Capture the Flag by Kate Messner

her into custody as a suspect.”

“Dude, can you imagine if she did it? Your mom would be some kind of genius!” Henry and the others half walked, half ran to keep up with José’s march down the B-terminal hallway. “I mean, it’s awesome. That flag must have had alarms and everything, so for her to —”
    José whirled around with his finger pointing and almost poked Henry in the chest. “It is not awesome. My mother …” His voice trembled, but he held up his arm, still pointing at Henry as if daring him to speak. “My mother loves that flag. Until last night, I hadn’t seen her in three weeks. She lived away from us on and off for six months to work on the restoration. Six months !” Henry took a small step back, but José stepped forward to meet him. “She’d never take the flag from the chamber. Never. She loves that flag … as much as she loves me,” he finished quietly.
    Henry stepped back again, and this time José let him go. “I didn’t mean it like that,” Henry said. “I just meant … you know, whoever did it — not your mom — but whoever — must have done some cool stuff to get it out.” He looked down at the GamePrism in his hands. “Like secret spy stuff. Only in real life.”
    â€œWell, you ought to think before you say things like that. How would you like to go three weeks without seeing your mom?”
    Henry blinked. “My mom died three years ago.”
    â€œOh.” José scuffed his sneaker on the floor tiles. For once, he couldn’t seem to come up with a quote.
    â€œI’m sorry, Henry.” Anna put her hands in her pockets, then took them out again.
    Hammurabi trotted up and dropped Mr. Squeaky at Henry’s feet.
    Henry gave the toy a kick. “Yeah, well … my dad and I have been doing okay. And he’s got Bethany now, so you know …” Henry shrugged and started walking slowly down the hallway, scuffing his untied sneakers. He turned on his GamePrism and poked at it as he walked.
    José, Anna, and Sinan followed Henry past the coffee shop and Cinna-Bunny. Hammurabi ran ahead with Mr. Squeaky in his mouth, dropping the toy every few yards to see if anyone would pick it up and throw it for him. No one did.
    Finally, Henry looked up from his game. “Where are we going anyway?”
    José shrugged. “I was going to walk around and … I don’t know. Anything seems better than sitting at the gate.”
    â€œI have an idea,” Anna said. “We should check on that Snake-Arm guy from the restaurant. He’s on my suspect list. And you know … Henry’s right. Whoever did this must have studied the security system and wanted the flag — no, needed it. Needed it enough to risk everything.”
    Anna stopped in front of Pickersgill Diner, where the dinner line snaked into the hallway, and turned to Henry. “The dog can’t go in, so I think you should wait here with Sinan and Hammurabi. José and I will go back to investigate.”
    The diner was even busier now, with more waitresses carrying bigger, fuller trays of hamburgers.
    â€œExcuse me,” Anna said, squeezing past a lady with a stroller near the front of the line. “We’re not eating. We … need to see someone really quick.” She pulled José into the corner by the hostess stand so they could look for Snake-Arm. “He’s probably not back yet from wherever he went, but maybe someone will have information.”
    The kitchen door swung open, and the pink-haired hostess stepped up to them. She held a pile of menus. “How many?”
    â€œWe don’t need a table,” José said. “We’re just wondering about someone.”
    Anna stood on her toes and tried to see into the kitchen, but the door swung shut. “That man who was here before? With the tattoo?”
    â€œClaude Pickersgill. He