Chapter 13
Thirteen
Ava
We didn’t discuss much of anything else about the plan after that.
Instead, Dagen insisted that we eat and then proceeded to purchase a small fortune worth of five-star food, which just means you get a lot less food for a lot more cost. There were at least ten courses to the meal, each more intricate and strange than the last. My favorite part was the dessert.
The place definitely knows how to make a chocolate cake, even if it came inside a chocolate ball I had to melt first.
Ultimately, Otto and Wylan both agreed to join in our plan, though I hadn’t realized they weren’t already in agreement before they ever showed up.
Mostly, I think because Dagen is paying them a ridiculous amount of money, they’re prepared to help me.
Part of me keeps forgetting that fact. Dagen is getting some sort of sick satisfaction out of doing this.
He openly admitted he doesn’t like Ric and was looking for ways to cut ties with Aria Tech anyway, so he’s not exactly doing this out of the kindness of his heart.
Still, despite knowing that, part of me can’t help but be flattered that he’s willing to help me.
Most people wouldn’t do something like this, drop this sort of money, just for a single mom to get revenge.
Then again, Dagen Fox isn’t most people. I need to remember that.
When I come home, there’s a buzz and a voice saying, “open,” as I step inside, telling me that the new security system is alive and well.
Every window and every door have been wired in.
There are cameras all around the outside of the house, including one for the front door.
Elsie had commented on the new security, about how it makes her feel safer.
She really likes that the system sends an automatic call to the police if the alarm isn’t disabled.
That alone, her feeling safe, makes all of this worth it. I’ll do anything for Elsie.
Including letting the security guards Dagen hired accompany Tonya and Elsie to school.
The other security guard goes with me when I leave for work. Neither one of us is alone if we’re outside of home, work, or school. We get escorted everywhere. Dagen has seriously outdone himself with our security and it’s easy to see why he’s as successful as he is.
After Elsie goes to bed, I stay up to flip through the marketing plan we’ve worked on and make sure there’s nothing that can cause problems with the Fox Industries tech release.
My team is hard at work on implementing all of our plans and I’ve overseen each step of the process.
Right now, we’re waiting on the graphics team to come back with the pamphlet designs.
Once we have that, we’ll go through the process of making marketing packets meant to be handed out to potential clients. Everything is going according to plan.
As I flip through the pages of information, my phone beeps with a notification.
I ignore it at first, mostly because I can’t imagine anyone important would be messaging me this late at night, but when another one comes through, I sigh and set down the small glass of wine I’m nursing to reach for it.
The number isn’t one I recognize but it’s already tagged in my phone with Otto_Bot.
Ah. I don’t even have the energy to be confused.
I know who Otto is, or at least who his handle is.
I know what he’s capable of. He’s a world-renowned hacker, responsible for multiple government panics.
His name is behind huge information leaks, including the high-profile court case with that governor and the child trafficking ring that was sealed to protect the other elites listed in the case.
It had the government and Hollywood in an uproar for months.
Apparently, Otto doesn’t believe in that kind of information being hidden from the world.
I have to agree. It’s hard to think badly of a man willing to inform us about the true corruption in control.
The message that comes through only has a location, a date, and a time.
It’s for this weekend and it’s clearly supposed to be instructions.
I can do that. Whatever it takes to make Elsie safe.
Sighing, I close my laptop and put all my papers back in my briefcase before going up to bed. This week will be a long one.
“What did you even do all day?” Ric sneers, his face twisted with anger. “The house is a mess.”
“It’s hardly a mess,” I counter, glancing around the room. “Elsie built a fort is all. I was planning on cleaning it up before—”
“And dinner isn’t even ready!” he continues, looking in the kitchen.
“We. . . we didn’t have any extra money for new groceries. I got Elsie’s food, but couldn’t get anything else,” I admit.
“I pay the bills, and I don’t even get dinner?” he asks, his voice low and dangerous. When he starts stalking toward me, I back up a step. “Elsie doesn’t need that much food, Ava. Where’s the rest of the money?”
“You only gave us a hundred dollars,” I rasp, shaking when my back hits the wall and he cages me in. “It wasn’t enough for—”
His fist slams into the wall beside my head, denting it. There’s a matching mark only a foot over where he’d gotten angry because of the thermostat setting a week prior.
“Excuses,” he snarls in my face before grabbing my jaw roughly and squeezing hard enough to bruise. I cry out and he squeezes tighter until I stop, until I’m whimpering, my fists clenched tight against the pain. “No more excuses, Ava.”
He shoves back from me and scowls around at the house. Then he turns and grabs his keys.
“Where are you going?” I whisper, watching him move toward the door.
“To get something to eat,” he spits. “Since apparently my own wife can’t feed me.”
And then he leaves me there, the slamming door my only company. My stomach grumbles in protest. It’s been three days since I’ve had more than a few crackers, the same pack I’ve been rationing. I slide down the wall, tears streaming from my eyes before I’m even conscious of crying.
“Mommy,” a tiny voice whispers. “Don’t be sad, Mommy. I’m here.”
I wrap my arms around Elsie. She’s so small at five years old, but she’s well-fed. Oh god, at least she’s not hungry like me.
My stomach grumbles so loudly, it echoes in my ears.