“Wha... I... Fine!” Katie spluttered. “If you want to go and get arrested, that’s on you. I warned you! And you, Rocky?”
“Huh?” Rocky said as if he had just walked in and hadn’t heard the yelling match.
“Are you coming with me or going with him?”
“Well, I...” Rocky glanced between the two of them, a look of bewilderment on his face. It would have been comical had James not been so upset. “I mean, James is my boy. I’ve got to stick with him.”
“Fine. Fine!” Katie swung open the door and jumped out.
“Whoa, wait,” Rocky said, rolling down his window. “Do you...” He glanced at James. “I mean, do you need a ride? I don’t want to just leave you stranded.”
Katie gave a rueful smile. “I’ll be fine. I’m not the one walking into prison.”
With that, she turned and walked off, past Cal’s Diner and out of sight.
Chapter 11
James and Rocky drove in silence toward the airport. The sun touched the horizon, casting an orange glow on the road before them. It was past rush hour now, and the streets had emptied as parents finished their commute home and high schoolers settled in for the night with their friends. While everyone drove home, James and Rocky drove down the only path they had left.
James felt guilty for yelling at Katie, for driving her away. But it was her choice to give up, to be afraid. James was afraid, too. He knew the risk they were taking, how easily they could be caught. He wanted to run away, to hide out somewhere until this all blew over. But he knew, deep down, that Derek needed him. He couldn’t abandon his brother. If there was even a slight chance he was in Nepal, they had to go there.
They reached the airport and Rocky parked in the economy lot. He turned off the car and they sat in silence, a strange tension simmering in the air. James couldn’t help but wonder, did Rocky agree with Katie? Was he only here because of some sense of loyalty to his friend?
“Listen, Rocky—” James started.
“Nah,” Rocky interrupted. “You’re going to go into some stupid speech about how I don’t have to be here, how this is your problem. Screw that. My face was on TV, too. We’re both in danger, and the only thing we can do about it is find the Supers. So that’s what we’re going to do. Okay?”
James was taken aback by the outburst. He was silent for a moment, struggling to find words. “It’s still my fault you’re even involved.”
“Yeah, maybe it is.” Rocky was quiet for a long stretch, thoughtful. Finally, he said, “But... well, I’d do anything to get my brother back. I’d go to Nepal. I’d go to the damn moon. But there’s nothing I can do. No matter what, he’s gone forever.” He breathed out slowly and met James’s eyes. “Being helpless is the worst feeling in the world. So if there’s a chance we can help, even if it’s small, we’ve got to take it. I’d rather fail taking a chance than sit here wondering why we didn’t try.”
James didn’t know what to say to that. Rocky rarely talked about his brother, who died nearly five years ago. It was before James had met Rocky, so the details were hazy. James knew Rocky’s brother had been in high school at the time and that a tragedy had cut the young man’s life short. But anytime James had probed Rocky for details, he’d gotten nothing.
“So,” he said, not wanting to push Rocky to talk about it more. “Do you think this is a bad idea?”
Rocky snorted. “Of course it’s a bad idea. But good ideas are just bad ideas that forgot to go wrong.”
James smiled. “Then let’s do it.”
The twilight air was crisp as they walked into the terminal. The airport was still active as travelers caught their evening and red-eye flights. Good. They were more likely to go unnoticed in a crowd.
At the travel stand, they learned that the capital of Nepal was a city called Kathmandu and decided it was the best place to start. After twenty minutes, they had multiple plane tickets and were a thousand dollars poorer. Or James’s credit card was a thousand dollars poorer. Luckily, he had just paid it off; otherwise, it would have been maxed out.
They thanked the woman and headed for the security line. Rocky held up the tickets and whistled. “We’re going to spend over a day on planes.”
“Terrible,” James said absentmindedly. He eyed the TSA officers manning the security line. The whole time Rocky had been chatting to the ticketing woman, James had watched her, searching for any signs of recognition in her face. But she seemed oblivious. The TSA people, though, were more likely to have information on them. If they could just get through security, they’d be home free.
They were both silent as the line neared the first checkpoint, where a man scanned tickets and IDs. If they were going to be spotted, it would be here. James’s heart beat faster and his palms started to sweat. Act natural, he thought. You’re just a normal traveler trying to get to your flight.
“Next,” the man said in a bored voice.
James stepped up, holding his ticket with slightly shaky hands. A bead of sweat ran down his back. The man scanned his ticket and ID, staring at the screen in front of him. He looked at James, then held out the ticket. James reached for it, relieved, when the man suddenly lowered the ticket. He checked the screen again with his eyebrows slightly furrowed. Every fiber in James’s being told him to run, to get out of there. But there was nowhere to go.
The man held the ticket back up, allowing James to take it. “Enjoy your flight.”
“Thank you,” James said quietly. A wave of nausea passed over him. He stepped forward, glancing back at the TSA agent, but the man
