Chapter 7
ALEX
Alex slammed his fists against the desk, frustration boiling over as he hit another wall. How had Raven gotten a hold of his program for blocking phone tracking? Without it, he’d never find Ava. She was completely at the mercy of their aviary ally.
He swallowed hard, the fear of never seeing her again gnawing at his heart. Raven had always returned her before, but what if this time he decided to keep her?
The mysterious man had set his sights on Ava. And while he’d returned her every other time, what if this time, he decided to keep her for himself.
His heart ached every moment they were apart.
Kyle paced back and forth in front of Alex. “Are you sure you didn’t create a master passcode for this thing? Something only you know that could let you bypass the block?”
Alex frowned. “What?”
“You know, like a special Alex Stone passcode?”
“No, I…wait a minute,” Alex said, leaning closer to the screen. “That’s actually a good idea.”
“Really? So, there is a secret master code that’ll let you into this?”
“No, not really, but…I may be able to reverse engineer a backdoor into it.”
Kyle’s eyes went wide as he raced around the desk to eye the screen. “Really? You can get in?”
He clicked his tongue. “Not exactly, but…I’m making a modification to the program, and sending out an update. Unless he’s on a closed system, it should automatically update, sending the location to him and backlogging it to me.”
“Oh, you are a genius, Mav.”
He raised his eyebrows as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “Yep. Only problem is…in order for him not to know I’m on to him…I’ve got to send it on a delay.”
“How much of a delay?” Kyle asked.
“Ten minutes,” Alex answered.
“Ten minutes? A lot can happen in ten minutes, Mav. I mean…a lot…you were kidnapped in less than ten minutes.”
“No kidding,” Alex muttered, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “But I’m not risking getting caught. If he smashes her phone, he could disappear with her for good.”
Kyle snapped his gaze to Alex. “What? Seriously? You think he’d do that?”
“I don’t know.” Alex’s heart thudded as he faced the question again. His mind recalled the roses, the protectiveness of the man when he’d stormed into her hotel room to take her away. “Yeah, I think he would.”
“Seriously? I mean…he’s weird but–”
“He leaves her roses all the time. He took her out of a hotel room to protect her. Yeah, I think he could totally disappear with her. And we have no idea who this joker is.”
“How have you not tracked him yet? He’s got phones, cars, buildings–”
“Yeah, I get it, Doc,” Alex interrupted. “And I don’t know. This guy has serious firepower. He hacked into StoneCorp’s system and left me a message. He’s got enough burners to stay hidden. The buildings lead back to nowhere. It’s like he’s a ghost.”
“Or he’s got someone covering his tracks really well.”
“No kidding. He’s got to have someone good. And that makes this so much worse. He’s a phantom, and if he disappears with Ava…” Alex shook his head, his heart hammering against his ribs.
“Okay, we can’t let that happen. Finish the code.”
Alex gave him a skeptical look. “Is that an order?”
“Yes. No. It’s…I’m trying to focus you. I’m your doctor. It’s my job.”
“It’s really not,” Alex said, shaking his head. “But you’re right. I need to finish this.”
He leaned closer, his fingers rushing across the keyboard as his heart paced their pace. Code spilled onto the screen as he added the extra bit to send Ava’s location back to him on a ten-minute delay. “All right, here we go.”
Alex tapped his mouse to compile the code before he received an error.
“What is that? What happened? Did he block you?”
Alex groaned as he scanned through the code and tapped the semicolon key. “Missed a semi. Stupid. I better check this. I’m rushing.”
“Don’t rush…if this works, we’ll find her, Mav.”
Alex held back his annoyance, his nostrils flaring. “Somehow, when Ava says that, it’s so much easier for me to hear than when you say it.”
“No kidding. She’s way cuter than I am. It’s always better coming from a cute girl.”
“She is,” Alex agreed as he double-checked his code. The joke only made his heart ache more. His beautiful Ava was gone, and the thought of life without her was unbearable. He had to get her back.
He missed her smile, her laugh. He loved her more with every second. And now that she’d declared her love for him, she was like an intoxicating drug that he couldn’t get enough of.
“Okay, I think we’re good.” His chest constricted as he tapped the compile button and allowed the code to run.
This time it came back without errors. He breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, we’re good. I’m going to push the update.”
“Can’t you track where it’s going?”
“No. I mean, yes, but no. I can see where it’s going, but not a location. Just an IP.”
“Oh, right. Yeah, I have no idea what you’re saying, but okay,” Kyle said.
Alex blew out a long breath. “I really need Ava back. Ava knows these things.”
“Sorry, Mav. I’m doing my best here.”
“I swear, if you start rubbing my shoulders, I’m going to throw you out.”
Kyle held his hands up with a frown. “No danger of that. I am not trying to replace Ava. I’m just trying to help you find her.”
“Well,” Alex said a few minutes later. “The update is loading on all user systems, so hopefully in ten minutes or so, we’ll get a location.”
“Umm, should I call a ride share?”
“What for?” Alex asked.
“It’s faster,” Kyle answered. “I mean, we don’t want to waste time, right?”
“Rolling up in a ride share may not be exactly the best idea. We’re far better on foot. Unless he took her out of the city.” Alex’s fingers drummed against the desk as he waited the agonizingly long time for the first location to appear.
“I swear it’s been twenty minutes,” Kyle said as he paced the floor.
“It’s been…nine minutes and eighteen seconds,” Alex muttered, rocking in his chair.
“Seriously? Ugh. How long now?”
“Nine minutes, twenty-three seconds.”
“Is time even moving?” Kyle groaned, pacing back and forth.
His heart hammered as a window appeared on this screen with a colorful circle indicating that the location was loading.
Kyle hurried around the desk. “Something?”
“Yeah, it’s loading. Why is it taking so long? I should have really written better code.”
“Totally, this is painful, Mav.”
The circle continued to spin before blurry coordinates began to fill in along with map. “Come on, come on,” Alex said, slapping a palm against the desk.
“Here we go.” Kyle poked a finger at the screen.
Alex’s heart pounded as the location appeared on the screen. “There she is. I’ve got her location. Sending it to my phone now.”
Kyle slammed a hand on the desk. “Let’s go. We’re getting her back.”
“I’m right behind you, Doc.”
Alex pulled his phone from his pocket, staring at the blinking red dot on his screen. “Looks like this is pretty far.”
“I told you I should have gotten a ride share.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Alex said as they entered the elevator. He tapped on his screen before waving a hand in the air. “There. Got one. See?”
“Okay, fine. You’re awesome, and you don’t need to plan ahead.”
Alex shook his head as they exited the elevator and passed the guard.
“Have a great night, Mr. Stone,” the guard called.
“You too,” Alex replied, his voice steady despite the storm inside him.
They pushed outside as a car rolled to the stop at the curb. They climbed inside, and Alex gave him an address a few blocks away from Ava’s location.
They arrived at the location, climbing out of the car.
“Why’d you give him this address? We should have gone straight to the location and kept the ride share for when we grabbed Ava back.”
“I don’t want our aviary ally seeing us roll up, duh,” Alex said as they continued to follow the route to the red dot.
“But now he’ll see us walking and be like oh look, two chumps who walked.”
“I’m not…whatever,” Alex said. “We’ll look way less obtrusive walking than coming in a car that’ll definitely trigger an alarm. We could try to avoid any cameras.”
“Of which I’m sure he’ll have many,” Kyle answered.
“Exactly. And we want to make a discreet entrance.”
“Uhh, wait, speaking of making an entrance, how are we going to get in there? No offense, but…you’re not Ava and neither am I. She’d just go in, guns blazing.”
“I know,” Alex answered. “And I have no idea. Even if I have a gun, I couldn’t use it. I barely can load it.”
“I can use one. I know how to load it. Ava showed me. Like five minutes before we rescued you.”
“That’s not helpful. Because you miss all the time. This is Raven. Raven shot Miranda from forever away. He’ll shoot you easily, then I’ll be worse off.”
“Yeah, well…whatever,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. “That leaves us still uncertain how we’re going to get inside and rescue Ava.”
Alex wrinkled his nose as they walked. “I know. And I don’t know how we’re going to do it. But Ava rescued me.”
“If we pull this off, I will have rescued you both.” Kyle grinned at hm.
“If we pull this off. I’m suddenly feeling like we won’t.” He rubbed at his forehead. Ava had just rescued him from the clutches of The Board. And he was worried about how he’d get her back from a single man. “I feel like such a wimp.”
“We’re trying our best,” Kyle said. “And talk about feeling useless. Ava is a bad ass. She kicks down doors and handles a weapon like a pro. She literally went into the facility like it was nothing. Then, there’s you…
you’re a tech genius. You can manipulate any code anywhere to find Ava.
And I just…tag along. I’m like the useless sidekick who’s only here to make witty quips. ”
“But the witty quips are the best part of the duo.”
Kyle’s forehead crinkled. “Really? You think…my witty quips are cool?”
“Absolutely, Doc. Hey, you’re a valued part of the team. Both Ava and I appreciate you.”
He clapped Alex on the back. “Thanks, buddy. Well, now that we’ve wasted all that time…we’re here. And we still have no plan.”
Alex stared up at the building. “Nope. And unfortunately, we have no idea what floor he’s on.”
“I’m going to the door to look at the names.”
“Wait,” Alex said, tugging Kyle back. “You can’t go to the door to see the names. He’s probably got cameras.”
“I’ll hide my face,” Kyle said, tugging his collar up.
“You can’t…” Alex hurried to catch up with Kyle as he went to the door.
“Any of these names sound like a Raven to you? B. Moses. A. Rodriguez.”
“Oh, R…maybe Raven.”
Kyle’s features pinched. “Maybe. Maybe not. Third floor is open. Next one is–”
“Whoa, wait, what?” Alex said.
Kyle tapped the empty name plate. “Third floor unoccupied.”
“No,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “In this neighborhood? An entire loft open? I call fake news on that. That’s Raven.”
Kyle raised his eyebrows. “Oh, good call. Okay, umm, we can’t buzz him so…”
Alex grabbed the door handle and tugged. It swung open easily.
“Oh, nice,” Kyle said. “Third floor, here we come.”
They pushed into the foyer, climbing the stairs toward the third floor.
Alex’s heart skipped a beat as the door to the loft came into view. He hurried up the last few steps to the broken door. “Oh, no. Maybe…maybe this is the wrong place.”
“Won’t hurt to take a look around,” Kyle said as he hovered in the doorway.
Alex’s eyes fell to the bank of monitors across the room, all of them showing bright red letters that said DISK ERASED.
He swallowed hard as he shuffled closer to the screens. Someone had cleared out any sign of them having been here.
His pulse quickened. Had Ava been here? Had Raven cleared out and taken her?
“Uhhh, this isn’t good.”
Alex twisted to study Kyle who squatted next to a blob on the floor. In the dim light, he couldn’t quite make it out. He inched closer, his stomach clenching as he realized it was a body.
At least it was too bulky to be Ava. “Dead?” he asked, his voice just above a whisper.
“Yep. And another one over there.” Kyle poked a finger toward a doorway. “Both shot.”
Alex’s pulse raced. Shot? What had happened here? And was Ava okay?