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

if I need to. She’s going to want all this information as soon as she wakes up. And there’s stuff I can do while I wait.”
    “There’s always stuff we can do,” Sinead said. “But if we work ourselves to exhaustion, we can make mistakes. And that doesn’t help anyone.”
    He knew she was right. Around him the blue screens of the computers glowed. The monitors from locations around the world were temporarily dark. Tacked to the walls were printouts from their research. Sinead had put up six bulletin boards, one for each Vesper in the Council of Six.
    They had run out of space on the wall, so Evan had strung a wire from one end of the room to the other. They’d begun to clothespin random pieces of information from Cahill texts around the world.

    One after the other, the pages fluttered like flags in the slight breeze from the heating ducts. Impossible to tell which should be investigated, and in what order.
    Evan rubbed his forehead. “That note that Amy and Dan found from their grandmother.
VSP 79 – Pliny described first test
. How could all this circle back to some volcanic eruption back in Italy in A.D. 79?”
    “We don’t know. But we’ll find out.”
    Her tone was confident. It reminded him of Amy’s. Evan had been plunged into the Cahill world like a deepwater pool, and he was still trying to stay afloat. He still couldn’t quite get over the fact that his girlfriend, whom he thought of as shy and reserved, actually had the skills of an international spymaster.
    And Sinead — he had met her plenty of times. She was Amy’s best friend, but he had found her distant and chilly. He’d often felt that he kept failing to pass a test she hadn’t explained to him. But now that they were working together, he realized that she just had a hard time letting people in. And no wonder — Amy had told him that Sinead’s two brothers had been severely injured in a freak explosion in Philadelphia more than two years ago. Now he knew that the explosion was certainly Cahill-related, but he couldn’t find the courage to ask Sinead about it. Her brother Ted was one of the hostages. No doubt that was what gave her such incredible drive.
    Sinead came over and put her hands on his arms. She gave him a shove. “C’mon. Go sack out. I’m going to run a few programs. I promise to get you if Amy checks in.”
    He stumbled to his feet. He felt like his eyes were full of sand. “Okay. I’ll catch a few hours.”
    Sinead’s green eyes were steady on his. “I never knew how much you cared about her until now.”
    He nodded. “Me, neither. I’ll do anything for her.”
    Sinead nodded. “Me, too,” she said softly.

Basel, Switzerland
    Dan woke in a panic, forgetting where he was. He lay for a long moment taking in the room, the flowered duvet on the twin bed, the flowered wallpaper, the flower painting on the wall, the vase of roses… .
    Gartenhaus.
The small inn on a side street in downtown Basel. Mr. McIntyre — Mac — had left them here last night, urging them to get some sleep. He had to head off to see a client in Rome.
    Dan glanced at his sister, curled up like a comma in the other bed. A perfect time to grab a shower before Amy monopolized the bathroom.
    He stood under the spray. Despite its warmth, he still felt chilled. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Nellie’s face, white with pain.
    No more deaths,
he thought.
If I have to live through one more death, I’ll fall apart.
    He knew what he had to do. Change the odds.
    When he emerged, he gave the smell test to a T-shirt in his pack and pulled it on, along with his jeans.
    He heard a groan from the other room and stuck his head out the door.
    “I’m so hungry,” Amy said sleepily.
    “Hey, you stole my line,” Dan said.
    There was a soft knock at the door. They both tensed.
    “Breakfast,” the landlady called softly.
    Amy opened the door and Frau Stein bustled in, carrying a tray laden with rolls, cheese, sausages, eggs, jam, a pot of coffee, and