Chapter 5
ALEX
Alex opened his eyes, his heart pounding as his mind struggled to comprehend what had happened.
The dim light from a single overhead bulb cast eerie shadows across the cold, concrete floor beneath him.
His head pounded with pain, a dull throbbing that seemed to echo through the silent, cavernous room.
He pressed a hand against the unforgiving surface, trying to ground himself as he took in the stark, desolate surroundings.
“What the hell?” He groaned as he tried to sit up, the room spinning around him.
Across the room, another moan echoed into the large space, breaking the eerie silence.
“Hello?” Alex squeezed his eyes closed, hoping the darkness behind his eyelids would bring some stability to his mind.
“It’s me. It’s Doc,” Kyle answered him.
Alex opened his eyes to find the hazy form of the doctor hurrying toward him. He knelt beside Alex, pressing two fingers against his neck to check his pulse.
“How are you on your feet? I’m dying over here.”
“Symptoms?” Doc asked.
“I’m dizzy, and my head is pounding.”
“Yeah? Your heart is racing, too. I need to assess you.”
Alex groaned as he flipped onto his back. “You’re not having this?”
“I’m hazy, but not that bad. I’m not sure I can drive though, but we should get you to a hospital. I’ll call an ambulance.”
“No.” Alex reached out to knock the phone from Kyle’s hand. “No. No hospitals.”
He couldn’t afford to be incapacitated in a hospital bed. Not when Ava needed him. The thought of her in Raven’s clutches drove a spike of fear through his heart.
“Seriously?” Kyle scoffed as he leaned over to retrieve the phone. “You could be having a serious medical issue.”
“Well,” Alex said with another grunt, “I trust you to treat it. You’re my physician, remember?”
“I…Okay, that’s so not cool. You know I’m going to fall for that because I like to feel important.”
“It’s your time to shine, Doc. Now…drag me to the car and get me in front of a laptop. I need to find Ava.”
“Wait, maybe she’s here. We have no idea how long we were out.” He scrambled to his feet, leaving Alex laying on the cold, hard floor as he raced away.
After a few minutes, he returned with a shake of his head. “I don’t see her anywhere.”
“How does this Raven guy constantly win?”
“Pretty sure Ava went willingly. I distinctly recall her offering him her wrists.”
Alex pressed his palms against his closed eyes. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”
“You still dizzy?”
“Extremely,” Alex said.
Kyle let his hands fall onto his hips with a shake of his head. “Okay, well, I can’t drag you all those blocks to the StoneCorp headquarters like this. You can’t even stand.”
“Put me in a shopping cart and wheel me there.”
“You can’t even stand up, Mav. I’m not putting you in a helicopter right now.”
“No, no, no, just take me to my office. I can use the computer there to find Ava. We’re not leaving this city without her.”
Kyle heaved a sigh. “How do you expect me to do that? You’re basically my size. Actually, a little taller. And the second I stand you up, my guess is, you’re going to toss whatever you ate today as your vertigo gets worse.”
“You’re a crappy doctor.” Alex rolled onto his side, curling into a ball with a groan.
“Not taking that personally. All right….ahhhh, water. Water may help. I’m going to buy some water.”
“Seriously?” Alex called as Kyle hurried from the room, leaving him alone. He let his head fall back against the hard floor. “Come on.”
Alex twisted onto his back again, sucking in deep breaths as he tried to settle his now rolling stomach. “Oh, man, Doc was so right. How does Ava keep doing this over and over?”
Covering his face with his hands, Alex desperately tried to steady himself.
He tried to slow his breathing and pulse as salty saliva coated his mouth. “No, no, no, I’m not throwing up.”
With a groan, he resisted the urge to roll onto his side and retch. “Note to self: tell Ava she’s super brave.”
He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to focus on Ava’s face. Where was she right now? Was she also feeling sick, or was she still unconscious? With that sick faceless freak hovering over her?
He had to find out. He had to fight for Ava’s sake.
With his teeth clenched, he snapped his eyes open, forcing himself to sit up, balanced on his hip and his hands. “Ugh.”
He shook his head. “Come on, Alex. You’re tougher than this.”
After trying to stand, he collapsed back down to his side. “Nope, you’re not. You’re so not.”
He puffed for breath. “Ava is probably gliding through this without any trouble at all. You’re a wimp.”
“It’s amazing she actually stayed with you.”
“Talking to yourself?” Kyle asked as he strolled back in the room.
“Yeah,” Alex said as Kyle unscrewed the cap on the water. “I needed expert advice.”
Kyle chuckled. “That’s a good one. Try a few sips. Just a few small sips. I don’t need you throwing up everywhere.”
Alex took two tiny sips. As they hit his stomach, he regretted it. “Ohh, that’s not sitting well.”
“Try to hold it down. The water will help flush this stuff from our systems.” Kyle opened another bottle and downed a large swallow.
“How are you not sick?” Alex asked him.
Kyle shrugged. “I was behind you. You got the brunt of the gas.”
Alex shook his head, immediately regretting that as his stomach rolled again. “How does Ava do this? He knocks her out constantly.”
“No idea. She’s never mentioned getting sick from it, has she?”
“No, and she bounces back pretty quickly. Oh, I feel awful.”
A wave of guilt washed over him. Ava had endured this over and over, and yet she never complained. Her strength and resilience were awe-inspiring, and here he was, struggling to keep it together after one exposure. He needed to be stronger for her. For them.
Kyle downed more water before he tapped Alex’s bottle. “Try some more.”
“Do I have to?” Alex cried.
“Tough it out, Mav. Just a few more sips until your head clears up, and you can actually walk. I really don’t want to be dragging you down the street like a crazed killer. I mean, they call me Crazy Kyle, but still…”
“Hey, we don’t call you that. To us…you’re Doc.”
Kyle lifted his chin with a grin. “That’s right. You don’t think I’m crazy.”
“That’s borderline at this moment given that you want me to drink more water, but…okay, I’ll do what you say…Doc.” Alex lifted the water bottle to his lips, downing a few more sips.
“How’s that sitting?” Kyle asked.
Alex slid his eyes closed, licking his lips. “Not too bad, actually. My head feels a little better. The headache is subsiding, and so is the mind fog.”
“Dizziness?”
“All good as long as I don’t move at all.”
Kyle drank more of his water, nearly finishing it. “Good. You’re improving. A few more sips, and you may be able to stand.”
Alex waited a few minutes, his mind drifting to Ava again before he forced down a little more water. “Okay, I’m going to try to stand up. Don’t let me hit my head, okay?”
Kyle climbed to his feet as Alex slowly sat up. “You good?”
“So far.”
Kyle held a hand out, and Alex accepted it, climbing up and stumbling back a step.
Alex clapped a palm against his forehead. “Oh, whoa.”
“No good?”
He sucked in a breath, squeezing his eyes closed for a minute until he no longer wobbled. “Okay, I’m good. I can make it. We need to get to StoneCorp and find Ava.”
“Okay, ummm, where is it again?” Kyle asked.
Alex took another few sips of water before he wiped at his wet lips with the back of his hand. “I’ll show you.”
They stepped out of the building into the darkness surrounding them.
“Dark already?” Alex asked. “Come on. What did he use? Industrial strength?”
“We’re going to feel this tomorrow,” Kyle said. “We need to drink plenty of water overnight before we essentially have a horrible hangover tomorrow.”
“There’s plenty of water at StoneCorp. I’ll down another bottle once we’re there. We need to find Ava.”
“Do you think he’ll make it that easy?”
They threaded through the streets of the city as Alex shifted his gaze to the man. “No. But you know what…I’m a tech genius, and it’s time I proved that.”
Kyle clapped him the shoulder. “Good. Let’s do this.”
They rounded a corner, and Alex headed toward the skyscraper marked with his name. He strode up to the building and tugged the handle, finding the door locked. “Seriously?”
He wrapped on the door, alerting the security guard at the desk across the lobby. The man hurried over, shaking his head. “We’re closed, man.”
“Open the door. This is my building.”
The man crinkled his forehead, staring at Alex. Alex dug his wallet from his pocket, slapping his ID against the glass window. “Alex Stone. Your boss.”
The guard’s eyes went wide as he hurried to grab his keys, shuffling through them so fast that he dropped them once before he found the right one, shoving them into the lock.
“Sorry, Mr. Stone. Didn’t recognize you.”
“No problem,” Alex said as he stepped through the door with Kyle in tow. “I’m not here very much.”
The guard’s eyes darted to Kyle before he cleared his throat. “Uhh, I’ll just need you to sign in at the desk.”
“Are you serious?” Kyle asked.
“I think we can let it go,” Alex said. “Doc’s my guest.”
“Right, sir, of course. You’re the boss.” The man returned to his station. “Anything I can do for you, Mr. Stone?”
“No, I’m heading up to my office. I don’t want to be disturbed.”
“You got it, sir. Though at this time of night, I don’t think you’ll be seeing anyone.”
“Good.” Alex poked at the button multiple times until one of the elevator doors slid open.
He stepped inside with Kyle following behind him.
“Super cool that you’re the boss, Mav. Really handy when it comes to something like this.”
Alex nodded as the elevator pulled them up. He fidgeted, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he waited. “Why did I put my office on the top floor?”
“Because you’re the boss, and it’s super cool?”
“It’s not when this elevator is slow as anything, and I need to find Ava.”
Finally, the doors whisked open on the executive floor. Alex led the way past the quiet offices and cubicles to the door marked with his name. He flicked his keycard against the security pad outside it before he pushed into the office, racing to his computer.
He shimmied the mouse, waking it before his fingers flew across the keyboard. “Water’s in the fridge. Should be fully stocked. Grab me an orange soda.”
“I will not,” Kyle answered authoritatively, returning with a water in hand. “As your doctor, I insist on water. The soda will only dehydrate you more.”
“Sometimes you’re a drag, Doc,” Alex said as his fingers continued to pound the keyboard.
He slapped the enter key and grabbed the fresh water, downing a gulp of it as he received a NOT FOUND message on his screen.
His heart sank, a cold dread seeping into his bones.
Failure was not an option, not when Ava’s life was a stake.
He had to push through his foggy mind and his frustration. He had to find her.
With a curse, he shifted the keyboard and typed again.
“What’s happening?” Kyle asked, leaning closer to the screen.
“He’s blocking my track. He doesn’t want her to be found. Well, Raven, no more Mr. Nice Guy.”
“Taking the gloves off, huh?”
“Yep.” Alex continued to type furiously, his nostrils flaring before he hit the enter key again.
Dots appeared on the screen. He leaned closer, his eyes narrowing. “No, this can’t be right.”
More dots appeared.
“What is going on?”
“I’m stripping away his blocker, but…it’s sending me on a wild goose chase. She’s showing up all over the world.”
“How is he doing that?”
Alex leaned closer to the computer. “Good question. Because this is…pretty close to my own proprietorial software that I use to block trackers. He’s using my own software against me. And how he got it…” A curse escaped under his breath. “Miranda.”
“Well, you know how to unblock it then, right? You wrote it.”
He leaned back in his chair, his finger rubbing his lips as he slid his eyes sideways to Kyle. “Therein lies the problem, my dude.”
Kyle’s forehead creased as he studied Alex, confusion etched into his features.
“This software can’t be unblocked—that’s the point of it. If he’s using my program, it’s airtight. We’ll never find Ava.”