El was indeed in pain, she felt soreness in her whole body.
She dragged herself through her working hours and texted Mark that she'll have to skip gym.
On her way back to Alwils Villa, Mark called her,
"Dwane's onto you, he has been following you for the last five minutes. Try escaping, I'll update you with his location."
El panicked at the sudden news, her anxiousness didn't allow her to think straight.
"Stay calm El." Mark enunciated.
"Take another route." She followed Mark's instructions for the next five minutes. "Does he know what car I'm in?"
"No, he is following you, but he isn't near."
Taking a deep breath, she carefully parked her car. She couldn't let Dwane know about her car that would instantly reveal her lies.
Getting out of her car, she blended into the crowd nearby and quickly hailed a taxi.
Five more minutes later, "Is he still following?"
"Yes, he is getting closer. Drive fast."
Michelle anxiously tapped her legs and asked the cab driver to drive faster. She looked around and tried to think of ways to escape Dwane,
'How did he find me? Does he know that I'm El?' trying to calm herself down, she took in a deep breath and exhaled looking down.
'It's the Phone.'
'Dwane has my number. It's possible that he is tracking my phone.'
She quickly switched off her other phone and drove for a few more minutes.
She called Mark with her usual phone, "What about now?"
"He missed." Mark said, exhaling with relief.
"How did he even get this close?"
"It's the phone."
Mark was shocked. Although it was almost impossible to track her phone, anything could have been achieved with recent technologies.
"Get home safe. I'll look into it. " El nodded and took a detour to reach Alwils Villa. She hurried to her room as soon as she could enduring through the body pain.
Once she reached, she dropped herself into the bed and let out deep exhales. Composing herself, she took out a cigarette and lit it.
She stood near the window as she smoked. Alec hugged her from behind startling her. "You are back."
"You scared me." She said as she coughed and threw away her cigarette.
"Who else would be here?"
"How are you feeling now?" Alec asked.
"Better." El said perfunctorily while her brain was occupied with the evening's incident.
She could have been dead by now if Dwane had found her.
' We can't underestimate Dwane anymore', she thought.
The next day, She met Mark, the first thing in the morning.
"We need to use this phone to our advantage. If not, Dwane will come up with another way to find me. We can't underestimate him anymore Mark" Michelle said.
Mark agreed even though he had initially thought of discarding the phone.
That evening Mark had the phone with him and he turned it on.
"We are getting a location," Bill told Dwane.
"Where?" Dwane asked eagerly.
"Prime run street"
"Let's go," Dwane said and hurried to his car.
Mark followed the same route Michelle took the previous day and after letting them follow for a while he switched off the phone.
"We lost the signal again." Bill said dejectedly. Dwane kicked his leg hard as he clenched his fist in sheer anger.
"I'll find you soon Michelle Ford" he gritted through his teeth.
Mark called Michelle, "You were right, it is the phone. But they aren't able to get the exact location. You can keep the phone turned on only when you are in a crowded public place."
"In the meantime don't raise any suspicions against El, stick to your regular schedule." Mark said. "Alright, I'll see you tomorrow." El said and hung up.
The next morning, El woke up early out of habit but was in no mood to prepare breakfast. She took her seat on the sofa and asked Patty to get her coffee.
"Not preparing breakfast today?" Dwane asked her as he took his seat.
'Stick to your regular schedule' Mark's words ran on the back of her head.
"Um, no. I'm not keeping well." She said stretching her back.
"Where does it hurt?" He quickly got up and stood behind her.
El was alarmed by his sudden action.
His spontaneous response to help her surprised Dwane as well, it was unlike his usual behaviour.
"Here," El said, pointing at her upper back. His fingers slowly touched her back over her t-shirt.
Her body stiffened uncomfortably at his touch.
He slowly massaged her back trying to relax her.
Gradually, she relaxed herself but stiffened again when he touched her nape.
His words of strangling her rang in her ear filling her heart with terror. She tried hard not to flinch or push him away.
"Dwane ''
Alec called him aloud from top of the stairs, alerting El and Dwane.
El quickly got up and turned behind to look at him. He was evidently jealous,
"Can you accompany me at the study? I need your advice on something." He was trying hard to keep his calm yet he exuded hostility.
"Sure," Dwane said and walked upstairs.