AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not always. He came for you in your own house. Sometimes Tobias pulls a double bluff. He wants us to think he’s being sneaky when really he’s operating right in front of us. But really, it’s impossible to know with him.”
Ella thought of Tobias and the magic tricks he pulled inside his prison cell. He once told her the closer you look, the less you see. How true this had turned out to be in the past couple of months.
“We need to get searching for him,” Ella said.
“True, but it’s not just us involved anymore. He’s now tried to kill two FBI agents. This means a city-wide manhunt. FBI, D.C. police. Edis might even call in some favors from the CIA and MOD. We need to turn D.C. inside out. Offer rewards for anyone who sees him. This isn’t just me and you anymore, this is Tobias versus the world.”
“Good. Let’s get all the manpower we can.” Both Ella and Mia had their own reasons for wanting to kill Tobias themselves, but the greater cause overrode their selfish desires. Tobias needed to die and it didn’t matter who did it anymore.
Mia checked her phone. “Edis will be here in ten minutes. He’s bringing the chief of police with him. We need to advise them.”
William Edis was the FBI director. Every day that Tobias Campbell went uncaptured, Edis’s reputation took another knock. His escape from prison was the biggest FBI blunder since the Waco Siege in 1993.
“On where to find Tobias?” asked Ella.
“Yeah. Can you recall all the places we’ve searched so far? Drug dens, abandoned buildings, church basements? Everything.”
“Yeah, all of it,” Ella said. She ran through everything Tobias had said to her during their battle last night, scouring it for something that might reveal his whereabouts. The problem was that he hadn’t said a whole lot.
I’ll be the one who takes your life.
You didn’t think I did the dirty work myself, did you?
It has to be this way, Miss Dark. You understand this, yes?”
See this? This is the same noose I took my first life with. It’s only fitting I take yours with it too.
Everything else was screams and threats. Ella couldn’t make any connections.
“Where’s Ben, by the way?” asked Mia.
“The nurse said she was checking him out next.”
“Speak of the devil,” a voice said behind the curtain. Ben walked inside, one side of his face a sickly purple. “And he’s sure to appear. Alive and well, too.”
Ella opened her arms to welcome him in. They hugged. Ella pressed her head against his shoulder. She knew he was fine, but hearing that baritone voice of his put her at ease for some reason. It was a familiar tone she’d come to associate with comfort, despite most of their relationship being marred with crisis. She hated herself for involving this innocent soul in her problems. Even though she’d done what she could to keep him at arm’s length from her work, Ben had been guilty by association in Tobias’s eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Ben. I never wanted to wrap you up in this.”
“You think I can’t handle a few punches?” Ben asked. He gently touched his face and winced. “I mean, yeah, it hurts, but you know me.”
Ben was a professional athlete. A wrestler. Ella had never seen him in action other than a few online videos but he certainly wasn’t a stranger to pain.
“You fall off ladders for a living,” Ella said.
“Exactly. This is nothing. Are you both alright?”
“Surviving. All I need is rest and painkillers. I’ve got stones lodged under my skin but that’s it.”
Ben glanced towards Mia; a woman he’d only met in person eight hours ago. His first experience of her was her death blows of random masked assailants. Ella could only imagine what Ben thought of her.
“Better than ever. You did a great job last night,” Mia said.
“Who the hell was that guy? And where did he go?” Ben asked.
Ella and Mia exchanged a look of distress. Ella wanted to tell Ben as little as possible, but he had a right to know after nearly being killed by her tormenter. Mia nodded her approval, as if to say, tell him everything.
“That man was Tobias Campbell. A career criminal. A pure psychopath.”
