system,â Becca said. âDarrellâll go with you.â
âWhat are you, my kindergarten teacher?â Darrell said. âLast time I took a buddy to the bathroom, I was five years old. And while weâre at it, why are we even calling it a bath room? It doesnât have a bathtub in it. That would be weird.â
âYouâre weird,â said Lily.
âOr a rest room,â he went on, âbecause you donât go in there to rest.â
âDarrell, please just go!â said Lily.
âThatâs it!â he said. âWe should call it a go room! I love it.â
She shoved him hard. âIf you love it so much, then go to the go room already! Becca and I have our own mission.â She held up her London Times and five dollars. âWeâre going to give the diary an old-fashioned makeover, a newspaper book cover!â
We split up, and Darrell tagged along with me. At least until his stomach remembered the Snickers he didnât get. âMy taste buds are requesting multiple Snickerses for the road. Or the air. Or whatever. Wait for me here.â
âEasy for you to say,â I grumbled.
It was good to see him lightening up a bit. The phone call with the Bolivian detective had done it. We knew nothing about the investigation, but it occurred to me that if a team of detectives found Sara and got her on a plane, she might actually get to New York at the same time we did.
Meanwhile, I waited and waited until I couldnât wait anymore. I waved at Darrell at the candy counter; then I sprinted off down a long hall to the menâs room. It smelled like disinfectant and hand soap once I got in there. I stood still for a few seconds, listening to gate announcements, until I was sure I was alone. I did what I needed to do, washed up, and was out again when a shape darkened the end of the corridor. âDarrell? Itâs about timeââ
Not Darrell.
Leathercoat.
He stepped purposely down the narrow hall toward the restroom. I tried to move aside to give him room, but he blocked me.
âIâm sorryââ I started, but he raised his hand, then fixed a pair of lifeless eyes on mine.
CHAPTER FIVE
L eathercoat stood unmoving, staring right at me.
I could feel my scalp prickling. My forehead throbbed. My good feeling vanished completely. The manâs irises were so dark, they seemed almost black. There was nothing in them but a kind of intense stillness.
âWade Kaplan,â he said softly, though his words managed to echo in the corridor, âyou know whom I work for. You have met her. She injured your friend.â
My hands instinctively balled into fists at the mention of Beccaâs wound and the thought of how much it was still hurting her. I remembered her from my dream, motionless on the floor of the cave.
âWe knew you were with the Order,â I said. âIt was so obvious.â
How many Snickerses is Darrell buying? Where is everyone?
âThen you know who Galina Krause has taken from you,â Leathercoat said. âKindly remember this fact the next time we meet, when I ask you for something.â
His words were delivered slowly and with precision. He had just a trace of an accent, and his voice was deep and crisp, like an actorâs.
âBecause you have nothing better to do than follow us,â I said.
âAllow me to pick your brain for a moment,â he said. âWho do you imagine has the highest level of computing technology in the world?â
âWhat is this, a quiz?â
âPretend it is.â
I eyed the end of the corridor. I couldnât get to it. âNASA?â I answered.
He smiled thinly. âAn appropriate response from an astronomerâs son. NASA is to the Teutonic Orderâs Copernicus servers as a doghouse is to . . . Windsor Castle. Keep this in mind when you think to elude me and other agents of Galina Krause.â
I couldnât think of