“Team Distraction is beginning. Wait for my signal, Team Retrieval. It might take a moment for chaos to happen,” Sam said. “The Germain’s have been tipped off about Sophie, and know we are trying to get the prisoners.”

“Understood,” Charles said.

Alice peeled the gloves off her hands. “It’s done. Tom, let’s get you up and toward the elevator.”

Alice and Charles helped Mr. Edison to his feet. Abe took over for Alice as he and Charles acted as crutches as they moved out of the room. Marie still had tears in her eyes as they entered the hallway.

“You okay?” her dad asked.

“Yeah, it’s just really bright here,” she said, wiping the moisture from her eyes.

“Okay, home base. We’re set,” Alice said.

“Wait for my signal,” Sam said.

***

Sam talked on the walkie talkie, tapping away on his laptop, but Albert barely heard anything. He plugged in his headphones into the computer and hit the mute button on the sound coming from the lobby. The low murmur from the crowd beginning to gather was starting to be too much. Albert needed to concentrate on Sophie. He was still worried about her, and he needed to hear what was going on.

Sophie looked like a frightened, cornered animal. Her back was against the wall.

“Madeline, go check on the prisoners,” Mr. Germain said. Mrs. Germain paused, glancing from her husband to Sophie. Mr. Germain frowned at her. “Go on. You’re the only one now with a key card.”

“I… I could very well give it to you.”

“Now, Madeline,” Mr. Germain said.

She gave him a dark glare before turning around and leaving the interrogation room.

“Mrs. Germain is checking on the prisoners,” Albert said.

Sam swore again as he relayed the information to Team Retrieval and Team Distraction. Albert stole a glance at what was going on in the lobby. He noticed the lights flickering more and more, before they completely turned off. There was a beat of quiet before strobe lights and black lights burst into dramatic play. Albert turned his attention to Sophie.

“You see now, don’t you?” Mr. Germain asked. “Now you know what it’s like to live as a mathematician. This is no life for you, Sophie.”

Sophie folded her arms, her fingers still playing with her collar in a sort of desperate way. Albert didn’t know what to do, since Mr. Germain was still there. Harriet might be able to knock Mr. Germain out, but he didn’t want to chance it. Somehow Mr. Germain needed to leave.

Mr. Germain walked closer to her. “We didn’t do this to you, Soph. Your mother and I tried to persuade President Arnold to reconsider, but he refused.” The quiet desperation in Mr. Germain’s voice hinted that he was telling the truth, and it was killing him to admit it. “We tried. We are still trying. We are fighting every day for you.”

Sophie swallowed, her fingers trembling at her collar. “So what was it? Me or your job? It’s the question it always comes down to, isn’t it? And you chose your job? Like you always do?”

Mr. Germain flinched. “It was either you turn into a hobo and we keep our jobs, or you turn into a hobo and we get fired. At least this way we can still try to get President Arnold to change his mind.”

Albert swallowed. He did not expect this kind of revelation from Mr. Germain. By the surprised look on Sophie’s face, she didn’t either. A small part of Albert said he couldn’t trust Mr. Germain, but he doubted Mr. Germain was that skilled to put the strained desperation in his voice. Sophie’s fingers stilled at her collar.

“You have options, Sophie. Let us hide you instead. They’ve already ransacked our house, they won’t look there again. We just ask that you don’t study math,” Mr. Germain said.

Albert’s stomach tightened. Sophie wasn’t immediately getting angry and pushing back. Instead, she stared at her dad and slowly lowered her hand away from her collar.

“Uh-oh,” Albert said.

Sam glanced up from watching the distraction taking place. “What’s going on?”

Albert slid the headphones off his ears. “Mr. Germain just offered to hide Sophie.”

Sam winced. Mr. Germain’s cellphone rang. Albert saw the distraction was in almost full force. Poe, dressed as the ghost of Macbeth with fake blood oozing out of his eyes, was appearing and disappearing around the lobby as guards and agents alike were freaking out, trying to coax others to go after Poe. Now that Albert wasn’t listening to Mr. Germain, he could hear the occasional gun go off in the lobby and someone else screaming to cease fire. Windows had already been broken with shards of glass all over. Albert saw Mrs. Germain had gotten as far as the front door of the S.E.A. before she had her cellphone out.

“I’m sorry, what’s going on?” he heard Mr. Germain ask.

Mrs. Germain said something into her phone, and Mr. Germain groaned. He unlocked a cabinet and pulled out some handcuffs. He threaded them through a ring on the table and forced Sophie to sit down. Sophie didn’t say a word as he cuffed her to the table.

“I’ll be back to hear your answer, Sophie, but I don’t want you going anywhere until then,” he said. “I don’t like chaining you up any more than you do, but we need to take precautions.”

Sam pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Is picking a lock also in your list of hidden talents, Team Germain?”

“Possibly. What's the situation?” Harriet said over the walkie talkie.

Sam gave a tiny smile. “If I say your subject is handcuffed to a table?”

“I'm not worried,” Harriet said.

Albert slid the headphones off. “Sam, your watch.”

Sam nodded and put on his own headphones. He tore his eyes away from the screen with the distraction as Albert hit the unmute button for the lobby cameras. A cacophony of sounds hit his ears and he turned the volume down way low. Every agent and guard were singing, scared out of their wits as they watched Poe strangling Billy, dressed up as a regular lobby attendee. Poe pulled out a fake knife and made a slash across Billy’s throat. It caused a ton of fake blood to spill out of the fake neck Billy had stuck on himself before they began. Albert shook his head as Billy began gasping and thrashing. Poe stabbed Billy again in the stomach, and his shirt blossomed in the fake blood. Billy’s struggles got weaker. Albert had a sneaky suspicion they enjoyed choreographing this a little too much. Billy collapsed to the ground. Albert had to hand it to Billy. He actually looked dead. It certainly made the onlookers sing more dramatically.

A smile crossed Poe’s face, one Albert wished to never see again before Poe let out a cry and blackness oozed out of his mouth. He ran right toward the group of guards and agents as the eerie glow again began flickering. The group immediately scattered. The elevator doors opened, and Charles, Alice, Marie, her dad, and Abe came out the elevators and left out the back door. Charles, Alice, and Abe all had masks on. Albert felt relief to see Marie’s small frame enter briefly on the footage for a second. They were going to get out. They were all on the last leg of the plan now. They had to be successful this time. They were so close.

The lobby was still chaotic, the fake blood everywhere.

“I’m surprised you guys had the budget for all this,” Albert said.

Sam paused, then glanced at Albert. “They didn’t ask us for a cent. They already had everything they needed, just lying around, I guess.”

Albert stared at Sam. Certainly nothing was stored in their apartment. He would have seen it. He wanted to laugh, just like every other time when they did something super creepy, to shake off the unease. But he found he couldn’t laugh this time. Dark curtains fell over the windows, those that were broken and those still intact, and the strobe lights went out. The lobby was completely black. Albert watched in curiosity, then a black light flooded the room again. Albert saw something scrawled across the wall. He leaned closer to see what it was.

Beware Macbeth!

A dagger was at the bottom, acting as the dot of the punctuation marks. Somehow it gushed out blood from the wall. Agents fell to their knees, sobbing and singing. Guards were running out of the building as fast as they could. Billy and Poe were nowhere to be seen. Albert saw Mr. and Mrs. Germain trying to fight their way into the lobby.

Albert gave a tiny smile. The screen to the interrogation room was black. Sam had to make sure Harriet had her privacy.

Sam glanced up over the screen. “They’re coming.”

Albert turned to see the recently freed prisoners moving as fast as they could toward the cars. Abe and Charles kept Mr. Edison between them, hobbling as best they could toward the car. Alice opened the door and they eased Mr. Edison inside.

Charles took immediate action.

“Tom, lie down on these seats. It’ll be most comfortable for you. Marie and Vlad, curl up on the floor beside him and make sure he’s fine. Alice, you go in the front, Sam, you run to Alice’s apartment. I’ll drive there so Alice and I can both help Tom when we get there. Albert, go check on Billy and Edgar.”

No one argued. Albert hardly had time to look at Marie and give a small smile, feeling the absolute relief at seeing her safe in the car with not a sign of physical injury on her before he turned and ran for Alice’s apartment.

***

As soon as they pulled up close to Alice’s apartment, Alice jumped out and ran inside to check if it was clear. She came back out and motioned them all to get inside. Marie and her dad wasted no time. They quickly left the car and headed into the opened door. Marie led the way as they entered Alice’s apartment. It was only when she saw Charles and Alice bringing in Mr. Edison that she could breathe a sigh of relief. They had made it!

Alice and Charles helped Mr. Edison into Alice’s bedroom, where Marie saw they had turned it into a makeshift hospital room.

“Go get Billy and Edgar, I’ll start,” Alice said to Charles.

Charles nodded and turned to hurry downstairs. Marie sank into one of the couches, feeling the strength in her legs threatening to leave her. Garbage bags were taped to the ground leading to the bathroom, and Marie couldn’t help but wonder what they were for.

Her dad collapsed next to her. “That was incredible,” he said. “I didn’t think anyone could get us out!”

Marie tried to smile, but she found she couldn’t. She hugged her father, mostly out of exhausted happiness, mostly to hide the trepidation she felt. Even though they’d had this win, they were still no closer to figuring out how to stop the war.

The door opened and Marie saw Abe and Albert walk inside. Marie stood up and gave them both a smile.

“I’m so glad you guys are alright.” Marie hugged Albert close before breaking away and frowning. “What happened?” Marie reached up and brushed her fingers against Albert’s bruises.

“Um,” Albert started to say. His fingers brushed against hers to bring her hand away from his face, and Marie backed away in shock as she saw his swollen knuckles. Marie’s mind started to race. Her eyes shifted back and forth from Albert to Abe. No one said anything for a few moments.

Marie’s frown deepened. “Abe, what happened? Did you get beat up by a guard? Is that make up or something? Why are you guys acting so weird right now?”

She was so confused at their uncomfortable looks.

Albert rubbed the back of his neck. “Abe didn’t get beat up by a guard. It was me.”

Marie frowned again. “You got beat up by a guard?”

“No. I beat up Abe.”

Marie blinked in confusion. “Why?” She glanced at Abe’s face, fighting down a feeling of revulsion. Every bruise seemed to jump out at her, and it made her sick that Albert was the one responsible. “Why would you do that?”

“Marie, I didn’t mean… I was just so angry…”

“With what? What did Abe do?”

Albert didn’t answer, looking like he’d rather be anywhere than here. Instead, Marie turned her gaze toward Abe. Abe didn’t look her in the eye.

“It’s because I left you behind,” Abe said.

A lot of emotions flooded Marie, then everything shut down at once. She took a deep breath in, then let it out quickly.

“I didn’t mean to-”

“Just stop,” Marie said, the anger coming out in her voice. “There are more pressing matters on my mind than this. I don’t want to deal with this-” she gestured at the two of them, “right now.”

Albert turned away ashamed. She walked away from them, taking all the raw emotions from this revelation and filing them away to be processed a different day.

The door opened and Harriet and Sophie rushed inside. Marie felt her heart lighten at the sight of her best friend. Marie immediately walked over to Sophie and wrapped her tightly in a hug before she realized this was the first time she’d hugged Sophie since she’d lost her memories. Sophie hugged back, though it felt insincere, more of a knee jerk reaction.

“I’m glad you’re safe.” Sophie sounded quiet, but it made Marie smile to hear a hint of genuine relief in her voice.

“Thank you. I’m glad you’re okay too.” Marie said as she broke away.

“Did you get the chemical you needed to get my memories back?” Sophie asked.

The lump returned in full force, threatening to burst in her throat. “I’m so sorry.”

Sophie’s already sad face seemed to fall even more. She gave a little nod. “Yeah. Okay. I understand.”

Sophie was lying, and Marie’s heart ached for her friend. They heard more steps in the hallway. Marie, Sophie, and Harriet moved deeper into the apartment. Sam and Charles came in, followed by Billy and Edgar, both covered in blood and make up, holding a garbage bag of what looked like more blood-soaked clothes.

“Marie! It’s so good to see you!” Billy said.

Marie could only stare. She heard the commotion in the lobby, but she was too focused on getting out to pay attention to what was going on. She had a feeling she didn’t want to. The blood on Billy had to be fake, because no one with that much blood on them would be talking normally. Edgar turned to look at Marie and she took a step back before she realized she had. Dried leftovers of something black had come out of his mouth and eyes, and that alone was terrifying enough without the blood all over him. Marie kept telling herself it definitely had to be fake. Everyone was acting too calm for it to be anything but fake.

“Quickly, you two need to rinse off, then go make sure you didn’t drop a single bit of blood anywhere in the apartment or the hallway,” Charles said.

Billy and Edgar nodded as they carefully made their way to the bathroom. She realized what the garbage bags on the floor were for. Marie couldn’t help but watch them leave. Abe followed behind them. He must have volunteered to help them out.

Charles walked over to Marie and her dad. He gave them each a quick rundown with his eyes. “Is there anything pressing I should know about you two before I go help Alice with Tom? Any sprains? Broken bones?” His eyes seemed to linger on her dad’s split lip and swollen eye.

“Nothing too serious. Go help Tom,” her dad said.

“They’ve been starving my dad and Tom for at least a month,” Marie said.

Charles nodded as he again ran his eyes over her dad’s thinner frame. “We’ve got another IV in there just in case. Let’s hook you up.”

Marie’s dad nodded and followed Charles. “Marie needs something to eat too. She hasn’t had anything all day.”

Marie waved her father deeper into Alice’s room. “I’ll be fine, Dad. I know where the kitchen is.”

He gave her a sheepish grin before he too disappeared inside Alice’s bedroom. Charles turned and entered the bedroom where she could just see Mr. Edison on a flat table.

***

Albert felt useless as he watched Marie open the cupboards and search through them. Harriet went to help her, and they were chatting quietly. Abe was collecting Billy and Edgar’s blood-soaked clothes and making sure the bathroom didn’t get too messy. Albert sat next to Sophie, who was staring at her hands in her lap.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Albert asked. Sophie looked over at him, confused. “I heard what your dad said in there.”

Sophie turned away, almost freezing her facial features to keep him from reading anything. “I’m fine.”

“It’s just-”

“I said I’m fine.” Her words were harsher, and Albert tried not to react. He had to warn Marie somehow. If Sophie joined her parents, things would not look good for any of them.