James struggled internally, wanting to spit in this man’s face, to spurn him and wipe away that smug look. But he thought of Rocky. He wouldn’t let his friend get hurt because of his pride. He sighed.
“I don’t know much,” he said, his voice measured. How much could he safely reveal? “But we found some... clues that were left behind. They pointed us to Nepal.”
“That’s why you were flying to Kathmandu?”
James nodded. Roche didn’t need to know that Kathmandu was just a guess, a starting point. “And that’s all we know, I swear. I figured once we got there, we’d find more clues or maybe something would click. I don’t know.”
Roche leaned back in his chair, examining James with dark, shrewd eyes. After a moment, he nodded and stood.
“Thank you, Mr. Bolt,” he said, then walked swiftly out of the room.
“So what now?” James said, but the door was already slammed shut and locked with a loud click.
He sighed and examined the room. There wasn’t much to see besides the table, the three gray walls, and the large mirror. James had a suspicion he was being watched through there. He looked at himself in the mirror and blew a kiss.
The minutes ticked by and James sat in silence. Roche was probably questioning Rocky at that very moment. They wouldn’t actually hurt him, right? Roche had to know that if they hurt Rocky, James wouldn’t comply.
And they needed James. He made sure to emphasize that once they got to Nepal, there was more information to be found. He made himself necessary. Without him, all they had was the name of a country. For all they knew, the Supers weren’t even there and the whole thing was a wild goose chase.
James continued to sit, leaning back with his arms crossed, occasionally glancing at the mirror, until his back began to ache from the uncomfortable chair. He had no idea how much time passed. There was no clock, no windows, and, of course, his phone had been going through the X-ray machine when he was apprehended. They were probably searching it right now. Not that they would find anything. He almost never texted his brother, even before he disappeared, and there was nothing else on there but a few silly pictures of him and his friends.
Finally, the door clicked as it was unlocked and opened. A different man entered, this one wearing a black suit and glasses, one of the many faceless, nameless agents who seemed to be dogging them the past few days.
“Come with me,” he said in a monotone voice. Without waiting for James to respond, he grabbed his arm and hauled him from the chair.
“Easy,” James said, stumbling slightly as the chair was pushed back. “I could have done it myself.”
The man said nothing as he led James from the room. From there, they went down several hallways, past many closed doors, and around a corner, revealing a flight of metal stairs. At the bottom was a door, and the man threw it open to reveal the night sky.
James was confused for a moment before he saw the lights and large, dark shapes of airplanes. They had emerged onto the tarmac. A line of men in black suits stood with their hands clasped before them, like a procession. The line led to a hulking cargo plane slightly larger than a commercial jet, men loading large crates up its massive ramp.
He was led past the cargo plane, toward a smaller jet. It looked like the stereotypical private jets he had only seen in movies. Not bad, he thought. At least they were flying in style.
He was prodded up the steps and into the plane. The inside was completely different than he expected. The main cabin seemed more like an office than a private jet, with several seats and desk-like tables in front of them. In the back was a fortified metal door, the kind that usually protected the pilot’s cabin. But this one, James soon found out, wasn’t for keeping people out; it was for keeping people in.
James was shoved through and the door was shut behind him. There were only two rows of seats back here, enough to hold up to eight people. Only one was occupied.
“Rocky,” James said, relieved to see he was okay. Rocky looked up, and James took a step back. His eye was puffy with a black bruise around it, and his lip was split. “What did they do to you?”
Rocky smiled, blood staining his white teeth. “My fault.” His voice was thick as he talked through his swollen lip. “Tried to put up a fight. Dumb of me.”
James sat opposite him, leaning across the aisle. “How can they do this? We’re American citizens. We have rights.”
Rocky felt around his puffy eye. He gestured toward the locked door. “Tell that to them.”
“I’m guessing you told them the same thing as me?”
“That we’re going to Nepal?” Rocky nodded. “Figured we were cornered. Had to. Didn’t tell them we...” He trailed off, clearly worried about being overheard. James figured it was a good worry.
“Me neither,” James said quietly. That meant the SIA thought they were going to Kathmandu for a specific reason. Good. The more they thought James and Rocky knew what they were doing, the more likely they were to spare them.
“Well,” Rocky said, still touching his eye gingerly. “Not how we expected it, but we’re still going to Nepal, huh?”
“I guess, though now I hope we don’t find what we’re looking for.”
Rocky leaned back in his seat, grimacing.
“Katie was right.” James peered out the window. He could see the cargo plane being loaded with the last of the crates. What was all of it for? “We should have never come here.”
“Screw that,” Rocky said. His eyes shone in the dim lights of the plane. “It’s just another speed bump. We’ll get out of it.”
James settled
