The Anomaly Project

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

TODD

I knew Noah was smart, and logical, and careful. I knew that as soon as I met him. I never guessed that I would see him become as desperate as he is now.

"Noah," I say slowly, trying to make him see reason, "you know your father's being held by Desmond Forrester personally. If you go to find him, you're basically going to your death. Forrester will either kill you – certainly painfully - or he'll torture you with experiments for the rest of your bloody life."

"Thanks for that lovely image," Tessa mumbles sarcastically. I ignore her.

Noah shrugs. "Maybe you're right. I know I can't get into Forrester's head. I know there's almost no hope. But I can't leave my dad behind. Not a second time." He looks pleadingly at each of us in turn. "Don't you get it? This is something I have to do."

He knows exactly what'll happen if he tries, and he's going to try anyway, I realize. Noah Stone is not afraid of Desmond Forrester. He's going to whatever it takes to get his father back.

I know how he feels. Wouldn't I do the same for the people I love? Wouldn't I do the same for Tessa, or Colton, or the others back at camp? For Autumn?

But I promised her, I remember. I promised Autumn I'd watch out for Noah. I can't let him just throw himself into danger like this. But I also can't stop him. One look at his determined face tells me that.

"I'm going with you," I announce. "If you're set on finding your dad, I can't stop you. But you're not going to go running off alone."

Noah looks at me for a long moment, face unreadable, and finally says, "Fine."

"Wait." Colton holds up both hands. "What are Tess and I supposed to do while you two are off running around who-knows-where?"

I give them my trademark mischievous grin. "You didn't think we could do this without some kind of distraction, did you?"

***

"There are so many ways this could go wrong," Tessa mumbles.

"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears," I retort.

The plan is simple: Colton and Tessa will go set off the alarm, alerting everyone here of our presence – but the alarm will lead them to the wrong section of the building. Colton and Tessa will then basically run around the building, wreaking havoc as they go: setting off more alarms, terrorizing scientists, breaking equipment – generally doing what we've all wanted to do for years.

While they're doing that and trying not to get captured, Noah and I will stay under the radar by either being invisible or screwing up peoples' minds while we search for Noah's father. If anything goes wrong, Tessa and Colton are supposed to take off, get out of the building as fast as possible and wait for us in the forest.

"Worst plan in the history of the universe," Tessa continues under her breath. "What happens if Colton and I get caught, and we can't get away?"

"If you're careful, you won't get caught. You just have to cause as big of a diversion as you can, draw everybody's attention away from where Noah and I are going," I clarify. "At the first sign of danger, you scoot your butts right out of here."

"Roger that," Colton says. "You and Noah better not take long."

"We'll try," Noah says. "But... no guarantees." His confident mask slips for just a moment, and in his eyes I see a glimpse of the scared, worrisome boy underneath. But as soon as it came, it's gone, and he pulls out a grin. "We'll just be in and out," he assures us.