Charity swallowed. Her mouth twitched. Enzo could tell she was weighing how much to say. “That doesn’t matter. We have the code.”
Callum shook his head again. “The only way you could have that code is if it’s sent to you through a secure system or if you’re a psychic.”
Charity just stared back at him, her eyes imploring.
Callum straightened, awareness dawning on his face. “Wait, are you a psychic?” He whirled on Enzo. “Is that why you posed as a harvester? To search for Empowereds?”
“She’s not a psychic,” Enzo said.
Callum’s gaze darted between Charity and Enzo. “So is it Ben? Is that why he’s in prison?” Before anyone could answer, he spun on Enzo accusingly. “Did you turn him in?”
Enzo tried to form words. Justifications sat on the tip of his tongue, but none of them sounded true anymore.
“He’s helping us now,” Charity said.
“But beforehand,” Callum said acidly, “he turned your father in?” It wasn’t really a question, but another accusation. Either Callum had gotten to know Ben so well that he’d already known he wasn’t a threat, or his dislike of the government extended to the police force.
“Most Empowereds are dangerous,” Enzo said. “I didn’t realize Ben wasn’t until too late. Now I’m trying to help him.”
“Blight. Blight. Blight.”Callum shot to his feet and paced across the room. He looked like he wanted to hit something. Possibly Enzo.
“The government suspected our family,” Charity said calmly. “They sent Enzo in to confirm. If he hadn’t done it, they would’ve sent someone else. Probably not someone who would be willing to help me break into the prison to free my father.”
“You’re not going,” Enzo said. “Only I’m going. That is, if Callum is able and willing to hack into the database and help us.”
Callum still paced. “You know what they’ll do to me if they find out I helped free an Empowered, right?”
Charity held out her hands as though she could give him something. “If things go badly, you’re welcome to come live at New Salem with us.”
Callum grunted, unimpressed with the offer. “And what sort of place is it? Do they have skyscrapers and universities and shopping centers?”
“The buildings and schools are small,” Charity said. “Shopping is done at neighborhood markets. But last year, the residents took money earmarked to buy another communal car and used it to plant trees and flowers along the streets because that way, the walk would be more pleasant for everyone. Overall, it’s a lovely place.”
“Great,” Callum said. “It has flowers.”
Enzo opened his mouth to speak, but Charity put a hand on his knee to stop him. “Callum, you’ve always said you owed Milo, Zia, and me for your freedom. But we weren’t the ones who saved you. It was my father. He saved us all by telling me to carry matches. That morning, he also told us we’d bring home something extra from the market. We brought you home.”
Her eyes never wavered from Callum’s face. “The government wants to capture me so they can force him intogiving them information. If my father doesn’t give it to them, they’ll hurt or kill me.”
“And that is why,” Enzo interrupted, “Charity will be staying with you while I go to the prison. She can’t fall into their hands. Do you understand that?”
Callum let out a breath like he’d been punched. “They would do that?” He shut his eyes. “Of course they would. The government has never cared about sacrificing its citizens.”
He stalked over to the desk, plunked down on the chair, and turned to his computer. “I’ll see if it’s even possible to break in. I’m not promising anything.” His fingers flew over the keyboard. His forehead wrinkled in concentration viewing incomprehensible lines of numbers and symbols that only people who went to tech schools understood.
“If you can get us in,” Enzo said, “we’ll need help with one other thing.”
Callum scoffed. “Just one?”
Only one that Callum could help with. “There’s a camera by the guard station. We’ll need a way to disable it, otherwise, as soon as I pull a gun on the floor guard, the security guard watching the cameras will send reinforcements. Is there a way you can hack into the camera feed as well?”
“No,” Callum said, his attention still on the streams of numbers. “I would need access to their onsite computers, and they’d never give that to an unauthorized stranger.”
“Is there a way to break the cameras?” Charity asked.
“Yes,” Enzo said, “but that would only buy us a couple of minutes. Once the security guard couldn’t solve the problem by rebooting the camera, he’d send someone to check out the situation.” Enzo would need more time to free Ben and get out of the building.
Charity picked at one of her fingernails in nervous agitation. “Then we’ll have to rely on every security system’s weak point—human nature.” To Callum, she said, “Can you find out who’s working today’s shift and call them when we need a distraction? Pretend to be the hospital calling about a family member.”