4. Ava
4
Ava
M y fingers gripped the steering wheel as I drove back to Elmgrove, with Aria's words rippling through my head.
Start at the beginning.
It wouldn't be so easy, but desperation clawed at me with every ticking moment the deadline drew closer. And then there was Whitney's intense stare through her office windows overlooking the floor.
Adrenaline surged as I flicked my turn signal on and parked in the same space I had four nights ago.
My ponytail slapped against my cheek as I checked my blind spot, opened the door, and stepped out.
The quiet neighborhood hung with an ominous presence in the darkness, but during the day, it held an aura of rundown normality.
Wispy, overgrown grass hid the lower half of a soccer ball nestled in the front yard of a dilapidated home covered in vines and chipped, light blue paint.
Kids played in the streets with a singular basketball hoop on one side, their laughter and shouts spreading warmth throughout.
I stared at the kids of about nine to ten years of age, smiling as they dodged one another, the kid with the ball tossing it into the air and sinking it into the basket.
Cheers erupted from the girls sitting along the curb, their hands high in the air as they clapped.
My gaze shifted to the home with a broken door and tire marks in the front yard. A few days ago, someone sold drugs out of that home, not one hundred feet from those children.
The muscles in my jaw clenched tight, grinding my molars together.
Was this what my source wanted me to know?
I walked down the cracked sidewalk, passing by older houses with faded paint and dinging windchimes.
Smoke filled the air with the scent of grilling meats, the sweet aroma causing my mouth to water.
"Hi, kids."
I waved as I walked by, their eyes jumping up to meet mine as though I were the intruder I was.
A younger girl with braided pigtails waved with a large smile. An older girl scowled at her and grabbed her arm, her narrowed eyes cast towards me as she chastised the girl.
Oops.
Stranger danger.
A few homes down, an older woman sat on her porch across the street from the ransacked home, her eyes overlooking the children as she flipped through a magazine in her lap.
My feet picked up pace until I reached the bottom of her wooden porch. "Good afternoon, ma'am. How are you?"
"I'm not interested in whatever you're selling, and I already know all about Our Lord and Savior."
The older woman raised the cooking magazine she had in her hands, hiding her round, weathered face.
"Oh, I'm not selling anything." I dug into my pocket and flashed her my credentials. "I'm Ava, I work for The Riverfield Chronicle ."
The woman peeked over her magazine, and a soft smile appeared as she lowered it. "Sorry. We have people coming through here selling us rug cleaner and solar on a daily basis as though we could afford such a thing here."
"I understand." I twisted my lips into a smile.
"People don't care about our little part of the city.” Her fingers traced the cover of the magazine resting in her lap. “What are you reporting on?"
I pointed to the house across the street. "I was here four nights ago when the police came to that house and arrested some men." I paused and squinted as I glanced across the street. "I was hoping you might shine some light on the situation."
Her brows crinkled together, accentuating the deep-set wrinkles on her forehead. "Like what?"
I pulled out my mini notebook. "Have you noticed any suspicious activities or behaviors around the house or neighborhood?
Her gray hair swayed around her shoulder, and she bobbed her head. "You see where we live." Her hand gestured to the surrounding area. "Everything is suspicious."
I rolled my lips as I scribbled on my paper. "What about someone out of place? Someone who you hadn't seen before?"
She barked out a laugh. "They were drug dealers. We didn't recognize half of the vehicles or people walking up and down this street."
My nostrils flared as I inhaled a breath, my questions running into a sturdy wall.
Dammit.
"So you knew they were drug dealers?"
She laughed. "Honey, of course we did. There isn't much going on in this neighborhood that doesn't get noted."
"But—"
"For instance." She pointed behind me. "This black SUV."
My gaze darted over my shoulder.
A blacked-out SUV drove down the road, parting the children like Moses to the Red Sea.
"It cruises down this street three times a week. It's got no plates, and it doesn't stop."
The SUV turned down the next left-hand street and disappeared as it passed the second house.
"You don't call it in?"
"Pfft." Her brows furrowed tighter. "The police don't care about us." She shrugged. "Besides, he don't do any harm, so why bother?"
"What if he's up to no good, though? He could be scoping out a place to rob or worse."
She raised a brow and leaned forward. "You're not from around here, so I'll give you a little grace." She pointed toward the street the SUV drove down. "People in vehicles like that don't need to rob people like us. They already do that in the form of taxes and policy making."
I frowned and reared back, my inner lip slipping between my canines. "Wait…"
She leaned back into her seat with a slow nod.
"You think that's a government vehicle?"
Her left shoulder raised to her ear. "It's possible. Now go on." She flicked her wrist at me. "I'm five pages into finding a new recipe."
She raised her magazine up between us.
"Thank you for your time, miss…"
" MhhHmm. "
Tucking my notes back into my pocket, I turned my back to her and walked towards my vehicle.
A government official pacing the streets?
Why?
What are they hoping to find?
My brows pulled together as I walked past the children.
But if he was, then why blow the whistle on this?
Wasn't busting drug rings a good thing?
Slipping into my car, I exhaled a deep breath and paused, my eyes following the black SUV as it turned off the block and headed in the same direction my car faced.
My heart rate ramped up, the keys in my hand jiggling and scraping the ignition box as I searched for the slot while keeping my eyes on the vehicle. "Come on. Come on." My throat vibrated as I slipped the key in and twisted, firing up the engine.
Throwing the vehicle into drive, I pulled onto the street.
HOOOONK!
Shit.
I slammed on the brakes as a car veered around my front bumper, the passenger flipping me the middle finger.
"Sorry." I put my hand up and waved as I winced. "Sorry."
Checking my blind spot, I slipped between two vehicles, pacing a semi's length apart, and swerved the car to the left, allowing for a clear visual of the vehicles ahead.
"Gotcha."
Where are you going?
And who are you?
Could this be my source?
I kept my car behind three vehicles until the SUV turned right onto the freeway, giving me more leeway to keep a safer, unnoticeable distance.
The SUV dodged into the fast lane, taking three lanes at one time, their foot settled on the gas as though they'd been spooked.
My heart ramped up as I switched lanes, my speed ticking past the legal limit.
Slow down.
My steering wheel shook as I hit ten over, and the vehicle swayed. Butterflies hit my belly as my hands gripped the wheel, my knuckles white and stiff.
Six cars ahead, the SUV darted around a slow-moving truck, then tucked back into the fast lane, their taillights becoming pinpricks in my vision.
Riiiiinnnng.
My foot let up as I reached for my phone, the corner getting stuck on the fabric as I tugged.
" Ugh, come on." I tugged harder, my breaths quickening.
The phone jerked forward and flew towards the dash, smashing my screen. Tiny spiderweb-like cracks spread across the glass, turning the corner of it black and an oily shade of blue.
"Are you kidding me right now?"
I removed my foot from the gas, my phone ringing on the floorboards.
Hoooooonnnnnkk.
"Alright, alright."
I flipped my blinker on and moved to the right, taking the next exit with an exasperated huff.
"Great job, Ava."
I wrinkled my nose, yanking the car to the side of the road. The seatbelt dug into my shoulder as I fumbled for my phone—my only lead… gone.
"Yeah?" I pressed the speaker button.
"I heard you were looking for a good time." The male laughed, grating on my nerves.
“Making obscene and lewd calls is illegal in this state, buddy.” I ended the call, and it rang again.
“Hello?” I hit the speaker, my stomach roiling.
“Saw your post. When do you want to meet up?”
“What post?” I frowned. “Who is this?”
“MeetPoint. The forum.”
“I never made a post, and you better let your asshole friends know that.” I hung it up and tossed it onto the seat beside me, my head hitting the headrest. Closing my eyes, I inhaled a deep breath through my nose and counted to four before releasing it.
What the hell is going on?
My sweat-slicked hand slid down the steering wheel and flicked the turn signal—my phone ringing like a death toll.
Pulling out onto the road, I made my way back to my safe haven, ignoring the obnoxious piece of technology as it rang on repeat.
“Earth to Ava…”
"What?" I tore my eyes from my computer screen, snapping out of my hours-long daze.
Aria stood at my cubicle with her arms crossed over her chest. "I said, I'm going home."
"Oh. Alright." I waved her off. "I'll just be here refreshing my email, hoping my FOIA comes through. I'll see you tomorrow."
"You put a Freedom of Information request in?" She raised a brow.
"Yeah. I'm hoping the DEA or any other agency will give me something I can work with."
"You'll grow gray hair by the time they complete that request."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." My lips curled into a smile and she laughed.
"I swear you're more married to this work than I am."
I licked my parted lips and twisted my chair. "You're not wrong." My pen hit the corner of my mouth, and I bit down as my silent phone’s shattered screen lit up.
“Are you going to get that?”
“No.” I bit the pen harder. “Someone put my number on some hookup site, and it hasn’t stopped ringing for the better part of three hours.”
“Wow. Did they tell you what site?”
I nodded. “I’m waiting for the company to respond to my email.”
Aria shook her head and sighed as I refreshed my email again. "If you're going to hemorrhage so much money in rent, you should at least make the most of the place. I can't stand staying here."
I let out a dry laugh. "That's because you have Henry." And a three-story home with a reading nook.
The smile slipped from her face. "It's not all rainbows and sunshine, you know."
I dropped my pen on the desk. "Is everything okay? Do you want to talk about it?"
She swallowed and plastered a fake smile on her face as she shook her head—my phone lighting up again. "It's nothing. Just…just don't let your work consume everything you have." Aria turned as I flipped my screen over. "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yep." I stared at her back as she made her way towards the exit. When the door shut behind, I turned back to my computer and hit the refresh icon, then groaned.
Why is it always hurry up and wait with the government?
Light spilled out of Whitney's office, and a few stragglers hung around their desks, their keyboards clacking and mice clicking.
Are they looking into police reports and arrest records like me?
Sucking in a deep breath, I powered down my computer and gathered my things before forcing myself out of the office and toward home.
I stepped into the shadowed maw of my apartment building, the chill of the hallway wrapping around me as I drifted past the closed doors of other units where snippets of life leaked out.
Children's laughter, high-pitched and infectious, danced on the walls.
Beneath that, the low murmur of adult voices and televisions blaring the news or sitcoms.
The noise told a simple story of life.
A life I didn't have…