“How safe is my phone?” she whispers.
“Pretty safe, but not entirely. Depends on how fast you get it back to me to remove whatever you take.”
Bile rises in her throat at what she sees: a pile of letters and photos lay scattered in the drawer, and on top, a grainy polaroid of Riley stripped to nothing but the tattered pants she found him in, Dmitri poses next to where Riley is struck up by a set of meat hooks like he was his prized fish.
She snaps a few photos with her phone, using it to move the polaroids to the side and get pictures of the letters underneath, hoping Tyler will be able to translate. Liz makes sure everything is put back in the exact positions before placing the piece of wood back in, attempting to relock it.
“Get my drive! You have incoming,” he yells through the earpiece.
She rips the small device from the computer and throws herself into one of the chairs, screaming at her mind to settle before she gets herself killed. Her eyes close, listening to keys jingle just feet from where she sits. The handle turns effortlessly, and the general barges in, face bright red with anger the moment he spots her.
“What the hell are you doing breaking into my office?” Scott shouts, slamming the door behind him.
This was not supposed to happen. He should be miles away in town right now.
“I’m sorry,” she says timidly, trying to think of an excuse.
“Tell him his secretary Sally let you in,” Tyler whispers in her ear.
“I needed to speak with you. Sally said you should be back soon and let me wait in here,” Liz adds, trying to appear less jittery than she is.
“Where is the rest of your team? Hiding in the shadows, waiting to attack me?” he barks, looking around the tiny space, eyeing her when he realizes she is alone.
“No, sir. They don’t know I am here.”
“And whyareyou here, Elizabeth?” he smiles, watching her squirm, opening her mouth to argue before snapping it shut loud enough for him to hear.
“I…I want to talk about Riley,” she says. His too cautious eyes never leave hers as he slinks into his gaudy green leather chair.
“What about him?”
“You were wrong to not let him take his position back,” Liz snaps, letting the smallest burst of anger out.
“Here I thought you were learning some respect,” he scoffs.
“I am trying to be respectful. You don’t like me, and I don’t like you, those are facts, just like you making a poor choice based on lies is a fact.”
“You think rather highly of yourself to think you are the reason he is not returning to lead the unit.”
“Am I not? Was the decision not based on what Matt had told you?” Liz shoots back. “He told you Riley hits me, and you gave that as your reason to keep him from his position.”
“You should be thanking me for working to get you away from him. I had no idea he was violent with you,” he says, eyes softer this time, almost as if he can see the battered woman he believes her to be. “Though, I’m not surprised given his history.”
“You and I both know he would never lay a hand on me.”
“I trust Matthew, and for reasons I will never understand, he is fond of you. He came to me, worried for your safety when Reaper brought you into a room alone and attacked you,” Scott says.
“Oh my god, he didn’t attack me. He fucked me: bent me over the couch, grabbed me by the throat, and fucked me until my legs gave out.Thatis why I have marks, and that is the only reason I looked… disheveled,” Liz blurts before her brain has the chance to think better of it. By the look on Scott’s face, the general is torn between throwing her out of his office or himself out the window.
“Again, I’m sorry, but I can’t have people thinking he is capable of such awful things. I wanted to tell Matt the truth, but if I did, he would think less of me, so I came to set the record straight with you,” Liz says.
“Why on earth would you care if Matt thinks less of you?” he asks, watching every minuscule movement.
Liz adjusts in her seat, trying not to show how uncomfortable these talks make her.
“He’s sweet, okay? I told him once Riley came back and we talked about our relationship, I would let him take me out. Well, we talked and it didn’t go how I thought it would, so I have been thinking about everything he said. If Matt finds out that we… did that… he will never look at me the same again.” The lies come easy, saying whatever believable thing the general will eat up while trying not to think about if she will have to follow through or not. “None of this matters, the only thing that matters is Riley did not do the things he was accused of, and it’s wrong to keep him from being cleared,” she quickly adds, an attempt to steer the conversation in any direction that will get her out of there.
“Let’s say I believe you,” he starts, pulling a small stack of papers out. They land on the desk with a small thud. “I let him return to lead the unit; can you guarantee Matt gets brought into the team, properly?”
