Page 36 of Fighting for Ella

Too much anxiety.

It wound around her like a tangle of vines, squeezing her until she felt like there was nothing left, like she was just an empty bag of skin and bones, and anxiety and nothing else. It consumed her, overwhelmed her, and she wondered how she ever thought she could pull this off.

“Come back, Miguel. Please,” she whispered aloud, praying that he might hear her and suddenly appear out of thin air like he’d done when they escaped.

Only he didn't come.

The only thing to meet her murmured words was silence.

Silence she was beginning to hate.

She’d never really thought about just how scary silence could be. With three sisters their house had never been silent when she was growing up. Add in that all six people who lived in the house were musicians, and more often than not, at least one person was rehearsing. Even at night she usually played music in the background because it helped her sleep better. When working at the lab, if she wasn’t talking to one of her friends, she usually had her earbuds in and music playing.

Now the silence was freaking her out.

She didn't like it at all.

Yet when a sharp whistle suddenly cut through the air she yelped and almost fell right out of the tree.

Even though she wasn’t a field operative, she knew how military people worked and spent time around them every day. They had a whole series of whistles and sounds that they could use to communicate, and she would bet her life on the fact that that particular whistle was meant to alert Miguel that whoever was coming was not a threat to him.

Only Miguel wasn’t there right now and she didn't know what she was supposed to do.

It had to be the team coming in to get them, but what if she was wrong? What if it was Raul’s men trying to trick her?

Miguel should be back by now, Ella knew that. That he wasn’t meant only one thing. He was in trouble. He’d either been caught or killed. If he’d been caught, why hadn't one of Raul’s men come looking for her?

Surely they knew she was with him.

Unless …

No.

He wouldn't do that.

But she knew that was a lie. Hewoulddo that. Miguel would make any sacrifice to get her out of there, it was just the way he was wired.

Another whistle had her losing her grip on the branch she was clinging to, and Ella only just managed to regain a hold of it before she fell. If Miguel had done what she feared he had, then she had no choice but to call out and hope this was the good guys and not the bad ones. He had sacrificed for her, and she wasn’t going to let it be in vain.

“H-hello?” she called out, voice shaking despite her efforts to sound strong and sure of herself.

“Ella?”

She knew that voice. It belonged to Blake “Rocco” Wise, the leader of a SEAL team who had been working with Prey to find the mole, the weapon’s dealer, and keep the Reactivator safe. They’d played a part in saving Scarlett, Lucy, and Cassie, and now they’d come for her, too.

“I'm up here,” she called back.

“Can you get down?” Rocco asked.

“Yeah.” She hated it but she could do it. She had to do it because she needed to get to them and tell them they had to go and find Miguel before it was too late.

Quicker than she had any other time, Ella scampered down the tree, her fear for Miguel overriding her fear of heights. By the time she reached the ground she was breathing hard, and the sight of the six large men dressed in combat gear did nothing to soothe her.

Unlike Miguel who could soothe her just by being there.

“Miguel, I think he might have let himself be captured to draw Raul’s men away from me,” she blurted out without preamble. “We have to go and find him.”

“Not our orders,” Rocco informed her.

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