Page 69 of Fighting for Ella

Was there someone at Prey who might have already disliked Athena Team but then had cause to take that dislike to a new level when they all started falling in love?

Something was prickling the back of her mind only she couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

Falling in love changes everything. Changes you.

Those words whispered through her head only she couldn’t remember where she’d heard them before or who had said them.

“Ella, you got an idea?”

“Maybe. I … I'm not sure … I have this feeling like I'm close to figuring everything out, but I can't quite get there,” she said, frustrated with herself. There was a lot riding on this. Theyhadto figure out the mole’s identity. If they didn't then this would never be over, and she didn't want to keep living her life this way, constantly looking over her shoulder and expecting the worst.

“You’ll get there,” Miguel said confidently.

“What you said before, about them doubling down, it made me think of something I just can't remember the details.”

“Stop pushing yourself, let it happen, the more pressure you put on your shoulders, the harder it will be to get there. Just relax. Take a deep breath. Let go of everything else. Just be.”

Allowing his words to settle over her like a weighted blanket, smoothing out all her anxieties, Ella did as he instructed, drew in a slow breath, and then just let go. Let everything fall away. If the answers were inside her head, they’d come to her.

Love was a crazy thing. Possibly both the best and worst things in the world. It could build you up but it could also tear you down. It picked you up like a tornado and tossed you about until you had no idea what direction you were facing.

It also made people do crazy things.

Whatwouldn'tI do for love?

Those words echoed through her mind, and when she stopped and held onto them, let them shimmer into focus a face came along with them.

One she knew.

One she had trusted.

One that Prey had already looked into and discarded as a possible suspect.

Snapping her gaze to Miguel’s, she reached out blindly, only feeling grounded when he clasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I know who it is.”

February 11th

9:04 A.M.

One hour had changed everything.

Ella’s house was bursting at the seams with people. There were no more chairs left, people lounged against the walls and sat on the floor. The atmosphere in the room was off the charts with excitement. After over a month of sitting around twiddling their thumbs, playing defensive as they tried to cut off the mole’s attacks without ever being able to get on the offensive, the tide had turned.

Prey was in control now.

And it was all thanks to his girl.

She was the one who finally solved the mystery of the mole’s true identity, and apparently, according to her, it was all because of something he had said. Miguel was more than happy to hand over all credit to where it belonged though, and that was squarely on Ella’s shoulders. He might have said something thatgot her thinking, but she was the one who had managed to put all the pieces together and come up with an answer.

“Okay, we’re going to hand this over to Ella,” Fox announced, and the excited murmuring calmed down as Ella stood in front of her Prey family.

It was obvious she was nervous, the way she swayed slightly from foot to foot gave her away. As did the way she held her hands joined together so tightly that even from there he could see that her knuckles were blanched white.

When her gaze roamed the room and settled on him, Miguel gave her an encouraging smile. She had this. She was the one who put it all together, she deserved this moment to stand proudly before her family and tell them what she had deduced. Then together, they would all come up with a plan that would take the mole down once and for all.

“Well,” Ella began, clearing her throat, then visibly pulling herself together. “It was something Miguel said to me this morning while we were eating breakfast. Something about love and it triggered a memory of a conversation I had. The conversation was with Dora Hibbert.”

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