Of Wolves and Spies

Chapter 3

The silence that followed was almost suffocating.

She knew that it was the first trick taught in Interrogation Tactics 101. Remain silent; make the silence as awkward and as stifling as possible and more often than not your quarry will start yammering quicker than a politician just to fill the silence.

If she could afford to, she would have laughed that he thought that she could be manipulated into talking so easily. Maybe once upon a time, that tactic would have worked, but not now. However, the fact that he would use that tactic on someone who was obviously an agent or operative of some description didn't do much to raise his esteem in her eyes.

So, she turned the game back on him. She kept her peace, held her tongue, and sipped her tea whilst she calmly clutched her service weapon in her lap. Never once taking her eyes away from his. She could not afford to lose this stand off with him – not as some feminist show of strength and independence, but rather because she needed to remain in control of the situation because her daughters life was in danger. She knew that she had the optimum position to have her crosshairs trained on his chest in a split second. Although would prefer not to drop him just because he made a wrong move, rather she preferred to shoot people in the leg. It stops them from running away, gives them enough pain to cloud their mind just enough to prevent them from trying to reach for their weapon and just enough clarity to do as she asked.

She also knew that knew he had yet to identify who she was and as such, he was still to be considered dangerous.

Although she didn't know if she would hesitate if he did attempt to take her down. Knowing that he had something to do with her daughter's kidnapping was one thing, but when she didn't know for sure, could she say with absolute certainty that she wouldn't hesitate, even for a split second? So, Elizabeth contented herself with just waiting, watching, observing. Testing.

Apparently, he lacks the patience to conduct a proper interrogation because he seemed to get sick of waiting for her to identify herself. Instead, he stalked with leonine fluidity to advance to reach the most strategically sound position, both offensive and defensive, in the room. In front of her so as to be close enough to see any moves she makes, but far enough away that would allow him enough manoeuvrability should she turn out to be a hostile.

Smart.

That wasn't what surprised her though. What surprised her was that, even after all of this time without him, she still knew him like the back of her hand. His facial expressions, his tells, what every action means and what he is thinking. But then, she had always been aware of him, from the moment that she met him.

From the time that she met him at the grand age of five, she was always aware of him. Of course, the reason for the awareness changed, had evolved over time and proximity, but even then, looking back, she knew that she loved Michael. That love had also evolved, it had deepened and solidified. He had become a part of her, something so vital to her survival, her sanity, that she wasn't sure how she had managed to go eight years on only memories and dreams. If he hadn't taken so long to get with the program, then maybe they would have had Ava earlier, maybe gotten married... No, thinking like that would only compromise her and her ability to do what needed to be done. And it distracted her from her surroundings.

Now was not the best time to play the 'What If', or 'If Only' game. After all, 'What If's' only served to shorten the lifespan of the one saying it. And such pass times are for the foolish for there is no way to change what was done.

And she had had ample time to think about her actions over the course of eight years. Could she say with complete certainty that she would choose to do anything any differently given the chance? She couldn't answer one way or the other.