The Secret Box Read Online Free PDF

puzzle.”
    â€œA puzzle?” One of Tyler’s eyebrows arched. He was intrigued. His hand darted out and, before Jax could react, he pushed the button.
    Attempt 6 of 10.
193 miles from the right spot.
Good-bye.
    â€œJeez Tyler, you just wasted a push,” Jax grumbled as she stepped away. “Don’t do that again. Now we only have four pushes left.”
    â€œIt’s got a GPS unit,” I said. “We have to go to a preprogrammed place in order for it to open.”
    Tyler curled his upper lip. “Duh. That’s obvious.”
    Jax shuffled in place, her arms wrapped around the box. “So how would you find the right spot if your only clue is that it’s one hundred and ninety-three miles away?”
    Tyler snorted. “You’re interrupting my game for something as easy as that? What a couple of morooons.” He spun back around and reached for the gaming mouse.
    â€œI’m not a morooon, whatever that is,” Jax snapped. “And neither is Ethan. Why are you always so mean? Why can’t you just help us?”
    â€œWhat’s in it for me?” Tyler asked, his back to us. “Are you going to give me whatever’s in the box?”
    â€œNo way,” Jax said, her grip tightening.
    â€œThen why should I help you?”
    I wasn’t one bit surprised. We should have known better than to ask my brother for help. Being smart didn’t have anything to do with being kind or generous. “Let’s go,” I said, heading for the door.
    â€œNo, wait. I want to figure this out.” Jax’s gaze darted around the room. “Oh, I know. I got two Starbucks cards for my birthday. You can have them.”
    â€œCaffeine as payment?” Tyler spun around. “Deal.” He held out his palm, fingers wiggling. Jax tucked the box under her arm, reached into her back pocket, and pulled out a thin purple wallet. Then she handed over the Starbucks cards. “Payment accepted,” Tyler said. After grabbing an atlas off his shelf, he pushed aside a bunch of candy-bar wrappers to make room on his desk. “Gather round, minions, and I shall educate your feeble minds.”
    Jax set the metal box on the bed and we both leaned over Tyler’s shoulders, watching as he searched through the atlas’s index until he found a map of the eastern coast of the United States. He rifled through his drawer for a pen, then drew a dot on the map, right over Chatham. “The key to solving your riddle is geometry. This dot is approximately where I pushed the button.” He grabbed a ruler and took a measurement from the atlas’s key. He drew a line out from the dot and into the ocean. “And this is one hundred and ninety-three miles away, the distance to the right spot.”
    â€œIt’s in the water?” I asked.
    â€œMaybe,” he said. Then, using a compass, he drew a circle around the Chatham dot with a radius of 193. “Somewhere on this circle you’ll find what you’re looking for.” He grabbed his can of soda and took a long drink. “Lesson concluded. Now go play with your little box.” He reached for his mouse again.
    Jax grabbed the atlas. “But this circle goes through Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania . . . it goes through six states. We only have four more times to push the button. We can’t go to all those places.”
    â€œIs there a way to narrow the search?” I asked.
    Tyler grimaced, as if I’d asked him to give me one of his kidneys. “Jeez. Didn’t either of you take geometry? You’ll need another reading, obviously .”
    â€œWhere?” Jax asked.
    â€œSomewhere outside of Chatham. Push the button again and you’ll find out how far you are from the right spot.” He tapped his fingers on the desk, eager to get back to his game. “Then you’ll draw another circle. Get it?”
    We both shook our heads.
    â€œWhat