Life's Pursuit {Book 2}

Chapter 21: Chasing Truths

Ellie fought to keep her leg from bouncing in anticipation as she sat outside of Agent Boldt's office, waiting to be seen. She was tired and frustrated. The Avengers facility had been her studying ground for months with every roadblock imaginable. Talos was the only person keeping her sane as he helped her work with the Avengers to find what she was looking for. After the months passed, nothing came up. Nothing that would give her the evidence she was looking for. She, however, had a suspicion as to why.

Checking her watch, it was 1:58PM. Two minutes left until she could be seen. She wouldn't allow a second to be wasted. Scrolling through her tablet, she read over some recent notes she had taken. A fresh crack in the screen ran across its center from when she dropped it on her way to Stark's IT room the other day, further evidence of its overabundant use in the past few months.

1:59PM.

Ellie itched to speak the thoughts in her mind and for days she had felt this way. When she had first arrived, her mission was to speak with the Avengers, see what they recalled about the murder of the Hope in their presence. To her shock, none of them were able to recall a single identifiable factor about her. It was as if her face had been erased from their memories and they were unawares.

Next, she worked with Stark to try and uncover the missing camera footage. This is what took the plethora of time. It turned out that the file existed but someone was keeping them from accessing it. Whenever they made progress, something would either sidetrack them or erase their findings completely. It became maddening and she was sick and tired of running in circles with the Avengers. Layten hadn't been as present as promised either, which irked her the most, and that was precisely what she was wanting to talk to him about.

2:00PM.

Immediately, she opened his door when the hour struck, wanting every minute she could have to speak her mind. Layten was sitting at his desk looking over a file when she walked in. His eyes met hers, slightly unamused, and he laid the file aside.

"You didn't leave any breathe room, did you?" He asked, motioning for her to sit but she remained standing.

"I'm not trying to come in here and make a problem out of nothing, but I am exhausted and ready to admit that I'm annoyed with you."

Layten scoffed. "What did I do? Are we going to argue like kids all of a sudden?"

Ellie's jaw clenched. She didn't like his tone but no, she also refused to be childish. "We've been at this for months now. I've been here with my father working to find the missing pieces that will lead us to identifying the woman that was killed here in this facility. This is the only place that gives us anything to pull from in order to identify one of our victims!"

Sighing, Layten spoke in a softer tone, trying to bring down Ellie's. "Look, if you haven't found anything in all this time then there must be nothing to find. You're beating a dead horse, Els."

"No, I know I'm not crazy. I've spent so many days working with Stark to find that missing camera footage and it exists! Something just keeps us from accessing it and I'm not sure why."

"Normal security footage shouldn't be classified to you so I don't think it's—"

"Layten. Stop." Ellie wasn't playing games. She knew that respect was an admirable factor in a S.W.O.R.D. Agent but she wasn't feeling very respectful. She was too tired for that. "I know the difference between what's truly classified and when something is wrong. This camera footage is being hidden from us and I want to know why. You're the one who's been working closely with the Avengers way before I ever have. You should have some answers here!"

Layten could see her exhaustion and knew the energy she put into solving this case. He gave her an apologetic look. "Alright. I'm listening."

Ellie finally sat but she didn't slump. Her posture was as straight as ever as her mind wound up. "I didn't come here to waste so much time and run around in circles, Layten. No one here seems to remember what the Hope looked like when they saw her with their own eyes. Don't you think that's odd? And this missing footage shouldn't have anyone to hold it back unless another controlling power had something to do with it."