31. Ava
31
Ava
" T here. I think that's it."
The return key clicked under my finger, and I settled into the chair I’d paid way too much cash to sit in. It creaked beneath me, worn down by years of too many travelers. I scanned the screen, the black text glaring back at me as the cursor blinked, taunting me. Pressure pounded behind my eyes, forcing me to lean back—my gaze locked onto the bedspread.
Uninspiring floral print blurred in and out of focus as I pulled my thoughts together. A sharp tang of bleach hung in the air, stinging my nose as if the room itself had been scrubbed raw, the scent clinging to every corner. My hands spread out across the pressed, wooden desk, crammed against the window with its blinds that didn’t close all the way.
It wasn’t much, but it was quiet.
And quiet was enough for now.
A slow breath escaped as I stretched my stiff back.
Threads tangled and twisted in my head, knots tightening as I attempted to pull them apart. The mess on my screen mirrored the chaos in my mind—files jumbled together, screenshots half-forgotten, snippets of conversations staring back at me without answers.
The pieces refused to fit.
Each reshuffle twisted the fragments further, the picture evading me like smoke slipping through my fingers.
I pressed my fingers to my temples and rubbed. "Focus."
What's the story here?
And who do I trust to get it out?
Whitney sure as hell wasn’t an option. Opportunist to her core, she’d shoved me under the bus for a quick paycheck and a pat on the back. Once was enough to teach me everything I needed to know about where her loyalties lay—and it sure wasn’t with me.
But who else?
Where the hell did Keith Brentwood go?
The laptop screen dimmed as the power-saving mode took over, stealing what little energy I had left. I reached forward and brushed the touchpad, snapping it back to life.
Groaning, I pushed the chair back and stood, stretching my arms above my head—my muscles protesting more than my mind when I'd dropped the cash for the motel room.
But at least I could stand upright without my vertebrae threatening to snap in half.
Grabbing a towel from the top of my head, I stepped into the small bathroom, the linoleum cool under my socked feet.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Each knock hit like a gunshot, shattering the fragile silence—too slow to be casual, too precise to be an accident.
My throat tightened as the hair on my arms stood on end, and the towel slipped from my fingertips.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Who's that?
That was my door, right?
Air came in shallow bursts, clawing its way into my lungs.
My feet rooted themselves to the linoleum as I gazed at the locked door.
They couldn’t know I was here.
No one could.
I’d been careful—so damn careful.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The vibration rattled the thin wood like an accusation.
"Ava."
His voice cut through, muffled but razor-edged, and my soul chilled.
"Open the door."
The room spun, my stomach lurching. Blood roared in my ears, drowning out everything but that voice.
That goddamned voice.
My pulse spiked, the fight-or-flight instinct roaring to life. I ripped the lamp's cord from the wall and inched toward the door.
“Ava.” Nate’s voice cut through the door. “I know you’re in there.”
I held the lamp over my head, every muscle in my body locking tight.
“You can open the door.” He cleared his throat. “Or I can break it down. Your choice.”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry as sandpaper. "What guarantees do I have?"
"Please, Ava. I've been looking all over for you for nearly two days now."
"I'm calling the police."
He scoffed a laugh. "You think they're on your side?"
My chin quivered as I glanced around.
There's nowhere to go.
I'm trapped like a caged animal.
"I'll take my chances."
"Ava, I'm not here to hurt you, so please open the door."
My thoughts raced, colliding with each other like bumper cars.
Open the door?
Let him in?
Call the police?
What if he was right?
Liam was an hour away.
My eyes darted toward the window above the desk, which led out to the parking lot, right where he stood.
"What do you want with me?"
I dug into my bag and pulled out the taser, along with the small can of mace I'd bought at the truck stop, and put them on the desk.
No place to go.
No escape.
I put the lamp down, grabbed the hard plastic handled taser, then slid the chain free and opened the door.
Nate stood on the long sidewalk running perpendicular to the rooms, a key dangling from his fingertips.
"You had the key the whole time?" I frowned as I backed up. "Why didn't you just come in, then?"
He stepped inside, his hand slipping to his waist. "I wanted you to make the right decision on your own." His brow raised as his gaze fell to the taser held out in front of me.
“Put it down, Ava.” He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “You’ll hurt yourself before you hurt me.”
"You're already injured." I glanced at his hand covering his wound. "I bet I could do some damage."
“Look." He held up his hand in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt you, Ava. I want to talk.”
“Talk?” I spat, the word bitter on my tongue. “You had plenty of time to talk while you were spying on me.”
His jaw tightened, a shadow flickering behind his eyes. “Things have changed.”
"You put cameras in my home."
He's here.
Alive.
He survived the death that was intended for me...
"I didn't want you to find out, not like this, Ava."
I scoffed, shaking my head. "And what other way would you have wanted me to find out that you were planted into my life, watching over me twenty-four-seven, lying to my face..."
My stomach swirled.
"I let you in my house." I pressed my hand to my chest. "I let you in my bed." Tears welled in my eyes. "Do you know how much—"
"Yes, I do." His eyes softened. "Just because you were my target doesn't mean you didn't mean anything to me."
I laughed, my heart wringing dry like a sponge. "Don't give me that bullshit." He took a step closer and I waved the taser. "No. Don't you dare come any closer."
"Alright." He nodded, glanced at the chair next to the desk, then back at me. "May I sit? I haven't had the best couple of days." He pulled the leather jacket to the side, revealing the white bandaging through the gaping hole in his shirt.
Motioning with the taser, he moved toward the seat and sat down with a wince scrunching his face.
He almost died.
Because of me.
"Nate. They didn't find the body—"
"Don't worry about it, Ava. I did what had to be done." He leaned back, tipping his head, his limbs relaxing one at a time with a slight exhale.
"But—"
"Please. Give me a minute."
The taser trembled in my hand —his breaths raspy as he'd pieced himself together with frayed threads. Sweat glistened on his face, carving shiny streaks across his pale skin. My jaw locked, teeth grinding as I wrestled down the unease coiling tight in my chest. "You look like you're seconds from hitting the floor."
"It wouldn't be the first time."
I backed up toward the fridge, keeping my eyes locked on him, and tugged the door open. Cool air wafted against my face, and my hand shot out for the nearest bottle, the chill biting into my palm. Slamming the door shut with my foot, I stepped forward on shaking knees, then pushed the bottle across the desk toward him. "Drink." I took a quick step back the moment he reached for it. "You’re no use to me unconscious."
"So you're saying you need me?" He unscrewed the cap and raised it to his lips, pausing long enough to let a smirk tug at the corner of his mouth.
"Don't get your hopes up." I backed up to the wall across from him and leaned against it. "You still have lots to answer for." The jagged words spilled into the space between us.
His eyes cut to the computer screen, a flicker of something cold and unyielding beneath the surface. His jaw tightened, hard enough to make the muscles pop. The weight of his focus pressed down like a loaded weapon. “I don’t have time for twenty questions.” He shifted back to me. “And you? You’re out of time.”
“Then what did you come here for?” I crossed my arms over my chest. "Because whatever it is, I’m not doing it."
"How do you think I found you?"
I shook my head. "I don't know, Nate . How did you find me?" Narrowing my eyes, I leaned forward. "If that even is your real name."
Nate exhaled through his flared nostrils. "Here's what's going to happen—"
I rolled my eyes. "Here we go."
"Listen, because we don't have time for this bullshit." He stood and closed the laptop. "You are going to pack everything up, make sure you don't leave a trace behind for them to find, and then you're going to follow me out to my car."
"No."
"No?" He raised a brow.
"That's what I said." I raised the taser.
"Ava..."
"Nate."
"Don't make this more difficult than it already is." He stepped forward, dragging his finger along the desk. "Because you know what I'm capable of."
I snorted. "I watched that man get the upper hand. If he can, so can—"
"He's a dead professional assassin." Nate cocked his head to the side. "Do you really think you stand a chance?"
"Stay away from me." I waved the taser, my grip tightening, causing my knuckles to turn white. The hard plastic bit into my palm. My blood raced with adrenaline. "I'm warning you."
"It's for your safety." Nate glanced down at the tip of the desk where his finger rested, then back up at me with a dark haze. He darted forward in a flash, closing the space between us with the precision of a predator despite his wound.
Oh shit.
My thumb mashed down on the taser’s button, the device sparking to life as his toes met mine. His arms wrapped around me. The taser hissed and spat as arcs of electricity leapt from the prongs, sinking into his side with a sharp crack-crack that sliced through the air.
His body jolted, and a guttural cry tore from his throat.
My heart twisted into pieces as his limbs locked up around me, his jaw clenched tight, his eyes cast toward the ceiling. The blood vessels in his neck and temples bulged.
I released the trigger, and he let loose a breath of air, his hand whipping around and lashing around my wrist.
"What?" My mouth gaped. "How? You were supposed to pass out." My pulse roared in my ears, and my stomach twisted into knots.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
He was supposed to hit the floor.
Nate straightened, his menacing gaze fixed on mine.
Sweat beaded on his forehead, sliding down the curve of his clenched jaw. Tension rippled through his body, shoulders squared like a predator stalking prey. "That only works in the movies." He held my hand to the side and yanked the device from my fingertips. "In real life, it just pisses me off."
With an ironclad grip, he twisted me around in one swift motion, my shoulder screaming from the stretch as he forced my arm behind my back.
He pressed my cheek against the paper wall and grabbed my other arm, yanking it behind my back. "Sweet Ava, "for your safety" is code for "I’m not letting you go."
Ziiiippp.
The cables tightened around my wrists, locking them into place, my breathing hitched. Plastic bit into my skin, my teeth grinding against one another.
"Nate, don't do this."
His breath ghosted over my ear, the heat of it contrasting with the chill spreading through my veins. "You forced my hand." His heat radiated across my back, his hips pressed against my ass. "Now, we’re doing this my way."
He released me, and I spun around, facing him. "You're a fucking dick."
"I've been called worse." He dragged the desk chair toward me, its legs screeching on the linoleum. "Sit."
I glanced at the door, then to the seat, my knees damn near buckling.
He leaned on the chair's back, knuckles white as he gestured again. "Now."
I eased myself into the chair, its edge digging into the back of my thighs like the hard, cold verdict of my situation.
Nate moved through the room, gathering my belongings with a determined focus I'd never seen him muster. He swept my laptop into the bag, then disappeared into the bathroom, his eyes staying locked on me through the mirror.
"So what's the plan now, genius?"
He walked out of the bathroom with a slight hitch in his breath, dropping my things onto the bed, he pressed his hand to his side, then pulled them away.
Blood darkened the tips of his fingers.
Shit.
White hot guilt flared in a sharp, tangled web.
My hands twitched behind me, pulling at the waistband of my jeans—my eyes burning.
I did that to him.
I swallowed a lump in my throat as his menacing stare turned back to me.
Nate walked back into the bathroom, his step faltering, causing my stomach to twist and my body to jerk toward him as he caught himself on the wall.
He shucked his jacket off, draping it over the bathroom counter, then lifted his shirt and peeled back the blood-soaked bandage.
I grimaced, our eyes meeting in the mirror.
He deserved this.
After everything he's done to me.
The lies.
Deceit.
He's the enemy.
I rounded my shoulders and raised my chin.
"You can stop glaring." He pressed the soaked bandage against his skin and lowered his shirt, then grabbed his jack and swung it over his shoulders with a wince. "It’s not going to change a damn thing."
"Too bad. I was kinda hoping you'd drop dead."
"Maybe another time, sweetheart." He stopped at the bed and zipped the bag, then shouldered it—the muscles in his jaw clenching. "Get up." I turned my head away from him in stubborn defiance.
His hand wrapped around my upper arm, and he hauled me to my feet. "Petulant child," he grunted.
I stumbled. "If being a child means that I'm not going to allow you to cart me off to my death without issue, then fine. I'll be that brat you think I am."
He steered me toward the door, his fingertips digging into my tender flesh as he opened the motel door. "If you cause a scene, I won't hesitate to eliminate anyone who comes to your aid. Keep that in mind."
His eyes darted around the parking lot, always on the lookout.
"Where are we going?"
Nate led me towards my car, his lips pursed, his jaw ticking as we stepped off the curb and rounded the front of the car. He opened my passenger door and dropped me inside.
"We’ll need to ditch this."
"Oh, and what? Steal another?" I adjusted my numb fingers behind me as he leaned in and buckled me. "How very noble of you."
He shot me a look and then slammed the door shut, leaving me caged in the suffocating quiet of my own thoughts.
Nate stood by the door, his head tipped toward the dark, star-riddled sky.