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After Toby and I got back to the hotel, I was able to lie easily to Toby saying that I wanted to sleep alone. I used my freshly stitched arm as an excuse and luckily he took it as the truth. I had never had a reason to lie to Toby, but recently, I had been lying more to him. And sadly, I didn't even feel bad about it. Maybe because deep in my mind, I knew that he was lying and hiding things from me.

I looked around the café that I walked into and smoothed out my dress. I could feel myself shake slightly out of excitement and nerves. This was my first real lead to get more information. But a part of me was scared where all this information would lead me to.

I scanned the shop and quickly saw Raffaele sitting at a lone table drinking a lemon aid. He made eye contact with me and nodded as if to say hello. I smiled lightly as I walked over to him and took a seat across at his table. The cold vinyl of the seat made me shiver on contact.

"After the shoot out, I didn't think you would come. You must really want answers," he said.

That was an understatement. I was dying for answers. I would do anything to get to this meeting. "I do."

"Here, it's hot; got you a lemon aid," he said handing me a glass filled to the brim.

I took it then eyed it carefully, wondering if it was safe to drink. But as I turned to look at him, something told me that I could trust him. "Thanks," I said and took a sip.

He put his head in his hands as he leaned over the table to get closer to me. I shifted in my seat awkwardly. No one had looked at me with such intent as he did now. "What do you want to know?"

"What did you work for? What do they do?" I asked.

He leaned back in his chair and frowned as he thought about what he was going to say. "It's an offset of the CIA, they have a little more freedom then you guys. They can color outside the lines. They goes by many names, MIA but I like to called them 'Death'," he chuckled cynically, as if remembering something he didn't want to.

I soaked in his words like a sponge. I had never heard of them before. I was sure if he was telling the truth or not. But then again, why would he lie about this? He had no skin in the game, he had no conditions. Why would he make this up? "Why did you quit?"

"Because, the lines were getting too blurry. It didn't feel right anymore. I joined to help people. But people were 'disappearing'," he shook his head, "I couldn't be apart of that."

I could see the pain in his eyes. It was obvious that he suffered more then he wanted to share because of them. "Why did you change your name?" I asked. My mind was flooding with more questions. It felt like I was going to explode if I didn't say them as soon as they came to my mind. 

"I went into hiding because everyone that has left MIA have either died or disappeared. I am afraid for my life here," he said as he looked around the café, fearing someone was watching us. "My new name is Zach Gray."

All of this seemed so insane to believe. But a part of me told me that this was possible because I had heard of crazy things before. I wanted to believe him because I had no reason not to. But I knew that I should approach everything with caution. "Do you know what happened to Lucy Sanders?"

He twisted his face as if the name was nails on the chalk board. "I did. She died a week ago. But I know the company killed her."

I nodded as I was silent for a moment. I tried to soak in every word he said, fearing that I wouldn't see him again. One thing that I couldn't figure out was if Raffaele was such a good guy, why was he in a gang? "Why are you working with a gang?"

He smiled lightly, as if he knew some information that was important. "I'm doing my own little mission. The gang at one point worked for MIA, so this is a stepping stone. I'm trying to destroy all of it from the inside."

I nodded, believing him. There was something about him that screamed trust worthy. "Do you know a man named Fabien?" I asked as I pulled out a photo of Fabien that I had on my phone.

Zach took the photo in his hands and looked at it carefully. "Yes I do. But he doesn't go by that name. Frank, he works with a gang. I'm sorry but I think he's the one that started the gun fight. He just got fired though so that won't happen again."

This just confirmed that I wasn't crazy. I knew I saw him. I smiled, feeling oddly happy that I saw him. I knew that Fabien couldn't be trusted, but what was his piece to play in this game? Drawing me out of my thoughts was a buzz to my phone. I looked at it and saw that it was Toby. "I have to take this," I said sadly.

He leaned back in his chair as if he had all night long. "Go ahead."

I walked into the girls bathroom as I answered the phone. "Hello?" I asked into the phone that I held against my ear.

"Where are you?" Toby asked, worry in his voice.

I frowned at myself in the mirror. Suddenly, I didn't think my lie was good enough. "In my room. I told you," I said, backing up my first lie.

"No you're not. I just tried your room."

I swore mentally as I looked at the pealing wallpaper. Why was he looking for me? I told him that I was going to bed. He had never checked up on me before. Did he feel like he couldn't trust me? I felt defensive as I started to pace the floor. "Your keeping tabs on me now?" I retorted harshly.

There was silence and for a second I wondered if he was still on the line.

"I was just worried about you. You did after all get shot today," Toby finally said with concern.

I frowned as I picked at the wallpaper. He did have a point. Maybe I was a little too harsh. I was being too defensive. He just wanted to know I was ok. He would have to know where I was tonight. I owed him maybe at least that. I couldn't keep this up if he was already on to me. I sighed. "It's a long story, can I tell you later?" I suddenly didn't care what B26 told me. I was dating Toby, I could trust him.

"Sure, when?"

"In an hour? In my room?"

"Will you actually be there this time?" he asked with a tone that I didn't like too much.

I nodded as I looked at myself in the mirror. I had slight bags under my eyes. I looked like I hadn't slept in a while even though I had. Maybe it was all this stress. It wasn't good for me. "Yes."

"Ok, bye," he said and hung up. I shoved the phone back into my pocket then walked back over to Raffaele.

He smiled as if he could read my thoughts. "Let me guess, you need to go," he said coolly.

I nodded. I didn't want to, but I needed to make this up to Toby in some way. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm not done asking you questions though," I said sadly. Questions where still flooding my mind. In a matter of 30 minutes, I found out so many things, and like a drug addict, I wanted more.

He pushed a paper towards me. I picked it up and saw numbers on it. "If you're planning on taking them down, I'm in," he said. "It's my number." 

I put his number in my pocket with a smile. I think I just made a team. Suddenly my fears didn't seem so bad anymore. If I had backup, I could accomplish this and then my grandmother would have to be proud of me. "I will defiantly call you, thanks for the info," I said kindly then walked away.

In record timing, I returned to my hotel room. I sat on the bed and took a deep breath. I had to think clearly about what to say to Toby. I worried that if I told him the truth, he would steal this mission for his own. He didn't need anymore glory but people were so keen to give it to him instead of me.

My head was spinning, but suddenly it all stopped when my phone buzzed. I looked at it and saw that it was Auggie.

<>

"Hello?" I asked as I put the phone on speaker.

"Annalise?!" Auggie said with worry in his voice. No, he actually sounded frantic.

I frowned, wondered what was wrong. I suddenly started to worry if I forgot to file the correct paperwork before I left again. Great, another thing that I messed up. I started to worry myself. "Yeah, what's up?" I asked.

"You were shot," he stated.

I nodded. I forgot about that myself. I looked at my bandaged arm with a frown. I poked it lightly and felt it sting. "Kind of, it's really just a nip," I said, playing it off.

"Please tell me you are ok. Don't just bush this off."

I smiled lightly as I laid on the bed. I liked this attention from him. At least someone worried about me. I didn't even get a phone call from my gram even though she had to have know what had happened. After all, Toby reported everything to her. "Are you tracking me?" I asked.

He sighed. "You know, whether or not it's my official job, I will always look after you." He was silent for a second then added, "after all you have the most terrible luck. Someone needs to have your back."

I chuckled. He did have a point and I was glad that I had a friend like him. "Thanks for looking out for me, Auggie. I know I don't say that often, but I mean it. I don't know what I would do without you."

I waited for him to say something back to me, but there was a few seconds of silence.

I frowned at the silence, fearing that I may have over stepped my bounds. Auggie and I were only friends, I was pretty sure we would never be more then that. He had never tried to make a move on me and I hadn't done the same with him. In the silence, I knew that I shouldn't had said so much. We had a good thing going, I didn't want to mess it up. I quickly decided to change the subject. "What where you doing?" I asked.

"Oh the normal, worrying about the trouble you'll cause," he chuckled. I heard something shatter on the ground then Auggie swear softly. He was always breaking things.

"Watch it. I'm not always trouble."

"I know. But be careful over there," he said with sincerity.

I nodded as if he could see me. "I always am."

"That's debatable."

"Do you want me to talk to you when I get back?" I threatened him with a smirk.

"So, she does exist, the feisty Annalise. Why don't you show this side of yourself more often?"

I shrugged. I was already the talk of the department, I didn't need to cause fights too. It was better if I was seen but not heard.

"You know, if you showed this side more often, people wouldn't walk all over you."

I didn't want to see myself as a pushover but maybe he was right. People did push me around and I let them in fear that they would only hurt me more if I resisted. I looked at the popcorn ceiling above me in thought. When I talked to him, it made my head stop spinning. For a moment, time and stress stopped and this conversation was the only thing that mattered. 

"Annalise, are you there?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"So what's up with you?"

"Nothing much, got some tanning in."

"You must have been happy about that."

I smiled. "Oh yeah, goodbye dungeon tan." Breaking out moment was a knock on the door. I frowned at it as I rolled myself off the bed and went to open the door to see Toby standing on the other side. I felt my smile slide off my face slightly. I remembered why I was here. I braced myself to the emotional talk I was about to have. "Auggie, I have to go," I said on the phone.

"Ok, remember to take it easy."

I nodded. "Alright I will, bye," I said and hung up. "Hi sorry about that, Auggie called," I said to Toby with a half a smile.

"It's ok," Toby said and came in.

"You want to know what I was doing," I said looking at the ground rubbing my foot in a circle as if there was dirt in that one spot. Here was the big moment was I going to tell him? Would he believe me?

He shrugged indifferently but yet I could see the hurt in his eyes. "Well yeah."

I looked at him with a frown. I couldn't tell him, I can't bring myself to do it. What if he did reported me? I couldn't have another person turn their back on me. "Well, I was hungry. And I saw that you where busy so I got a cab for a snack," I lied, and I felt my heart break slightly but deep down I knew this was the safest move.

He frowned, he didn't believe it. I had to sell it better. I stood up a little straighter and looked at him in the eyes. "Why did you lie?" he asked.

"Well, I was planning to stay in the room but I changed my mind." I felt like I was digging myself into a deeper hole with each lie I told. I didn't like it, in fact I hated it. But I didn't want to get in trouble and I knew Toby was a rule follower.

He looked at me from head to toe. He sighed finally. "Ok, I believe you," he said then pulled me into a hug.

"Thanks." It almost came out as a whisper. And just like that, I added another 10 feet to my hole that I was already in.