“What about the guy you were talking to? You said he knew about the Supers,” James suggested.
“I don’t trust him,” Rocky said.
“You don’t even know him!” Katie said.
“Still.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Katie said, her cheeks slightly flushed. “He’s gone now.”
“He’s gone?” James said, starting to think Rocky’s theory might hold water.
“Yes, but it’s not what you think. I caught him as he was about to leave. He fled the country.”
“Well, that’s not suspicious at all,” Rocky said.
“He left because he’s being hunted, just like us,” Katie said indignantly. “Honestly, we might have to follow suit.”
“Where’d he go?” James said.
Katie shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Would it happen to be Nepal?” James’s heart skipped as he asked the question.
“What?”
The car stopped and James looked up. He hadn’t noticed Rocky driving to a local park on the outskirts of town. They parked in a secluded area, surrounded by trees. James could hear kids yelling and screaming as they played on the playground just out of sight around the bend in the road.
“So,” Rocky said, unbuckling and turning around in his seat. “We did some research. At the library.”
“Nepal literally means ‘the abode at the foot of the mountain,’” James said.
Katie raised her eyebrows.
“And rhododendrons? The official flower of Nepal,” Rocky finished with a satisfied smile.
Katie looked back and forth between them, her face expectant.
“That’s it,” James said.
“Oh,” Katie said. “Oh, okay, good. But what does it mean?”
“It means,” Rocky said, drawing out the words like he was saying something obvious, “that we have to go to Nepal. That’s where the Supers are hiding.”
Katie bit her lip. “I don’t know. I feel like there’s more to it.”
“What else could it be?” James said. The words came out harder than he meant them to, and Katie flinched. “I mean,” he said, softer, “it’s no coincidence that both clues point to Nepal.”
“No, it’s not...” Katie said, clearly lost in thought. “But... Nepal’s a big place. Where would we go?”
The car fell silent. She had a point. James hadn’t even thought of where in Nepal they were supposed to go. Come to think of it, he couldn’t even name a Nepali city. Hell, he didn’t think he could even point to the country on a map. His excitement deflated like a punctured balloon as reality set in. They had a piece of the puzzle, but just a piece. They had the name of a small country on the opposite side of the world.
“Well,” Rocky said after a few moments. “There’s still the second half of the clue, right?”
“What?” James and Katie said in unison.
“The clue, we figured out the first half. ‘In the abode by the foot of the mountain.’ But what about the second half? ‘Wish for wisdom and receive great power’?”
“You’re right.” James had completely forgotten about that part, caught up in the excitement of connecting the dots to Nepal. What did it mean?
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t solve clues on an empty stomach,” Rocky said.
“We have chips.” James pulled the bag out from by his feet.
“Nah, man, we had beans for breakfast. I want some real food.”
“We can’t risk going anywhere too public,” Katie said. “SIA agents could be anywhere.”
“Oh, I know exactly where to go.” Rocky grinned as he threw the car into reverse. “And it’s the last place they’ll look.”
Chapter 10
Rocky pulled up to Cal’s Diner, a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that looked as greasy as the food it sold. James had only been there a few times and often wondered how it was still open. It seemed like the only customer Cal ever got was Rocky.
The three of them got out. Katie seemed nervous, but James agreed with Rocky. Cal’s was the last place in the city the SIA would look. It was small, sketchy, and generally unremarkable. It blended in with the cold stone of the half-abandoned strip mall it belonged to. You could drive past it for years without noticing its existence.
The bell above the door rang as they entered. A large, balding man sat behind the counter, picking his teeth as he stared up at a small TV above him. He flicked something off his finger as the bell rang.
“Rocky!” he said in a New York accent. “My favorite customer. What can I do you for?”
As Rocky ordered, James glanced around the small restaurant. Only one booth was taken, filled by a mother and her young son. James thought that bringing a child to Cal’s constituted child abuse, but he didn’t say anything.
Rocky ordered burgers for all three of them. They chose a booth far away from the woman and child. Cal brought out their food questionably fast, dropping the tray on the table in front of them. James poked his burger apprehensively. Grease spilled out like a waterfall, but otherwise, it seemed fine to eat. By the time James took his first bite, Rocky was already halfway through his burger, a smile on his face, his eyes half closed.
They all ate quickly and leaned back in the booth in silence, savoring the mixed feelings of satiety and disgust that always came from eating at Cal’s.
“So,” Katie said eventually. Rocky was still leaning back, eyes closed and smiling, and James was idly watching the TV above the counter, which showed the local news. It was currently a story about a dog that ran away and then came back home, as far as James could tell. Neat.
“So...” Katie said again, noticing Rocky and James weren’t paying attention. “About the clue.”
“Right,” Rocky said, eyes still closed. “The clue.”
James tore his gaze from the TV and fished his phone out of his pocket. “Suppose we should just look up the phrase ‘wish for wisdom and receive great power’?” he said.
“Is that how you figured out Nepal?” Katie nodded toward the phone with a thin smile. “I thought you went to the library.”
“It’s 2021, Katie,” Rocky said, finally opening his eyes. “Nobody reads.”
“These are all
