Chapter 13
ALEX
Dark clouds gathered on the horizon as a storm moved up the coast. An icy breeze rushed past Alex, ruffling the umbrella that hovered over his head.
Alex let the screen on his laptop die as he stared at the black puffballs marching their way ever closer. Lightning brightened them for a moment, staying within the clouds before a rumble of thunder joined the crashing of the waves from the stormy sea, creating a cacophony of noise.
He slammed the lid of his laptop closed, the abrupt sound jarring him from his thoughts. He glanced over at Ava, who seemed oblivious to the growing storm.
The wind whipped around them, and he raised his voice, trying to reach her over the chaos. “Avs, we probably should head in. It’s getting a little wild out here.”
He slid his feet into the sandals next to his chaise and rose, grabbing his cell phone and shoving it into his pocket.
“Ava?” he called to her again.
She never budged, and he wondered if she had ear buds in and couldn’t hear him.
She had to have felt the cold wind blast them seconds ago, though.
With a shake of his head, he crossed to her. “Ava, come on.”
How was she this oblivious? Ava usually paid closer attention to the things going on around her.
His stomach twisted into a tight knot. Something was off here. But he couldn’t put his finger on what.
As he reached for his wife, his hands started to shake. He tried to steady them, but nothing would stop the tremble.
“Ava?”
His fingers connected with her shoulder, and he carefully twisted her toward him. But as he did, her skin cracked.
His laptop clattered to the ground with a sickening smack as the split in her arm extended up into her neck, then down to her fingers. In seconds, she cracked to pieces, reduced to a pile of rubble.
Alex stared, wide-eyed, as what remained of Ava as thunder rumbled again. Another burst of wind swept past, carrying the pieces of her off the chaise and down the beach.
“No!” He shouted as he tried to run after them.
He needed to collect them all. He could put her back together. He just needed the pieces. But they were quickly getting away from him.
His feet pounded the sand as he raced headlong, his fingers outstretched to try to catch even one piece of Ava, but he couldn’t reach any of them.
He stumbled, tripping over something in the sand before he went sprawling face down into it.
He glanced up, watching helplessly as the pieces disappeared, too far for him to ever find them.
“No! Ava, no!” he screamed into the whipping wind.
“No, Ava, no,” Alex murmured, thrashing around in his bedsheets until he opened my eyes.
His heart thudded against his ribs, and his mind failed to fire on all cylinders as he glanced around my bedroom. He was safe inside the house, not out in a storm.
And Ava was…
He glanced sideways, finding her side of the bed empty. Ava was…
His eyebrows pinched together. She must have gotten up already.
He took a slow, steadying breath as he wiped sweat from his brow, letting his muscles recover from the tension of the dream before he went searching for Ava.
After a second, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. His feet hit the icy cold floor, sending a shiver down his spine.
Memories of the dream rushed back to him along with a dawning realization that something was terribly wrong. Something had happened, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
His mind just wasn’t working properly for some reason.
A knock sounded at my door. “Come in!” he called over his shoulder as I tried to piece together the blanks.
Kyle poked his head into the room, what looked like a fake smile plastered on his face. “Hey, Mav, awake already?”
“Yeah,” Alex said as he ran his hands through his shaggy hair. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here, remember?” Kyle asked as he crossed toward Alex.
“Yeah, but…why are you in my bedroom at this hour? And where is Ava?”
The grin slipped from Kyle’s features as he stared at Alex for a second. “How are you feeling right now?”
“Groggy,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “Ugh, I wonder if I’m coming down with something?”
Kyle took his pulse as he shook his head. “No, that’s not it. You’re feeling the effects of the sedative I gave you last night.”
“The what?” Alex asked, narrowing his eyes at the man.
“Sedative. I gave you a sedative because you needed to get some sleep.”
Alex blinked at him, trying to recall what he was saying when his memory slowly started to return. He recalled Kyle jabbing him as Julia and Grant worked to console him.
Why?
They’d been so concerned. And he’d been really upset. Why had he been so upset?
“Sedative,” Alex echoed, the word hanging in the air. Slowly, the fog in his mind began to clear, pieces of the previous night becoming clearer.
“Side effects can be grogginess and confusion. So, I’m not surprised by this at all. What I want you to do, though, is get back in bed because–”
“Where’s Ava?” Alex interrupted, the question escaping his lips before he could stop it. His heart raced, the pieces coming closer together.
Kyle pressed his lips together, heaving a sigh.
“Doc, where is Ava?” he demanded, his voice growing more insistent.
“Okay, I really want you to sit back in the pillows, take a few deep breaths–”
“Where is Ava?” Alex curled his fingers into fists, his stomach dropping as his chest constricted.
“Mav…”
Alex’s features pinched as he let his gaze fall to the floor. His mind searched for context of the memory floating in his mind where Kyle had stabbed him with a needle.
“We were upset…that’s why you gave me the sedative. Everyone was upset. But why?”
He raised a finger in the air as he tried to push his memory further. “We got bad news. I felt awful. Why did I feel awful?”
Heat washed over him as his features twisted, realization dawning on him. His jaw fell open and tears filled his eyes. “No. No, that can’t…”
“Mav…” Kyle grabbed his shoulders, holding him up as Alex fell forward with a groan.
“No, no, Ava can’t be dead. No.” Alex’s lower lip trembled.
“Sorry, Mav. It was a shock to us all when that plane exploded.”
Nausea swept through him as he faced the unthinkable.
“I’m so sorry, buddy. I think you should get back into bed, let your mind clear a little.”
Alex shook his head. “I’m not so sure I want my mind to clear.”
Kyle offered him a consoling half-smile. “I know. It’s…I’m upset, I can’t imagine what this must feel like for you.”
Another knock sounded, and Julia stuck her head inside. “Hey, Alex. You’re awake.”
“Yeah,” he answered, scrubbing his face.
“Great,” Julia answered, plastering on what looked like a fake smile as she entered with a tray. “I’ve got some breakfast for you.”
“I don’t want it,” Alex groaned.
“You need to eat, Mav,” Kyle said. “Try a little food. It’ll help clear your head.”
Julia set the tray on the bed, easing onto the edge and reaching for Alex’s hand. “Alex, try to eat a little. I know this is hard. We’re all reeling, but you have to take care of yourself.”
Alex dropped his head into his hands. Did he want to be here without Ava? He wasn’t certain he could take it.
He’d spent his entire life hoping to build a life with her, and weeks after he finally had achieved that she’d been ripped away from him.
“Oh, Ava,” he said with a sob.
Julia shifted closer to him, rubbing his shoulder. “That’s it, Alex. Let it out.”
He had no idea how long he sat there, sobbing, dumbstruck, unable to function before Julia finally shifted again and pushed the food toward him. “Try to eat.”
Her eyelashes fluttered as he shook his head. “Alex, Ava wouldn’t want this for you. She’d want you to take care of yourself.”
He couldn’t find an answer to that. Would Ava care?
His mind searched for meaning in the meaningless happening. He wondered if she’d known. Had the plane experienced trouble? Had there been warning? Had she felt pain?
With a lick of his lips, he bit into the now-lukewarm eggs, struggling to swallow them.
As the food hit his stomach, another wave of sickness hit him, but his mind started to clear. Details of the previous night flooded his mind, making him feel worse with each passing second.
A sip of the orange juice nearly sent him hurling up the food he’d consumed, but he managed to hold it down.
When he’d finished all he could eat, he shoved the tray away. Julia offered him a slight smile. “So, we heard from the DHS earlier this morning. They confirmed again that Ava was on the flight. They passed along their condolences.”
Alex slid his eyes closed, numb from the shock and sadness that coursed through him.
“Umm…” Julia paused, licking her lips before she winced again. “They said…Oh, Alex, I’m so sorry. They told us that you could move forward with a funeral or memorial service because there were no remains to recover.”
His features twisted as he began to sob again.
Julia rubbed his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Alex. Grant and I can make arrangements, if you’d like…”
“No,” he answered. “Not yet, just…no.”
“Okay,” she said, her voice soft as she offered him a consoling smile. “That’s perfectly fine. Whenever you’re ready, we’ll talk about it, okay? We’re here to help. Whatever you need.”
He blew out a long, shaky breath. “Some time alone, I think.”
Julia shared a glance with Kyle. “Are you sure?”
Alex bobbed his head. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure. I, umm, I’m not going to do anything stupid, I just…want to be alone and figure this out.”
Julia patted his back again before she offered a warm smile. “Okay, Alex. We’re right downstairs if you need anything.”
She collected the tray and motioned with her head for Kyle to follow her. He reluctantly left Alex behind, offering him a sad smile as he backed from the room.
When the door clicked softly closed, Alex huffed out a sigh before he doubled over in tears again.
His weeping died down to sniffles only, and he grabbed his phone, intent on distracting himself. Reports of Ava’s death flooded his notifications, making it all too real and inescapable for him.
He let his head fall back against the pillow behind him as he stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and pretended she was next to him.
“Why so sad, Ace?” she asked.
“Because you’re–” He stopped, frozen but the sound of his name in her voice rattling around in his head.
His eyebrows pinched as he sat up. He’d heard that voice before he’d fallen asleep. Someone had called. No, he thought with a shake of his head, not someone…Ava. Ava had called him last night before he fell asleep.
He grabbed his phone, his hands shaking as he searched his call log. He found a restricted number that he’d answered in the middle of the night. “Ava?”
He pressed the button to call it but received an out-of-service message. With a growl, he tightened his fingers around the phone.
“Hey, buddy,” Kyle said as he poked his head through the door again. “How you holding up?”
Alex lifted his eyes to Kyle, wanting to tell him about the call. “Better. I…”
He hesitated, imagining the reaction when he said, “I heard from Ava last night. She’s not dead.”
Kyle would give him a consoling glance, assume he was insane, and give him another sedative.
“Yeah?” Kyle prompted as Alex hesitated.
“I think the food helped,” Alex answered with a weak smile. “Tell Julia thanks.”
“Will do,” Kyle said. “Hey, if you’re feeling up to it, why don’t you come downstairs. We’ll all deal with this together.”
“Yeah, in a few minutes, maybe,” Alex said with a nod.
Kyle returned the gesture before he ducked from the room, leaving Alex alone again.
He leapt out of his bed, retrieving his laptop and trying to search for any information on the call he’d received. He found nothing.
He pounded his fists against the mattress with a growl before he slammed the lid shut. As he fumed over his inability to find information, a message appeared on his screen.
He’d probably imagined the whole thing anyway. Ava couldn’t have called him, she was gone.
He snatched the phone, his heart in his throat as he hoped it was Ava despite himself.
Instead, it came from a restricted number again. We need to talk. I can help you. Meet me at the old resort at sunset. Come alone. Raven
Alex tossed the phone onto the bed, his anger and despair intertwining, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. The message from Raven felt like salt in an open wound. He couldn’t handle this now. Was Raven serious?
Ava was dead. The words felt foreign, like they didn’t belong in his reality. He stared at the screen, the message taunting him. He didn’t care about The Board or anything else right now. How could Raven expect him to?
“I’m not meeting you, Raven. Forget it,” he muttered, his voice breaking. The phone screen dimmed, but the anger and confusion still burned within him. Alex turned away, refusing to let Raven’s games consume him any further.
He wouldn’t even bother answering. He didn’t need this. He needed to focus on dealing with Ava’s loss, with his grief. He didn’t have time for anyone else.