Trapped in Stormy Seas: Sailing to Treasure Island
gave him a chance to think about what Isabelle might be worked up about The last message from their uncle had said he was closing in on the hacker who was after his invention Uncle Dan had created the coolest possible way to read a book Instead of looking at words on a page Uncle Dan’s invention let you actually go inside the world of the story and live it He’d made virtual reality suits that let you see smell hear and feel the book Sometimes the result was scary but it was always cool Unfortunately a hacker called Storm had gotten in Uncle Dan’s system Storm added scary stuff to all of the books Carter had almost been stabbed by a musketeer and bitten by a rabbit with steel teeth Maybe Uncle Dan had brought Storm back to his house Maybe he had the creep tied up in the basement and wanted Izzy and Carter to help him get the guy to talk Not very likely Carter muttered as he pedaled faster Still you never know 6
Finally he raced onto Uncle Dan’s driveway and hopped off his bike He stowed it behind the trash corral next to Izzy’s His uncle was a little paranoid about people knowing his business He always had Izzy and Carter hide their bikes from spying eyes Carter didn’t even bother checking for the spare key Izzy never put it back if she made it inside fi rst He huffed with annoyance and rang the bell The door fl ew open and a skinny arm reached out It grabbed the front of his hoodie and jerked him inside Carter yelped He stumbled a little when his cousin let him go so she could slam the door behind him What’s with you he demanded Is Uncle Dan back Izzy turned and shook her head Carter noticed she was even paler than usual and her eyes were red Had she been crying He took a step back He totally didn’t know what to do with a crying girl Uncle Dan is missing Isabelle whispered 7
Missing He’s probably just off questioning Storm You know he doesn’t check in much He’s missing she repeated following him as he headed upstairs toward the fridge I checked Uncle Dan’s e-mail All of his contacts are looking for him That means they don’t know where he is So he’s missing Or busy Carter insisted He rooted in the fridge for a can of soda then settled gloomily for a juice box He might be roughing Storm up and he doesn’t want any witnesses You think Uncle Dan would hurt someone Carter paused His uncle was really more of a brains over brawn guy In fact he was tall but scrawny like Carter Maybe he mumbled Sure and he might secretly be a ninja Izzy said But he’s not You still don’t know that he’s missing Carter insisted stubbornly Uncle Dan has always been a little strange Maybe he just doesn’t want to be found Izzy shook her head her long blonde hair 8
falling like a curtain over her face There’s something wrong I can feel it Carter shrugged Izzy was starting to make him nervous What if something was wrong We could try calling him he suggested Isabelle opened her eyes wide On what He thinks cell phones are a government plot to spy on people He does Still he took one with him Carter folded his arms over his chest happy to be the one with secret information It was one of those disposables Just in case Izzy socked him in the arm Why didn’t you tell me that I’ve been scared to death Carter fought the urge to rub his sore arm It was a secret He gave me the number He told me to memorize it and eat the paper or something I’m not that good at the whole memorizing thing I wrote it inside my shoe Hold on He sat on the edge of one of his uncle’s kitchen stools and pulled off his shoe See 9
