Despite his confusion and concern, her words stung. She'd never called him a liar before. Under normal circumstances, he'd at least try to defend himself, if not become quite upset. But something told him to keep his temper in check this time. There was something wrong here. Very wrong.
"Okay," he relented quietly. He rose from the bed and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Get some rest, alright?" He didn't know what else to say at this point, but she was upset enough that maybe just giving her some space would be wise.
Once he was out in the hall though, he pulled his own phone from his pocket again. His mind was far from his issue with Scarlet or Reese now. Dialing, he wandered back to the living room to sink down in the couch, keeping his voice low. "Hey, Tal." He ignored the sleepy tone of his friend's voice. "Got a sec?"
"Um...yeah...yeah sure." Tal had been asleep alright. Without anything better to do, he'd hit the hay early. "What's up?'
"Did you see Ryan at the races tonight?"
"Yeah...why? I mean, if getting a few distracted words from her and a turn down on my offer of a date, yeah I saw her."
Eli sighed. "Has she...been acting strange lately?"
"Well... I guess I figured she was still working through whatever she needed to with Alec dying and all that, but I gotta admit, I didn't think it would come between us. That's what it feels like anyway. So acting strange? I dunno. Different though. Like her mind is a million miles away."
"Hmm..."
"Why? What's this about?"
"I'm not sure," Eli admitted. "She just told me she's been getting texts from Alec."
It was moment before Tal responded. "What?"
"Yeah, no, not really. But that's the thing... She believes it and...its just... Well I don't know. It's like she's imagining the whole thing."
"You mean like..." Tal didn't want to suggest Ryan was going off the deep end.
"I mean like something is wrong," Eli concluded. "She's just...something's not right. She's super upset with me right now and I'm not even sure why. She thinks everyone is lying and just trying to keep her and Alec apart or something. I just...I don't know whether to be worried or just assume whatever this is will blow over."
By now, Tal was more awake but gaining even more confusion. "What...can I do?"
Eli really didn't know. He'd never seen Ryan like this, so he was at a loss. "I don't know. I just wanted to confirm if she'd seemed odd to you too or if it was just me."
"I guess...it has seemed to be more than just her...being...sad...lately..." Tal's voice trailed off as he started to add up all the strange encounters lately. Ryan's vagueness about plans. Her turning down dates. Lack of romance. "Eli...?"
"Yeah?"
Tal hesitated. "She really thinks people are trying to keep her away from Alec? And...and that upsets her?"
Eli closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead wearily. He knew exactly where this was going, and honestly didn't know what to say. "From what I can tell...yeah. I don't know what's going on - I'm no psychologist, but it's like...like something...I dunno...went awry in her mind or something. Like she couldn't handle Alec dying so she fabricated a story in her head that he was still alive and communicating with her. It's the only thing I can think of." He ran through the entire conversation in his mind again, trying to figure out if he'd missed something. A clue. Anything. "I saw her phone. She showed it to me. There was nothing there from Alec, yet she insisted there was. I just don't know what to do." He paused, still thinking. "She's just...always been a rock. I've never seen her like this."
Tal was quiet as he processed all the information. He was trying hard to focus on the fact that something was wrong with Ryan and she might need help, but at the same time, his own emotions were getting in the way. If she was this upset about losing Alec...and she thought she'd been communicating with him...instead of Tal...what did that really mean?
"You still there?" Eli questioned.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Um...I don't know. Maybe it really will wear off. Maybe she'll come to her senses or back to reality or whatever, and she'll be fine."
"I hope so." Eli glanced at the clock. "Look, I'll let you go. If Ryan says or does anything strange, just let me know, okay? I guess I'll just keep a close eye on her until something changes or doesn't get better."
"Okay. Sounds like the best option at this point."
After ending the conversation, Eli hung up and leaned back in the couch, just staring into the dim living room. His mind was going too fast to go to bed now. He wanted to talk to Scarlet. But that was a whole other mess that had yet to be solved. He rolled his eyes. When it rained, it poured. He just really hoped he and Tal were right - that Ryan's confusion would wear off as she dealt with Alec's death. If it didn't...Eli would try to get her help. But for now, maybe she just needed a little more time.
Reese kept walking as he was joined by Nate, in no mood for whatever game Garret was trying to play. "Our dear prisoner just decided to disassemble the camera in the holding cell," he stated dryly. "I don't know if he's just bored or wants to start something, but he's cruisin' for a bruisin' is what he's doing."
Once downstairs, Reese has his handgun up and ready, just in case. He didn't know much about this Agency man, but if Justin was right, Reese wasn't going to take any chances. Finding the cell door still locked, he quirked an eyebrow at Nate. "Careful. I don't know if he's gonna try charging out."
After punching in the code, Reese swung open the door quickly, ready for anything.
Inside, Garret had heard the beeps of the lock and knew someone had come. The camera parts were on the little table - he hadn't tampered with anything, he'd just wanted to get someone to listen to him. As the door bursts open, he spots the gun and is quick to raise his hands out to the sides, proving he had no ill-intent. He couldn't help a little bit of surprise though at not only seeing the big boss, but an agent he hadn't yet seen. "Hey, careful," he warned calmly as he nodded at Reese's gun. "That thing could go off and hurt someone."
Reese's eyes narrowed. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed.
"What?" Garret glanced at the camera. "Oh, that? Didn't Hal tell you I wanted some fresh air?" He shrugged, hands still in the air. "Nobody was listening to me."
"So you just start tearing things apart?!"
"It'll only take an hour or so to fix." Garret remained calm, though his body was tense as he fought the urge to get out by any means possible. Everything about this situation went against all his training. He could easily disarm Reese, then take down both men if he wanted to. With the camera offline, nobody would even know until he was upstairs and halfway to freedom. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face as his stress increased. "Here." He held out both hands in front of him. "Cuff me. I don't care. All I want is a few minutes of fresh air. Surely you can't see anything wrong with that."
Reese studied Garret for a few seconds, never having felt so inept at reading someone. He was stone cold with no signs of any kind of emotion, good or bad. A chill ran down his spine as his gut warned him to tread carefully as if he were approaching a time bomb. His eyes glanced over to Nate. If they didn't give Garret what he wanted, who knew what he'd end up doing? But what if it was a trap?
"Cuff him," he directed. "And shackle his ankles." Though Garret had taken down Gunner in such a position, at the very least, once outside he wouldn't be able to run far. Reese remembered a time when he'd allowed Carson to go outside for a smoke when he'd been held here. A certain amount of mutual respect was needed to make this whole thing work, and he couldn't compromise that now. "Then take him outside. I'll have Dalton come fix this camera."
Relief flashed in Garret's eyes as he carefully stepped forward, ready for the cuffs. He locked eyes with Nate for just a moment, allowing his gaze to show for just a split second how much he wanted this, before the stone cold stare returned.
Aaron gritted his teeth as Victoria turned down his idea. "They could hold Medridge himself and they'd still trade," he muttered. The Elite was too loyal not to. But unfortunately, Victoria was in charge, so that was that.
His gaze on the road had turned into a scowl. "You really think you can get out of somewhere Garret can't huh? I wouldn't want to tell him that to his face." He shrugged. "I suppose two would be better than one though, so if you're stupid enough to go in there, then there's not a lot I can do about it."
He sped up to pass a car on the highway before he glanced at his watch. "In a couple hours, we're stopping for the night. We'll refresh on all we can about the Elite headquarters, so when you get there, I can wave goodbye with confidence." He sighed, knowing he still hadn't responded to Victoria's final statement. "I'm with you. If I wasn't, I'd get my own head blown off once I got back to base."
