“Oh, please,” Bahee says dismissively. “That’s a gamble Enya Sleepwell will lose. She is offering false hope to the Flawed. When has anybody ever done anything to help us? Remember Lizzie! She told her boyfriend she was Flawed and he left her! Right here in our own community. And she was so in love!” He laughs mockingly. “You’re all delusional if you think you have the slightest support out there.”
“Lizzie didn’t tell Leonard she was Flawed,” I speak up on Leonard’s behalf. For his own safety he couldn’t come with us to the east wing. “Leonard knew that Lizzie was Flawed, and he didn’t care.”
Everyone turns to me. Even Rogan, who looks at me in surprise.
“How do you know that?” Mona asks, confused.
“Exactly. You’ve been here twenty-four hours, Celestine, what do you know?” Bahee says dismissively.
“Celestine’s right,” Rogan says quietly.
We all turn to him.
“What do you mean?” Adam asks.
“It’s not true that Lizzie left because of Leonard,” Rogan says, his voice trembling. He won’t look up, like he’s afraid.
“I wouldn’t listen to anything that comes out of his mouth,” Bahee says.
“Shut up,” Carrick snaps, and then says more gently: “Rogan, tell us what you know.”
He briefly looks at Bahee and then away, eyes back down to the ground. He closes up again.
Mona goes to him. “You can tell us the truth. Don’t worry about Bahee.”
“I saw him taking her.”
“Who? You saw who?”
“Bahee,” he says, tears filling his eyes. “He made Lizzie get in the Jeep. She didn’t want to. She was crying. I heard him telling her that he wasn’t going to let her ruin our life here. She was going to tell Leonard that she was Flawed. She was on her way. Bahee wouldn’t let her. He took her away. I saw them.”
Everyone looks at Bahee.
“Only moments ago, his own brother thought he was a traitor, so I wouldn’t pay much heed to what he says. He’s young. Confused. I haven’t left this compound for years, everyone knows that.”
Carrick fires himself at Bahee and lashes out, punching him in the jaw.
Bahee screams in pain. “You’ve broken it,” he groans, rolling around. Nobody goes to his aid.
“Where did you take Lizzie?” Mona stands over him.
Bahee whines about needing a doctor. Mona ignores him.
“Where did you take Lizzie?” she screams, and he finally looks at her coldly.
“Not far. Into the city. I told her to get out, to find somewhere else to live.” He says it so devoid of emotion, so unlike the man who called the meeting to welcome Lennox to the tribe, as though he has two personalities, one so warm and the other so cold. The perfect and flawed man all in one, like two sides of a coin. “But I did it to protect you all. None of you have any idea what I’ve done to protect you in the past. We’ve all lived here happily and safely, until Celestine came along. You were happy for me to lead you, but if you want to follow her, then you’re digging your own grave.”
There’s a long silence.
“I met Celestine only yesterday,” Mona speaks out. “I haven’t seen any sign of her leadership or of this ‘power’ that Carrick speaks about, yet. But has nobody else questioned who else has had twelve Whistleblowers search for them at a high-security government-funded laboratory? She’s got something on the Guild.” She views me curiously. “And whatever that is, I’m in.”
“Still in,” Lorcan says.
“Me too,” Fergus says.
“I was never out.” Lennox grins.
TWENTY-EIGHT
THE DOOR BURSTS open and Eddie enters.
“Glad to see you’re still alive, boss,” Lennox jokes, lightening the atmosphere.
“I’m not your boss anymore,” he says, red-faced and looking like he’s about to keel over with a heart attack at any moment.
“They let you go?” Bahee asks, holding his jaw.
“No,” Eddie barks, looking the sorry sight up and down. “They’re letting you all go. The owner of this company let evaders work here in good faith, under the agreement you would keep it secret. You broke that agreement.”
“But he can’t do this,” Bahee says, his face going even paler. “I’ve kept his identity a secret; I’ve kept my word. He promised me safety.”
“You break your promise; he breaks his. He wants you out by noon. It’s not safe anymore. You’ve placed him and his plant under too much suspicion. How’s he going to explain all this?”
“But where will we go?” Bahee asks, his whole life crumbling.
“I don’t know and I don’t want to know. Less I know the better. You will all have escaped my security by noon today. And by that I mean we’re going to let you leave.” At the door he gives me a sidelong look. “Good luck to you.”
Cordelia starts weeping again, and then, as if she’s had enough already, she stands up angrily and shouts at me, “All you had to do was give yourself up, Celestine.”
I freeze.
“They would have given Evelyn back if you had just surrendered. But you didn’t. I waited for you. And you didn’t. I know that you’re young, but Evelyn is six years old. What kind of leader sacrifices others for their own gain? You and him.” She looks from me to Bahee angrily. “You’re both the same.”
This insult I cannot take, because I fear that she’s right. While Carrick tries to reach out to me, I storm out of the room, straight to my cabin. I power up a bill-free mobile that Granddad gave me, and I dial one of the numbers I saved into the phone. I didn’t think I would ever be calling this person, but it’s an emergency.
*
One hour later, the twenty Flawed evaders line up at Vigor’s front gate. Carrick, Lennox, Fergus, Lorcan, and I are hidden from view. Nobody knows what to expect, not even Carrick. I just told them to wait here with me. That it would be worth it.
This is my chance to prove myself to anybody who doesn’t believe in me.
A black town car appears in the distance. Eddie looks at me uncertainly; I give him a nod and step farther back into the shadows with Carrick.
“What’s happening?” Carrick asks.
I ignore him, arms folded. I watch the gate slowly opening, hoping this will go to plan. The car, its windows blacked out, stops at the gates and doesn’t drive in. The others look in my direction nervously. I remain strong. Chin up. This has to work. The car door opens.
Evelyn steps out. She closes the door behind her and runs to her mother, who falls to her knees sobbing. Cordelia calls out so that I will hear her.
“You got her. You got her back,” Cordelia says, through heaving cries. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
The town car reverses and drives back the way it came. The gates to the facility close again. There are no tricks; everyone is safe.
“How did you do that?” Lennox asks.
“Yeah, how did you do that?” Carrick repeats.
They’re all looking at me, stunned. Unsure. In awe.
I like it.
TWENTY-NINE
“I’M IN,” ROGAN says suddenly, shouting up from the courtyard.
“Us too,” Adam says, firmly nodding at Carrick in apology.
“Right, let’s get this started,” I say, adrenaline surging. “Let’s all pack up and get out of here. It’s time to move on.”