Page 26 of Fighting for Ella

The longer they stayed there the more they tempted fate. Raul wasn’t going to wait long before sending someone to find Ella and return her to the dining room.

Plus, there was the added concern of the fact that the number of guards at the estate was down by two. Sooner or later, someone was going to find the bodies of the men who had triedto assault Ella in the jungle, and he didn't want to be anywhere near there when that happened, because then Raul would know there was a traitor somewhere.

While he would have liked to be able to hole up there until a team came in to capture Raul, that wasn’t a viable option anymore. It wouldn't take long for the guards to realize he was the one who didn't belong there.

Right now, the safest option was to get Ella out of there, find a place to hide in the jungle, and wait for rescue. While Miguel usually liked to be proactive and in the thick of things, the idea of hiding out with Ella wasn’t as unappealing as he would have thought.

“You going to be okay?” he asked, already running through their options.

“For now,” Ella replied, a shaky nod accompanying the words.

“That’s all I need. We have to get out of here.”

“I thought the plan was to wait here until help came.” Although she said it, he didn't miss the way she shuddered at the thought of staying in Raul’s presence. Ella was smart and she had no doubt already picked up on the man’s signals toward her.

“If they don’t already know guards are missing, it’s only a matter of time before they find the bodies and realize one of us isn’t who he’s supposed to be. I don’t want us here when that happens. I'm going to get you to change into the guard’s clothes,” he said, kicking a foot at the dead man and doing his best to ignore the way her color dropped a couple of shades. “You're small, but so long as we keep moving no one should pay us much attention and notice the size discrepancies. You still have the tracker on you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We’re going to climb the back fence and head out into the jungle. The tracker will make it easier for us to be found.”

“Okay,” Ella quickly agreed, handing him her trust like it was no big deal. And maybe it shouldn’t be. After all, he was the expert here, and she was a lab worker, but it felt like something huge.

“Get rid of the dress and pop this on.” Miguel reluctantly let go of Ella’s hand after giving it a quick squeeze, and then crouched and began to strip the man. He couldn’t help but feel as though a clock was rapidly counting down, and he hurried Ella as much as he dared to get her into the guard’s clothes.

There was no way the shoes would do her any good, which meant for now, she was stuck with the strappy pair of heels Raul had given her to wear. Not ideal at all for running through the jungle, but he didn't want to waste the time it would take to send her up to her room to get her sneakers.

“The key to fitting in is to act like you belong,” he told her as they headed out of the bathroom and toward the nearest exit.

It worked.

Nobody stopped them as they headed outside.

Nobody stopped them as they walked through the gardens.

Nobody stopped them as they reached the fence and started to climb it.

It wasn’t until they were halfway up that the first shot was fired.

CHAPTER EIGHT

February 7th

12:53 A.M.

Someone was shooting at her.

Someone was shooting at Miguel.

They were beingshotat.

Panic had her muscles freezing and Ella stopped right at the top of the fence, one leg on either side, unsure what she was supposed to do. She had no weapon, even if she did, she was barely proficient at using it. Scarlett was the expert on their team and Lucy was good, too. Cassie was good only because she was good at everything and not because she particularly liked shooting.

She was the worst.

She hated guns.

Hated the loud bang they made when fired.

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