Page 9 of Fighting for Ella

They were risky, and she’d decided they were too risky, but they had been there.

If she’d taken one of those other options, would she have regretted it?

This way it was her in the firing line, she would be the one to take the fall. It would cost her everything in the event that she survived the fallout, but at least she would be the one suffering.

And in the end, that was why she’d started down this road.

No one else was going to pay the price for her sins.

No one.

Certainly not people she loved.

Needing another break, Ella paused and checked the ground around her before sinking onto it. The last thing she wanted was to find one of the venomous snakes or poisonous spiders that lived in the Mexican jungles. Plus, there were scorpions here as well, and several species of big cats, not that she wouldn't immediately notice one of them if they were hanging around.

Exhaustion weighed heavily on her as she hung her head. Even though she was there, surrounded by the oppressive heat, the sounds of birds in the air, the feel of the hard ground beneath her, and the rough bark of the tree she was leaning against pressing into her skin, all of this felt so surreal.

Was she really in Mexico?

Had she really stolen the Reactivator?

Was she really going to meet up with the notorious weapons trafficker if she could find her way out of the jungle?

How had this become her life?

There was no way she could have predicted that she would wind up basically a traitor on the run, being hunted as a wanted criminal. She’d always been the good girl. The youngest of four girls and parents who were internationally renowned classical musicians, she’d always assumed as a child that she would follow everyone else into music. Two of her sisters were famousopera singers, and the other was a pianist who entertained thousands of people every year in performances in the best concert halls in the world.

She loved music, loved mastering a new instrument, and had even enjoyed scales even though most kids her age hated the monotony of them. If her life hadn't changed the summer she turned eleven, she would have become a musician.

It was on a flight to China, where she had been set to perform in a packed-out theatre that it happened. Two men tried to hijack the plane. Had almost succeeded. They’d taken over and diverted the flight, then when it eventually landed, a team of US Navy SEALs had managed to take control and save all their lives.

That was when she knew.

Music was beautiful, and it wasn’t something she wanted to give up, but she wanted her life to mean more. So, she’d gone to college and studied a range of things from chemistry to ballistics to computers, eventually getting a job at Prey Security. She’d been so proud when it was offered to her that she could hardly believe thatshehad been offered a job with the best security firm in the world.

It was her dream job, and now it had all come crashing down around her.

Tears leaked out of her eyes, mixing with the sweat and making her eyes burn. Even though she rubbed at them to erase the sting, she couldn’t help but feel like she deserved it.

She deserved to hurt for what she’d done.

A sob was building inside her, and it was precariously close to bursting out, only she heard something.

Her entire body went still.

She was barely even breathing.

Was someone out there?

Friend or foe?

Who was she kidding? Ella knew she didn't have any friends left. All she had was a whole range of foes who wanted different things from her and would treat her differently if they got their hands on her.

What should she do?

Should she stay there and try to hide? Make herself as small as possible and hope whoever was out there walked past her?

Maybe she should try to run? If she snuck away in the opposite direction from the sounds she could hear, there was a chance she could get away.

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