Read The 39 Clues: Unstoppable: Nowhere to Run for Free Online Page B

at a certain date and time,” Dan said. “Maybe Pierce was someplace south of New Jersey on that date, and we can go there and do some snooping.”
    “Worth a try,” Amy said.
    Nellie’s phone pinged as she unlocked the back door. “I hope that’s Pony,” she said.
    “Did she say something about a pony?” Dan asked Amy as they shrugged out of their jackets.
    “Our tech guy,” Nellie murmured as she read a text. “He’s getting back to me on my phone hacking. Pony is
fast
.”
    “Did she say she has a
fast
pony?” Dan asked. “Why are we the last to know?”
    As Nellie punched in a number, Dan and Amy headed up the back stairs to the communications center. When they turned the computers on, a red alert flashed. At the same time they heard the sound of running feet and Nellie burst into the room.
    “Shut down the system!” she shouted. “Go to Level Five!”
    Quickly Dan ran through the keystrokes. The system was designed to shut down and reboot, as though there had been a power surge. But all the information on the hard drives would be wiped and replaced — names of Cahill contacts, addresses, safe houses — it would all be false, with enough nuggets of truth to fool even the wiliest hacker. Whoever breached the network wouldn’t know that the Cahills were onto them.
    Nellie leaned over Dan’s shoulder as the screen went black, then immediately rebooted.
    “I don’t know what’s going on, but Pony said to shut it down.”
    Just then Amy’s phone buzzed, and she checked the number. She looked inquisitively at Dan. “It’s Mr. Smood,” she said, naming McIntyre’s law partner.
    “It’s okay, you can talk on your phone, you just can’t use e-mail,” Nellie said.
    “Amy, is that you?” The usual calm tones of Henry Smood were rattled. “I have some unsettling news for you. It appears that you are under federal investigation for embezzlement. They have a search warrant. You have to let them in, but don’t answer any questions until I get there. Not one, do you hear me?”
    “We haven’t done anything wrong! We have nothing to hide.”
    Mr. Smood cleared his throat. “Ah. And innocent people never go to jail.”
    “Okay, I get your point,” Amy said. “We’ll keep our mouths shut.”
    “All right, hold down the fort. I’m on my way.”
    “But you just had surgery —”
    “Checked myself out. I don’t need my appendix. But you need a lawyer.”
    Amy heard the sharp click of the receiver. She’d never heard Mr. Smood sound so unnerved.
    From up here, the knocking wasn’t very loud, but it was insistent.
    Dan ran to the window. “They’re here,” he said.

Chapter 6

    The agents were polite but efficient. They swarmed over the house, paying particular attention to the command center. It was clear that they were both impressed with and suspicious of the complexity of the computer system. They unplugged and carried everything out.
    Mr. Smood showed up and sat with Dan and Amy at the kitchen table while the agents carried files and computers out of the house. Nellie made tea and brought out the cinnamon rolls she’d made that morning. No one could eat.
    A cold, hard rain began to fall. Finally, the agents left. Meanwhile, the presence of the black federal vehicles had inflamed the paparazzi. They had dared to climb over the stone wall and were set up on the lawn, busily filming and snapping photographs.
    “We’re prisoners,” Amy said, watching behind a curtain as the photographers snapped photos of the agents carrying out boxes and equipment.
    The federal agents got into their cars and drove away. Mr. Smood left, promising to get to the bottom of it. Soon even the die-hard paparazzi gave up and hurried to their cars. One by one, the cars drove away.
    Amy picked at a roll, smashing the crumbs with her finger. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt so helpless. Without their computers, they couldn’t follow their slender lead.
    Someone beat a rhythmic three knocks on