Avery and Duncan shared a knowing look, then slid out from under the car.

“Kill who, Tanisha?” their father asked.

“TJ,” she cried. “He’s cheating on me.”

“Who is TJ?” Avery asked.

Suddenly, Benjamin floated into the garage. “Her boyfriend. She’s been using me to spy on him all afternoon, accessing satellite imagery. She wanted to fire a drone missile at his house, but I wouldn’t let her.”

“Tanisha!” Duncan cried. “Those satellites belong to the United States government.”

“Honey, when Duncan agreed to let you use his computer, he didn’t mean you could use it to invade other people’s privacy.”

“Then I guess you’re probably not going to be happy that I turned TJ in to the NSA as a suspected terrorist. All right, fine. I’ll fix it. It’s just—well, to be honest, I’m sort of starting to dig the computer. I seem to have a connection with it. I guess it runs in the family.”

Duncan smiled.

Aiah came out to the garage. “Well, word is that the school is a disaster. They’re shutting it down until they can repair the damage that wacko did to it.”

“The team is going to be operating out of a few empty offices at the Pentagon for the time being,” Duncan said.

“So Dad changed his mind about you being a spy?” Tanisha asked.

Avery shrugged. “The world needs him.”

“Yeah, I talked to Agent Brand myself and he suggested I could get upgrades, too,” Tanisha replied.

“Stick to abusing your boyfriend’s civil rights,” Aiah said. “This family can handle only one spy at a time.”

“So what are they going to do about school?” Avery asked his son.

“I guess they’ll have us take classes in trailers for now. Agent Brand, Ms. Holiday, and the lunch lady are already setting up access to the Playground.”

Suddenly, Duncan let out a powerful sneeze.

“Uh-oh!” Aiah cried. “Please tell me that was hay fever.”

“Sorry, duty calls,” Duncan said.

“Son, I can’t drive you,” Avery said. “The car is a mess.”

Duncan leaped up and snatched a backpack out of the car. He strapped it to his back and two metal handles popped out. He squeezed them and a rocket lifted him off the ground. “No need, Dad. The GV-761 Rocket Backpack will get me there.”

“I thought you had learned a lesson about doing things without fancy technology!” Avery cried.

“I did, Dad, but isn’t this the coolest thing ever? I can go from zero to a hundred miles an hour in two seconds!”

Duncan saw his family’s disappointed expressions.

“Fine! I promise to take the bus home,” he said with a grin. Then he rocketed away, leaving the Dewey family looking at the clouds.

ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT.

YOU DID IT.

CONGRATULATIONS.

YOU CRACKED THE CODES.

I’D LIKE TO THINK I HAD

A LITTLE SOMETHING TO DO

WITH YOUR SUCCESS. I MEAN,

I ALWAYS KNEW YOU

HAD IT IN YOU.

WHAT?

WELL, I DIDN’T EXACTLY

CALL YOU A LOSER. YES,

I MAY HAVE SUGGESTED

THAT YOU WOULD FAIL.

BUT IT WAS ALL IN

GOOD FUN. YOU KNOW,

I WAS TRYING TO SPARK

A DESIRE TO PROVE

ME WRONG. YEAH.

THAT’S WHAT I WAS

DOING . . .

AND IT WORKED!

ALL THOSE PUT-DOWNS

AND INSULTS MADE YOU

INTO A FIRST-RATE SECRET

AGENT. WHEN THE PRESIDENT

AWARDS YOU THE MEDAL

OF FREEDOM SOMEDAY,

I CERTAINLY HOPE YOU

THANK ME, THE GUY WHO

MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE.

I MEAN, IF I HADN’T SEEN

YOUR POTENTIAL WHEN

EVERYONE ELSE WAS READY

TO GIVE UP ON YOU, WELL,

WHO KNOWS WHERE YOU WOULD

HAVE ENDED UP!

YOU’RE NOT BUYING ANY

OF THIS, ARE YOU?

FINE . . . FINE.

SO, YOU ARE NOW

OFFICIALLY A MEMBER

OF NERDS, WITH ALL

THE PRIVILEGES AND

RESPONSIBILITIES. I’D

LIKE TO WELCOME YOU

PERSONALLY.

Acknowledgments

Many secret agents to thank: Susan Van Metre for believing in this series; Chad W. Beckerman for his inspired art direction and Ethen Beavers for his fantastic art (you are why kids buy these books!); Jason Wells, who shouts to the heavens about what I do; as well as everyone at Amulet Books for their incredible support.

Thanks to Alison Fargis and her entire team at the Stonesong Press. Thanks to Alison for marrying me, and giving me Finn, too. Thanks to Joe Deasy for being an eager reader, even after a dozen drafts. Thanks to Howard Sanders and his lovely family: Zoe, Sylvie, and Phoebe. Thanks to Lauren Meltzner, and everyone at UTA. Thanks, thanks, thanks!