The Answer

Chapter 19

Max sat alone in the darkness, a fistful of crayons in hand. He hadn't found much else to do and he was aware he needed to be quiet just in case someone came looking for him. He'd managed to find a small flashlight, but wasn't so successful when he went looking for paper. There didn't seem to be any in the cabin, much to his dismay. Still, he needed to piece together what was going on and resorted to scribbling on the wooden floor.

In an urgent frenzy, he began filling up the floor what all he'd heard and learnt in captivity. There must be something in here to save Olivia's life.
***
It was dark and damp where Travis and his brother were held captive by the Doctor. The unmistakable stench of bird poop saturated their sense of smell, they wondered when they would get used to that.

"Blake, we need to get out of here. The Doctor isn't good for us, can you see that now?" Travis whispered, his eyes darting cautiously for patrolling guards.

Blake was sitting in a dark corner, his cap covering his face. He didn't respond.

Travis sighed, "Please brother, support me just this once."

Blake lifted the cap from his face and shot Travis a look of warning, "This once? You know what is at stake if we don't cooperate, Travis. I'm not ready to have our mothers pay the price."

Travis sighed, slumping next to Blake. "We are no good to them dead. Worse, they could still be in danger if our deaths aren't satisfying enough."

Blake looked up thoughtfully, silence and darkness engulfed them. It felt with each passing moment, their cell shrank just a little bit. Travis was just about to give up on Blake, assuming he's hasn't changed his mind when Blake let out a deep sigh. Knowing his little brother, this meant something had changed.

"The real reason I'm afraid to leave," said Blake quietly, "is because I'm afraid they'll hurt Olivia."

Travis didn't track what Blake was saying. "Who's Olivia?" He asked, puzzled.

"She's the Doctor's lab pet, though she doesn't want to be." Blake replied, his expression saddened. "She's the last of her siblings and he's going to use her to detonate several bombs in the city. He plans to make it look like Gerard lost his shit and did it, which is why he had me drive him out of his house."

Travis' eyes widened, "There's never been a more urgent need to get out of here, we have to warn Gerard and David."

Blake shrugged, "They'll have to survive the hunt for Max first."
***
Gerard and David has gone over the schematics of the fortress of Angel Island over what felt like an eternity's worth of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup bowls. When they had finally gone over their now elaborate plan, complete with contingencies, they called for the bill.

It bewildered them both to find that it had only been two servings of the meal of disappointment for reach of them. They could have sworn they'd each eaten at least four servings each. Either way, it would be a while before they'd consider subjecting themselves to this experience again. They made their way back to the precinct, grabbed their stuff and made it to David's car. Gerard stood on the sidewalk and watched as David hopped in the driver's seat and rolled down his window. "Are you sure about this?" He asked Gerard, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
"I trust you, you got this." Gerard replied, nodding at David and making his way uphill.

David started his car and took out his phone, he gulped nervously and mumbled, "God, I hope we survive this crap." He called Philip's number and waited for him to pick up. There was no answer. David almost tried again, but hesitated. Would be seem too desperate? He then decided to just drop Philip a text.

Call me ASAP, it is important.

David hit send, placed his phone and the seat beside him and drove downhill. Gerard and him has discussed the legibility of Philip being from the FBI at length at the restaurant, since none of them had seen any positive identification doubt began to cloud their minds. Gerard asked a friend from the Bureau to run a background check on Philip as a favour, they were still waiting on a call back. Either way, they didn't want him to interfere with the plan, so David needed to make sure Philip was following Gerard. This would keep him away from the hunt for Max and should Philip's background not check out, Gerard would make sure he couldn't interfere. This was probably the biggest wager of their plan, the other one on Gerard's mind was Travis and Blake not cooperating in their own escape.

Although David did point out that it was unlikely, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that Blake was a wild card. Gerard knew it too, but this went unspoken. Knowing Gerard, not matter how much he trusted David he did have a contingency or two he wouldn't discuss with another soul. After all, the only person Gerard truly trusted completely was himself.

David found the address he was looking for; he was given specific instructions to come to this address when he had the location of Max. He pulled up in front of the building and examined it. The building was old and practically begging for a renovation, but judging from the other buildings on the block it was unlikely that the funds were available.

Clearly, this low economy neighbourhood was of importance. If David remembered correctly, this is where the Doctor's handymen came from. This realisation made him nervous, was he about to be attacked? He surveyed the other parked cars on the street and noticed at least five of them had their front two seats occupied, the occupants twiddling their thumbs and casually chatting in each car.

It was unlikely this wasn't connected, so David began to devise his escape route. His best bet was to hit reverse and back up at full speed. Sweat coated his face as he hoped he wouldn't get shot here. A light tapping on his window made him jump, jolting out of his panic spiral. It was Paul, smiling and waving at him.

David opened the car door and smiled, "Hello, have you been waiting long?"

"Nope, have you?" Paul replied.

"No, no, of course not." David laughed nervously.

"Well, then I'll ride with you and you can show us where the kid is. Yeah?"

"Of course, hop right in." David replies, watching all the cars around him start up. This was a large search party, larger than they anticipated. David could only hope they didn't kill him when they found out this was a diversion.

David cautiously watched the several cars that consisted of the convey of goons, calculating his odds of survival. He's worry about Max, but Gerard assured him that Max would be safe. To further ensure Max's safety, Gerard didn't disclose his actual location but rather insisted David lead the Doctor's accomplices to the cabin where Travis was.

Since it was one of Travis' discreet properties, it was unknown to his search party and would serve as a good place to waste their time. David pulled onto the freeway and the cars behind him followed suit.