Free The 39 Clues: Unstoppable Book 2: Breakaway by Jeff Hirsch Page A

cars and a large minivan loitered below. All were black and seemed to have more than the usual amount of antennas and lights. Bulky men in suits stood around smoking cigarettes and keeping a sharp eye all around.
    “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last year,” Jake said, “it’s that no matter where you go, cops pretty much look the same.”
    “That’s all for us?” Dan asked.
    “We’re the Cahill kids,” Amy said. “International criminals.”
    “Stealing that boat probably didn’t help,” Jake said.
    Dan looked at Amy. “You guys stole a boat?”
    “It’s not just cops, either,” Amy said.
    She pointed to another cluster of men. They were mixing with the Tunisian police but they were Westerners, broad shouldered and lean with crisp military haircuts. Official-looking badges hung around their necks, but Amy knew they weren’t the Feds.
    “Pierce’s men?” Dan asked.
    Amy nodded. “Probably pretending to be FBI or US Marshals.”
    “Excuse me!” the manager called again, his accented voice slurring with panic. “Miss! It is most important that you come down to the lobby immediately. This fire, it is very dangerous!”
    “What do we do?” Atticus asked.
    He looked to Amy and something locked up inside of her. “Maybe . . . maybe we go with him. Once we’re out we slip away, go out the back . . .”
    “The other hotel exits will be covered by now,” Jake said. “Besides, he’s probably got cops standing right next to him. Atticus, block the door and get our things!”
    Atticus stuck a chair under the door handle and grabbed their backpacks. Jake hit the light switch and the hotel room went dark.
    “What are you doing?” Amy asked.
    “Dan, give me a hand!”
    Jake pulled the window shades open and then Dan rushed over to help. The window was heavy, but with a giant yank, it flew open and a hot gust of wind blew into the room. There was a thin concrete shelf just below the window that encircled the building.
    “Miss, please!” the manager pleaded. “The fire, it is quite big now!”
    There was a click as the manager unlocked the door, and then a thump as he tried to open it. Jake grabbed the windowsill and climbed up onto the ledge.
    “Jake, wait!” Amy said. “We can’t!”
    But Dan was already following him out, with Atticus close behind. A wall-shaking boom came from behind her as someone began trying to break the door down. There was no other choice. Amy leaped up onto the windowsill and out into the night.

Pony was deep in the jungle and there were tigers everywhere.
    He could feel their eyes on him at every turn, crouching at the edge of firewalls and lurking, ravenous, within system registries. Pony had no doubt that he was one of the very best, but Founders Media had withstood years of attacks from everyone from Anonymous to Mafiaboy and possibly to April May herself. It wouldn’t give up its secrets without a bloody fight, hence the tigers — sentries made of code ready to pounce if he made one wrong move.
    As soon as Pony had seen the last news story from Founders Media, he knew he had to try something. He started by reaching into relatively unprotected file servers and deleting articles and photo and video files. They always came back, though, sometimes within minutes.
    His newest gambit was to delve deep within Founders Media’s internal servers. He wasn’t quite sure what the endgame was — maybe to find info to implicate Pierce in the attacks against Amy and Dan. Maybe do deep and serious damage to his network. First, Pony needed to get in. And that was proving much harder than he’d thought.
    Pony pushed the keyboard away. His head was pounding. His eyeballs ached. There was only one cure for what ailed him. Pony left his station in the command center and walked back to the kitchen in a post-hacking haze. Around him, Hamilton, Ian, and Jonah were bent over books and computers of their own, poking at a hundred different mysteries.
    “Hey,