Chapter 10
AVA
Ava tugged her lips into a frown as she stowed the handgun in the safe hidden in Alex’s walk-in closet. The chilling memory of the blaring alarm, and the subsequent break-in attempt sent a shiver snaking down her spine.
She swung the safe shut, her thumb hovering over the lock button. She wondered if she could hang on to the weapon until they’d solved the issue with StoneCorp’s financial leak.
Instead, she pressed the lock button and waited as the safe secured itself. She narrowed her eyes at the fingerprint scanner before she pressed thumb against it.
The safe whirred before the indicator light turned green and the door popped open.
She grinned at it as she locked it again. Of course, he’d programmed her thumbprint into his safe. At least she had access to the gun if they needed it.
She left his room behind and shuffled down the stairs in her bejeweled pink flip-flops, a perfect match to the velvet sweatsuit she wore, another of her favorites she’d found in her old wardrobe.
She headed for the kitchen, spotting Alex on one of the kitchen stools.
He shoved his laptop away, his frustration obvious as his fingers tapped against the marble, a nervous tick when his mind whirled.
She slid her hands over his shoulders, gently massaging his tension away. “Nothing?”
“No, nothing,” he answered.
She crossed to the full coffee pot and poured them both a coffee, delivering the mug that said “Ace” to him.
She smiled before sipping the mug marked Sparky as she settled next to him, asking him to replay it at normal speed.
As she tried to gauge the person’s movements, trying to guess their height, build, anything that could lead them to their next move, her mind regressed to the moment he’d proudly presented the mug to her in that very kitchen.
“Just for you, Sparky,” he’d said with that boyish grin she found irresistible.
“Aww, Ace. You got me a mug for your new place?”
He lifted a shoulder, a shy expression on his features as he reddened. “It’s kind of like our new place.”
She’d laughed. “Ace, this is all you. You’re the tech genius. This beach house is all your doing.”
He’d leaned across the marble countertop, taking her hands in his. “But I couldn’t have done it without you, Sparky. And that’s why this place…it’s ours.”
The memory faded, and she faced the cold reality that “their” place had just nearly been broken into. She gave him her assessment. It was a woman based on the way the figure moved. Light, lithe, hips that rolled.
She smirked as he argued with her. Anyone questioning her assessment would have gotten her wrath, but not him. She enjoyed the challenge.
After a spirited discussion about how likely it was that she was correct and a bit of teasing, she set him on finding additional footage.
As he found another view, she kissed him on the cheek before she grinned at him. He didn’t answer, hesitating for a second before he twisted away from her. Her eyebrows pinched together. Was he upset with her, or was he blushing? She’d never seen him act this way before. What was going on?
Together, they peered at the screen, spotting a car almost entirely off camera.
“Any other angles on that car?” she asked.
He tugged a corner of his lips back, shaking his head. “No. Although, I can try to track it through the city’s CCTV, but it’s going to take a while.”
“You need more coffee?” she asked.
He tapped at the keys as he answered. “Yeah, and why don’t we move this little party up to the office? You can take look at those names on the list we came up with last night.”
“Oh,” she said with a pucker of her lips as she filled his mug, “someone’s bossy today.”
Her phone interrupted the rest of their conversation.
She tugged it from her pocket, her heart seizing at the name on the display.
The muscles between her shoulders contracted immediately as she swiped to accept Chris’s call.
“Hey hon,” she said, forcing levity into her voice while uncertainty brewed inside her. “How’d the presentation go?”
“It was fine. I thought I’d hear from you before it.”
She shuffled to the coffee maker, keeping her back to Alex. “Well, I called just before you must have been–”
“Yeah, I saw the time stamp on the call. Literally minutes before I started, so I wasn’t about to take the call, obviously.”
“Yeah, yeah–”
“Sorry, I’m just not used to you being up so late. I just…figured I’d hear from you bright and early.”
She couldn’t explain where she’d been. Or didn’t she want to? It didn’t matter. She had no intention telling him about what was going on at the moment. For better or worse. “Well, I know, but–”
“I just missed hearing from you, that’s all.”
The tension in her muscles increased as her shoulders slumped forward. “I’m sorry, Chris. I just–”
“Is something going on, Ava? Did you decide to stay with your ex?”
“No, of course not. No, I didn’t. Look, I’m dealing with a lot of things right now, and I lost track of time.”
“It’s just…a little bothersome to me how you suddenly tell me you’re married and then you start behaving completely differently.”
“I’m not…I’m…” She struggled to explain what she couldn’t even understand herself. “Let’s just plan on dinner Monday when I’m home, and we’ll talk about everything, okay?” She chewed her lower lip after what she feared would be a lie.
“So, you’re still planning on coming home Monday? And we can have a real talk about this? Because, Ava, there are some things that just… are bugging me.”
“I just don’t want to discuss everything over the phone.”
“Yeah, I think this is probably better in person, too. Plus, I just want you home and this over with.”
“Right. Okay. I’m sorry I didn’t catch you this morning.”
“It’s okay, Ava. I’m sorry, too, but I know you’re dealing with some stuff. I forgive you.”
“Good. Well, enjoy the rest of the conference.”
“Thanks, hon. Take a walk on the beach for me. I love you.”
“Okay, I love you, too.” She breathed out a sigh of relief at the end of the conversation. Her dual lives weren’t easy to maintain, and she’d barely lived forty-eight hours with them. Why was this so hard, and why did she keep lying?
She pocketed her phone, twisting to face him. The next conversation she’d had wasn’t much better. Alex’s interest in Chris when she wanted to talk about anything but further frayed her already tense nerves.
He reminded her that their little problem may take longer than the weekend to solve. She’d already realized that when she’d promised Chris dinner on Monday. She didn’t know how she was going to handle this, but she hoped she could straddle both words.
She needed to figure out a plan, but for now, she needed to make more progress on their little mystery before she fell asleep after only getting a few hours after their wild night.
After finishing their conversation, she shuffled to her bedroom to collect her laptop. Normally tied to her email, she hadn’t cracked it open since she’d been here. It was amazing how different life here was.
She shook her head as she pulled the laptop from the top of her suitcase. No, not life. An illusion.
This wasn’t her life. It wasn’t most people’s lives. This was the illusion of a life that wasn’t hers.
She bit her lower lip, hugging the laptop to her chest as her mind dwelled on the short time she’d spent in the Hamptons. She forced herself to leave her room behind along with her thoughts about the past forty-eight hours.
Ducking back into the office, she settled into her chair and dumped the laptop on the desk before she wheeled closer. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Alex never shifted his gaze from his laptop, clacking away on the keys. “I sent you the list.”
She furrowed her brows. “Okay, well, I need access to your employee files so I can dig a little deeper.”
He shrugged. “Mm, yep. You should be able to get them.”
Her eyebrow arched high as she clicked her tongue. So, he was going to challenge her. “Are you serious? Are you really not going to just log me in?”
“Come on, Avs. Are you really going to be that lazy.”
This time both eyebrows raised toward her hairline. Yep, he was issuing a test. Seeing how rusty her skills were. “Seriously?”
He shot her a glance over his shoulder. “I mean, if you can’t do it, I can help you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Challenge accepted. “I can do it. I just…thought expedience was a priority.”
“I thought you’d enjoy the challenge. Unless you’ve forgotten everything I taught you.”
She twisted back to her computer, rolling her shoulders back as she set her fingers on the keyboard. Her mind vetted through options for a quick solution. Could she access the log of passwords?
She needed access to his account. A hack into a low-level employees account wouldn’t do her any good because they’d have limited access. And she wanted access to everything.
Alex had likely put lots of safeguards on his company’s files that would stop her in her tracks. She needed another way.
She flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder, going to the company’s login page. She narrowed her eyes at the screen before she typed in his username and a password option.
It didn’t work.
She tried again. Another fail.
After a third attempt, she settled back against the high back of the chair.
With a pucker of her lips, she tried another password, a grin spreading across her features as his account loaded.
She shook her head at the awful choice in password.
Why had he picked their names and their anniversary? He knew better than that.
After a brief conversation about it, she opened Miranda Vale’s employee record. Her eyes narrowed at the hire date. She had come on board at StoneCorp before the the financial inaccuracies, but her name failed to show up on the short list they’d made.
Maybe the date had been entered incorrectly.