The 39 Clues Book 7: The Viper's Nest
business to feed people at reasonable prices, Uncle ... By now he could have been something in the Ekaterina branch. Instead of a constant problem.
    Ah, well, Bae thought, watching the life ebb from Alistair. Often problems have unexpected solutions.
    The officer finally unlocked the cuff. As it fell away, Alistair's arm thudded heavily to the roadbed. His head lolled to the side. The officers were dumbfounded.
    "Mati?" one of them muttered.
    Dead, Bae translated silently.
    He steadied himself on the police van. Alistair's eyes were open, staring. Accusing. In repose, he looked like his father. "Gordon ..." Bae whispered.
    Stop. It's not Gordon. It's the boy.
    Struggling to stand, Bae walked farther into the road's shoulder, away from the noise of traffic. Leaning on his cane, he spoke into his cell. "Hello ... I am calling to report the natural death of Alistair Oh...."
    "AAAAAAAGHHHH!" At the sound of an officer's scream, Bae hurried back toward the car.
    He stopped short, dropping his phone and his cane.
    The two officers were flat on the ground, writhing in pain. Alistair Oh stood between them, brushing himself off. He turned to Bae, nodded cheerfully, then scooped Bae's cane off the ground. "You dropped this, Uncle?"
    Bae reached out. "But... but you were ..."
    "I may have been expelled from Harvard, but I
    37
    got an A in acting," Alistair said, flipping open the top of Bae's cane to reveal a collection of small black switches. "My, what have we here?"
    Bae lurched forward. "No, Alistair, you don't know what you're doing!"
    "Watch me," Alistair said. He swung the hilt of the cane toward Bae, releasing a black cloud of pepper spray.
    Bae dropped to the road in a fit of coughing. His leg twisted. He heard a snap below the knee. Pain shot upward from his leg and downward through his lungs, and he felt as if his body were exploding.
    He screamed, fighting to keep consciousness.
    Alistair approached, the cane raised. "You look distressed, my dear, compassionate uncle."
    Breathe. Eyes open. Focus. Bae stared at his nephew. Alistair had the perfect chance. One rap to the head was all it would take.
    "AAGHH!" Alistair raised the cane over his head.
    Bae closed his eyes. He heard a thump on the ground. He felt his hand being pulled upward. His back sliding against the grass. A cuff clanking shut on his wrist. Another on the car door handle.
    Over the sound of his own shrieking, he was vaguely aware of a distant police siren piercing the air. And his nephew's voice, growing fainter and fainter.
    Alistair was singing.
    "I'm with you and you're with me and so we are all together...."
    38
    CHAPTER 7
    The Peoria International Airport had its share of mums and bored children. But rarely ones with an arsenal of poisons tucked into carry-on shampoo bottles, which made Ian Kabra quite proud.
    The fact that the Cahill children had missed their flight did spoil things a bit. Not to mention the airport uniforms they were wearing.
    "I can't believe we have to make ourselves look so ... so ..." stammered Natalie Kabra.
    "Working class?" said Ian, whose airline security shirt was already making him itch. "Remember what Mother said. It's no longer so easy to infiltrate airline personnel. Be grateful for our Lucian contacts."
    "Don't get me started on the little airplane name badges," Natalie grumbled.
    "Will you two be quiet?" said Isabel Kabra as they rounded a corner, heading for the airport employee lounge. A brimmed supervisor cap could not hide the anger in her eyes as she hissed softly into her mobile: "Arif, speak slowly. My Indonesian is exceptional but not
    39
    perfect... yes, I know you outwitted them ... of course they didn't suspect you knew English, that is precisely why we pay you the big bucks ... yes, I saw their names on the passenger list to Peoria, but they were not in their seats, Arif! ... Ah, you have information on the next flight... three hours? Good. We shall hope they are on it. And, Arif... you should hope so, too."
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