The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues #1)(25)

"She doesn't even care about us!" Dan said.

"Be that as it may, until she officially turns you over to Social Services, she will get in legal trouble if anything happens to you. If you return to Boston, you'll be sent to foster homes. The two of you may not even be put together. There's no returning to your old life now."

"Couldn't you help us?" Amy asked. "I mean, you're a lawyer."

"I'm helping too much already. Occasional information is all I can give."

Dan's ears pricked up. "Information like what?"

Mr. McIntyre lowered his voice. "One of your competitors, Jonah Wizard, is preparing for an overseas journey. I fear you will run into him quite soon. He and his father made first class reservations in New York this morning."

"Where are they going?" Dan asked.

"If you think about the information you found, I think you'll know."

"Yes," Amy said. "I do. And we're going to get there first."

Dan didn't know what she was talking about, but he was glad to see her looking angry again. It was no fun giving Amy a hard time when she was crying.

Mr. McIntyre breathed a sigh of relief. "So you'll carry on. You won't give up?"

Amy looked at Dan, and they came to a silent agreement.

"We'll keep going for now," Amy said. "But, Mr. McIntyre, why are you really helping us? You're not helping any of the other teams, are you?"

The old lawyer hesitated. "In the Franklin Institute, you said you warned the Starlings they were in danger."

"Of course we did," Amy said.

"They wouldn't have done the same for you."

"Maybe, but it seemed like the right thing."

"Interesting ..." He glanced toward the street. "I can say no more. I must -- "

"Please," Amy said. "One more favor." She uncovered Saladin's cat carrier, and suddenly Dan realized why she'd brought it.

"Amy, no!"

"Dan, we have to," she said. "It isn't safe for him." He was about to argue, but something stopped him. He thought about dragging the poor cat up that air vent in the fire, then making him sit through the train ride stuffed in a cat carrier. What if Saladin had been in the museum explosion with them? If the little dude got hurt, Dan would never forgive himself. "All right," he sighed.

"Is that Madame Grace's cat?" Mr. McIntyre scowled. "How did you -- "

"He escaped the fire with us," Amy said. "We were hoping to keep him, but... we can't where we're going. It wouldn't be fair to drag him along. Could you keep him for us?"

"Mrrp."

Saladin gave Dan a look like You can't be serious.

Mr. McIntyre had pretty much the same expression. "I don't know, my dear. I am not, well, an animal person. I had a dog once, Oliver, but -- "

"Please," Amy said. "He was our grandmother's. I need to know he's safe."

The old lawyer looked like he wanted to run, but he took a deep breath. "Very well. For a little while."

"Thank you!" Amy handed him the carrier. "He only eats fresh fish. Red snapper is his favorite."

Mr. McIntyre blinked. "Red snapper? Ah, well ... I'll see what I can do."

"Mrrp," Saladin said, which probably meant something like I can't believe you're leaving me with an old guy who doesn't know I like red snapper.

"Children, you should go," Mr. McIntyre said. "Your babysitter is getting impatient. Just remember what I said before. Trust no one!"

And with that, William McIntyre retreated down the street, holding Saladin's cat carrier out to one side like it was a box of radioactive material.

As they walked back to the car, Amy said, "We're going to Paris."

Dan was thinking about Saladin, and his ears were still ringing from the museum explosion, so he wasn't sure he'd heard her right. "Did you say Paris ... like in France?"

Amy brought out Sinead Starling's cell phone. The photo of the Benjamin Franklin letter was still on the screen -- the secret message a fuzzy yellow scrawl in purple light.

"When Franklin was really old," Amy said, "he was the American ambassador in Paris.

He was working on a peace treaty to end the Revolutionary War. He had a house in a place called Passy, and all the French thought he was like a rock star."

"They treat fat old guys like rock stars in France?"

"I told you, Franklin was world famous. He was into philosophy and he liked parties and al sorts of ... French stuff. Anyway, the secret message said he was leaving Paris, right? The letter was dated 1785. I'm pretty sure that's the year he came back to America. So he was leaving something behind in Paris."

"Something that broke up his clan," Dan said. "That's what asunder means, right? You think he was talking about the branches of the Cahills?"

"It's possible." Amy twisted her hair. "Dan, what I said earlier... I don't really want to give up. I'm just scared."

Dan nodded. He didn't want to admit it, but the man in black and the explosion had kind of freaked him out, too. "It's okay. We have to keep going, right?"