Jake. “Sure,” he said flatly. “You can fill us in on why somebody’s trying to kill you. And who those blond thugs were, and why they targeted me and Atticus.”

  “I saw them leaving,” Amy said. “The girl was limping.”

  “She needed a little persuasion to let my brother go,” Jake said. “Any idea why they were there?”

  Amy didn’t say anything. She knew they’d have to spill some details, but she wasn’t sure how much to tell. They needed the help of the Rosenblooms right now. Soon, Vesper One would demand the transfer. Before they gave up the map, they had to figure out its connection to Il Milione.

  As they trudged to the apartment, Amy dropped back, letting the three boys walk together. She took a moment to text back to Attleboro. She needed advice. Who better than Sinead? She totally trusted Sinead’s coolheaded opinion on things.

  WE ARE FINE. HAVE MAP. JAKE AND ATTICUS HERE IN PRAGUE. THEY DEMAND ANSWERS. THEY GOT US INTO LIBRARY AND CAN BE HELPFUL W MAP AND MILIONE. THINK WE NEED TO CONFIDE SOME DETAILS ABOUT VESPERS, HOSTAGES, ETC.

  ASK ERASMUS AND MCINTYRE ABOUT GUARDIANS.

  In a few minutes, Sinead texted back:

  NO INFORMATION ON GUARDIANS FM ERASMUS. MCINTYRE NOT ANSWERING. BEWARE. ROSENBLOOM BROTHERS TURNED YOU IN ONCE. WOULD DO IT AGAIN. STRONGLY ADVISE NO.

  Amy slipped the phone back in her pocket, feeling strangely disappointed. She felt they owed Jake and Atticus more of an explanation. And she sensed that Atticus had more to tell them. But maybe Sinead was right. Certainly, Jake had turned them in once before. He could do it again. He could be lying to them right now. The two boys could be leading them straight to Interpol.

  As Jake and Atticus reached a busy street corner, Jake put his hand on Atticus’s shoulder for an instant. Atticus was so busy talking he would have blundered right into traffic. Amy studied that touch. It was brief, so that Atticus wouldn’t feel directed by his big brother, but it was caring. She remembered the sight of Jake pushing through the crowd, trying to get to them, standing over her, making sure she was okay. He took responsibility for things, she could tell.