Chapter 19
ALEX
Alex’s heart hammered against his ribs as Sebastian pushed Ava for an answer. Would she stick with their plan and refuse to give in to The Board? His chest constricted as he struggled to suck in breaths.
Ava’s eyes flashed in defiance. “I have an offer of my own to make.”
Sebastian offered her an amused grin. “I’m not entertaining other offers right now.”
“You might want to hear this one. How much is your newest member, Chris Wright, worth to you?”
Sebastian’s forehead creased. “Chris? Why?”
“I happen to have him. I’d gladly trade him for Alex.”
Alex’s eyebrow arched. Was Ava telling the truth or was she banking on a counteroffer?
Sebastian chuckled. “Oh, Ava. Chris for Alex and you simply isn’t a fair trade.”
“Hmm, well, good to know I’m worth more than he is. I guess I’ll hang on to him for now.”
“I’ve already told you the solution to this predicament you find yourself in.”
Alex silently willed her to stand strong.
“I know,” she answered. “I’m just not feeling it though. Sorry.”
A smirk crossed Alex’s lips.
Sebastian’s features tugged into a deep grimace. “I would suggest you rethink that. In fact,” he answered as he grabbed her by the arm roughly and tugged her forward, “I’m willing to give you twenty-four hours to come up with a final answer.”
Alex’s heart lurched as he watched Sebastian handle her so roughly, unable to do anything to stop the situation from unfolding. He clenched his fists, feeling the sting in his wrists where the zip ties had bitten into his skin.
“There’s that benevolence again, huh?” she shot back.
Typical Ava. She wasn’t fazed by his display.
“Call it whatever you like, but I want you to spend one more lonely night while you envision the rest of your life being like that.”
“Or,” she said with a casual shrug, “you could just give him back and call the whole thing off.”
If they weren’t in such a dire situation, Alex may have found it amusing how she refused to back down to him. At least he didn’t have to worry about him stealing her away. She seemed thoroughly unimpressed with the latest turn of events.
Sebastian offered her a haughty smile. “I do enjoy that humor of yours, Ava.”
“And I enjoy having Alex home. I think it’s a fair trade for all the entertainment I provided so far.”
“Alex can be home…just without you there.” Sebastian’s smile faded, replaced by a hard stare. “You hold all the power here.”
“Except I don’t.” She lifted her bound wrists. “Care to cut me free and see how things go?”
“No,” he said with an amused chuckle. “And unless you have anything useful to say to Alex or me…it appears the time has come for you to leave him to his work.”
Ava twisted to face Alex, her gaze a mix of concern and determination. “Don’t do anything they say, Ace.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes, heaving a sigh as he roughly grabbed hold of Ava’s elbow. “Those weren’t exactly the words I was hoping for. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Miranda said as she burst through the door, eliciting another huff from Sebastian. “You can’t let her go.”
“I will decide what’s best, Miranda. You have been told this over and over.”
Her nostrils flared as she stared at him, fury etched into her features. “She is useful here. At the very least, put her in a cell.”
“Oh, but I have special plans for her evening. A cell isn’t a very suitable background for her. Now, come along, Ava.”
He dragged her roughly toward the door. Alex’s heart thumped out a frenetic beat as he watched her being led away. He wanted to race forward and pull her closer to him.
He pictured her being knocked out, tossed into the back of a van, and waking up in Sebastian’s studio—still bound, still at their mercy, tormented with threats to force her hand.
Ava was strong, but would they find her breaking point?
He took a step toward the door when the guard next to him sent a fist flying into his gut, knocking the wind out of him.
With a gasp for air, he stumbled back a step, falling onto the thin mattress. A spring poked up, piercing his skin. He stared down at the blood droplet before he covered it from anyone’s view.
Perhaps he could use the wayward piece of metal to help him escape.
He sat up, his gut still aching from the hit to find Miranda hovering over him.
She smirked as she crossed her arms. “No matter what happens, you’re going to lose, Alex.
Either Ava is going to turn on you, or Sebastian is going to grow weary of her resistance.
And when that happens, you’ll have nothing left. ”
“Ava will never turn on me,” he said through clenched teeth.
She huffed out a laugh. “I really hope she doesn’t. I can’t wait for him to tire of her and hand her over to me. Then we’ll see how quickly you can finish this program.”
He swallowed hard, fear of that exact scenario stopping him cold. What if Ava pushed too far? If they both ended up in a cell here, with her being used to force his hand, he’d never forgive himself. Perhaps he should have told her to give into Sebastian’s demands.
At least it would have bought them time. Now, it was too late to tell her anything.
“I guess time will tell. I’d think long and hard tonight about how far you’re willing to take things once using Ava is on the table, because it’s coming.”
Miranda spun on a heel and stormed from the room, taking the guard with her. The cell door clanged shut, the lock engaging.
He flinched at the echo in the cramped space, shifting on the uncomfortable bed. His fingers drummed his thigh as he listened for any sign of someone returning. After a few tense minutes, he turned and peeled back the thin mattress, exposing the metal coils beneath.
He searched for the broken one, finding it near the corner.
He grabbed hold of it, shaking it as he tried to pull it free, but it wouldn’t come.
With a curse under his breath, he tried again. The sharp metal poked his hand, eliciting a cry of pain. He shook his wrist, alleviating the sting before he tried again.
“Come on,” he murmured as he worked to free the spring.
After twenty minutes, it wouldn’t budge.
He slumped back to sit on the floor, running a shaky hand through his hair. Could nothing work out for him?
He sighed, returning to his work. His fingers cramped, and he gave up after ten more minutes of work.
He glanced around the room in search of something to help him, but he found nothing outside of the useless laptop.
With a sigh, he returned to his uncomfortable metal chair and added a few more lines of code to the program, providing little functionality.
He switched over to his secret set of code, a tiny program he planned to embed in the larger one, and furiously added lines to it designed to send a signal to Ava that would reveal his location the moment The Board ran the parent program.
If he could only get Miranda to agree to testing, he may stand a chance of being rescued.
He chewed his lower lip as he leaned back in the chair, his eyes falling onto the spring again.
With renewed determination, he crossed back to the cot and grabbed hold of the piece of metal poking up from the spring and wiggling it.
The metal slowly weakened before tearing away from the spring.
His heart skipped a beat, and the corners of his lips turned up as he held the tiny piece between his thumb and forefinger.
“Now…what is your best use?”
He glanced around the room before he climbed to his feet and crossed to the door. He squatted closer to the lock, positioning his new tool in front of it before he tried to slide it into the lock.
With a wrinkle of his nose, he struggled to push it further than the tip.
“It always looks way easier on television.”
He tried a few more times, but found it impossible to pick the lock as he’d hoped. His forehead thudded against the door, and he heaved a sigh, cursing again.
Visions of Ava, now at the Bancroft manor, her hands bound as Sebastian tempted her with a glass of wine and a promise of power within The Board, haunted him.
He tightened his fingers around the metal. He had to find a way out of here. But there was no way he could pick the lock with his current tool. He had to find another way to get out of this cell.
He climbed to his feet, glancing around at the limited options. His eyes fell onto the laptop. It was useless to him as it was. But maybe he could make it more useful with the tiny tool he’d just wrangled from his cot.
He crossed to it, toggling on the screen and spending a few minutes embedding his secret program inside the larger file.
With an arch of his eyebrow, he saved his work and sat back in the chair, preparing for his next step.
After a glance over his shoulder, he scurried from his seat to flip the mattress back over the metal coils, leaving no trace of his handiwork.
He plopped back into the chair, running a shaky hand through his hair.
His heart hammered hard against his ribs as he took the tiny piece of sharp metal and jabbed it into the display on the laptop.
The material resisted his attempts at first, but finally, he poked it inside, creating a distorted bubble.
After wiggling it around, the screen splintered and cracked.
He quickly shoved the piece of metal into his pocket and set his hands on the keyboard again, pretending to work.
After a few seconds, he lifted his hands in surprise, crying out. “Oh!”
He raced to the door and pounded against it. “Hey! I’ve got a problem in here!”
No one answered him, and he tried again, smacking a flat hand against the door as he hollered for help. “Hello? I have a major problem. If you want this program finished, I’m going to need another laptop.”
“Step back from the door,” a voice boomed.
He shuffled backward, his stomach twisting into a tight knot. “Okay.”
The lock released, and the door swung open. A guard stepped inside, limned in the light from the hallway. “What’s your problem?”
Alex grabbed the laptop from the table and turned it around. “This is my problem. The screen broke. That’s what you get when you buy cheap. You should have bought a StoneTop.”
Alex shook his head in disappointment. “Junk. I need another one.”
“Well, you can’t have one.”
“Well, then I can’t do a thing. Look, it won’t turn on. It’s busted.”
The guard reached forward and yanked it from his hands. “I’ll see what Ms. Vale suggests.”
“Tell her I made more progress…before this happened. I’ll have something to test soon if she gets me another laptop.”
“Whatever,” the guard muttered as he backed from the space. The door slammed shut, and the lock engaged.
Alex blew out a shaky breath. He didn’t know what his next step would be, but he hoped the surprise with the laptop would lead him to get another machine with more capabilities or even another attempt to race toward an exit.
Either way, he hoped he’d taken a step closer to freedom, but he worried he may never see the outside again.