Chapter Fifty-Four Noah

The team was on their way to tackle Danforth and rescue Faith. Noah knew he should be relieved, thankful, grateful.

But Madeleine had forbidden him from joining the mission. He was too involved, she had said, too close to Faith to be able to act rationally. It was too much of a risk.

So he was stuck in the library with nothing to do. Madeleine had dispatched Paulo to the Eliot Street Warehouse. Diverted Olivia from the government headquarters to meet him, along with her original team and several of Evelyn's. There were enough of them, Madeleine had reassured Noah, to deal with the threat.

She had also dispatched Kemp and Charlie to government headquarters to join Evelyn. Between them, they would attempt to quell the crowd, whose mood was turning more violent by the minute. The professor would speak to the Bellator citizens. Reassure them that, while the chancellor wasn't there, the Resistance knew where she was. That actions were in place to track her down and bring her to justice as the women of the city demanded.

Charlie had offered to speak to the remaining guards. She would attempt to persuade them that Danforth's cause was far from just, appealing to them to stand down. If the guards laid down their weapons, the uprising would end peacefully. A satisfactory resolution, with no unnecessary loss of life.

Back at the library, Diane and Blake were monitoring the camera on the Eliot Street Warehouse. Madeleine was in charge of other communications, her eyes flicking between datadev and wristclip, a walkie talkie on the desk beside her. Ruth was keeping herself busy making coffee and sandwiches. Everyone had a job to do, except Noah.

All he could do was sit and watch the blinking light.

Every muscle in his body ached with tension. He had even begun talking to Faith inside his head. Voicing the endless questions which tormented him.

What's going on? Who are you with? Are you in pain?

There was one question he didn't dare to ask. He was too afraid of the answer.

Raising the mug of coffee to his mouth, he took a long drag. It was hot, but the scalding pain was a welcome distraction.

Dammit, Faith! He replaced the mug on the table so abruptly that the coffee slopped over the rim. As he grabbed a tissue to mop up the mess, he ignored Madeleine's glare. When he was done, his eyes returned to the tracking chip once again.

Please be okay. He was begging now. Fight back, hide, play dead. Do whatever you have to, but promise me you'll survive.

The dot jumped in response. Noah rubbed his eyes. He was exhausted. It had been so long since he'd slept, he was starting to see things.

Leaning closer to the screen, he narrowed his eyes. The dot jumped again.

That time, he was certain.

The tiny red circle on the screen was moving.

"Madeleine!" He beckoned to the leader. "Look."

She was by his side in an instant. She leaned over his shoulder. "What is it?"

He pointed. There was a brief pause as Madeleine squinted at the screen. Noah continued to follow the dot, which was now making slow, but definite progress away from the warehouse location.

"She has to be alive, right?" Noah asked tentatively. "I mean, if she's being moved?"

The leader frowned. "I'd say so."

"Could Paulo have gotten there already?"

"No. They're not close enough." Madeleine's jaw was tight. "This is Danforth. Whatever happened at the warehouse is over. They're taking her somewhere else."

Noah sat up, rigid. "Can we divert Paulo? Olivia?"

"Not sure." Madeleine was already sitting back at her datadev. "I can try. Go grab the others though. Just in case."

Several minutes of calling both Paulo and Olivia's team resulted in nothing. When Noah returned with the others, the Resistance leader was drumming her fingers against the desk, her eyes blazing.

"Can't get hold of any of them."

"Comms must be down." Blake frowned. "I'm on it."

"Is that Danforth's doing?" Ruth asked, as Blake headed back to her office.

"Her tech team, maybe. It's a good strategy…" Madeleine cursed under her breath. "Prevent us from communicating. Gives her a better chance."

"So what do we do?" Noah glanced at the door. "We have to do something."

"Blake, you stay here and keep trying to resolve the communication issue." As the techie stood up to obey, Madeleine turned her attention to Noah. "You're about to get your wish." She grimaced. "The four of us will take a comcar. Track Faith's chip. Follow her."

"You're coming?" Diane raised an eyebrow.

Madeleine hadn't left headquarters since Eremus had set off an explosion at her old home to disguise their existence. Allowing the people of the city to believe she was dead, she had retreated to the library and taken a less forward-facing role in the Resistance. But she was formidable in combat, and having her with them would make their success far more likely.

"I don't have a choice." Madeleine was already unplugging cables and stuffing her datadev into a backpack. "Grab a couple of extra battery packs, would you? And a walkie talkie. We can keep trying to reach the others on the way."

"Will do." Diane moved to obey, opening a drawer in the desk.

"After tonight, with the way things are going, I have a feeling it won't really matter. Either I won't need to hide anymore, or…" Madeleine didn't finish the thought. "And I can hardly let three teenagers set off to rescue Faith alone."

"If we could work out where she was being taken," Ruth mused, "maybe we could get there first. Lie in wait for them."

Noah had been racking his brain for any potential location Danforth would consider safe. "I think I might know." The others spun to face him. "BellaLab Corp."

"The other location on Faith's list." Madeleine nodded. "You're probably right. Government headquarters is out. It has to be somewhere with excellent security."

"And," Diane added, her tone laden with doom, "somewhere with the facilities for her to continue her experiments."

Madeleine nodded. "Does that fit with the direction they're taking?"

Diane glanced at the tracking chip. "Yeah. They're heading in that direction. BellaLab Corp would make a lot of sense."

Madeleine zipped up her pack and swung it on. "Then let's beat them there."