Chapter 5
ALEX
Alex's fingers flew across the keyboard in a desperate search for the truth. Who had issued this warrant for Ava’s arrest, and why? What murder was she being tied to? What evidence did they have against her?
His mind was swirling when Gizmo started to paw at his leg. “What’s up, buddy?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the screen.
Gizmo gave him a yip.
“No,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “Potty? Now? Buddy, Ava is in some serious trouble.”
The front door opened and clicked closed as Alex debated on leaving his search behind to take the dog out.
Julia poked her head into the living room with a soft smile. “Hi, Alex. Just checking in.”
“Oh, hey, Sunshine. How’s the Peak Princess?”
“Sierra is doing great. In fact, they’re going to send her home today. I’m just going to grab a few things for her before we head back. It’s okay if we still stay here, right?”
“I’d be happy if you would.”
Julia scanned the room. “Where’s Kyle?”
“Uhhh, we’re having a bit of a crisis at the moment, and Doc’s handling a specific aspect.”
Julia’s features turned serious. “Crisis?”
“Yeah, ummm, seems there’s been an arrest warrant issued for Ava, and I’m trying to sort that out while Doc spirits her away from the Hamptons for a bit.”
“Oh my goodness.” Julia took a few steps closer to him, her eyes falling to his screen. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
"Uh, actually... would you mind taking Gizmo for a quick potty break?" Alex gestured toward his screen. "I just need to keep working on this to figure out how we can fight it."
“Oh, yeah, of course.” Julia scooped the dog into her arm. “His leash and collar are–”
“Cubby near the slider,” Alex said with a poke of his finger. “And, thanks, Julia, you’re a lifesaver.”
“I don’t think I’d go that far. I’m just taking the dog for a walk, but I’m happy to help. Once we get Sierra home and settled, put me to work with anything. And if you need Grant to make any calls…”
“I’ll let you know. I hope to have some more information by then.”
“Right, and…uh…I hope Kyle is behaving himself.”
“Outside of kissing Ava and being a little too excited about pretending to be her husband, he’s been great.”
“He did what?” Julia’s eyes widened as she stared at him, a mix of disbelief and embarrassment clouding her features.
“Yeah, it’s cool, though. He thought she and I weren’t…a thing. Ava totally told him we were.” His heart ached as he thought of her alone in the hotel room. He knew Ava would be fine. She was no shrinking violet, but he wanted her with him, by his side.
“Ugh,” Julia said with a groan as she snapped the harness around the chihuahua, “I’m so sorry. I may have told him you two weren’t actually together. This is my fault.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it. He said he thought they had a connection when they saved the Harrington Heiress, so…it’s also Ava’s.”
Julia’s features blanched. “Oh, Alex, don’t be too hard on her. That was a high-stakes situation. I don’t think she did anything to intentionally lead him on.”
Alex shot her an amused grin. “I’m not mad at her. I just meant Ava’s elegant beauty tends to captivate lots of men.”
Julia chuckled at him. “Oh, well, yes, that’s true. She is definitely a stunner.”
The words reminded him of how lucky he was to have her at his side, figuratively. Now, he just needed to get her there literally. “That she is. I almost can’t blame Doc for his line crossing, but I still did. We talked about it. It’s fine. And he’s proving himself to be a decent asset.”
“I’m glad,” Julia said as she attached the leash to the dog and slid the door open. “Just let me know if he gets to be too much. He really just wants to help, though.”
Alex nodded as she stepped out the door with the puppy for a walk. He returned his full attention to the paper trail he’d been following regarding the murder charge.
Alex’s heart pounded as he scanned through the files. “Murder of Ben Preston?”
His mind whirled, recalling her dangerous mission to plant monitoring software on his laptop for Raven.
Had Raven set this up? His nostrils flared as anger mixed with fear. He desperately tried to concentrate on seeking more information, but instead, continued to blame Raven for the situation.
And he had no way of contacting him.
“Think, Alex, think,” he mumbled as the front door slammed shut again.
Kyle raced in, plopping onto the cushion next to him. “Where are we at?”
“Well, we got the victim’s identity, but I’m still sorting through to find the evidence tying her to the crime.”
“Who’s the vic?” Kyle asked.
“Guy by the name of Ben Preston. Board member, ties to the Russian mob.”
Kyle sucked in a sharp breath. “Sounds like a real winner. Probably offed by his own people.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised, but that doesn’t help us. We need to prove Ava was innocent of this.”
“Okay, so someone planted evidence. What evidence? Hair? Fingerprint?”
Alex heaved a sigh. “Hold on, I need to call her. She was in this guy’s hotel room when we were in New Orleans. But she wore gloves. Unless there was a hair…but that would mean he was murdered in New Orleans not here and it was Southampton police that came to the door…”
Alex’s mind worked through the details as he tried to build the puzzle.
He shoved his phone toward Kyle. “Actually, you call her and put her on speaker. I need to keep searching for this case file to see where this murder occurred and how they’re tying Ava to it.”
“On it, Mav,” Kyle said with a salute.
Alex chuckled at his enthusiasm, realizing Ava had likely pegged him correctly when she said he just wanted to be accepted.
Kyle found her contact information and pressed the call icon, toggling the phone onto speaker. The line trilled a few times before they received Ava’s voicemail message.
Kyle wrinkled his nose as he ended the call. “Voicemail.”
“She must be in the shower. Try again in a few minutes.”
“Right,” Kyle said as Julia entered with the dog.
“Okay, he’s all done. He was a very good boy.” She removed the leash and collar before lifting up the dog. “Weren’t you, Gizmo?”
“Thanks so much,” Alex said as he continued to sort through files, following the case.
“How’s Sierra?” Kyle asked.
“Good. Coming home. I just stopped by to pick up a few things for her before she’s released.”
Kyle offered a smile that didn’t look quite genuine to Alex as he nodded. “That’s great. Well, I guess we’ll see you later, then.”
Julia set the dog down next to Alex as she nodded. “Yep. Hopefully, we won’t be late. Then, if you need any help, Alex…just say the word, and I’ll be here to sort through evidence, make calls, whatever you need.”
“Thanks, Sunshine,” he answered with a quick nod. “Hope to see you all soon.”
Julia smiled and waved before she left the room, hurrying upstairs to retrieve items for Sierra. Kyle leapt from his seat, pacing the floor.
“Something on your mind, Doc?” Alex asked as he continued to work.
“No,” Kyle answered, his voice defensive.
Alex flicked his gaze to the man. “Really? You look like something is, and frankly, you’re kind of driving me nuts with the pacing right now.”
“It’s just…” Kyle plopped down next to him. “Well, soon, the entire family will be back, and you won’t need my help. You’ll just have Julia help you because she’s smart and way cuter than me.”
“Uhhh…” Alex shifted a little in his seat. “I’m not super good at this touchy-feely stuff, bro, so maybe we can just…promise to keep working together.”
“Really? You’re not going to cut me out of the team in favor of Julia?”
“Well, no. You’re a pretty decent asset what with your medical knowledge, out-of-the-box ideas, and commitment to Ava—although the last one is also a negative in my eyes.”
Kyle offered him a slight smile. “Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Also, I am very committed to Ava, but I will not kiss her, so we can keep it in the pro column.”
“Awesome. Try her phone again.”
“Right.” Kyle dialed her number, toggling on the speakerphone again.
The line trilled a few more times before someone picked up. “Tell me where you are with the investigation into how this happened.”
Kyle’s eyes went wide as the robotic voice filled the room.
Alex froze, his fingers hovering over the keyboard and his eyes sliding sideways to view the phone. His nostrils flared as his stomach twisted into a tight knot. “Raven. How’s it hanging?”
“I didn’t take this call to make small talk.”
“And I didn’t call you,” Alex shot back. “I called my wife. Where is she?”
“Ava isn’t available right now.”
The words made the knot in his gut tighten. “Why is that?”
“It’s not your concern. Ava is safe.”
“I beg to differ, my dude. Ava is my wife which automatically makes her my concern.”
“We can continue to argue over technicalities, or we can ensure these charges are dropped immediately. We cannot afford to have Ava out of commission.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more, which is why I really need you to fix whatever you broke.”
Kyle furrowed his brows as he glanced at Alex, his features questioning. Alex waited for Raven’s response, convinced the man had played a role in the last turn of events. His answering of Ava’s phone only convinced Alex more of his involvement.
“I didn’t break anything,” Raven retorted. “Find out what is going on and report back.”
The line clicked before Alex could respond. He tapped his fingers on his keyboard, frustration building inside of him before he tossed the laptop onto the coffee table and leapt from his seat with a growl.
“What just happened?” Kyle asked. “I’m confused.”
“What just happened is Raven took Ava.” Alex’s heart hammered against his chest as he paced the floor.
“How did he find her?”
“I don’t know. I don’t…” Alex collapsed onto the couch, his fingers clasped tightly as his mind stretched into a dozen different directions.
“Okay, okay, calm down. We have to think this through. He found her somehow. Her phone?”
Alex shook his head. “I run a blocker on that so no one can track her.”
“Okay, well…what other way could she be tracked?”
“There are dozens of ways.” Alex shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is we need to find her and get her back. I don’t like this guy having her.”
“He wouldn’t hurt her, right? I mean…you play for the same team, right?”
“Supposedly,” Alex said as he pulled the laptop back onto his lap. “Although, he seems to have a real thing for Ava, so I’m not sure what we can expect from him.”
Alex pulled up his phone tracking program, searching Ava’s number. The program sought to triangulate her location, buzzing through her recent movements. As it tried to close in, it suddenly stopped, an error message flashing on the screen.
He muttered a curse under his breath and tried again, only to get the same result.
“Okay, you need to keep working on finding out how this happened in the first place. I’ll call this Raven person back and talk to him.”
“Okay. Yes, I’m piecing together the information now,” Alex said as Kyle dialed the number again, rising to his feet to pace.
“What have you found?” Raven asked.
“Well, hello to you, too. We haven’t found anything yet, but we have some questions.”
“Who is this?”
“Dr. Kyle Carter, and I happen to be Ava’s physician. And I’m exceptionally concerned about the stress this situation is putting on her.”
“Ah, the infamous Dr. Carter.”
“Infamous? That’s a little much, don’t you think?”
“What was a little much was booking a hotel suite under your name and credit card. Any fool could track it.”
Alex stared at the phone for a second, his eyebrows knitting. So, Raven had tracked Kyle’s credit card. Had he flagged all the Harringtons’ cards since they’d arrived and were staying under Alex’s roof?
“Okay, well, fair enough, but…it wasn’t under Ava’s name, so…maybe I just…wanted a hotel room.”
“I don’t like incompetence. Tell Alex to find the evidence tying Ava to this crime and destroy it. Then, and only then, will I allow Ava to return home.”
The line clicked again, and Kyle’s jaw dropped open. “Seriously? That was rude.”
Alex ran a shaky hand through his hair as he huffed out a breath. “Rude or not, we have some serious work to do to get Ava back.”
“I’m down for whatever.”
“I hope you’re real down if you know what I mean, bro, because they’ve got the murder weapon with her prints on it.”
Alex stared at the report on the screen in front of him, his stomach quivering.
The gun they’d lost when Chris had been kidnapped had been the weapon used in the murder.
Never reported stolen, they’d traced it back to him and Ava, flagging Ava’s prints on it and using that to issue a warrant for her arrest.
How in the world was he going to fix this?