Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21 The room door slammed. Nellie tossed her key on the dresser. "That pool is better than a chai smoothie. I am totally refreshed. Let me grab a shower and we'll discuss dinner plans. We only have one more evening in Aswan and I have some ideas." Nellie stepped into the bathroom. Dan and Amy crowded in with her and closed the door. "Guys? Uh, I know we've gotten close and all? But this is a lit-tle too much togetherness for me, 'kay?" Nellie said. Amy reached over and turned on the shower full blast. "The hotel room is bugged," she said underneath the noise of the rushing water. "Bugs in this hotel? Impossible. What is it, a spider or something? Chill out, I'll take care of it."

第二十一章房门砰地一声关上了。 内莉把钥匙扔在梳妆台上。 “那个泳池比印度冰沙还好喝。 我神清气爽。我先去冲个澡，然后再讨论晚餐计划。 我们在阿斯旺只剩下最后一个晚上了，我有些主意。” 内莉走进浴室。 丹和艾米和她一起挤了进去，关上了门。 “男人?我知道我们已经很亲密了？ 但这对我来说有点太多了，好吗？”内莉说。 艾米伸手把淋浴器开到最大。 “酒店房间装了窃听器，”她在流水声中说。 “旅馆里有虫子？”不可能的。 那是什么，蜘蛛还是什么？ 别紧张，我来处理。”

"Not bugs, bugged," Dan said. "As in, illegal surveillance." "We need you to go out there and cover for us while we search for whoever's bugging us," Amy said. "Whoever it is, he or she is probably nearby." "All you have to do is keep talking. We've thought a lot about this, and we think you have the necessary skills," Dan said. "Very funny, Dan-o. But true. When it comes to nonstop chat, I'm the champ," Nellie agreed. Nellie turned off the shower and they all returned to the main room. "That pool is so fine," she said, as if she'd never been interrupted. "I met this couple from Scotland, and I was all, whoa, you have some delish smoked salmon in your excellent country…." Amy raised the window carefully, not making a sound. She and Dan quietly climbed out. "—and they were all, 'Aye, lassie, we dew, ye ken our bonny fish, ye dew!'" Nellie said in a terrible Scottish accent. "So I said, 'You know what ye lads and lassies need in Scotland? Bagels! To go with!' 'Whoa,' they said, 'lassie, ye canna be

“不是虫子，是虫子，”丹说。 “就像非法监视一样。” “我们需要你去那里掩护我们，同时我们要寻找骚扰我们的人，”艾米说。 “不管是谁，他或她可能就在附近。” “你所要做的就是继续说下去。 我们考虑了很多，我们认为你有必要的技能。”丹说。 “很有趣，丹欧。但是真的。 说到不停地聊天，我是冠军，”内莉同意道。 内莉关掉了淋浴，他们都回到了主房间。 “那个游泳池太好了，”她说，好像她从来没有被打断过。 “我遇到了一对来自苏格兰的夫妇，我说，哇，你们的国家有美味的烟熏鲑鱼....” 艾米小心翼翼地把窗户抬起来，不出声。 她和丹悄悄地爬了出来。 他们都说，‘是啊，姑娘，我们是露水，你知道我们漂亮的鱼，你是露水！’”内莉用可怕的苏格兰口音说。 “所以我说，‘你知道你们这些小伙子和姑娘在苏格兰需要什么吗？ 百吉饼!去吧！“哇，”他们说，“姑娘，你不会的。

serious, that is one orrrig-in-al guid idea….'" With the drone of Nellie's Scottish burr in their ears, they hurried away. Down the curving path, under the palms, past the gardens, and circling back to the front door of the hotel. "I'm betting lobby," Dan said. "The device has a wireless transmitter, so we're going to have to examine everyone's ears." "And how are we going to do that?" "Say we're at a Q-Tip convention?" They strolled inside. The lobby was crowded with guests taking shelter from the mid-afternoon heat. Dan and Amy paused near a column and watched the crowd. At first it was hard to single any one person out. Tourists stood and sat and chatted, read guidebooks and magazines, passed each other newspapers, all taking a breather before the next round of temples. Dan pointed with his chin to a man sitting with his back to them. He was a beefy guy in a stiff straw hat, a newspaper held up in front of his face. His thick neck was sunburned bright red. "He

说真的，这是一个完全错误的指导思想....’”他们耳朵里回响着内利那沉闷的苏格兰语，匆匆走开了。 沿着弯弯曲曲的小路，在棕榈树下，经过花园，绕回酒店的前门。 “我在游说团下注，”丹说。 “这个设备有一个无线发射器，所以我们必须检查每个人的耳朵。” “我们该怎么做呢？”“比如说我们在参加棉签大会？”他们走了进去。 大厅里挤满了客人，他们在躲避午后的酷热。 丹和艾米在一根柱子旁停了下来，看着人群。 一开始很难找出任何一个人。 游客们站着，坐着，聊天，阅读旅游指南和杂志，互相传递报纸，在参观下一圈寺庙之前都要休息一下。 丹用下巴指着一个背对着他们坐着的男人。 他身材魁梧，头戴一顶硬挺的草帽，脸上举着一份报纸。 他粗壮的脖子被太阳晒得通红。 ”他

hasn't turned a page in five minutes. And he's got something in his ear. Come on." "But I don't recognize him…." "I bet it's Eisenhower Holt in disguise." Amy followed. Dan strode over to the man and ripped away the newspaper from in front of his face. "You're busted!" "Just what do you think you are doing, sir?" the man blustered in a British accent. Dan quickly handed him back his paper. "Uh, busted for wearing the best hat in the joint!" he said. "You rock!" Amy tugged Dan away. "While you were assaulting that guy, everybody in the lobby looked up," she whispered. "Except him." A man sat in the corner, a newspaper in front of his face. He was dressed in a suit the color of vanilla ice cream. Above the matching shoes, Dan glimpsed bright pink socks. "That's him," Dan declared. "There's only one jerk we know who can conduct high-tech surveillance and accessorize at the same time."

已经五分钟没翻过一页了。 他耳朵里有东西。 来吧。”“但是我不认识他....” “我打赌是艾森豪威尔·霍尔特乔装打扮的。” 艾米。丹大步走到那人跟前，把他面前的报纸撕掉。 “你就麻烦了!”“你知道你在干什么吗，先生？”那人用英国口音咆哮道。 丹很快把试卷还给了他。 “呃，因为戴着这个地方最好的帽子而被抓！”他说。 “你摇滚!”艾米把丹拽走了。 “当你攻击那个家伙的时候，大厅里的每个人都抬头看了看，”她低声说。 “除了他。”一个男人坐在角落里，面前放着一份报纸。 他穿着一套香草冰淇淋颜色的西装。 在那双相配的鞋子上面，丹瞥见了亮粉色的袜子。 “就是他。”丹说。 “我们知道只有一个混蛋能同时进行高科技监控和装饰。”

He'd made a dumb joke, but it was only to cover up how crazy-mad he felt at the sight of his uncle. Alistair Oh had been the only Cahill to truly befriend them. At least, they'd thought so. Sure, they'd double-crossed each other a few times, but they'd also ended up working together. Alistair had saved their necks on more than one occasion. But he'd ended up being like the rest of the Cahills— out for himself and willing to betray anyone who got in his way. Dan stalked over and grabbed a fistful of the newspaper, tearing it away from Alistair's face. "Surprise!" Alistair Oh looked up at them sheepishly. "Greetings, young ones." "Greetings, weasel," Dan said. "Perhaps an explanation is in order—" "Perhaps a whomp upside the head is in order," Dan said. Amy took a few steps and reached for a house phone. She dialed their room number. When Nellie answered, she said, "Okay, you can stop now."

他开了一个愚蠢的玩笑，但这只是为了掩饰他看到叔叔时的疯狂。 阿利斯泰尔·吴是卡荷尔家族中唯一真正帮助他们的人。 至少，他们是这么认为的。 当然，他们也互相欺骗过几次，但他们最终还是合作了。 阿利斯泰尔不止一次救了他们的命。 但他最后却和卡希尔家的其他人一样——只顾自己，愿意背叛任何挡他道的人。 丹大步走过去，抓起一把报纸，从阿利斯泰尔脸上撕下来。 “奇怪!”阿利斯泰尔抬起头，不好意思地看着他们。 “你们好，孩子们。”“你好，黄鼠狼。”丹说。 “也许需要解释一下——”“也许需要在头上敲一下。”丹说。 艾米走了几步，伸手去拿家里的电话。 她拨了他们的房间号码。 当内莉接电话时，她说：“好了，你现在可以停下来了。”

"Man, that's guid news," Nellie said. "This lassie is about to pass out." Amy hung up the phone and turned back to Alistair. Dan faced their uncle, his arms crossed. "I realize things look bad," Alistair said. "Did you hear that?" Dan asked. "A dead man is talking." "Amazing," Amy said. "But didn't you mean to say a lying, cheating, double-crossing dead man?" "I had good reason for what I did!" Alistair exclaimed. "My safety depends on my being dead. Anything less wouldn't have worked. Do you see, our alliance will be stronger than ever." "We don't have an alliance," Dan said. "Because you lied." "A small necessary deception. Think about it. Now I can operate undercover. You will have a truly silent partner. The Kabras think I'm dead. Soon the news will spread out to all Cahills." "Your uncle thinks you're alive." "Well." Alistair gave a slight cough. "He might have his reasons. But he won't tell the others. We

“伙计，这真是个坏消息，”内莉说。 “这姑娘要晕过去了。” 艾米挂了电话，转身面对阿利斯泰尔。 丹面对着他们的叔叔，双臂交叉。 “我意识到事情看起来很糟糕，”阿利斯泰尔说。 “你听到了吗？”丹问道。 “一个死人在说话。”“太棒了，”艾米说。 “可是你不是说一个说谎、欺骗、出卖人的死人吗？”“我这么做是有充分理由的！”Alistair喊道。 “我的安全取决于我是不是死了。 否则就行不通了。 你看，我们的联盟将比以往任何时候都更加强大。” “我们没有联盟，”丹说。 “因为你撒谎了。”“一个必要的小骗局。 想想看。现在我可以卧底了。 你会有一个真正的沉默搭档。 卡布拉家族以为我死了。 这个消息很快就会传遍卡希尔的所有人。” “你叔叔以为你还活着。” “好吧。”阿利斯泰尔轻轻地咳嗽了一声。 “他可能有他的理由。 但他不会告诉其他人。 我们