The 39 Clues Invasion Read Free Page A

sneaking across the backyard. The moon was low in the sky, outlining a hulking silhouette. They backed out of the kitchen and tried the landline phone in the living room, but there was only silence on the other end. As they went back up the stairs to Atticus’s bedroom, the high-pitched squeal of a drill echoed from the front hallway.
    “Dad installed a super-expensive security system so museums can lend him artifacts. It sounds like they’re trying to get around it,” Atticus whispered, looking up at Dan with wide eyes. “What do we do?”
    “We hide. If they’re here for the stuff in your dad’s study, we stay upstairs. As soon as they’re gone, we call the police.”
    “But if they steal the Aztec mask from the Peabody Museum . . .” Atticus trailed off, mouth working open and closed but no sound coming out.
    “Dude, did you see the size of that guy in the backyard?” Dan answered. “A mask isn’t worth getting killed for.”
    “No.” Atticus shook his head, his face pinching up as he tried not to cry. “Dad will get fired. My mom . . . she’s really sick, Dan. She left this weekend to go see expensive specialists in New York. All the normal doctors have no idea what’s wrong. They’ve given up on her. If Dad loses his job, I don’t know what we’ll do.”
    Dan froze. This was the secret that Atticus had been keeping. This was why he’d been acting so weird for the last month.
    Dan didn’t really remember his parents anymore, but he would never forget the flames the night that they died. The flames, and the people shouting as he and Amy stood outside the burning house and clutched each other in their pajamas. He remembered the cold police station afterward, sitting in that metal chair for what seemed like hours while a woman in a blue uniform filled out the papers that said yes, your parents are really dead.
    They still had the two papers, in the security deposit box at the bank. The certificate of death looked like an award, with curly borders and an official state seal. Here’s the date and time that you last talked to your dad, it said. And here’s the stamp that says your mom will never hug you again.
    Dan had traveled the world and outsmarted some of the nastiest characters out there. He was one of the leaders of the most powerful family the world had ever known. And Atticus was a child genius. Together, they could outsmart a few dumb criminals.
    Outside, they heard a thud and then more drilling.
    He took a deep breath. “Nobody is going to take that mask.”
    Atticus didn’t say anything. He just grabbed Dan’s arm and squeezed hard.
    “Easy there, dude,” Dan said, grinning weakly. “We have a burglary to foil.”

     
    “Rosenbloom!” Coach roared. “You’re up in five. Tighten your laces and stretch out.”
    Jake glanced down at his phone as he did one last set of leg bends. Three calls and two texts, and he’d heard nothing from Atticus. His brother had promised to keep his phone on. Jake had even called the number Atticus gave him for that Cahill kid, but it went straight to voice mail, too.
    The Cambridge High School athletic field shone like an emerald under the bright floodlights. Out on the track, Jake’s friend Sam was putting on a burst of speed to pass the kid from Newton and move into second place. The stands weren’t nearly as big as the ones on the football or baseball fields, but they were packed with parents, siblings, and students from five Boston suburbs, cheering as the runners rounded the final lap of the 1600-meter event.
    Jake yelled along with the rest of his team as Sam closed in on a Somerville boy for the lead, his legs pumping like pistons. In the end, the two were neck and neck, and the crowd roared as they passed the finish line together. The timekeepers came up with a quarter-second advantage for Somerville, and Jake’s coach roared out onto the track to argue the decision.
    Jake finished tightening the laces on his running shoes and pulled out