Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 True to his word, Dan phoned Hamilton to tell him what they had found. This time, the connection was terrible, which turned out to work in their favor; it was clear that Hamilton couldn't make heads or tails of the conversation. But Amy agreed with Dan that they had held up their side of the deal. Now they were in the car, examining the gold strip with a magnifying mirror that Nellie produced from her luggage. "First four letters e–k–t–o," Dan said. "Ekto," Nellie said. "That's from Greek. It

means 'outer,' or 'outside.' Then m–a–l, right? 'Mal,' French, with Latin roots, meaning 'bad.'" She frowned. "After that, 'u–j–a,' and the whole thing starts over again. But I don't know what 'uja' means." "J–A for Jamaica?" Dan proposed. "And U, short for Y–O–U. Outside, bad, you, Jamaica?" "Too late," Amy said. "We've already been outside a lot here." Something about the letters seemed vaguely familiar to her…. What was it? "'Ekto' and 'mal' do sound like some kind of warning," Nellie said. "It would probably make sense if we knew what 'uja' meant." Amy felt a sharp pang. The three of us working together— that's what it was like before. And now it's all different, and we'll never be able to trust her again, not like before…. SCRRREEEEEECH! Amy jerked her head up. A big SUV was pulling into the parking lot much too fast. Dan started yelling. "GO, NELLIE! DRIVE— GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

Nellie obeyed instantly, jerking the car into gear and heading for the lot's exit. She peeled out into traffic, causing cars going both ways to slam on their brakes. The driver of the SUV had to wait for the traffic to untangle before making the turn behind them. "What—?" Amy said. "Cobras," Dan said grimly. The Kabras had followed them to Jamaica. By dint of very creative driving, some of which may not have been entirely legal, Nellie managed to lose the SUV in downtown Kingston. Now they were in an alley behind a sporting goods store, hiding out. "I've had it up to here with them!" Dan said angrily. "It's always them chasing us. Why can't it be us chasing them, just for once?" Amy's lips were pale. "We— we have to stay away from them," she whispered. "Especially Isabel." "I'm with you there," Nellie said. "Let's see"— she started ticking off on her fingers —"Amy and

the sharks, snakes in the mine, the fire in Indonesia, all three of us in the airplane hangar. What do you think she'll do for an encore?" Amy hesitated. Then she said quietly, "You forgot one." Nellie saw the expression on Dan's face change from anger to anguish. Amy closed her eyes. Their parents, Nellie thought. Years ago, when Amy was seven and Dan only four, Isabel Kabra had deliberately, coldheartedly, started the fire in which Hope Cahill and Arthur Trent had died. Of course, Nellie had known this for ages. But it was only at certain moments that it really hit her. She tried to imagine what it would be like to know that the person who murdered your parents was free in the world— and gunning for you as well. "That witch," she said bitterly. "I mean, anyone who would threaten to throw a kid into an ocean full of sharks—" Suddenly, Amy opened her eyes, and Nellie could almost feel the electricity of excitement crackling from her.

"She has it," Amy announced. "The Janus icon." When Amy had closed her eyes, she was doing her best to block out the image of her parents' death. Even the memory of being on that boat in Australia with Isabel was better than thinking about how Mom and Dad had died…. It was a sound, not a picture, that came to her first. A small metallic sound, like something rattling, almost tinkling. Isabel's bracelet. It was sliding around her wrist as she gestured at the water. A gold bracelet. Amy hadn't thought anything of it at the time, of course; she'd been too busy being terrified. But now the image grew clearer. The charms… Like a camera lens zooming in, Amy's memory homed in on one charm in particular. Triangular, with a sharp point… She could see it in her mind's eye with perfect clarity. She blinked in sudden realization. "We were

right," she said. "Remember the manifest? The animal bones?" "It's a jawbone?" Dan said in amazement. "A wolf's jaw?" Amy shook her head. "Not the whole jaw," she said. "One tooth— a fang, just like you wanted. And we're going to steal it from her." Planning an ambush was hard work. "Excellent Nanny probably had weeks to work out her ambushes," Dan complained. "We could definitely use her help." The Cahills got busy. They chose the location after a quick stop at the tourist information office: a forested park outside Kingston, where a ropes course was being constructed near a waterfall. They spent the afternoon checking out the park and buying a little equipment. Over her (very loud) protests, Nellie was made to stay in the car during the reconnaissance of the park. Amy had been firm about this. "This has nothing to do with Grace's letter, so you're out of the loop again. We'll need you