Chapter 42
Forty-Two
Ava
“As you can see,” I start, pointing to the board in front of my team, “we’re on track for the deadline. Creative assures me they’ll be finished by Friday and we’re just waiting on the final graphic files.”
Julia nods. “It sounds like all the moving parts are working perfectly.” She claps her hands together.
“I say we celebrate,” Marie says.
“Agreed,” Kevin nods. “Lunch at that swanky new place on Broadway would be great.”
“That place is reservation only,” Marie points out. “We’ll never get in last minute.”
Kevin looks at me. “Ava could pull some strings with Dagen Fox and get us in.”
I raise my brow. “What makes you think I have that sort of pull?”
All three of them laugh and I flush.
“Come on, Ava,” Julia teases. “We can tell that man is smitten with you. You could probably call him right now and—"
The sound of my phone ringing cuts her off.
“Speak of the devil,” I say, smiling and answering the phone. “Mr. Fox. We were just—”
“He popped up,” Dagen says immediately. “Otto is on point right now, but he was near Elsie’s school thirty minutes ago. We—”
Another call starts beeping through and I look at the caller ID in confusion. My eyes widen when I see it’s Elsie’s school.
“They’re calling me. I gotta answer it,” I tell Dagen, switching over without waiting for his answer. “Hello?” I ask as soon as the call connects. Oh god. Please no. Please don’t do this to me. “Hello?” I say more frantically when someone doesn’t immediately answer.
“Mrs. Hutcherson? This is Mrs. Clark at the school. I need you to come here right away,” the woman on the other line says, her voice frantic. In the background, I can hear what sounds like sirens.
“What happened?” I ask, my heart in my throat. “What’s going on?”
“There’s an emergency. The police have been called and are here. Unfortunately, a man appeared with a gun and demanded Elsie. We refused, but he. . . there was a shooting and. . . Elsie is gone. We need you to come speak to the police and—”
I drop my phone. “Oh my god,” I rasp, my chest splitting open. “He’s got Elsie. He’s got my baby.”
The doors burst open, making all four of us jump as Wylan appears. His face is darker than I’ve ever seen it.
“Otto called,” he says, looking at the three other people in the room and dismissing them. “We’re leaving. Now.”
“He’s got her,” I repeat, my eyes welling. “Wylan, my baby.”
“I know,” he says, his eyes hard as he grabs my arm and leads me out the door with no explanation to anyone else. “And I’m going to get her back.”
He directs me into the elevator and closes the doors. We start moving down immediately, impossibly fast. He pulls out a gun from his waistband and checks it before meeting my eyes.
“I’m going to get her back, crumpet.” He cocks the gun. “I promise.”