Thank you to all who have favorited and/or followed me. I sincerely apologize for the delay. Don't give up on me! I will finish this. I will be hopefully updating again soon, and with the action packed chapter to find out if it all works out!

Chapter 21

Tobias woke up with a start. He looked around confused, unable to get his bearings when he remembered he was at Tris' house. He tried to get his eyes to focus on the clock on the bedside table, six o'clock. He rolled onto his back and rubbed his hands over his face. He was exhausted, and prayed that coffee would give him the stamina he would need to get through this day. He also prayed that today would be a win. That nothing bad would happen to anyone. He heard rustling, must be Tris. Making more coffee he hoped. He pulled out his bible and clothes. He dressed and opened to 1 Samuel. Gods favor was upon Saul in this chapter, he was fighting his enemies, and he was victorious in battle. He finished up the chapter and prayed he would have Gods favor today, and rise up against his enemies. Sometimes having faith in this line of work was darn near impossible, but he had been in too many tight spots and come out of too many bad situations to not believe that someone else was looking out for him. Feeling uplifted and in the right frame of mind he packed his belongings and went out to meet up with Tris. She was in a pair of dark denim jeans and a white shirt. Hair pulled up haphazardly into a messy bun. He felt a lurch in his stomach and looked away.

"Morning. I hope you slept well." She greeted him. "Coffee is brewing. Not fast enough unfortunately. I need some caffeine."

"Yea, I hear you on that one. I should hit the road soon. Don't want to keep Jeanine waiting. " She turned to him at the comment.

"I was thinking about that. So, after you get the information from Jeanine or whatever, how are you supposed to relay it to us? I mean in all the logistics we talked about last night I think we kinda skated over that one." His movements stilled and he looked over at her dumbfounded and shocked that, that could have happened. She continued when he remained silent. "Ok, so not many people know this, but I have some friends at the CIA who gave me some cool gadgets." She turned and handed him what looked like a gum package.

"Uh, is my breath bad?" He asked unsure what it did or was for.

"No! Flip it. It opens down the middle." He chuckled and looked at the gadget. He flipped it and he saw a small keypad with some letters and numbers. "Use the keypad to put in the coordinates latitude and longitude of where the gas will be kept and we will hit them. After just make sure you close it. It automatically deletes itself. Looks like gum so no one is the wiser." He nodded his head impressed. Too bad they didn't have money in their budget for gadgets like this. "Oh, and she pulled something out of her pants pocket. This." She handed him a pen. He waited for an explanation. "Click the top and it will record your conversations. That way we can keep it as evidence for the case were building against her." He smiled shaking his head slightly. She was amamzing.

"Thanks, I'll let keep you posted." He set down his things and headed over to the coffee pot. "Do you have a travel mug I could use?" She straightened her shirt, and walked over to him.

"Uh, yea. Over here." She reached up into the cabinet beside him, her shirt riding up slightly giving him a view of her waist. She was too close so he took a step away. She handed it to him. He nodded his thanks. They continued the rest of their getting ready in silence. He started walking toward his things and picking it up. He looked at her. "Be careful out there. Don't try to be a hero." He chuckled.

"Who me?" She winked at him. His stomach did a flip. He turned and reached for the door. "Wait Tobias." He paused and looked at her. She played with her hair looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Uh, take care of yourself. I want to hold up my end of our bet." She cleared her throat. "And uh, keep your eye on Jeanine, don't get caught." She put her hands in her back pockets.

She looked nervous. His heart softened, and knew they both needed comfort in that moment, before the dangers of the day unraveled. He put his things down gently and crossed over to her, and paused a couple inches in front of her. She looked up into his face. He took a breath and wrapped her in a hug. She stiffened instinctively, and then her hands came around him. He felt her kind of melt into him. He knew they both needed this comfort this kind of reassurance. He pulled back slightly and kissed her on the cheek. Softly, so light and gentle she seemingly almost imagined it and then he was gone out the door. Her left standing there with her hand to her cheek mouth agape.

Tobias pulled into the mansion, and greeted the guards. He was then escorted to Jeanine. She was in the front conference room.

"Tobias! I'm so glad you're here. Let me brief you on everything." Tobias discreetly pressed the top of the pen in his pocket.

"Of course Jeanine. I'm happy to help. What are we looking at here?"

"Well, I have this great master plan, but I need logistics for escape routes and possible flaws. Before we put this into action this afternoon." He nodded to her. "OK, so you know about Vito. Well, I've devised a plan that can completely wipe out him and his band of traitorous backstabbing men who wouldn't know loyalty if it stabbed them in the ass." She had contorted her face into an angry mass of features the paper in her hand crushed. Tobias cleared his throat when her pause was awkward. "Right," she straightened her blouse. "anyway, so I'd like to release it from here and here."

"Im sorry," he interrupted. "Release what exactly?" She looked at him. He held his breath. He knew he was pushing but she seemed out of sorts with…excitement enough he may be able to get away with it. "The gas…" He looked at her with a confused face, "The water Hemlock…. I turned it into a gas. To be released. It's fantastic. They will never know it's coming." She had a manic smile on her face.

"Ok, well that's gonna change the security for sure," he said playing it up, "If that's your placement, then you will want to maybe exit here and here, then leave this open." She nodded the plan coming together in her head.

"That will be perfect." She looked at Tobias. "I'm glad that I had you join us Tobias. You are an asset to us." He nodded and muttered his thanks. "Well, I'll leave you gentlemen to figure out the details, and I am going to get to my place to watch the excitement."

"Your place?" It was out of his mouth before he could stop it and he was mentally yelling at himself for his lack of control. Jeanine stopped her exit.

"Yes, Tobias. You didn't think I'd miss the fun did you?"

"No, ma'am."

"You know what.. I want you there too." She smiled enjoying his lapse of judgement. "Front and center, see my wrath for those who betray me, and to help should glitches arise." She turned and left the room. Silence in its wake.

He took a breath. Stupid. What would possess him to say that!? He straightened his back and put on his blank face and turned.

"Lets finish this up and get going." He made a mental note of the coordinates, and after he was done snuck to the bathroom and sent them to tris.

After their little pow wow the mansion was bustling with activity. Vans with fake logos for businesses were used for the transport of the gas. He also sent a message to her about the Water Hemlock and to contact the poison control center and to notify the emergency services. The rest of them rode in regular cars and posing as regular family goers. He joined one of the vans in painters coveralls. He was going to be at a distance, but still close enough to help need be. He looked at all these people ready to carry out Jeanine's twisted plan without protest. He shook his head…

"Here we go." He joined the others in the van and the caravan was off.