Chapter 7
ALEX
Acurse escaped Alex as he shifted Gizmo off his lap so there were no obstructions to his keyboard. Pulling up another program, he feverishly worked to infiltrate the city’s traffic cameras.
“This is exactly why I didn’t want you doing this, Ava,” he huffed, his voice filled with frustration as he hammered his keys in a desperate attempt to find her on a traffic camera. “Where are you?”
“Uh, coming up to the corner of Third and Peach. I’ve got a don’t walk so he’s going to close the gap.”
His fingers flew across the keyboard in a desperate dance of urgency and precision.
Each click echoed his pounding heart as he hacked into the city’s traffic system.
On screen, Ava hurried through the bustling streets.
With each step she took, Alex’s anxiety tightened, his gaze flicking between her live image and the traffic light controls.
Another curse as he accessed the city’s traffic signals and found the appropriate one. “I’m going to change the light so you can walk, then change it back. Do not stop, got it?”
“I got it, but I’m pretty close to the–thanks, Ace.”
Her breathing picked up as she ran past the traffic camera on his screen. He quickly turned the light back.
“Wow, that was not cool, babe. You almost caused six accidents.”
“Better that than the Boris Badenov catching up to you,” Alex said as he scanned the next set of cameras to find her.
“Ehhh, he looks manageable,” Ava answered.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing? Because I’m seeing a well-muscled, very angry Russian trying to cross the street despite the traffic.”
“These muscled types are all the same. A few well-placed kicks, and he’s out of commission.”
“Light changing in three seconds for you to cross the next street,” Alex said as she approached the crosswalk.
Tires screeched in his earpiece as he abruptly shifted one light to red and the other to green so Ava could easily cross the street and put distance between herself and the Russian.
“Okay, I should be good now. You can stop messing with traffic.”
“You can’t tell me what to do, Sparky. I’ll mess with all the lights until you’re safe. In fact, I’m going to just shut the city down right now and turn everything red so you have a clear shot.”
Her laugh lifted his spirits a little. “I’m fine, Alex. I’m not far. I’ll be there soon.”
“Where are you?”
“You mean you don’t have eyes on me? You’re slipping, Ace.”
“Don’t tease me when I’m this upset. I’m not kidding. I don’t see you coming up to Fifth.”
“I veered off on Fourth. I’m heading East toward our hotel, then I’ll continue up. The Russian will never find me this way.”
Alex toggled through the cameras until he caught a glimpse of her. “Found you.”
The smile that lit her face warmed him. “You should be finding pictures of Sierra Harrington, not me wandering the streets of New Orleans.”
“I’ve got that handled, Sparky. My focus is on you. And even if I didn’t have it handled, my focus would still be on you. You are my priority.”
“That’s sweet, Ace, but I can handle some things on my own. And if I’m a priority, does that mean you’ll have a hot coffee waiting for me when I get back? Maybe with one of those cookies you pretend not to love? Asking for a friend.”
Alex heaved a sigh as he studied the screen for another second. “Can you behave for a few seconds so I can take my eyes off of you?”
“I’m two blocks away. I’ll be fine. Although, I’m not sure you can take your eyes off of me.”
“Very cute, Avs. You’re right, it’s hard to stop admiring you, but I’ll do it so you have your coffee when you get here.”
“And cookies.”
“I already have the cookies,” he said as he rose. “I asked for them special so you’d have them this morning. Then you blew me off for some other man.”
He loaded the coffee machine and pressed a button to start it brewing.
“Ouch, you’re right. But he wasn’t nearly as interesting as you.”
“Mmm, maybe not as interesting as me, but let’s hope his computer and flash drives are.”
“We won’t see his computer. Only Raven,” she answered as he sat down on the couch, rubbing Gizmo’s head as he searched his screen for her.
“Do you really think I didn’t modify his program so we could take a sneak peek, too? Babe, I’m disappointed in your faith in me.”
“Sorry, Ace. I should have known better.”
“Exactly,” he teased as she crossed the final street and approached their hotel.
“I’m here.”
With a grin, he picked up the little dog, grabbed her coffee and waited at the door. Two minutes later, the lock disengaged, and she slipped inside.
She grinned at him before they kissed, and she relieved him of both the coffee and the puppy.
“Flash drive?” he questioned.
She twisted, flashing her right pocket at him. “Inside.”
He reached in, drawing out the device with the flash drive attached. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
She settled onto the couch next to him, snuggling closer. He shifted his laptop, sliding an arm around her as he kissed her hair. “I’m glad you’re back.”
“Me too,” she said as she grabbed the cookies and pulled one out.
He bit into it as he typed, and she shot him a playfully annoyed glance. “That was my cookie.”
“We’re married, remember? We share things.”
She took another one from the package. “Not cookies.”
“You haven’t texted Raven yet, right?”
“Nope,” she said with a mouthful of cookie. “Not until you’re ready.”
“This won’t take me long,” he promised.
“If he asks, I’ll tell him I had to have my morning coffee. He wouldn’t like me without my java.”
“I like you without it,” Alex said, his focus on his screen as he covertly loaded a program that would allow him to track Raven and view his every digital move.
“You like me always,” she said.
“I do,” he answered with a grin. “Okay, ready.”
“Should I text my new bestie?”
Alex’s other laptop chimed before he could answer her. He pulled it closer, his eyebrows rising toward his hairline. “Well, looks like Julia’s stuff is handled. I’ll just set my bots loose to crawl around and make sure we got everything.”
“Good job, Ace.”
“Now, we can head to that secret location I have planned.”
“Not before I text Raven,” she said with a frown.
Alex let his head fall back against the cushion behind him. “I hate this Raven person.”
She set her coffee mug aside, grabbing her phone and typing a response. “Okay, sent.”
“Why do we have to wait for Raven to answer? Why can’t we live our lives like two adults?”
“Because I really don’t want Raven to interrupt us when we’re in…Italy?”
He narrowed his eyes at her, amused by her silly attempt to trap him. “That was a very good attempt, Sparky, but I’m not telling you.”
“Really? I could force it out of you, but I’d hate to hurt you before we go to London.”
He shook his head at her as he set a program running designed to search for any last traces of the wayward images of the Harrington Heiress. “I’m not telling you.”
“Alex,” she said, her voice a little whiny, “we’re about to leave. What’s the harm?”
“Ruining my surprise is the harm. Come on, I want to see the look on your face when we get there.”
“To Paris?”
“Okay, I will tell you it’s not Paris. Paris feels ruined after the whole Miranda incident. Maybe later, when I don’t have to think about how she invited herself to Paris with me.”
“Oh, right. Paris is where you take your other girlfriends.”
He wrapped his arm tighter around her as she sipped her coffee. “I don’t have other girlfriends.”
Before she could bite into her next cookie, he snatched it from her hand.
“You may have to find one if you keep stealing my cookies.” Her phone chimed before she could get another one, and she grabbed it.
Her eyes rolled as she clicked her tongue, letting the phone fall into her lap and retrieving another cookie.
“What is it?” he asked.
“We may have to postpone that trip to the South Pole. Raven wants the flash drive immediately.”
Alex scoffed, frustration filling him. “First, we’re not going to the South Pole. And second, no. Raven can wait.”
“Until you’ve taken me to Germany?”
“Stop guessing. I’m not telling you,” he answered, his features twisting into a frown. “What exactly does the message say?”
“He says, ‘I assume your friend finished his business in New Orleans, and you can return promptly this afternoon with what I need.’”
“Friend?” Alex said as he leapt from his seat, his fingers curling into fists. “First, he tries to ruin my surprise trip for you. And second, he tries to downgrade to friend?”
Ava heaved a sigh as he paced the length of the room before spinning and stalking back. “You’re taking it too personally.”
“Me? Raven couldn’t type ‘husband’? It’s literally one more letter, that’s it.”
He spun on his heel and crossed the room again as he chewed his thumbnail. “Well, he’s going to wait. Just for that, he’s going to wait.”
Ava picked up her phone and tapped on the screen before she let it drop onto the cushion next to her.
“Did you text him? What did you say?”
She flashed him the screen as she sipped her coffee. We’re going somewhere else. I’ll drop it when I get back to the Hamptons.
Alex’s features eased a little as did the tension between his shoulders. “Oh…yeah, good.”
She patted the cushion next to her, encouraging him to sit down again.
With frustration still making him jittery, he stared at the spot for a second before he finally slumped into it. She slid an arm around him as they waited for a response. “You know, it doesn’t matter if you take me to the moon, Alex. You don’t need to jump through these hoops.”
“I want to, Avs. You’re important to me, and I want to show you how much.”
She slid a lock of hair from his forehead, easing it off to the side. “You already do that. You know, by doing things like changing all the lights in the city so I have a straight shot back to the hotel.”
He pressed his forehead against hers, leaning forward for a kiss until her phone chimed again.
She twisted to check her messages, heaving a sigh.
His eyes narrowed at her. “That doesn’t sound good.”