Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. – Sun Tzu, Art of War

Maybe she would have been more receptive if we hadn’t entered with a million shards of glass. – Briel’s text to Nessa after the failed apprehension of Felicity

Awakening suddenly, Felicity sat up and assessed her surroundings. Her rapid ascension from sleep disoriented her, and she half expected to find herself at home in her comfortable, king-size bed surrounded by 1000 count sheets and a down comforter. Her disappointment was acute.

Recollecting herself, Felicity glanced nervously at the clock on top of the little cupboard. 5:45 in the afternoon. Had she dreamed the whole encounter with Jase? Unsure, she called to him. “Jase?”

No answer.

With a groan and a stretch, she unfurled herself from the sofa and rose slowly to her feet. She felt slightly muddled, but her reason had returned during her repose, and she now became aware of a subtle pang in her gut. Fear? she wondered. Fear that you've chased him away, she clarified to herself. Had she completely lost her senses? She had a goal, and she could not compromise that. It did not matter that she wanted Jase. I want Jase, she suddenly inhaled. It did not matter. In fact, her emotional vulnerability had turned her into a fool.

What was she doing?

Why was she putting her fate in the hands of a man who worked for the company that sent her into slavery?

Why was she trusting a man who admitted to drugging her?

Why was she believing that a man who lived on the property of Bill Henry had benevolent motives toward her?

Most importantly of all, why did she want more than anything for him to wrap his arms around her and hold her and tell her that she would be okay?

Felicity closed her eyes, pulling in a breath to steady herself.

She was being a fool, and she needed to stop.

Glancing around the room, she searched vainly for something to do that would take her mind off of what had happened. She missed Jase; she wanted him to come back and show her that he wouldn't leave her, that his claims about Amélie were true. If she gave in for fear of losing him, she would hate herself both for her lack of character and for her stupidity.

Suddenly, she realized that Jase had gone to meet Amélie at 5:00, which would guarantee Felicity at least a couple of hours of uninterrupted isolation. Since she couldn’t trust Jase, she needed to reach out to the only person she knew with one hundred percent certainty that she could trust. Nick. It had cost her before, but what had it cost her? Jase trust? At this point, she wasn’t sure she considered that a loss.

After ten minutes of sifting through Jase’s room and the living room, Felicity realized that Jase would never be so careless as to leave a random communication device loose in his cabin. She grabbed a bottle of water and seated herself at the little table to consider her next step. Should she try to hike somewhere again? Head east or west in a direction she hadn’t yet tried? She just couldn’t risk it again, and her frustration lowered her head to her hands.

A laugh burst out of her lips when she opened her eyes and realized what sat on the chair beside her.

True, Jase would never be so careless as to leave communication device, but apparently, Amélie would. One the chair where Amélie had sat earlier in the day, a small black laptop blended in with the dark upholstery of the seat.

Suppressing her nerves and guilt, she reached for the device and placed it gingerly on the tabletop. Now came the hard part. Inexperienced at espionage, Felicity had no idea whether to expect some radical security software or tamper-proof alarm system. When she thought about it, though, those things usually popped up after someone logged into their user. She was no computer genius, but being Nick’s sister meant that he had run her through some troubleshooting on occasion. She pulled up the recovery panel and opened the advanced startup. When the computer restarted, she pressed the option for safe mode with networking. A moment later, she was in a browser, her breath speeding with anticipation.

nightengale: I'm on an unsecured hostile computer. Can you help me secure it?

root: Thank God, it's you. Do you have administrator privileges?

nightengale: No. I’m in safe mode. What do I do?

root: Smart. With networking. Don't worry about it. Just click this link from my server.

nightengale: What did I just do?

root: You downloaded some software. When we're done, you can specify the timeframe you want erased, and it will delete the logfiles from that period. We'll cover thirty minutes to be safe. Just install it now.

nightengale: Done. I hope you know what you're doing.

root: Look, it won't be exhaustive, but it will take someone a lot of work to find your traces.

nightengale: Fine. Have you been able to retrieve those files from Brendon's computer?

root: Just this morning, but I couldn't get ahold of you.

nightengale: How can I upload them?

root: You need some type of storage device. Do you have a disc or a pin drive or something?

nightengale: I don't, but Jase has all sorts of things hidden around here. Give me a few minutes. If I'm not back in 5, you'll have to figure out what to do with those files yourself. Turn them over to somebody who can use them. Brb.

root: K. I'll be here.

Felicity balked at the idea of an exhaustive search - she knew she didn't have time. At any moment, Jase would return, expecting, no doubt, to find her simpering helplessly under the effect of her earlier experience with him. She laughed. She kind of wanted to. Priorities, she smiled.

She focused her efforts on obvious storage receptacles. Rifling through the drawers in the bedroom and bathroom, glancing in the kitchen cabinet. Finally, she returned to the small cabinet that contained the stereo equipment. She moved around the few CDs then fumbled into the spaces beyond the light. Mostly, she encountered cords. Tapping along the back of the stereo, she found a long, thin protuberance of plastic. Flash drive.

nightengale: Found a flash drive.

root: Perfect. Just insert it into the USB port.

nightengale: Done.

root: Okay, run this test for me real quickly. I need to check your download speed.

She clicked on the link that popped up.

root: Good, you're T3.

A bunch of words flashed rapidly across the screen, and Felicity recognized all the computer programming that she never had taken the time to care about. In her current situation, she regretted ignoring Nick’s offers to teach her.

root: This guy has nice specs.

Felicity snickered.

nightengale: Rethinking your relationship with Briel?

root: Very funny. This shouldn't take long. Just click this link, and it will download to your laptop. Do me a favor and change your download location to the flash drive.

nightengale: Done.

root: This is a fairly sizable file. It will take a few minutes. While it's loading, go ahead and download this other program for me. I can start cleaning up.

nightengale: I'm not an administrator, remember.

root: Please, like that matters. Remember who you're talking to?

nightengale: Okay, Mr. Know-It-All. Sorry.

From the front of the house, Felicity heard the tell-tale sounds of an approaching vehicle. She ran to the door. Jase, she distressed. He had only been gone for an hour and a half. Because of her big city conditioning, Felicity expected driving to take much more time than it did in small-town Canada. She sprinted back to the computer.

nightengale: Gtg. He's back!

root: I need two minutes. Stall him.

Ugh! she complained to herself. Her heart began battering her ribcage. Sprinting to the door, she adopted a face which reflected her internal discord and ran, panting onto the front porch.

“I'm so glad you're back!” she breathed, throwing herself into his arms.

“What's wrong?” he asked quizzically. No doubt her lack of restraint shocked him.

“I heard a sound outside. I didn't dare investigate without you.”

“What kind of sound?” his tone had relaxed – he obviously assumed overreaction on her part.

He wouldn’t feel the need to search out an animal sound, so she made up something definitely manmade.

“I'm not sure. Maybe a motorcycle or a four-wheeler? At first, I thought it was you, but when I went to the door, I didn't see anything.”

He scoured the visible forest with his eyes, apparently seeking some evidence to support her story and elucidate their situation.

“Wait for me inside,” he commanded, shoving her gently toward the door. “And lock everything.”

“Do you want to give me the keys for the basement?” she whispered.

“No, whoever was here has apparently left. I didn't notice anything on my way in, and I haven't seen anything since I got here. I'm just going to double-check.”

“Thank you.” She hoped her tone sounded sincere.

Turning to her, he reached reassuringly to touch her face, “Everything's fine. I'm going to keep you safe.”

Stop! Stop it! Stop it! she complained silently. Every time he showed tenderness, concern, he distracted her. He was probably trained for it, and Felicity would not let him hypnotize her into blind following. True, Jase had taken care of her. And also true that after she had trekked to the Henrys’, Jase had reacted with unexpected understanding and patience. Certainly, the only time he seemed to intrude on her agency was when he was literally fighting for her life.

But she had to lie to him. On the off chance that he did intend to protect her, that didn’t mean that his priorities aligned with hers. Since hers were nonnegotiable, and since they were intended to save her children, she would do what she needed to do.

Locking the door behind her, Felicity dashed across the living area to the laptop. Instinctively, she glanced around her, intensely aware of the large, uncovered window a few feet from her. She could not see Jase, but the light inside reflected back at her from the glass. She knew that anyone outside would have a clear view of her.

Hoping that she could explain her action to Jase, she hurried to switch off the lights. Fortunately, the laptop had hibernated while she diverted Jase, so its glow did not disrupt the darkness. She carefully crept with it into the bathroom so the computer’s light would not have access to any window. Opening it, she briskly typed a closing message to Nick, popping out the disc simultaneously.

nightengale: I have one minute.

root: Okay. Just clear your browsing history here and your cache, and I should be able to handle the rest. Btw, I think this computer might give some good info. Re-download the remote access program again after you clean the computer? I'll still have remote access as long as no one detects the program, which they shouldn't unless they know to look. I'll be careful. Take care of yourself.

nightengale: Love you.

Felicity removed the thumb drive, erased her trails, and set Nick up for remote access. When Jase finally entered, Felicity had just flopped, relieved, onto the couch, her breath rapid and shallow. She hoped she could pass it off as fear.

“Felicity?” his voice rang out in the darkness.

“I'm right here,” she called from her spot on the sofa. She was sure he could hear her breathlessness.

He strolled casually into the room, flipping on the light. Felicity blinked against the glare.

“Sorry,” Jase chuckled, leaning against the doorframe.

“Did you figure out what I heard?” she queried with feigned agitation.

His face screwed up in thought. “No,” he appeared slightly skeptical. “I can usually find some trace of a person's presence. The only signs I saw were from you or me.”

“Well,” Felicity hoped she could convince him of her artless candor. “Maybe I heard an animal. I don't think so, but I've lived in the city my whole life. And this experience is completely new to me. I'm sorry I sent you on a wild goose chase.” Her guilt made the last sentence believable.

“Really, with what you've been through and the gloominess around this house at night, I'm surprised you've remained as sane as you have.”

Stop being so understanding! she chastised him silently. The more she fought to distance herself, the more pull his kindnesses held.

Fortunately, he couldn’t ever lay down his own suspicion, and when a look of realization flashed through his eyes, Felicity returned to defensive mode. “Why did you turn out the light?” he queried. “I didn't tell you to do that.”

“I didn't like feeling blind to the outside.” That was easy; she didn't even have to lie. “If someone came up to look in the window, I wanted to see them before they saw me.”

His expression relaxed. “That makes sense.” Twisting his lips, Jase gazed intently into Felicity's eyes. “I'm afraid we can't stay here much longer. Amélie was able to lay a fairly convincing trail, but Bill always seems most relaxed when he has something up his sleeve. Like playing dead before he pounces. All day today, he just sat calmly at his desk, rarely engaging in casual conversation, absent from his usual politics. I think you might want to pack up tonight for an early morning hike. I have a four-wheeler waiting not too far away, and we can use it to traverse the rest of the woods. I'm not waiting here for Bill to find you. There’s no telling what may happen next.”

When an otherworldly sense of elation came over her, Felicity forced herself to suppress her enthusiasm. Her time alone with Jase was beginning to grow dangerous for her, and not because she thought he would do anything. His dual identity, the tenuousness of her circumstances, her desperation to share the burden: everything was conspiring against her to make her act like an idiot. She began to imagine the next morning's egress, the last time she would close the door of the tiny cabin. The beginning of the trek back to her children.

A trek that would take place long before the morning.

Jase could not possibly have foreseen the prescience of his words.

He had warned her that they could not stay at the cabin longer, and as always, Jase was alert to any possible, ready to adjust.

When his hand came out of nowhere, he shoved her to the ground with irresistable force as the giant picture window exploded into a shower of glass that rained down around her.

Without a word, Jase erupted into a blur of action.

Felicity had lived in constant fear of Bill Henry. Felicity had not thought to expect Briel.

Apparently, neither had Jase.

Felicity instinctively slid underneath the sofa as far as she could go, glad that it had a ten-inch clearance. She watched as Jase ducked into the hallway and out of sight of the intruder. No gunshots rang out like she had seen in the movies. No barrage of noises echoed into the usual peace of the idyllic woods.

Instead, as the tinkling of the glass quieted, the sound of a familiar voice called to her from the darkness.

“Felicity, I'm here to help! Jase is lying to you.”