Chapter 26
AVA
Ava slid her fingers through Alex’s as they waited in the hospital’s small waiting area. He slid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head.
“I’m so glad you’re okay, Avs,” he whispered. “What they’re going through in that hospital room…”
Ava settled her head on his shoulder. “I don’t envy them, but at least she’s going to be okay.”
“Thanks to you and Kyle,” he said. “And we’re okay thanks to you.”
“And Sebastian,” she answered.
Alex’s fingers tightened around hers. “I kind of hate that he was involved in saving us.”
Ava offered him a slight chuckle as she shifted away from him, cupping his cheeks in her hands before she kissed him. “I know you do. And I know you don’t like him, but I think he’s a good way in for us.”
“I don’t like this way in, Sparky. I’m a jealous husband. I’m admitting it.”
She grinned at him. “I’m kind of glad you are. And don’t worry, I’m wise to his charming ways. I’ll be okay.”
Alex tugged his lips into a frown. “I won’t be.”
She leaned forward and kissed his lips when a figure darkened the doorstep, clearing his throat.
Ava twisted to find Sebastian Bancroft in the doorway. “Sebastian,” she said with a grin as she rose.
“Hi,” he answered, closing the distance, “I heard the girl’s going to be okay. Is that right?”
Ava bobbed her head as she rose. “I think so. She’s not awake yet, but she should make a full recovery.” She offered him a soft smile. “Thanks to you.”
He grinned at her. “And you.”
Alex rose, slipping an arm around Ava. “Seems you were quite the hero tonight. I really should thank you for saving my wife.”
Ava pressed her lips together, stifling a chuckle at Alex’s attempt to claim his territory. She’d have to remind him later that he didn’t need to worry.
“Yeah, of course,” Sebastian said, shifting his jacket from being tossed over his shoulder to over his arm. “Ava is a very special woman.”
The man’s eyes remained trained on her as he made his final statement.
She felt Alex tense next to her, his grip tightening on her shoulder. She patted his hand in a silent symbol of their solidarity.
“Well, I appreciate that sentiment, Sebastian, but you exhibited some really incredible heroism tonight.”
The tug of his lips back into a coy smile indicated that her statement had hit its mark. “Well, I certainly am pleased to have made an impression on you. I hope to make another one at our lunch later this week.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” she answered.
His eyes lingered on her for another moment before he said good night, leaving them behind.
“Wow, I really don’t like that guy,” Alex said as Sebastian left the room.
“Oh, Alex, you don’t have anything to worry about. I’m just being nice to him because he can get us closer to what we need to get on the Bancrofts.”
“And he’s really enjoying that. ‘Ava is a very special woman.’” He rolled his eyes as he mimicked the statement.
“With any luck, it won’t be much longer,” she assured him as they settled into their seats again.
“So was he all super commando when you took out those gunmen?”
Ava’s memory retraced the events that had unbelievably occurred over the last few hours.
After getting Sierra stabilized, she’d paced the floor of the panic room until Sebastian had returned.
Vivienne had leapt from where she sat and threw her arms around him. “Sebastian! Thank goodness. Please tell me you’re staying.”
“Sorry, Mom. I can’t get to Dad, but I need to try again.”
“I’ll go with you,” Ava said.
“Absolutely not,” Sebastian said with a shake of his head. “No.”
“I’m a black belt. I’ll be fine. We need to draw those gunmen away from the group and take away their leverage.”
“This is far too dangerous,” Sebastian said. “There’s no way I’m letting you do this.”
“There’s no way you’re walking out of this room without me,” she shot back.
He arched an eyebrow, glancing down at her dress. “You’re going to take out armed men in that dress?”
“I just need a change of clothes.”
Twenty minutes later, she’d changed, and they’d dropped the first clue to lead a group of the armed vigilantes to their location, taking them out easily.
As one of their allies called to them, Ava had snatched the radio. “Try again.”
“Who is this? Where is Garcia?”
“Garcia’s a little…tied up. As for your first question, that’s not information I’m willing to share.”
“You’d be better off telling us your name and giving in to any other demands. I don’t look kindly on those who don’t play by my rules.”
“Oh, I’m shaking in my stilettos. Come find me and let’s see whose rules we end up playing by.” She dropped the radio on the limp body, her confidence soaring.
Sebastian raised his eyebrows, offering her an amused glance. “Wow, that was…kind of hot.”
She offered him an unimpressed stare. “It’ll be hotter if we can wrap up a majority of these idiots and make certain they don’t hurt anyone else.”
The memory faded, and she gave Alex another soft kiss. “Actually, I don’t think he was anything compared to when I heard my super capable husband took out two of those gunmen.”
“And then his wife punched him in the face and nearly took him out.”
Ava frowned at him as she rubbed the bruise on his chin. “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure I look before I strike next time.”
“And I think we need to have a serious conversation about never splitting up again. Every time we split up, something bad happens.”
Ava crinkled her nose. “Something bad has been happening constantly since I’ve come back.”
“We need a vacation,” Alex said.
“Paris?”
“I like the way you think.”
“Except,” she said with a wince. “We really need to solve this first. Especially while the Harringtons are here.”
“I’m not sure they’ll want anything to do with us after tonight.”
“I don’t know,” she answered. “Grant seemed sort of into it.”
“That was before his daughter was shot.”
Ava heaved a sigh, realizing he was right. The fight was costing them more than they’d expected when they’d started to look into a seemingly minor penny skimming scheme.
But the entire incident had bought them back together, so she couldn’t be too upset.
“Hey, Sparky, there’s one other thing that I think you should know about what happened tonight.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Before the whole hostage situation thing went down…Chris showed up at the party.”
She groaned. “I’m not surprised. He is in their inner cabal now.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, fidgeting in his seat. “But also…he was with someone.”
Ava’s forehead creased. “Who? Theodore? Vivienne? Well, he couldn’t have met with Sebastian again because he was with me…”
She tapped her lips as she tried to figure it out.
“No, it was…Miranda.”
Ava’s eyes went wide as her jaw dropped open. “Are you serious?”
“I am, babe.”
She bounced out of her seat, crossing her arm as she paced the floor. “That lousy, no-good jerk.”
Alex’s leg began to bob up and down as she paced, anger boiling under her surface. “So, are you really jealous?”
She didn’t answer, the words barely audible as she flared her nostrils at the thought of it.
“Avs?”
“Huh?”
“Are you super jealous that Chris is dating Miranda?”
She twisted to find Alex glancing up at her with a nervous frown, worry etched in his expression.
It melted her heart, and she sank into the chair next to him. “No, of course not.”
“I know you don’t like her.”
“I don’t like him either. They’re perfect together. And I’m not surprised. Remember he thought she was hot.”
Alex slid his hand into hers with a slight smile, the concern on his face ebbing. “I remember. You had an epic fight about it.”
“I just hate that Chris is climbing the ladder with The Board,” she said with a shake of her head. “I mean, how petty and low can he go? He’s seriously that ticked off that we didn’t work out that he’s going to join some criminal organization and try to get back at us.”
Ava rolled her eyes as she squeezed his hand.
“I told you he was a jerk,” Alex said.
Ava slouched in her seat. “I really should have listened to you. He just…when things were going his way, when we were in Silver Pine, he seemed…not like a jerk.”
She pouted, her fingers tightening around his. “And all the while I had the perfect husband just waiting for me.”
Alex smiled at her as he pressed his forehead against hers.
She pulled back a second later, offering him a reassuring smile. “We’re going to get through this.”
He nodded at her as Kyle shuffled into the waiting room.
“Hey, doc,” Ava said with a grin, rising as he approached them. “How’s the patient?”
“She’s awake,” he answered, “and complaining, so she’s back to normal Sierra.”
Ava chuckled as Alex offered a sigh of relief. “That’s really good news.”
“It is,” Ava answered, “I’m so glad.”
“And all thanks to you,” Kyle answered, his eyes landing on Ava.
She rubbed his arm. “Not at all. You saved her life in that room. You did great.”
He offered her a soft smile. “Thanks. I mean…it’s my job. And it wasn’t yours to help me or to talk me through options.”
“Happy to help, but you knew exactly what to do. And you weren’t exactly trained to operate in a panic room on your sister during a hostage crisis.”
His grin broadened. “You’re making me sound like a superhero.”
“You kind of were,” she answered.
“Uh,” he said, his features pinching, “I think you kind of were. I heard you took down four of those guys by yourself.”
“Hardly by myself. I did have some help. Sebastian tied them up.” She winked at him.
“So, are you guys making arrangements to head back to New Orleans?” Alex asked.
Kyle frowned, shaking his head. “No. No, not at all. Dad is…like in full-on fight mode at this point. He wants to get more into logistics behind what you guys are working on so we can help more.”
“That may not be a good idea,” Ava answered. “There’s a lot at play here, both professionally and personally.”
Kyle lifted a shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. We’ve been through a lot, too. We know how it feels. We want to help. I want to help.”
Ava bobbed her head. “Thanks. Well, we certainly could use it. With so many things going on, we’ll need help tracking down leads.”
“We’re here for you,” Kyle said with a grin.
“Perfect. Well, we should be hearing about next steps soon. Plus, once Alex breaks the encryption on some of these files, we may have lots of things to track down.”
“If Alex breaks the encryption.”
“You will,” she said with a rub of his shoulder as her cell phone chimed.
She tugged it from her pocket and swiped to open her text messages. “Right on time.”
“Raven?” Alex asked.
“Raven,” she answered.
“Who’s Raven?” Kyle asked.
Ava sucked in a breath, flicking her gaze away from her phone for a moment. “A contact who is supposedly working to dismantle The Board. We’re not entirely certain we can trust him, but he’s our best source thus far.”
She glanced down at the screen, reading the message aloud. “You did great tonight. Impressive work with that unforeseen issue.”
She flicked her eyebrows up as she typed a message back. I thought I was going to see you there tonight.
A message came back quickly. Patience, Ava. Have you established a connection with the Bancrofts?
Ava sucked in a breath as she responded. I think I can get closer to Sebastian. He’s our in.
She tapped the side of the phone as she waited for a response. “Come on, Raven.”
Her phone finally buzzed again. That may be a prosperous avenue to pursue. Keep pushing that relationship. But prepare yourself. Things are about to get real.
Ava stared at the message, her mind racing. What did Raven know that she didn’t? And how much more real could things get?