looked as innocent, and as common, as all the other train watchers. They could have been grandparents waiting for their grandkids. They might have been a little paler than those around them, but I’d noticed earlier that almost everyone in the station looked like they could use some sun. They weren’t wearing shades, though they were squinting a little in the dim light. To be honest, I’m not sure I would have noticed this if I hadn’t known who they were and where they had lived for the past forty years.

I got in the disorganized line and tried to work my way to the front without being too pushy and drawing attention to myself. I’d been watching the detraining and boarding process for hours and had a good idea of how it worked. Most of the people waited politely for the arriving passengers to get into the station before rushing the train, but there were always a few jerks who couldn’t wait to find a good seat and pushed through the incoming crowd.

I needed to be a pushy jerk. I didn’t expect Coop to detrain first. The only time his feet ever moved quickly was when they were tapping. He was always the last to arrive and last to leave. Going for a walk with him was a form of torture. A fifteen-minute stroll could last an hour or more. For him, getting there was a lot more interesting than being there.

But I couldn’t be sure of that now.

Coop might have changed since leaving home over a year ago. I’d barely gotten a chance to talk to him in New York. For all I knew he might jump off the train while it was still moving and sprint into the station. Finding Kate in the Deep might have changed him.

Coop believed, and it might even be true, that he had been heading into the Deep and to Kate his entire life. And I had to admit that there had been some very strange coincidences.

Like Kate’s parents being murdered and tossed into a Dumpster at the exact moment that Coop was born, during a lunar eclipse.

Like FBI agent Tia Ryan being the lead New York City detective for Kate’s parents’ homicide case before joining the FBI and busting Coop for blowing up our neighborhood.

Whether it was fate, predestination, or some kind of cosmic spiritual collision, two things were clear: Coop was smitten with Kate, and Kate was smitten with Coop, even though they barely knew each other.

Which is why I was rudely pushing my way to the front. I had an image in my head of Coop running in slow motion to get to Kate like they were in a sappy movie, only to have Bella wheel up and shoot him in midstride.

It seemed that after the long wait, everyone wanted to get onto the train as soon as they could. I blundered out to the tracks, fending off elbows and shoulders as I searched the incoming faces for Coop’s, hoping he hadn’t already hurried past me into the station.

I didn’t find him. He found me.

“Hey, Meatloaf.”

One of his many nicknames for me.

Mom is a former astronaut. Dad is a Nobel laureate. Here’s how Coop put it: “With their combined DNA, they expected filet mignon. When they opened the oven, they got two pans of meatloaf.”

Coop had done a much better job disguising himself than Kate or I. He hadn’t just had his hair cut. He’d had it dyed blond, like Kate’s, and styled. The scraggly beard he’d grown Beneath had been replaced by a trimmed, blond goatee. He was wearing round eyeglasses. His green eyes were now brown. He was wearing a suit and tie, an unbuttoned camel-colored overcoat, and a black muffler. He looked like a young banker. The only thing missing was a copy of the Wall Street Journal tucked under his arm and a leather valise in his hand. He had the backpack Alex had given him slung over his shoulder.

The only thing that was the same was his grin. He was obviously enjoying my complete shock.

“You changed your hair,” he said.

“And you changed everything.”

“During my last walkabout, before I got to New York, I met a stylist in Los Angeles. He always wanted to do a makeover. This time around, I let him. Where’s Kate?”

I told him about Bella and Bill. He didn’t seem surprised or upset about it.

“You think they’d recognize me?” he asked, still grinning.

“Mom and Dad wouldn’t recognize you,” I said. “But Bella and Bill might wonder why I fought my way out to the train, then came back into the station.” I looked up and down the tracks. There was a ten-foot chain-link fence topped by razor wire for as far as I could see.

“You thinking of scaling it?” Coop asked.

“No. I was hoping for an open gate, or a tear in the fence.” I was still having a hard time getting used to his new appearance.

“I think I know someone who can help us.”

We walked along the length of the train, away from the station entrance.

Stragglers climbed aboard.

Snow fell in big swirling flakes.

Coop waved at a conductor.

The conductor waved back. A big friendly smile on his face.

The conductor had been Cooped.

That’s what I call it when someone meets my brother and falls under his spell. I’ve seen it a thousand times before. We walked up to him.

“Otto!” the conductor said.

Apparently Coop’s nom de guerre was Otto, which happened to be the first name of the main character in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, one of Coop’s favorite books.

“This is my kid brother, Axel,” Coop said.

In the book, Axel was Otto’s nephew.

“Pleasure to meet you, Axel.” The conductor shook my hand enthusiastically. “I’m Darien.”

I could see that by the nameplate on his uniform.

I could also see that he was completely enamored by his new friend Otto.

“I’m wondering if you can do me a favor,” Coop said.

“Sure. Anything.”

“Axel has been a train nut his entire life. Is there any chance you can take us through the back entrance to the station and show us around?”

“Not much to see anymore. Train travel is nothing like it used to be in the old days, with baggage, cargo, mail, and porters. But I’d be happy to walk you through.” He pointed at a small door next to the station entrance. “Wait for me over there. I’ll get this train on its way, then give you a little tour. My shift is over in a few minutes.”

The train pulled out. Darien punched a code into the door lock and took us inside. He was right. There wasn’t much to see in the cavernous building adjacent to the station. It was empty except for old, dusty baggage carts. It turned out that Darien had been working for Amtrak for nearly thirty years. He began recounting his long career, and it was interesting, but we really didn’t have time to stick around and listen. Coop appeared to be hanging on to his every word though, which is one of the reasons people fall in love with him.

After about twenty minutes Coop glanced at his watch (a technological breakthrough for him) and said, “I hate to cut this short, but we have a friend waiting for us outside.”

“Of course, of course,” Darien said. “I get carried away reminiscing about the old days.”

“It was fascinating,” Coop assured him. “I’ll look for you when I come back through. We can pick up the story where you left off.”

“I look forward to it. You have my email and phone number?”

Coop pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “Right here.”

“If you find yourself with nothing to do while you’re in town, I’m just a phone call away. It was a pleasure meeting both of you.”

He shook our hands.

I walked out the employee door first, looking right and left for Bella’s wheelchair. I didn’t see it.

“It’s clear.”

The snow was sticking to the sidewalk.