Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 Nellie's jaw dropped. "You're giving me the window seat?" she said, incredulous. She was momentarily stunned by their generosity but didn't hesitate to snatch up this rare gift. She settled into the seat and rested her head against the window. After takeoff, Dan reached over and plucked the earbuds out of her ears. "Dude!" she said. "What are you doing?" "Right question," Dan said. "What are you doing?" He pulled the cord out of the iPod and held the earbuds out of her reach. Amy took the earbuds from Dan and wound the cord neatly, away from Nellie's swiping hand. "Nellie, cut it out," she said. "We— we really need to talk." Nellie felt a prickle of unease, which she

第二章内利的下巴掉了下来。 “你要给我一个靠窗的座位？”她不敢相信地说。 她一时被他们的慷慨大方惊呆了，但毫不犹豫地抢了这份罕见的礼物。 她坐到座位上，把头靠在窗户上。 起飞后，丹伸手把耳塞从她的耳朵里拔了出来。 “老兄！”她说。“你在干什么？”“问得好，”丹说。 “你在干什么？”他把iPod的连接线拔了出来，把耳塞拿在她够不着的地方。 艾米从丹手里拿过耳塞，把耳机线绕得整整齐齐，不让内莉的手摸到。 “内莉，别说了，”她说。 “我们——我们真的需要谈谈。” 内莉感到一阵不安，她说

covered with an exasperated sigh. "What's the problem now? You said Europe, I took you to Europe. You said Japan, so I took you there, and then Egypt and Russia and— and I don't even know where else, I can't keep track— and now you said the Bahamas, so we're on our way. What's to talk about?" Dan crossed his arms sternly. For a fleeting moment, Nellie almost wanted to pat him on the head; with his face so serious, he looked younger somehow. "How's this for starters," he said. "You somehow magically get us permits to go to Tibet when it takes months for most people. You make one phone call, and all of a sudden we have access to the only helicopter in the world that can get to the top of Everest. The Holts found out that we're going to the Bahamas when no one else but you knew. And in Russia, we heard a message on your phone, asking for a 'status report.'" Nellie had known this moment would come sooner or later; she'd been praying it would be later.

发出一声恼怒的叹息。 “现在的问题是什么？”你说欧洲，我就带你去欧洲。 你说日本，所以我带你去了，然后是埃及和俄罗斯，还有——我甚至不知道还有什么地方，我记不住——现在你说巴哈马，所以我们在路上了。 有什么好谈的？”丹严厉地交叉着双臂。 有那么一瞬间，内利几乎想拍拍他的头；他的脸那么严肃，不知怎么显得年轻了些。 “这对初学者来说怎么样？”他说。 “你神奇地帮我们拿到了去西藏的许可，而大多数人去西藏需要几个月的时间。 你打一个电话，突然之间我们就可以使用世界上唯一一架可以到达珠穆朗玛峰顶端的直升机。 霍尔特夫妇发现我们要去巴哈马除了你没人知道。 在俄罗斯，我们从你的手机上听到一条信息，要求你提供“状态报告”。’”耐莉早就知道这一刻迟早会到来；她一直在祈祷能晚一点。

Well, here goes, she thought. Maybe she could distract them…. She tossed her head. "Great. I leave school to look after you guys; I leave the country and go wild–goose–chasing all over the world, which has my parents just thrilled, thank you very much; I even save your necks more than once, and this is the thanks I get?" Amy looked miserable. Nellie felt a surge of pity. Poor kid. Even with an au pair around, Amy had been shouldering burdens that would crush many adults. "Nellie, it's not that we don't trust you," she said. "Except that Mr. McIntyre told us not to trust anyone. And what Dan said— well, can't you see how it looks kind of fishy to us?" When the going gets tough, the tough go to the bathroom. Nellie unclasped her seat belt. "If you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom." Neither of them budged. "Ah," she said. "So that's why you gave me the window seat. I should have known something was up." Dan twisted in his seat so he was blocking her way even more.

好吧，就这样吧，她想。 也许她可以分散他们的注意力.... 她摇了摇头。“好了。 我离开学校是为了照顾你们；我离开这个国家，到世界各地去寻宝，这让我的父母非常激动，非常感谢；我甚至不止一次救了你们的命，这就是我得到的回报吗？”艾米看起来很痛苦。 内莉感到一阵怜悯。 可怜的孩子。即使身边有个互惠生，艾米也一直肩负着足以压垮许多成年人的重担。 “内莉，我们不是不相信你，”她说。 “除了麦金太尔先生告诉我们不要相信任何人。 丹说的话——嗯，你看不出来我们觉得这有点可疑吗？”当事情变得艰难时，强者会去洗手间。 内莉解开了安全带。 “如果你不介意的话，我要去一下洗手间。” 他们俩都一动不动。“啊，”她说。 “所以你才给了我靠窗的座位。 我早该知道出事了。” 丹在座位上扭了扭身子，更挡住了她的路。

Nellie bit her lip and stared down at her lap. Thoughts were racing through her head. That secrecy clause in my contract— fifty thousand dollars extra if I make it through without telling them. Fifty thousand! But I never thought things would get so complicated… and it's probably going to get way worse before this is over. Without looking up, she could feel their eyes boring into her. They wouldn't be fooled easily. The truth, then. But not the whole truth. Not who I'm really working for. Just enough to get them off my back for now. She made up her mind. "Okay," she said. "I shouldn't be doing this, but I can't stand it anymore. I'm going to tell you everything." She pushed the button to recline her seat its full three–quarters of an inch. "Get comfy, kids," she said. "This is a long story." Amy felt almost like she was falling. It was as if someone had yanked out the rug she was standing on and thrown her completely off balance. Even though she was sitting down.

内莉咬着嘴唇，低头盯着自己的膝盖。 各种念头在她的脑子里飞快地闪过。 我合同里的保密条款，如果我不告诉他们，就多给我五万美元。 五万年!但我从没想过事情会变得如此复杂，而且在这一切结束之前，情况可能会变得更糟。 她头也不抬，就能感觉到他们的眼睛在盯着她。 他们不会轻易上当。 那就实话实说吧。但不是全部真相。 我不是在为谁工作。 让他们暂时别烦我就行了。 她下定了决心。“好吧，”她说。 “我不应该这样做，但我再也受不了了。 我要告诉你一切。” 她按下按钮，把座位向后倾了整整四分之三英寸。 “舒服点，孩子们，”她说。 “这是一个很长的故事。”艾米觉得自己几乎要掉下去了。 就好像有人把她踩着的地毯拽了出去，把她完全弄得失去了平衡。 尽管她坐着。

Nellie, whom they had trusted and relied on and confided in all these weeks… she wasn't who they thought she was. She wasn't a random college student hired by Aunt Beatrice to be their au pair. Not even close. Nellie had just told them that she was being paid by Mr. McIntyre, to look after them— and that all along, she had been sending him reports about their activities. Without realizing it, Amy took hold of Dan's hand. She looked at him and saw that his face was pale, his lips almost colorless. He didn't pull his hand away. Nellie was just getting started. "It was Grace who hired me," she said. "When she made out her will, she must have guessed that you would go after the clues. And that the other teams would have grown–ups or money or both. So she planned it out carefully. She wanted you to have someone along who could help you with all the travel stuff and drive and everything. She told me you'd be hunting for clues and that things might get a little tricky. But she sure as heck

这几个星期来，他们一直信任、依靠、吐露心事的内莉……她并不是他们想象中的那个人。 她不是随便一个被碧翠丝阿姨雇来做保姆的大学生。 差远了。内莉刚刚告诉他们，麦金太尔先生雇她来照顾他们——而且一直以来，她都在向麦金太尔先生报告他们的活动。 艾米不知不觉地抓住了丹的手。 她看着他，发现他脸色苍白，嘴唇几乎没有颜色。 他没有把手抽开。 内莉才刚刚开始。 “是格蕾丝雇了我，”她说。 “她写遗嘱的时候，一定猜到你会追查线索。 而其他球队要么有大人，要么有钱，或者两者兼而有之。 所以她仔细地计划了一下。 她想让你身边有个人可以帮你处理所有旅行的事情开车什么的。 她告诉我你会寻找线索事情可能会变得有点棘手。 但她肯定是

didn't tell me what I was really getting into!" Nellie shook her head. "I had to interview three different times. For hours— man, did she grill me. I knew I had a good shot when I told her that I knew how to fly a plane. And when I finally got the job, she told your Aunt Beatrice that if she fired me, she wouldn't get anything in the will. Your grandmother was one smart lady." Dan cleared his throat. "No wonder you've lasted so long," he said slowly. "Before you, Aunt Beatrice got rid of au pairs like they were cockroaches or something." "I swear I've never told any of the other teams a single thing," Nellie said. "I tell McIntyre, and he decides what to do with the information. So like with the Bahamas? Yeah, I told him. But I didn't tell the Holts. He must have told them, and he must have had his reasons, but he usually doesn't tell me what they are. Otherwise, my only job is to keep you safe." Silence. "Don't you get it?" Nellie asked, sounding a

没告诉我我真正要做的是什么！”内莉摇了摇头。 “我必须面试三次。 她拷问了我好几个小时。 当我告诉她我知道如何驾驶飞机时，我就知道我很有希望。 当我最终得到那份工作时，她告诉比阿特丽斯姨妈如果她炒了我，遗嘱里什么都不会写。 你的祖母是个聪明的女人。” 丹清了清喉咙。“难怪你坚持了这么久，”他慢慢地说。 “在你之前，比阿特丽斯姨妈把互惠生当蟑螂一样赶走了。” “我发誓我从来没有告诉过其他球队任何一件事，”内利说。 “我告诉麦金太尔，他决定如何处理这些信息。 就像巴哈马群岛一样？是的，我告诉他了。 但我没告诉霍尔特一家。 他一定告诉他们了，他一定有他的理由，但他通常不告诉我是什么原因。 否则，我唯一的工作就是保证你的安全。” 沉默。“你还不明白吗？”内莉问，声音听起来有点