Saving the Scientist (The Restitution League #2)(80)

All to make her smile.

Grief made her breath catch. He was an extraordinary man. She wouldn’t find his kind again.

A man in the front row waved a hand to catch her attention. “But how does it--?”

His question was cut off by a great many shrill hissing sounds, as if a whole platoon of tea kettles came to a boil at the same time. The piercing sounds came first from the left, then the right side of the room as thick white smoke spiraled up from under numerous seats. Great plumes of unnaturally white mist poured out from under the chairs.

Panic seized the gathering. Men vaulted over seats, falling atop others as people scurried for the exits. A few hardy souls ran toward the smoke.

In the time it took for Meena to rush onto the stage and grab her, tendrils of smoke stretched all the way to the ceiling.

“Come on!” Meena grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her offstage.

Just as the reached the cover of the wings, Ada squinted out over the confusion. Edison stood at the back of the room, jostled this way and that by panicked audience members racing for the exits. Body rigid, he was staring at the stage.

What had he been thinking? She wanted to throttle him. He’d been so preoccupied with plans and contingency plans. He’d fashioned ten different ways to spirit her off the stage, should it come to that. His devices must have malfunctioned. Malfunctioned and caused a panic.

Ada glared at him.

Eyes wide, he raised his hands and shook his head. “Not mine.” Though there was no hope of hearing him over the din, the words were clear enough.

“That’s not good,” Meena observed.

Now Ada could see Nelly and Henry—Spencer too—fighting their way through the crowd to get to the stage. The three of them had just disappeared into the thickest of the smoke when a great commotion at the back caught her attention.

“Help!” A man’s voice, raw with panic, cut through the din. “Help me!”

Ada squinted out through the dissipating smoke. The room was clearing, both the smoke and the audience dissipating. At the back though, signs of a struggle caught her eye.

Stanton.

She leapt back out onto the stage. Arms pinned behind him by two large brutes, Stanton was being dragged out the door.

“Help him!” Ada yelled. “Help!” Jumping up and down now, she jabbed a hand toward her friend.

Edison, Briar and Spencer whipped around, fighting to make their way to him. Before they got near, his assailants manhandled him out the door.

Skirts fisted at her hips, Meena leapt off the low stage. She turned, offering a steadying hand. Ada’s heart was already racing so fast, she felt nothing as she slammed to the ground. Only Meena’s grasp kept her on her feet.

Without a word, Meena raced up the aisle, Ada on her heels.

By the time they reached Stanton’s seat, Edison and Spencer were coming back into the empty theater.

Hands on his slim hips, Edison was shaking his head. “Vanished.” He thrust his fingers through his tousled hair. “Must’ve had a carriage right outside.”

Spencer kicked a chair.

“We’ll find him,” Edison said once he caught her attention.

He was trying hard to reassure her, and for that she should have been thankful, but Ada couldn’t throw off the despair that squeezed her like a corset laced beyond all reason.

She sank down in the very seat her friend had just occupied and ran her trembling fingers over the lacquered arm rests. He’d been right here.

Right here.

She stared out over the auditorium, empty now, but for a few last wisps of white smoke. “It was him, wasn’t it? The one who wants my device.”

Cheeks flushed with anger, Edison glared at the doors to the lobby. “Most likely.”

Ada screwed her eyes shut. Regret swirled inside her, mixing with anger and fear and shame to twist her stomach into a painful knot.

Henry rushed in from the lobby. “They knocked her down,” he said, his voice thick with outrage. “Knocked her straight to the ground.”

“I’m fine.” Nelly followed more slowly. She seemed far more concerned with the streaks of dust on the arms of her white blouse. “Been bashed about a lot harder than that.”

Henry pointed at her reddened cheek. “You just wait until I find those pigs. Think they can strike a lady.” He glared down at the mark on Nelly’s cheek. “I’ll teach them a thing or two about manners.”

Instead of the sharp retort Ada expected, Nelly turned away from him, cheeks lightly pink, a small, secret smile curving her lips.

“See anything of use?” Spencer asked Nelly.

The smile evaporated. “I’d recognize the goons should I happen on ‘em, but they took ‘im off in a hired cab. Nothing outta the ordinary about it.”

Ada let their talk wash over her like waves at the shore, unable to concentrate on anything but Stanton’s fate. Whoever took him had already killed at least twice. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to banish the lifeless face of that poor woman in the alleyway. Even Ravensworth, the priggish sot, had fallen victim.

It was too much. Too much terror. Too much violence. Too much risk for too little return.

“They only took him because they couldn’t get to you,” Edison said.

“He’s right.” Meena patted Ada’s shoulder. “We’ll be hearing from them before the day is out.”