Wade and the Scorpion’s Claw. Tony Abbott

until I couldn’t wait anymore. I waved at Darrell at the candy counter; then I sprinted off down a long hall to the men’s 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. “Darrell? It’s about time—”

      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.

      “I’m sorry—” I started, but he raised his hand, then fixed a pair of lifeless eyes on mine.

      

      Leathercoat stood unmoving, staring right at me.

      I could feel my scalp prickling. My forehead throbbed. My good feeling vanished completely. The man’s irises were so dark, they seemed almost black. There was nothing in them but a kind of intense stillness.

      “Wade Kaplan,” he said softly, though his words managed to echo in the corridor, “you know whom I work for. You have met her. She injured your friend.”

      My hands instinctively balled into fists at the mention of Becca’s 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.

      “We knew you were with the Order,” I said. “It was so obvious.”

      How many Snickers bars is Darrell buying? Where is everyone?

      “Then you know who Galina Krause has taken from you,” Leathercoat said. “Kindly remember this fact the next time we meet, when I ask you for something.”

      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 actor’s.

      “Because you have nothing better to do than follow us,” I said.

      “Allow me to pick your brain for a moment,” he said. “Who do you imagine has the highest level of computing technology in the world?”

      “What is this, a quiz?”

      “Pretend it is.”

      I eyed the end of the corridor. I couldn’t get to it. “NASA?” I answered.

      He smiled thinly. “An appropriate response from an astronomer’s son. NASA is to the Teutonic Order’s 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.”

      I couldn’t think of anything to say besides “Whatever that means.”

      “You see, you and your family have no idea of the cosmic scope of what you have gotten yourselves involved in.”

      I stepped backward, bumping against the wall behind me. “You either,” I said, meaninglessly.

      “The great machine’s relics? What has a simple family like yours to do with such treasures? Still, your cooperation may serve me well.”

      “Yeah, like we’d help you.”

       Darrell, come on and get in here! Really, in the whole airport, no one has to go to the go room?

      “I could yell for help,” I said.

      “Sounding an alarm will do neither of us any good.”

      My fingers twitched. I wanted to hurt him somehow, to make him feel the terror that the Order made us feel. My hand dived into my backpack. Because it was shaking so much, it took me a second, but I finally whipped out one of the daggers. It felt wrong to be holding a deadly weapon, but I jabbed its short, wavy blade in the air anyway. It looked silly in my little hand. “Tell Galina to let Sara go.”

      He flicked his dead eyes at the dagger, then back to my face. “Perhaps you do not know French, but allow me to enlighten you,” he said. “Galina Krause has given me carte blanche. This means ‘blank check.’ In other words, I may do as I wish. Wielding a dagger in this manner is impolite. Furthermore, it means nothing. You will not use it. You will never use it, Wade Kaplan.”

      “Stop saying my name!” I gripped the handle so tightly my knuckles turned white. But he was right. I couldn’t imagine using the dagger. How could I hurt a person? Even a bad one. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.

      “We will want both daggers also,” he said. “But keep them for now, if it gives you comfort. We will meet again soon … Wade Kaplan.”

      All at once, the entrance to the corridor filled with shapes, and two young boys and their father trotted in, chattering and laughing. Before they saw me, the German strolled out past them, whistling a melody that sounded like a wolf howling.

      I staggered out into the concourse. Fear rolled over me like the sweat dripping down my arms, my face. Darrell sauntered over from the snack stand, munching one Snickers bar while tearing open the wrapper of another. “I got one for you, but I had to eat it … Dude, what’s with you? Did the sink explode? You’re dripping wet.”

      Barely able to stand on my own feet, I glared at him. “Thanks to you, I’m never using a bathroom again.”

      When we got back to the gate, Dad was flipping mad. “You never do things alone! I told you. Darrell—you messed up!”

      “Dad, I’m sorry,” he said. “The phone call was so good …”

      And more of the same, while I felt the blood drain from my face, neck, and head. I said, “I’m sorry, Dad. We’re sorry. It was … I didn’t expect he really was a Teutonic Knight. Dad, I’m scared …”

      He settled me quickly into his seat. “All right,” he said more calmly, though his face was dark and anxious. “All right.” He scanned the crowd, but of course Leathercoat was nowhere in sight. “Please tell me again exactly what he said. Word for word.”

      When I repeated Leathercoat’s actual words, most of it sounded weirdly polite, almost friendly. I realized the menace was in what he didn’t say. Allow me to pick your brain … kindly remember this fact … allow me to enlighten you … if it gives you comfort.

      Dad listened intently, completely silent himself, as if, once more, he was trying to draw the whole incident into himself. Finally, he brushed my wet hair from my forehead. “Okay. Okay. You handled yourself very well.”

      “Should we tell security?” asked Becca. “Wade is scared, and so am I, Uncle Roald. Leathercoat says he wants us to cooperate? He’s saying we can’t tell anyone. Are we just going to do what he says?”

      “No. No. I don’t know.” Dad looked around the busy gate and breathed sharply. “First, we’d have to prove something against him. Threatening is hard to prove, but it would certainly mean we wouldn’t get to New York for another few days. Look, I get it. Not contacting the police helps the Order as much as it might help us, but that’s a risk we have to take, at least for now.”

      “Like Terence told us, and the investigator from Bolivia,” said Lily.

      “Exactly,” he said. I saw his face grow more determined. He set his jaw and narrowed his eyes. “So, no police for now. But one way to look at this is that Leathercoat just blew his cover. He knows about us? Well, we know about him now, too.”

      I hoped that would help. Leathercoat had said we were in way over our heads. He was so right about that. I tried to swallow, tried to slow my pulse. I failed at both. Finally, with my hands quaking like leaves in the wind, I scribbled in my notebook. I wrote down everything I remembered of what Leathercoat said. Then I wrote