Chapter 2
AVA
Ava stared at the picture on her phone for another second, her mind whirling as she considered their first assignment from the shadowy entity who called themselves Raven. A second later, she pulled her laptop onto her lap and opened it, navigating to a website.
Next to her, Gizmo tottered across the cushion, sniffing as he went.
“Hey, you,” she said, leaning over to collect the tiny puppy. “Where are you going?”
She scooped him up from the sofa, holding him close to her and kissing his head, a brief escape from the fear that clawed at her thoughts about Raven’s dangerous games. “Don’t pee on Alex’s couch.”
“Hey,” Alex said as he wandered into the room. “I don’t like to hear that.”
“I got him before he did anything naughty,” she promised as she scrolled through the website.
“Not that,” Alex said as he leaned over the back of the couch, pressing his cheek against hers as he scanned her screen. “You said Alex’s couch, but this is our couch.”
She twisted to kiss his cheek. “Oh, right. Our house, our couch, our puppy.”
“You always were smart, Ava.” He skirted the couch and plopped down next to her. “This doesn’t look like our first assignment from Raven.”
“No, it’s way more important,” she answered as he lifted the puppy from her and slid his arm around her.
“Oh, right,” he said. “I can see that. It’s way more important to get Gizmo a hoodie that says I’m Paw-sitively Adorable.”
“Yep,” she answered as she added to her cart. “I already got him a sweatsuit that says Spoiled Rotten.”
“Don’t forget a light tee for those warm days.”
“Oh, good idea, Ace. Good thing you’re smart, too.”
“I know. Gizmo, you have the smartest parents in the world,” Alex said to the tiny dog, who licked his cheek.
Ava added a few more things to the cart before she finished the purchase and closed her laptop, cuddling closer to Alex as she scratched their dog under the chin. “I really love him.”
Alex squeezed her shoulder before he kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad you do.”
“We should take him for a walk.”
“Okay,” he answered. “We can discuss our next steps, too.”
“With Raven?” she asked as she climbed from the couch to retrieve the harness and leash.
“And that flash drive. With everything going on…with us,” Alex said, his voice tinged with unease, “we never actually discussed that.”
“Right,” Ava answered as she slipped the harness onto the tiny dog’s frame. “Did you get it decrypted?”
Alex shoved his hands into his pockets, his shoulders rising toward his ears. “Not even close.”
Ava shot him a glance as she clicked the harness closed and snapped on the leash. “That doesn’t sound like you. Didn’t Chris and I argue long enough?”
“Very funny, Ava,” he answered as she rose with the dog in her arms.
They left the house behind, making their way onto the soft, sun-warmed sand that stretched invitingly before them. The rhythmic crash of waves mingled with the cry of distant seagulls, the salty breeze rustling Ava’s hair.
Alex slid his arm around her as they walked closer to the water’s edge. “What a difference a few days makes, huh?”
She snapped her gaze up to him as Gizmo sniffed at a seashell.
“Just a few days ago, we were walking this beach as just friends.”
She smiled at him before she brushed his lips with hers. “Because you were keeping secrets.”
“Sorry,” he answered, color rising in his cheeks. “I just…it still feels a little weird, sometimes, to not be keeping secrets.”
“Weird bad?”
He cocked his head at her and raised his eyebrows. “What do you think?”
“Just checking,” she said with a giggle as she tugged on Gizmo’s leash lightly to encourage him to continue forward.
“You are really determined to try to convince yourself that my feelings are shallow, huh?” Alex’s voice held a hint of teasing underlaid with a seriousness that spoke of the many nights spent worrying.
Her hand found his, lacing her fingers through his. “No. Because I was serious when I said I can’t lose you.”
“I was serious when I said you weren’t going to. I feel the same way, Sparky. I couldn’t fathom losing you either. Every time you said those words to Chris, every time you…”
She wrinkled her nose, groaning. “Ugh, that must have been torture.”
“Yes, it was,” he admitted. “It was…terrifying to think you were going to walk away from me, especially when he started to insist that you stop being involved with anything even remotely related to me.”
She squeezed his hand. “Never going to happen, Ace. You’re stuck with me.”
“Good,” he said. “I’m holding you to that.”
Ava scooped up the small dog, slipping her arm around Alex’s waist as his fell around her shoulders. “Now, what’s this about the great Alex Stone not decrypting a simple flash drive?”
“It’s surprisingly not simple,” Alex answered as the salty sea breeze ruffled her hair.
“Heavy encryption.”
“Insanely.” He blew out a long sigh. “It’s going to take a lot to decrypt that.”
“Wow, she’s really serious about her grandma’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, huh?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I think it may be something way bigger than that, Sparky. The file names are…intriguing.”
“Ohhhh,” she murmured. “What are they?”
“One was called Asset Ledger. Another one was Board Profiles.”
She flicked her eyebrows up. “Both could provide a wealth of information.”
“I agree. If I can get them decrypted.”
“If?” Ava asked with a chuckle. “Is this Alex Stone uncertain about undoing someone else’s technology?”
“No,” he answered. “Let me rephrase. If I can get them decrypted in a reasonable amount of time.”
They strolled further down the beach, the warm sand tickling her bare feet.
“That sounds more like it,” she said with a grin. “Okay, so, what can I do to help?”
“Oh, um, I really do enjoy those shoulder massages while you whisper how great I am in my ear.”
“Done,” she said as she laid her head against his shoulder.
“But,” he said before heaving a sigh, “you have some research to do, too.”
“Yeah, on Vivienne and Theodore Bancroft.”
“And you need to do that while I work on the USB Raven doesn’t know we have. Let’s keep that detail between us, shall we?”
“Yes,” she said with a nod. “I don’t trust Raven yet. But we’ll do a little digging and see what we can find on these Bancroft people. Do you know them?”
“Uh, yeah, everyone in the Hamptons knows them. They throw the biggest parties around. She’s the trendsetter, big on charity events. He owns a big-time investment firm that he inherited from his daddy. I think she’s his…fourth wife, but I could be wrong.”
“Hmm, what happened to the first three?” Ava asked.
“No idea. I don’t know them very well. I never go to their parties.”
Ava’s brow furrowed as they strolled along, the surf lapping at the sand just feet from them. “Do you still get invited to the parties?”
“Every year. This year it’s a masquerade ball. The Liberty Masquerade.” Alex rolled his eyes.
“You didn’t decline yet, did you?”
His features squashed. “I never RSVP. I just…don’t go.”
“Well, this year, Alex Stone is going to make his Hamptons debut. We need answers. And to get them, we need to get friendlier with them. Keep tabs on them.”
“Ugh, wait, I didn’t know this was going to require social interaction.”
“Come on, Ace. Don’t you want to take some nice selfies to make Chris mad?” She chuckled as she playfully elbowed him in the ribs.
“We could take those at home. Gaming with hashtag wifey.”
“Ouch—that would really burn him, yeah, but think of this,” she said as she swept a hand in the sky, “Liberty Masquerade with hashtag wifey.”
“Oh, well, when you put it that way…Liberty Masquerade, here we come.”
She giggled as she stroked Gizmo’s head. “Well, we have a few weeks to plan at least. You can build up to the social interaction.”
“I’ll need to. It’ll also give us a little bit of time to learn a little more about them.”
“You mean for me to learn more about them because you need to work on that USB drive.”
“And spend lots of time with my wife and our new puppy.”
Ava smiled up at him, her heart as warm as the sun that shined down on them. “Should we head back?”
“Do we have to?”
“No,” she answered with a shrug. “We can spend as much time out here as you want. I wonder what our timetable is with Raven. Maybe I should answer to let them know we’re working on it and try to elicit some information.”
“Mmm, you can try. Raven doesn’t exactly seem forthcoming.”
“What gave that away? Was it the high-speed car chase? Or the weird pen name Raven uses?”
He screwed up his face. “Don’t remind me of the car chase thing. I’m still not over it.”
“Hey, I think I did pretty good, Ace. I’m a good driver.”
“I never said you were a bad driver, but you’ve always liked to drive faster than me.”
She chuckled as she patted his chest. “Everyone drives faster than you.”
“That’s not true. When my grandma was alive, she drove slower than me.”
“But now that she’s passed away, you are the world’s slowest driver.”
“You’re going to thank me for that one day.” He heaved a sigh, slowing to a stop as they stared out over the waves. “But you’re right. We probably should get back. All this walking has got my mind stirred up on how to attack this encryption.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “So, this entire time, you’ve been thinking about your encryption, huh?”
“And you. Because I’m talented. I’m always thinking about you.”
“You’re such a flirt.”
“Only with you, Sparky.” He kissed her forehead as he turned them back toward their home.
After letting the little dog walk more, they returned to the house, settling onto the couch with their laptops.
As Alex clacked his keys, Ava typed a return message to Raven. Anything specific I should pay attention to? And what’s our next move after this?
“Sent?” Alex asked, his eyes never leaving his screen.
“Yep,” she said as Gizmo nestled between the two of them for a nap. “We’ll see if that brings us anything.”
“I’ll be surprised. Raven is annoyingly tight-lipped.”