Page 25 of Rescuing Tobias

It was bad enough that it had stolen his career, but now it had cost him a chance at happiness and a future with a woman he really liked.

He hadn't told his team about the text, worried they would read more into it than there really was. Not that there had actually been much in the text. Isabella had just asked how he was and thanked him once again for saving her.

Might not be much, but he’d spent more time staring at the few words on his screen than he would ever admit even under torture. It was something. A connection to her when he felt like he was floundering.

It shouldn’t be possible for her to affect him so deeply in such a short amount of time. But there was no way her sassy fire couldn’t have set him alight. Even in the face of what she believed at the time were men who were going to take her and sell her to someone else, she had stood up for herself and others and tried to escape. Her strength and bravery shone as brightly as her beauty, and he wanted so badly to be there to support her through all the aftermath of her ordeal.

“Feels like this is hopeless,” Teresa Dash suddenly spoke into the otherwise quiet room. The only sounds were all their fingers flying over their keyboards, a sound that usually helped him relax, but today just reminded him of everything he’d lost.

If even Teresa was willing to admit that this felt like fighting a losing battle, then what hope did any of them have?

Teresa was Miss Practical. She was good at keeping her emotions out of her work, she paid attention to the smallest of details, and more than once had caught things the rest of them had missed. She was smart and no nonsense, she said things how they were, and she never allowed herself or any of them to give up.

Until now apparently.

“We’re not giving up, we’ll find something,” Chelsea said, determination in her voice. Of all of them Chelsea was the sweetest, the one who had the most trouble finding a way to keep a little emotional distance between herself and the work they did. She was the one who brought light and happiness into the darkness in which they worked.

At her declaration, there was a snort from the other side of the room.

The dark side of the room.

Where Josiah Fleet rarely left his desk to participate in any of the team meetings or discussions. The man had been a SEAL forced into retirement after an injury, much the same way Tobias himself had been. Only unlike him, Josiah had lost his entire team in the assault that ended his career.

It had left him with an anger problem that Tobias didn't think anything could cure. Although Chelsea tried her best to show Josiah that he wasn't alone, that he had people who cared about him. Not that it did any good.

“Course we’re not giving up, don’t listen to Mr. Grumpy Pants over there,” Ava said. She was their other ray of sunshine, but that light had been a little dimmed by everything she’d been through. He couldn’t imagine what it had been like for her to be tied to a bed and operated on against her will. But she’d saved herself, and they were all so proud of her for it.

If Ava could still find a way to go on, to keep fighting, after what she’d been through, then he had no excuse for feeling like they were drowning in an impossible task. None of them did.

When they felt at their lowest, it was then they had to remind themselves the most of what they were fighting for. For Ava, for Isabella, for all those other men and women who had been taken against their will and either had their organs harvested or were forced to work for their captors.

Nothing was going to make him give up.

They’d worked their way through the list of rescued victims already, and hadn’t found a lot to go on, but that only meant they needed to take a second pass, dig deeper this time, look harder, find whatever would help them find the person responsible.

He owed it to Isabella to get her answers.

She said he’d saved her, and while yes, he’d taken part in the op that got her rescued, he couldn’t help but feel like she was still trapped. She needed this closure, and he was determined to give it to her.

Maybe if he could bring down the ring, he could reach out to her, give her the good news, maybe even in person. He’d been doing a lot of wallowing in a pit of self-pity, but he’d been doing a lot of thinking too. And he’d realized he wasn’t liking the mopey guy he had become.

“You're right, Ava. We’re not giving up. We just need to work harder. The answers are there somewhere, we just need to find them,” he told his team.

Fresh determination filled him. He might not be able to give Isabella everything he wanted to, but he could give her this.

April 10th

4:23 P.M.

Anxiety had her fidgeting.

If she wasn't sitting in the living room at least pretending to be somewhat professional about this upcoming meeting, then she would absolutely be pacing the room.

Isabella stared at the clock on the wall as she fiddled with anything she could get her hands on. The throw pillows onBecca’s sofa, the hem of her hoodie, the pompoms hanging off the sides of her thick woolen socks.

Susanna Zangari was going to be there any moment, and she wasn't ready for this.

Why had she thought she was?

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