Chapter 6
AVA
Ava’s eyes widened as she watched the masked men on the screen trying to break into the building. Her heart pounded in her chest, a mix of fear and adrenaline making her muscles taut.
“Raven, how long until they break in?”
Raven ripped the flash drive from the tower before his gloved fingers pounded against the keyboard.
“Whoa, whoa, what are you doing?”
“Transferring my materials and erasing any trace of what I’ve been doing here. We have to leave.”
“Leave? Raven, you can’t do that. We need to stand our ground here.”
He snapped his gaze to her, his face unreadable because of the mask. “This location has been compromised—we can’t stay here.”
Ava clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms. “Give me a gun. I’ll handle this.” She held her hand out.
“That’s not happening, Ava.” His robotic voice sounded more clipped than normal.
“Seriously?” She scoffed before she rolled her eyes. “You’d rather erase any trace of the work you’ve done here and leave than give me a gun?”
His finger hovered over the enter key on the program on his screen.
“We’re not going to get out of here in time, anyway. They’re already in the hall. Give me a gun. We can take them. There’s only two of them, and two of us. We can do this.”
He growled as he tapped the escape button, canceling the program before it deleted any of the files on the computer. He raced across the room and tapped a code into a safe, temporarily ripping off the glove to press his thumb against the fingerprint sensor.
He tugged the glove back on before whipping open the door and removing two weapons. After checking the clip on the first, he handed it to Ava.
A pounding echoed through the room as the attackers battered the door. Ava flicked off the safety, aiming the weapon at the door as another thud sounded against it.
“They’re going to breach the door any second,” Ava said as she took cover behind one of the pillars holding the ceiling at bay.
Raven smashed his shoulder against the pillar a few feet from her, weapon clutched in his hands.
With a final crash, the door splintered open, and two men stormed into the room.
Ava peeked around the corner, eyeing the men before she raised her weapon, aiming for one of the men.
“Six o’clock!” the other man shouted, both of them twisting to face her.
Before she could retreat, Raven pummeled into her, knocking her to the ground as bullets sprayed, slamming into the outer wall behind them.
She groaned, the wind knocked out of her as he pressed against her. “Foolish, Ava. These people are professionals.”
She winced, pushing back against him. “I see that. Are those semis?”
“They take no chances,” Raven answered before he snapped his gaze higher, searching the computer for an indication of the transfer process. “We can’t let them get to the computer before it deletes all files.”
“Right.” She nodded as she scrambled to her feet, squeezing off a few rounds toward the men that did little to deter them.
Raven huffed out a breath, still facing the computer screen. “It’s taking too long.”
“We need to draw them off,” she answered. “I’ll get them to follow me.”
He grabbed her arm. “Ava…”
“I can do it. They’ll follow me. Just…make sure you have my back.”
He yanked her closer to him, a gloved thumb rubbing her cheek. “I always do.”
She bobbed her head, her heart rising into her throat as she backed away from him, stepping closer to the door to the bathroom. “Hey, boys…anybody looking for a promotion?”
Two automatic weapons pointed at her.
“I wouldn’t do that,” she warned. “I’m Ava Collins. I think you may want to check with your bosses because I’m pretty certain I’m more valuable alive than dead.”
The two men exchanged a glance as Ava backed toward the bathroom. It was a dead end, but if she could draw them away from the computer, it would be worth it.
Raven would need to step up and take them out from where he hid behind the pillar. One man inched his way forward, gun trained on her as the other dug a cell phone from his pocket. The line trilled as he toggled on his speakerphone.
A woman’s voice answered, “Tell me you eradicated the problem.”
Ava swallowed hard, her pulse pounding as she recognized the speaker: Miranda Vale.
She may have just overestimated her value. Her fingers found the door jamb to the bathroom, and she wrapped them around it, trying to stop her knees from wobbling.
“We have an unexpected situation,” the man said into his phone.
“Tell me you got the files,” Miranda demanded, her voice sharp.
“Not yet, but don’t worry, we’ll get them. But…we have a little snag on this end. The place isn’t empty. I’ve got one Ava Collins here who claims she’s useful–more so alive than dead.”
Ava shifted a foot back slowly, her stomach rolling again as the ramen threatened to make a nasty appearance. If she stepped into the bathroom, she’d have nowhere to go. She had to be ready to take both of the men out if she had to.
She wanted to rely on Raven, but she wasn’t certain she could trust him.
He’d saved her once. Would he do it again?
“Ava Collins…tell me you have her under lock and key.”
“Not yet, but she’s got nowhere to go. You want us to bring her in alive?”
Miranda scoffed on the other end of the line. “No. I want you to kill her. And don’t leave any question about her. Make sure she’s dead, then bring me her head on a platter.”
Ava’s knees wobbled at the words. She wouldn’t escape this apartment alive.
As the weapons raised to her again, she dove for the tile floor, plastering herself against it as bullets ripped through the wall, peppering the vanity behind her.
She army-crawled forward, before she climbed into the claw-footed tub.
With a trembling hand, she raised her weapon, desperately trying to steady it as two shots rang out.
She held her breath as another barrage of gunshots fired. This time, none of them reached her. Raven.
Another two gunshots before a second barrage from the automatic.
They were in a gunfight, and Raven was severely outgunned, though it seemed that he’d at least taken one of them down.
Ava forced herself to climb out of the tub and scurry across the tile floor as quietly as she could. She pressed herself against the wall and slid to sit before she risked a glance around the jamb and into the main room.
The assailant was pressed against one of the beams. She scanned the room, finding the other man sprawled on the floor, two bullet wounds in his back.
She narrowed her eyes as she tried to determine if he was still breathing or if he was dead.
Movement caught her eye. She spotted the still-alive assailant whip his gun toward her, firing.
She smashed herself against the cold, tile floor, narrowly avoiding the spray of bullets. The gun slipped from her hand, rattling across the floor just out of her reach.
Her heart raced as she watched the gun skid away. She glanced at the gunman, who steadily advanced on her.
There was no way she’d reach the gun before he fired. Would the bullet kill her, or merely wound her?
Either way, she wasn’t eager to find out. But she couldn’t give up. She had to fight back.
She reached for the gun, immediately pulling her hand back as bullets chewed up the floor in front of it.
She cursed under her breath as another several bullets came closer to her. She rolled away, landing on her back.
Her muscles tensed, and she trembled all over as the man appeared in the doorway.
Despite the mask, she spotted his lips curl into a disdainful sneer as he slowly raised the weapon toward her. “Looks like you overestimated your value, princess.”
His finger tightened as his smile turned evil. “Say good night.”
A gunshot echoed through the room, making her gasp and tense up, eyes squeezed shut.
She trembled, struggling to breathe as her chest tightened with fear.
Slowly she opened her eyes and focused on the doorway. The gunman lay sprawled there, a bullet hole marring his black jacket.
Ava scrambled to her feet, her eyes trained on the man before they rose to who stood behind him, weapon still pointed straight ahead.
Her lower lip trembled as she kicked the automatic weapon away from the gunman and scooped her own gun.
“Ava,” Raven said as she held the gun in her trembling hand.
She stared at him for a moment, her fingers tight against the gun as fear still ricocheted through her. If she kept the weapon, could she force him to reveal his identity?
Raven’s head cocked to the side as she hesitated before she finally surrendered the weapon to him. He’d saved her life. And she’d honor his desire for secrecy for a little longer.
He grabbed the weapon from her, shoving it into his waistband as she stared down at the man sprawled at her feet.
She squatted next to him, pressing two fingers to his neck. “Dead.”
“Of course, Ava. I told you I would protect you.”
She arched an eyebrow as she tugged the mask from the assailant’s face. “And I told you I could draw them off. How is your little program going?”
“The transfer is nearly complete. Then it will erase all evidence.”
Ava studied the man’s face, not recognizing it before she tugged down his sleeve, spotting the tattoo on his wrist. “Board. A pawn.”
“Yes, of course,” Raven said with a nod. “Miranda is making moves against you, Ava. You need to watch your back.”
“Miranda?” Ava straightened, staring down at the man. “More like Sebastian Bancroft.”
“Miranda is operating alone after what happened at The Fortress.”
“What? Isn’t she worried about repercussions?”
He shook his head. “She’s going higher than the Bancrofts. To people who want to strip Alex of everything that stops him from giving up. That means removing you from the equation.” He poked a finger at her.
“So, I need to watch my back.”
“You need to do more than that.” Raven strode to his computer, eyeing the deletion process. “This is nearly complete. We need to move.”
“Oh, come on…I don’t want another shot of that stuff. In fact, just knock me out.” She tapped the butt of the gun.
“I would never hurt you, Ava,” he answered.
“Oh, right, you’ll just drug me over and over. Oh, and drag me literally kicking and screaming back to be locked in a bedroom at your creepy cabin.”
“That was for your own protection,” Raven said as the last of the files disappeared as the program ended.
“Oh, right, like this is. So…what? Another drugging?”
Raven twisted to face her as the monitors died, their screens going dim and plunging the already darkened space into near blackness.
“Can I trust you, Ava?”
“Define trust?” she answered. “Are we talking about betrayal to The Board or merely using whatever I learn to determine your identity?”
He sighed as he yanked open a drawer, pulling out a canister.
“Okay, okay…you can trust me.”
“Really?”
Ava tugged her lips into a wince. “I really don’t want to deal with another knock out. I’ll forget the address as soon as I leave.”
He tossed the canister into the drawer, removing a hood. “I’d like an insurance policy.”
“Wow, you’re completely equipped with all the creepy stuff, aren’t you?”
“Better safe than sorry.” He pulled the hood over her head, plunging her into darkness before he twisted her around. “Now, let’s go.”
Her heart pounded as she wondered if she’d earn any clues toward his identity. If she did, she may consider giving it to the DHS. She needed this nightmare to end. Fast.