Chapter 14
AVA
Ava arched an eyebrow as she tapped her fingers against her phone, still waiting for a response to her text message.
With a heavy sigh, she spun on a heel, crossing the room in the opposite direction.
As she glanced at the clock, the seconds seemed to crawl, each one a reminder of Alex’s absence and her desperation to find him.
“Wait, I’m super confused,” Kyle said as he shifted on the couch, his eyebrows pinched. “You told him you didn’t want to see him, and now you’re pacing the floor in the hopes that he’ll answer you and somehow you’ll still see him anyway?”
Ava sucked in a deep breath as she squeezed the phone tighter between her fingers. “I said I couldn’t see him because there was a crisis.”
“And you think he’s going to come back and say…what, exactly?” Kyle tilted his head. “Because I would have been like ‘There’s a crisis! I need to see you!’”
Ava tilted her head. “No. No, that’s too obvious.”
He screwed up his face. “Still don’t get this logic.”
Ava dropped onto the cushion next to him with a deep sigh. “If Julia texted you and said there was a crisis and she had to cancel plans with you, what would you say?”’
“I’m coming right over so I can…ohhhh.” Kyle lifted his chin, his features twisting with understanding. “Oh, Ava, you clever girl. You’re using reverse psychology which is almost guaranteed to make him insist on seeing you.”
“Yes. Now, if he could ever tear himself away from Miranda and answer me…we’d be in business.”
“Do you really think they’re still together?”
“Oh, who knows. That woman loves to cry about how much I’ve wronged her, starting with the fact that I’m even alive. My presence offends her.”
“To be fair, your presence earlier was pretty bad ass. You smashed up a lot of stuff, so I’d get how she’d be angry.”
“Yeah, well, she had something to do with kidnapping my husband, so it feels like I still have a little bit coming to me to make us even.” Ava toggled on her screen again, then clicked it off with a sigh. “Come on, Sebastian.”
She let her head fall back against the cushion behind her, chewing her lower lip until it hurt.
“The waiting is the worst,” Kyle said. “Hey, should we review any more footage?”
She shook her head before she stopped, staring into space as her mind vetted an idea. “Wait…”
She leapt from her seat and grabbed Alex’s laptop before plopping next to Kyle again.
“What is it? More security footage? I feel like we could probably track that van a little further.”
She bobbed her head, holding a finger up as she worked to pull up the footage they had already searched. Advancing it frame by frame, she grabbed as clear a shot as she could have the van’s rear, complete with mud-covered license plate.
With a lick of her lips, she toggled into the program Alex had written to search any databases for the image. “Alex built this to search the web for any similar images. I’m going to send this into it and see if it comes up with anything.”
“Do you think it’ll work?” Kyle asked.
She set the program running and shifted the laptop off her lap. “No, but it beats doing nothing.”
“Maybe we should discuss the plan with Sebastian,” Kyle advised. “I mean, what exactly are you planning to tell him?”
“That Alex is missing, and I need to find him…” Ava twisted to face Kyle, feigning a pout. “And I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you really think that’s going to work? I doubt he’s going to open up and tell you where Alex is.”
“No, he won’t, but I want to see how he reacts to it, and I’d like to plant a tracker on his car…which reminds me…I need another one from Raven.”
She grabbed her phone and typed a message to the mysterious man, sending off her demand as a knock sounded at the door.
“Don’t answer that,” Kyle said with a shake of his head.
Ava grabbed the tablet from the table next to her, toggling on the security cameras that covered the front door. With a deep sigh, she let her head fall back between her shoulders. “It’s Chris.”
“Ava!” Kyle said as she rose. He scrambled after her with a shake of his head. “You can’t answer the door. Chris is one of them.”
“Yep,” she answered. “And I’m planning on using that fact to try to gain some sort of leverage.”
“Ava!” Kyle pleaded through clenched teeth.
She paused, her fingers on the doorknob as the doorbell rang in rapid succession. “I thought your nickname was Crazy Kyle.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been trying to get away from that lately.”
“You picked the wrong time to do that, Doc. Besides, I like your crazy side.”
He heaved a sigh as she tugged the door open and crossed her arms. “Chris. To what do I owe this displeasure?”
He grimaced at her before he stepped into her foyer. “Oh, spare me, Ava. I think you know.”
“Really I don’t, and it’s not a good time right now.”
“Aw, something wrong?” Chris offered her a fake expression of concern.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Now, who’s playing games? I think you know what’s wrong.”
Kyle slid between them, keeping Ava shielded. “Tell us what you know, Chris, and maybe, just maybe we won’t turn you in to the police.”
Chris screwed up his face. “Ava, your new boyfriend is kind of an idiot.”
“He is not my new boyfriend, though, he makes a good point. If you had anything to do with Alex’s kidnapping, and I mean anything, now would be a good time to speak up. Although, Doc’s wrong about one thing…I would never turn you in to the police, hon.”
“Aww, see, kid? We have a connection, Ava and I,” Chris said with a smarmy grin.
“We do,” Ava answered. “Which is why I would take great pleasure in making you face the consequences of your actions personally.”
“Oh, are you going to come by my hotel room and smash all my furniture like you did to Miranda?”
Ava cocked her head, tightening her arms across her chest. “Are you seriously here to call me out on that?”
“It was kind of uncalled for, Ava.”
“I’m sorry your new girlfriend didn’t like it, but I didn’t like her kidnapping my husband. Feels like she still owes me even after I smashed her Tiffany lamp.”
Chris’s nostrils flared. “Ava…”
She lunged toward him, wagging a finger.
“No, Chris…I don’t know what happened to you, but the Chris Maxwell I knew from Silver Pine would never have been involved with something like this.
Remember when we used to dream about our futures, Chris?
You were the one who said we should always do what's right, no matter the cost.”
“You threw the Chris Maxwell from Silver Pine away when you decided you were suddenly a different person, Ava.”
“I didn’t decide I was a different person. And still…even if I did, this reaction is a bit extreme. Do you have any idea what The Board is involved in? Because I’m not sure you want to align yourself with them.”
“You don’t know either. And the only information you’re being fed is from that weirdo who texts you, Raven.
Who the hell is this guy? How do you know if you can trust him?
” Chris flung his arms out. “But you’re right, you should just believe what he tells you.
Especially when it aligns with the great Alex Stone’s opinion. ”
“Alex is gone,” she said, her voice breaking a little. “The Board took him because they want something from him. This is not the behavior of an organization I’d want to be aligned with.”
“Okay, well…if he gives it to them, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
Ava screwed up her face as she stared at him. “My goodness, how far gone are you? How much have they brainwashed you? The Board kidnapped Alex. They’re not going to let him go, Chris, they’re going to kill him.”
“No, Ava,” Chris said with a shake of his head.
“You are way too gullible.”
“I’m not. I…”
She grabbed his wrist, shoving his sleeve up his arm to bare the tattoo. “You joined a criminal organization, you had their mark tattooed on you, and you have no idea what they’re even capable of? You’re an idiot.”
His features pinched with anger. “I resent that, Ava. And I told you before what would happen. I gave you a chance to join me instead. But you had to stick with Alex.”
Ava’s heart twisted as she stared at him, tears glistening in her eyes and memories of their past flooding her mind.
She had once trusted Chris with her deepest secrets, and now he was complicit in Alex’s disappearance.
Her voice trembled with a mixture of anger and sadness.
“What happened to you? Did I hurt you this much that you would do something like this?”
Chris refused to meet her gaze. “Just…stay away from Miranda, okay?”
She huffed out a breath, crossing her arms again as he took a step toward the door. A tear fell to her cheek, her mind imagining Alex alone in a dark cell somewhere, scared out of his mind.
Her instincts kicked in, fueling her desperation. “Hey, Chris?”
“Yeah?” He twisted to face her as she landed a quick blow to his jaw, knocking him into the door.
He smashed into it, grabbing his chin, shock apparent on his features. Before he could react, she swept his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor.
He expelled the air from his lungs in a sharp puff as he smacked into it.
“What the hell, Ava?”
But before he could do anything else, she tugged her gun from her waistband and cracked him over the head. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Kyle stared at her, his hands on his hips and his expression confused. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
“Sorry, Doc, I had an idea. Tie him up. He could be useful.”
“You’re starting to scare me,” Kyle said. “I kind of like it. Where’s the rope?”
“Garage. I’ll watch him until you get back.
” Ava crouched closer to Chris as Kyle disappeared in search of rope.
“You want to play games, Chris? I’m all in.
Let’s see how this one works out for you.
Will The Board be interested in saving you in favor of retuning Alex or will they hang you out to dry? ”
Kyle hurried back in with a length of rope in hand. “Should we move him first? Sorry, this is my first kidnapping.”
“It is not,” Ava said with a shake of her head. “You kidnapped Julia twice.”
“That wasn’t…real. It was like a sort of kidnapping.”
“Well, same. I’m not going to hurt Chris. But I’m going to use him to try to get Alex back.”
“Okay, so…that still doesn’t tell me if I should tie him up here or in another room because I’ve never held someone hostage before.”
Ava rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s take him into the living room. He’s blocking the door here.”
Kyle handed her the rope, grabbing hold of Chris by the wrists and dragging him into the living room.
He secured his hands behind his back before moving on to bind his ankles together. The front door slammed as he worked to tie the rope, and Julia, Grant and Sierra wandered in.
“Whoa!” Sierra said as she entered.
“Hi, guys,” Ava said with a smile. “Back already from the hospital?”
“Y-Yeah,” Grant said, his eyes focused on Chris. “Uhhh, hey, Kyle, I need a word with you.”
“Kind of busy right now, Dad,” Kyle answered.
“Ava…what is going on?” Julia asked.
Ava heaved a sigh. “Chris stopped by to scold me for breaking Miranda’s lamp. Which is absolutely ridiculous because she kidnapped my husband. Anyway, I figured one good turn deserves another. And before you go judging me, I’m not going to hurt him…I just need a little leverage, okay?”
Kyle finished with the rope and rose. “So, what’s up, Dad?”
Grant tore his eyes away from the bound man on the floor. “Uh, they gave Sierra blood, but…isn’t she type O?”
“Yes,” Kyle said with a bob of his head, “that’s how we knew she couldn’t be your daughter.”
Ava winced as Kyle pointed out the sad news that the Harringtons had received only days ago–that Sierra Harrington, Grant’s beloved daughter wasn’t actually his.
“Well, they gave her AB,” Julia said.
Kyle screwed up his face. “No, that can’t be. No. You’re wrong.”
“Well, I’m not…they typed me again, and that’s what I am,” Sierra said. “And who cares? I mean…there’s a guy tied up on the floor. Clearly, I need to be brought up to speed on what’s happening and the plan here.”
Ava heaved a sigh as she shook her head. “There’s not much of a plan right now. We’re winging it. I’m trying to search for the van somewhere, I’m waiting for a text from Raven and Sebastian, Miranda has been threatened within an inch of her life, and now we have Chris.”
“Not bad,” Sierra said as she plopped onto the couch. “How are we leveraging him?”
“Sierra?!” Grant shouted. “This is not okay.”
“What? We have a kidnapping on our hands, Daddy. We have to take every advantage we can to gain the upper hand. Capturing one of their own is a good start. Now…we should get some shots of him tied up. We really want to make it look uncomfortable and dire.” Sierra glanced around. “We need to change this lighting.”
As she searched for a way to make the kidnapping look grittier, Ava’s cell phone chimed. She dug it from her pocket, grinning down at the message.
“Who is it?” Kyle asked.
“Sebastian. He’d like to know what’s happened that we can’t see each other, and if he can help.”
Ava shot Kyle a knowing glance. “Told you.”
She typed back a response. Alex is missing. I can’t think of anything else right now.
Taking a breath brought on deep waves of fear and depression as she struggled with the concept that she may never see Alex again. But she pushed those feelings aside, focusing on the hope that meeting with Sebastian could bring her one step closer to finding Alex.
Sebastian’s response interrupted her thoughts, thankfully. Kyle glanced over her shoulder. “Well?”
“He says, 'Oh my gosh, Ava, you must be so upset. Please let me help in any way I can. We have private security, investigators, everything. Let me help.'”
“Played him like a fiddle, Ava,” Kyle said. “Good job.”
“Now, let’s hope we can use him to find Alex.” She typed back her response. That would be amazing. Can we meet tomorrow?
As she pressed the phone against her chest, Ava couldn’t shake the feeling that she was walking a fine line between rescue and ruin. She looked at Kyle, determination hardening her resolve. “Looks like tomorrow, we start a new game.”