Chapter 28
AVA
Ava gunned the engine as she pushed the car faster to make it to the church in time to save her former fiancé from a grisly end.
They’d pushed him to own up to his part in her so-called death, so he’d be out of their hair, but this isn’t the way she’d expected it.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she took a turn with the tires squealing.
“Will you please slow down? I’d like to get there alive,” Sebastian said.
She shot him a glare but lifted her foot from the pedal. “You must drive slow like Alex.”
“I do not. You know how I drive. It’s not like this, though.”
She heaved a sigh as she tightened her sweaty palms around the wheel, eyeing the tall church steeple in the distance. “Well, we don’t have a lot of time here.”
Sebastian checked his watch, a furrow forming on his brow. “We’ll make it.”
“How do you know? We have no idea where they are at in the ceremony.”
“With any luck, you have lots of people who’d like to get up and talk about how great you were.”
She shot him another look. “I doubt it. I didn’t have many friends.”
“No, get out, Ava,” he said playfully.
“Wow, you are strangely more annoying without the whole Raven getup than you were with it.”
He shrugged, his features amused. “You had to know who I was.”
“A fact I’m regretting at this very moment.”
Sebastian leaned forward with a wince and tugged open the glove box, removing a weapon from inside.
Ava’s heart skipped a beat. “What’s that for?”
“What do you think?”
“With you, I never know,” she said with a shake of her head.
Sebastian shook his head. “We are about to make sure Chris doesn’t get taken out by an assassin. I’d like to be prepared.”
“I thought maybe he wouldn’t strike unless Chris actually started to say something.”
“We probably should try to prevent that,” Sebastian answered as she took another bend dangerously fast. “But that won’t save him.”
Ava slid her eyes closed for a second before she dug her burner phone from her pocket and toggled it on.
Sebastian snatched it from her hands. “Give me that.”
“I’m trying to save a life.”
“Yeah, and kill us. No texting and driving, Ava. It’s worse than driving drunk.”
She waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Thanks for the PSA, Dad.”
“You’ll thank me for this when we’re not in a fiery wreck.” He tapped on her screen to send a message to Alex. “There. Let’s hope we can just slip into the back, grab your him, and get out of there.”
“Well, I’d be prepared for something way worse than that. Since I’ve stepped foot in the Hamptons, nothing has ever been that easy.”
The church came into view in the distance, and Ava pressed the pedal to the floor as she raced toward it, whipping into the parking lot. She eyed the limousine out front with the hearse in front of it as she killed the engine and slipped off her seat belt.
“It’s kind of weird to think they’re putting an empty coffin into that because I’m not really dead.”
“Stay here,” Sebastian said as he slid out of the passenger seat with a groan.
“No way,” she answered, climbing from the car. “I’m going too.”
“Seriously? You’re going to walk into your own funeral?”
She shrugged. “Sounds exactly like something I’d do.”
“Hang back, let me see what’s going on.”
“Fine,” she answered, pulling her hood up over her blonde hair. With the rest of her features covered by big sunglasses, she kept her head down as she followed behind him to the church’s doors.
He slipped inside, leaving her to pace the top step outside, slinking behind the pillars at any sound.
She drummed her fingers against her forearm as she sighed. Where was he? How long did it take for Sebastian to find her former fiancé?
As she reached the end of the step, she glanced up into the bell tower across the alley, her heart stopping. The point of a long-range rifle poked from it.
“Oh, great,” she murmured as she leapt off the step to the ground below, landing in a crouch.
As soon as her feet hit the pavement, she propelled herself forward, her fingers scraping the ground to push her faster until she regained her balance.
She reached the door to the bell tower, skidding to a stop as she flung it open and glanced inside.
Dozens of stairs stood between her and the assassin. “No elevator? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Ripping off her sunglasses, she tossed them aside as she grabbed hold of the railing and hauled herself up the spiraling staircase toward the top. By the mid-point, she panted for breath, using both hands to help pull herself up.
“I really need to exercise more,” she choked out as she forced herself to continue without a break.
She finally climbed the final step onto the wooden platform surrounding the bell. With her legs rubbery, she stumbled toward the massive bell and skirted it.
A man in black tactical gear sprawled on the opposite side of it, his weapon aimed at the church’s tall windows.
“Hey,” she called as his finger started to tighten on the rifle’s trigger.
He twisted, his eyes wide before he tried to swing his weapon around to shoot at her. She kicked it away. It skittered across the floorboards, landing feet away from either of them. He reached for a pistol, but she leapt on top of him.
The bell next to them began to chime the hour, the loud ringing assaulting her senses as she rolled across the floor with the man in a tangle of limbs.
They came to a stop with him on top of her. He pressed his gloved hands around her neck, but she vaulted upward with a hip and tossed him off. He fell a few feet away from her, and she scrambled to her feet, crouching low in a defensive position.
The man hopped to his feet, matching her stance as they danced around each other, each of them looking for an opening to attack.
Finally, as the bell chimed one final time, he lunged forward and drove her toward it. She smacked hard into the metal, and it vibrated against her entire body, the noise from it still dying down.
She wedged a foot against it and used it to drive them both forward until she slammed him into the wall.
He growled at her as they danced backward again before she tripped him and climbed on top of him to press him into the floor. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“Sorry, I didn’t feel like going just yet.”
“Well, I hope you feel like it now. Because I’m going to kill you.”
He whipped her to the side and grabbed for the gun, training it on her. With wide eyes, she scrambled backward, kicking her feet though she knew she couldn’t escape a bullet from a trained marksman at this range.
A gun fired, deafening in the space, and she instinctively squeezed her eyes closed as she waited for the searing pain to hit her. Instead, nothing hit her, and as far as she could tell, she was still alive.
She opened her eyes to see the man, a shocked expression stuck on his features, fall forward, dead from the bullet between his eyes.
Sebastian, his shirt bloody from opening his wound, stood behind him, his gun still raised. “You really need to stop picking fights, Ava.”
“If I hadn’t, Chris would be dead.”
“I know. He’s up on the altar arguing with your husband. We need to get rid of him now.”
Ava scrambled to her feet, inching around the dead body. “That’s Chris. We need a distraction so you can get him off that altar.”
“Like what?” Sebastian asked.
Ava fluffed her hair. “Like me coming to life.’
“Ava…”
“We don’t have a choice here, and I’m not going to stay dead forever. This will throw The Board at least a little while we regroup.”
“Fine,” he answered. “It’ll also allow me an in to get more information on this supposed screw-up. We’ll meet at the Beach Comber tonight. Don’t keep me waiting too long.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said as they circled around to reach the bottom of the bell tower.
“I’ll go in the back and grab him.”
She passed the keys to the vehicle to him with a nod. “See you on the flip side.”
He grinned at her as he backed away. “Have fun coming back to life.”
She winked at him as she hurried up the stairs while he disappeared around the side of the building.
Her heart hammered against her ribs as she tugged open the tall wooden door and slid into the space.
“There’s something I really need to say,” Chris said, his voice echoing off the walls as he spoke into the microphone. “And I have the right to stand up here and remember Ava–”
“But you don’t,” Alex said as he desperately tried to push the man away from the microphone.
Kyle approached him from the opposite side. “Look, buddy, now’s not the time. Obviously, you have some memories of her, but I really don’t think Alex wants them shared right now.”
“Definitely not,” Alex said with a shake of his head.
Julia and Grant stood as more people tried to come to Alex’s aid.
“But I have something to say about Ava’s death.”
“Impossible!” Ava shouted as she strode up the aisle, her hood still covering her hair.
Heads twisted toward her, and she tugged the hood off as she spotted Sebastian’s face appear from a doorway near the back of the altar.
Eyes widened, jaws dropped, and Ava smirked. “Because Ava isn’t dead.”
She dramatically took a spot in front of the coffin and her picture, stretching her hands to the sides.
She heard Chris’s expression of shock cut off abruptly, but she worked to keep everyone’s eyes on her until Sebastian could drag him away.
Gasps went up among the funeral-goers. Julia gripped the wooden railing in front of her as she stared with disbelief at Ava. “Ava?”
“OMG!” Sierra shouted. “You’re alive! How?”
“Sierra!” Grant hissed.
“Daddy, this is more insane than a telenovela! I need answers,” Sierra said with her hands on her hips.
Grant held up a hand, quieting her as Kyle spoke into the microphone. “Ugh, folks, obviously there’s been some sort of…crazy thing that’s happened. And the family will need some time to process this. So, we’d like to thank you for coming but…the funeral is over.”
People sat stunned in their pews until a few of them rose and began to shuffle down the aisle, shooting glances over their shoulder at Ava as she stood at the front of the church.
Alex approached her, sliding an arm around her as the others gathered closer. “Well, that was an unexpected turn of events.”
“Yeah, Ava, some warning would have been nice,” Kyle said as he approached them.
“Wait…” Julia flicked her gaze between Alex and Kyle. “Why do you two not seem surprised.”
“I’m surprised,” Kyle said with a shrug. “Shocked. OMG, Ava! You’re alive.”
Julia’s features turned unimpressed. “You’re lying.”
“He is,” Ava said. “They’ve both known I didn’t die since shortly after the plane crash. We couldn’t let that get out. I’m not even certain now was a good time, but we didn’t have any other choice.”
“No other choice?” Grant asked.
“We needed to grab Chris before he did something really stupid. That was after we took out the assassin in the bell tower.”
Sierra’s eyes widened. “The what now?”
“Yeah. Things with The Board are heating up,” Ava said with a shake of her head. “And if we don’t make some bold moves soon, I think they’re going to eat us alive.”
Ava took Julia’s hand in hers. “Thanks for taking care of Alex while I was gone. I really appreciate what you all have done, but now, I think it may be time for you to head back to Atlanta. I don’t want you to become collateral damage.”
Julia shook her head, her expression hardening with resolve.
“No, Ava. You’re not sending us away like this.
We’ve been through too much together. You nearly died.
I can’t, in good conscience, leave you and Alex to face this alone.
We’re stronger together. I won’t be on the sidelines while my best friend fights for her life. ”
“I know. And I don’t want that happening to any of you. Sierra’s already been shot once. I do not want anyone’s blood on our hands.”
“Wait, wait,” Kyle said, “to be clear…this is just for those Harringtons, right? Like I’m good to stay, right?”
“Of course, Doc. We couldn’t do this without you,” Ava said with a smile.
“Then we’re all staying. Ava, you can’t do this alone.”
Ava twisted to face her friend. “We’re not. We have help. But yours is appreciated to.”
“Raven?” Grant asked.
Ava bobbed her head. “Who is actually Sebastian Bancroft.”
“What?” Sierra’s eyes went wide again. “That’s insane!”
“If you’re in, we meet him tonight at the Beach Comber. It’s time we came up with a plan to take these people down once and for all.” Ava eyed the group. “Time to fight back against The Board.”