Hunted by Riley Clifford Page B

looks like it might relate to a clue. If we haven’t found anything in the next five minutes, we’re going to the gallery,” Sinead said.
    The storage room was pretty dark, but it did have some low lighting that cast a dim illumination through the space. Ted saw rows of shelves full of plastic bins labeled with numbers. He pulled one out, rifling through the papers inside.
    “Looks like shipping records,” he muttered.
    On the other side of the room, Sinead was examining a large stack of gray plastic tubs.
    “Christmas decorations,” she announced, rolling her eyes. “Great, Ted. I’m sure we’re going to find exactly what we’re looking for in here.”
    Ted clenched his teeth but didn’t reply. He checked a few more storage bins, all filled with useless information. A few times, his heart leaped when he saw the word
Franklin
, but it was only the name of the building scribbled across old invoices and memos to museum employees.
    “Two minutes left,” Sinead called from across the room. Frustrated, Ted became less careful as he looked through the contents of every file. How was he supposed to find anything in five minutes? He started dumping papers onto the floor, snatching them up at random to see what they were, and throwing them to the ground when they proved to be unhelpful. Empty storage bins and their lids lay scattered among the papers that carpeted the floor. Sinead was probably right. Anything useful would be found by following the Cahill kids, not by looking through the junk in storage.
    And then light spilled into the room.
    “Hey!” a museum guard yelled from the doorway. “What are you — ”
    He never finished his sentence because Ted and Sinead were already in motion, charging at the man before he could take a step backward. Sinead pulled the guard into the storage room and shoved him back into a wall, planting a hand over the man’s mouth to keep him from making any noise.
    “Go, Ted!” she snapped. “Get to the Cahills. I’ll keep this guy busy.”
    For a moment, Ted froze as he watched his sister struggle with the guard. He couldn’t leave her. She’d almost certainly be caught and arrested, and their Clue-hunting team would be cut down to two. They needed each other if they were going to win this contest. But then Ted reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
    “Hang on!” he called to his sister. The security guard was grabbing at Sinead’s long auburn hair with his free arm and trying to use his weight to push her off. The man was bigger than Sinead, and she was wearing out fast.
    Ted began entering commands into his cell phone so fast his fingers were a blur. If he could just rewrite this program quickly enough —
    “Ted!” snarled Sinead. She was losing her grip on the security guard, who had slipped to the side and was flailing one leg at her, muffled yells emitting from behind Sinead’s hand.
    “It’s okay, I’ve got it!
Come on!
” Ted gestured wildly at her and then fled for the door. For a moment, he was afraid Sinead would insist on sacrificing herself to save her brother, but then he heard a
thud
and her footsteps behind him. A quick glance back told Ted that Sinead had shoved the security guard to the floor. The man pushed himself up surprisingly fast and barreled after them. Ted skidded on some loose papers, nearly crashing into one of the shelves. He threw his weight forward, steadying himself, but a large hand grabbed the hem of his polo shirt.
    Ted’s instincts kicked in. He whirled around and brought the side of his hand slicing down through the air onto the security guard’s wrist. A loud yell of pain followed, and the man released Ted’s shirt. Sinead was already in the hall, and Ted threw himself after her, slamming the storage room door shut behind him. He pressed a key on the keypad to lock it, and then he and Sinead were running away down the hall.
    “What good is that going to do?” Sinead snapped as they went, slowing to a quick