Taken (Erin Bowman)

Harvey is going to be executed tomorrow morning. Publicly. And you, my dear boy, will do the honors.” He smiles, a gleaming evil thing, like a pale moon breaking from behind a rugged mountain range.
    “But . . . you said to bring him back alive. That was the mission. How can you free Claysoot if you just kill him?”
    Frank keeps smiling. “There has been some progress since you left. We no longer need his answers.” A blatant, obvious lie. “But we do need Harvey alive so we can dispose of him ourselves and relish it. Do you know how happy the people of Taem will be to see this traitorous, murderous, deceitful man meet his end? Justice will finally be served, and you will be the bearer, Blaine. You will execute Harvey and prove to me your loyalty.”
    Things start swimming in my head: timelines, plans, diversions. This changes everything, puts a giant gash in our strategy. We now have less than a day, until nightfall, to get what we need and run. I have only hours to find Emma. And, as if Frank has read my mind, he throws another gem at me.
    “Oh,” he adds, grinning viciously. “Your brother seemed to have a strong liking for a girl named Emma.”
    I stare through him, focusing on the fall leaves outside his window. Please don’t tell me Emma is dead. I say it over and over to myself. I won’t be able to hold it together if she is.
    Frank moves his fingers in delicate waves. “She’s been working in our hospitals. Perhaps you’d like to pay her a visit? She’s awfully pretty, and since Gray’s gone, maybe a near look-alike will be enough to satiate her.”
    My fists clench and Frank sees it. He smiles wickedly, and then adds, in that soft, flowing voice, “Now if you’ll excuse me, Gray—I’m sorry, Blaine—I have prior obligations to attend to.”
    I sit there, wondering if he honestly mixed up the names or if he knows.
    I have an uneasy feeling he can see right through me.
    Harvey gets put in lockdown, not in the prisons but in a lone room on a busy corridor where three Order members guard him. A few workers in white lab coats are ushered into his room, bags in hand. Medics, maybe. I bet Frank is twisted enough to want Harvey in tip-top shape when he executes him.
    I am allowed to roam the grounds of Union Central freely, but it takes only a few minutes to notice the guard tailing me, always staying far enough away to not be perceived as a threat but close enough to keep tabs. I sneak into a bathroom and bolt the door. After double-checking the place and confirming it’s empty, I attempt to contact Bree. I have a small earpiece, hidden from view, and a tiny microphone that Harvey has wired to the inside of my shirt.
    “Bree?” I ask into it. “What’s your status?” There is nothing but static for several seconds, followed by a crackle, and then finally, Bree’s voice.
    “Inside city limits. Got on the trolley no problem, and just had to ditch a few overfriendly Order folk.”
    “What about the diversion? Where are you with that?”
    “What am I, lightning? Look, I’ve got to find a way to get into Union Central without drawing too much attention.”
    “You’re wearing your old uniform. Just walk in.”
    “Gray, we’ve been over this. I need to be invisible; no one can know I’m there. What’s the rush, anyway? We agreed the diversion would take place first thing in the morning.”
    “About that . . . there’s been a change of plans.” I tell her of Harvey’s scheduled execution, and my supposed role.
    She says nothing other than, “Don’t worry. I’ll make it happen today.”
    “How?”
    “I don’t know yet,” she says. “But I’ll trigger the diversion by late afternoon. I promise.”
    “It’s already noon.”
    “Then you better stop distracting me. Just be ready for the signal.”
    With that, she cuts out and I am left sitting in the bathroom, staring at my dazed reflection in the mirror. I try to focus on the approaching diversion, but even when I close my eyes, Emma is the only thing I see. I’m sure Frank did it purposely, filled my head with thoughts of her simply to distract me, to torture me. Knowing there is nothing I can do until I get Bree’s signal, I leave the bathroom. I look for the guard who was shadowing me, but seem to have lost him. My wrist access no longer works, and so at each door, I have to wait for someone in the Order to walk by and unlock it first.
    The hospital is busy, but Emma is nowhere to be found. Perhaps she has the