Chapter 9

When the radio alarm clicked on at 0530 military time—5:30 a.m.—Cody jolted awake. Pulling off her puffy comforter that had completely covered her head, she gasped for air. Seconds earlier, she’d had the distinct sensation of being smothered by a large woman in a flowery dress.

Lying back down, Cody glanced at the radio alarm. She slapped the Snooze button, shutting off Acne’s latest hit, “Everything Stinks.” Five thirty? It felt like the middle of the night. In fact, it was about the same time Skeleton Man’s house had caught on fire the previous morning.

She glanced at her ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars shone brightly. It was way too early for school. In fact, it was too early for anything.

Just before she drifted off again, her eyes sprang open again. She’d almost forgotten! The alarm hadn’t been set for school. It was for the clandestine meeting of the Code Busters. They were supposed to meet in front of Skeleton Man’s charred house at 0600 sharp.

She had less than thirty minutes to get ready.

Moving into hyper-speed, Cody ran through her usual morning rituals. By five minutes to six, she was dressed in a fresh pair of jeans, yellow tank top, flip-flops, and red hoodie, with her hair in a ponytail. Although there was a chill in the early morning air, the day would turn warm by noon—perfect for her cool-weather fashion statement.

Holding a cinnamon bagel in one hand and her backpack in the other, Cody slipped out the door, closing it quietly. She’d left a note on the kitchen table to let her mother know she’d be meeting M.E. early so they could go over their spelling words before the test. It was partly true.

The street was eerily deserted as Cody crossed over to Skeleton Man’s house; the area was lit only by the nearby streetlight. Moments later Quinn appeared, wearing a relativity is all relative T-shirt and khaki slacks, followed by Luke, who wore his usual skater shorts, oversize shirt, and Vans. M.E. arrived minutes later, in red tights, a tie-dyed skirt, and Ed Hardy tattoo-style T-shirt.

“Yo,” Luke said, yawning. M.E. groaned loudly.

“Quiet!”Quinn hissed. He glanced up and down the street. “We don’t want to get caught before we even start.”

Cody turned to the gutted house. Even in the dawning morning light the place looked creepy. Outside, the wood was scorched black. Quinn walked into the backyard and waved the others to follow him. Once inside the yard, they ducked behind the fence.

“We’ll go around the back where no one can see us,” Quinn whispered.

As she passed by the front of the house, Cody caught sight of the yellow caution tape and a sign that read, no trespassing! keep out! danger! Uh-oh. They were probably doing something illegal. If her mother found out…

“No one will see us here,” Quinn said, as the group collected at the back door of the house. The yard was filled with metal sculptures that blocked the view of most neighbors.

“I’m not so sure this is a good idea,” M.E. said, gawking at the soot that had collected on her shoes. Cody noticed her own toes were black. Wearing flip-flops had not been the best idea.

“We’ll just take a quick look around and see if there’s anything like a safe or a will or gold,” Quinn said. “Then we’re outta here, okay?”

The others nodded. Quinn tried the doorknob. It came off in his hand. Luke stepped up, grasped the hole where the knob had once been, and yanked the door open. After brushing the soot off his hands, he stepped inside. Quinn, Cody, and M.E. followed him into the shell of the old man’s home.

Cody wrinkled her nose at the lingering smell of charred wood. She scanned the interior, her eyes wide with a mixture of horror and wonder. The interior walls appeared rippled and shiny, like a frozen waterfall. Everything was shiny black or shades of gray. Some of the furniture had melted, while other pieces were just charred remains, like bony skeletons. She stepped carefully to avoid broken glass, while trying to identify blackened objects that looked surreal.

“Let’s split up,” Quinn said, checking his military watch. “We’ll make better time. M.E., you check the bathroom; Luke, the living room; and Cody, the kitchen. I’ll search the back room.”

Cody tiptoed into the kitchen, hoping the floor didn’t cave in. She marveled at the spectacle in shimmering black. Although the walls, floor, and ceiling remained, they were scorched and ripply. The appliances had melted and blistered and were covered with a shiny black skin. The room looked as if all the color had been sucked out.

After a few minutes of searching the gutted cupboards, Cody found one cupboard door intact. She pulled it open and spotted a bunch of medicine bottles, unharmed by the fire. Wow, Cody thought as she glanced at the unfamiliar labels. Skeleton Man must have been sick. She tried to pronounce the various medications: Citi-something, Tenecte-something, Cere-something.

I wonder what was wrong with him, she thought.

After making certain there was nothing left to explore in the kitchen, Cody returned to the front hallway and met up with the others. Quinn had a black smudge on his cheek and black fingertips. Luke had handprints on his shorts from wiping his sooty hands. M.E.’s black-and-white athletic shoes were now just black. Cody would have to scrub her feet and her face and hands before going to school. “Find anything?” Quinn asked, wiping his forehead and leaving a black streak.

Cody shook her head.

“Nothing,” Luke said.

“Me, neither,” added M.E. “I think we better go.” She glanced around nervously. “This whole place could fall down on us any minute. I saw it in a movie once.” She started for the back door.

“Wait!” Quinn grabbed her arm with a filthy hand.

“No, Quinn,” Cody said. “M.E.’s right. It’s too dangerous in here. And there’s no sign of anything like money or treasure. We checked everywhere but upstairs, and we can’t get up there because the staircase is too damaged for—”

Cody stopped. Catching a movement in the corner of her eye, she turned to see Luke waving at them from the hallway.

“Hey, look at this.” Luke was pointing at something on the wall.

It appeared to be a framed certificate, scorched but not completely charred, hanging by a thin wire. Although the glass had shattered from the intense heat, the frame was intact and dangled crookedly on the wall. The certificate inside was severely singed, with only a few readable letters remaining in one undamaged corner.

Quinn read the letters aloud.

“Looks like…C I A… ”

“Dude,” Luke said, blinking rapidly. “You think Skeleton Man was a spy for the Central Intelligence Agency?”

Quinn peered at the letters. “Maybe. He was always staring out his window and watching us.”

Cody pointed to an imprint on the certificate. “There’s some kind of official emblem.”

Quinn reached out to touch the raised design, but as soon as his fingers made contact, the paper crumbled into bits and drifted to the ground like black snow.

“Dang,” Quinn said, frowning.

Cody glanced back at the frame. “Hey…there’s something hidden behind the paper. It looks like…a piece of metal.”

She reached up and tried to pull the frame from the wall, but it fell apart in her hands, the pieces dropping to the floor. Bending over, she retrieved the metal object, which had come loose. It was about the size of an Altoids container. She blew off the black dust, then ran her fingers over the smooth top. She flipped it over and noticed the underside felt rougher than the top. Holding it up in the dim light, she tried to catch a reflection. That’s when she noticed the smudges she’d left on the bottom of the tin.

She caught her breath.

“There’s something written on this!” Her dirty hand had left particles of ash inside the indentations. Quickly, she swiped her other hand over the surface, cleaning off the residue, while at the same time depositing ash in the tiny crevices.

The darkened words jumped out at her.

WILL you find THE money?

No, it’s not INSIDE.

LIES are in the ASHes.

Not a place to hide.

Cody felt a wave of excitement. This was definitely a message of some kind. From Skeleton Man?

“Okay, that’s just weird,” M.E. said aloud.

Quinn’s eyes grew wide. “I told you there was something valuable hidden in this house. This proves it!”

M.E. frowned. “Quinn, this doesn’t prove anything. It doesn’t even make sense. If it’s supposed to be a poem, it doesn’t rhyme. And even if we could figure out what it means, it doesn’t prove that there’s money or a will hidden around here.”

“I think Quinn’s right,” Cody said. “It’s some kind of code or puzzle.”

“And we have to solve it,” Quinn added. “I mean, if Skeleton Man worked for the CIA, he probably used a lot of codes. He’s not going to just tell people where to look for his treasure.”

“It doesn’t look like any puzzle we’ve ever solved before,” Luke said, leaning over Cody’s shoulder to see the object better. “And if he really worked for the CIA, this isn’t going to be an easy code to crack.”

Cody, who’d been studying the puzzle while the others argued, drew in her breath.

“What’s wrong, Cody?” M.E. asked. “You look

like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Cody pointed to the second-to-last line of the puzzle and read it aloud. “Listen. It says, ‘Lies are in the ashes.’”

“Yeah, so?” M.E. asked, scrunching up her face.

“If Skeleton Man wrote this, don’t you think it’s a little weird that he’d use the word ashes?” Cody looked at their blank faces. She picked up a handful of the feathery silt from the floor and let it sift between her fingers. “How did Skeleton Man know his house was going to burn down?”

“Unless he planned it, and set fire to it himself…,” M.E. said.

Before they had time to think about it further, Cody heard a noise coming from the living room. She grabbed M.E.’s arm and pointed to the source of the sound.

“I heard something,” she mouthed, barely breathing. “It came from behind the couch!”