Capture the Flag by Kate Messner Page A

owns the place. But he left. And you need to leave, too, if you’re not ordering. We’re busy.” The hostess shooed Anna and José back toward the door with her menus.
    â€œDo you know where he went?” Anna asked.
    â€œSaid he had to go home early.”
    â€œGo home early?” Anna turned her head to the window, where the snow was falling so thick and fast, the planes on the runway were just ghosts covered in white. “I thought the roads were closed! Is he coming back?” Anna called over her shoulder after they’d been ushered all the way back to the hallway.
    â€œWho knows?” The hostess held up menus to the next couple in line. “Table for two?”
    â€œThere’s definitely something up with that guy,” Anna said as she and José left the diner. They found Henry and Sinan sitting in side-by-side shoeshine chairs, leaning together over Henry’s GamePrism. The shoeshine guy was nowhere to be found, but Hammurabi was sniffing at Henry’s sneaker as if he might lick it clean.
    Henry looked up. “Oh, hey! Did you find the flag? That guy had it hidden in the restaurant’s silverware drawer, didn’t he?”
    Sinan snickered, and even Hammurabi seemed to have a sort of smirk on his face. Anna folded her arms. “You can laugh all you want, but I think that Snake-Arm guy is hiding something. There’s no way he just left to go home in the middle of this.” Anna gestured toward the window.
    â€œNo, that doesn’t really add up,” José agreed. “But we can’t go running out there to track him down. I’m afraid we bit off more than we can chew here.”
    Sinan’s face lit up, and he pulled his sketch pad from his pocket.
    While he drew, Henry chased his GamePrism bank robbers.
    José patted Hammurabi’s head thoughtfully, while Hammurabi looked longingly at the doggy bags being carried out of Pickersgill Diner.
    Anna stared out the window at the fat snowflakes. There had to be something they could do to help while they were stuck here. A little investigating wasn’t biting off more than they could chew, was it?
    â€œWhat do you think?” Sinan held up his sketch.

    â€œVery nice,” Anna said. “But I still think —”
    â€œWRROOOF!”
    Hammurabi jumped up and barked at a group of men hurrying out of the candy store behind them.
    It was Senator Snickerbottom and his crew. “Good boy, Hammurabi!” Anna said. “Maybe I can finish my interview.” She headed for the men, but then she stopped and turned. “Look!” she whispered. “It’s him!”
    They could see half of Snake-Arm’s face sticking out from behind a big rack of gummy worms at the candy store entrance. He kept his body hidden but peered down the hallway as Snickerbottom and his men walked away.
    Then Snake-Arm looked around, came out from behind the rack, and ran into the electronics store next door.
    â€œHe’s following Snickerbottom!” Henry said, finally looking up from his game.
    Sure enough, Snake-Arm reappeared, half hidden behind a stack of remote control airplanes, and peered down the hall. Ducking in and out, behind book displays and candy counters, Snake-Arm tailed the senator and his men past four more stores.
    â€œWell, forget the bank robbers, then.” Henry stood up from the shoeshine chair and tucked his game into his pocket. “We’ve got a real-life suspect to chase now.”

“So why would Snake-Arm be after Senator Snickerbottom?”
    Pacing back and forth in front of the big window of Gate B-16, Anna asked the question over and over. She kept having to step around Henry’s GamePrism cord and José’s feet, stretched in front of him as he leaned back in his chair watching the snow fall.
    They’d crept along, following Snake-Arm following Snickerbottom past three more stores, then up to the door of a bar, where a bouncer