Chapter 4
AVA
Ava cuddled Gizmo under her arm as she stepped out into the bright New Orleans sunshine. Two cars sat at the ready nearby.
Ava slid on her sunglasses as she stepped toward them.
“Mr. Stone,” one of the drivers said, “I’m James. Mrs. Harrington sent me to drive you to Harrington House.”
“Right. Just a second,” Alex answered before he caught Ava’s arm. “Hey, I don’t like this at all.”
“I’m not thrilled either, Alex, but we need some information.”
He shook his head. “Splitting up is never a good idea.”
“We don’t have much choice. Julia needs your help. And we need to figure out how I can infiltrate this hotel room. I’m just going to take a look around the hotel. I’ll be fine.”
He huffed out a sigh with a shake of his head. “You’d better be.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Yes,” he said, his voice still serious. “It is a threat, Ava. I am not ready to lose you. Not after I just…you know.”
She grinned at him. “I’ll be careful. Just a little reconnaissance, and then I’ll go straight to our hotel. I promise.”
“Don’t do anything until we’ve talked, okay?”
“What am I going to do? Break into his room with Giz?” She lifted the puppy higher and kissed his head.
“Just…behave until I can handle this situation with Sunshine, all right?”
She slid a hand onto his arm, giving it a light squeeze. “Hey, I’ll be okay. I can take care of myself, remember?”
“I know you can. You did it quite well when we had to rescue Chris. But I don’t want you involved in anything dangerous.”
She furrowed her brow, offering him a dubious glance. “Kind of a little late for that, Ace. We’re pretty involved in danger at this point.”
“And I’m doing my best to make sure you stay safe. Don’t make my job harder than it already is.”
“I won’t. I promise,” she said. “Hey, tell Julia I said hello. Maybe we can get together while we’re here. I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“I will. And don’t think you’re going to get off that easy,” he answered, his grip on her still firm. “No crazy stuff at the Crescent Bay. A quick look around, snap a few photos, straight to our suite. We’ll figure out our plan as soon as I’m back.”
“Okay,” she said with a nod. “Have fun being a tech genius.”
She planted a kiss on his cheek before she stepped toward the car. “Try not to hack their phones for fun.”
“Come on, I need to show my skills somehow,” he called as she shot him a grin and climbed into the air-conditioned vehicle.
He slid into the backseat of the other car and the cars pulled in opposite directions. She peered through the back window, waving as they separated, her heart already feeling overwhelmed by the distance between them.
Things felt calmer with Alex at her side, despite her trepidation about their relationship. She shifted in her seat, eyeing the road ahead of them.
Alex had spent a lot of time assuring her that they’d be fine, and she desperately wanted to believe him, but her mind continued to taunt her.
She’d never had good relationships. Was it because she’d always been in the wrong ones like Alex said?
She’d certainly always felt comfortable with him, whether she was in sweats or a ball gown, he made her feel beautiful. Baring her soul to him had always been easy. He was her best friend.
But what if their relationship as more than friends cost her his friendship? She couldn’t bear a world without Alex.
And because of her recent disaster with Chris, she hadn’t been able to say the words she was certain he most desperately wanted to hear. She’d not uttered the l-word yet, feeling odd having just said it to Chris less than two days ago.
The painful echoes of their breakup still lingered, mingling with her newfound happiness with Alex. Each step felt like walking a tightrope between past heartaches and present fears. Was it simply her choices or the people she chose?
Ava chewed her lower lip, her mind going over every detail of the life-changing last few days. From Alex’s admission to the little dog in her arms, her life had undergone a major change.
She’d agreed to stay, but she hadn’t even discussed what to do with her house in Silver Pine. She drummed her fingers against the armrest, considering putting it on the market.
Why did that idea make her nervous? Was it giving up her independence or fear that things wouldn’t work out and she’d have nowhere to go?
She chewed her thumbnail as the city’s buildings filled in around her. No matter how many times Alex reassured her, that gnawing feeling that she’d ruin their relationship ate away at her.
She forced aside the doubts ravaging her to focus on the task at hand. She needed information on how she could possibly pull off this task.
With access needed to Benjamin’s briefcase and his laptop, she almost had to break in while he was there. Which meant finding a way into his room while he was there.
The car rolled to a stop outside of the Crescent Bay Hotel, and the driver hurried to open the door for her.
“Thanks. I won’t be long,” she said as she collected her puppy and climbed the stairs, pushing into the hotel lobby.
A whirl of activity filled the hotel’s lobby, with the clinking of coffee cups and the soft jazz that filled the air, blending with the low hum of conversations.
Polished marble floors reflected the ornate light fixtures above, casting intricate shadows that danced with the movements of the bustling tourists and busy staff.
The scene of fresh lilies and roasted coffee beans enveloped Ava as she crossed the lobby.
She glanced around, her eyes taking in all of the details, from the uniforms on the employees who scurried around to the location of the restaurant.
She pulled her phone from her pocket and snapped a few discreet pictures of the staff. The simple uniforms, white shirts, black pants, would be easy enough to fake. Could she sneak in as a room service attendant?
With a deep breath, she crossed to the bank of elevators and pressed the button. The doors slid open a second later, and she stepped inside, pressing the button for the fourth floor.
“What do you think, Giz? How are we going to pull this off?”
The doors whooshed open seconds later, and she stepped onto the quiet fourth floor, her gaze swinging back and forth before she picked a direction.
She eyed the maid’s cart as she passed it, glancing into one of the rooms and noting the light-blue shirts with black pants worn by the housekeeping staff.
She reached the end of the hall, eyeing the number on the door: 432. Benjamin’s room.
Pretending to be lost, she twisted and wandered back down to the elevator, taking the lift down to the lobby.
She approached the polished mahogany desk, flashing the attendant a practiced smile. “Hi. So, turns out the person I was supposed to meet isn’t in. I was wondering if I could leave them a message.”
“Sure,” the man said with a smile.
“Great.” She winced, slicking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Sorry to bother you, but…do you have a pen and paper?”
He slid a pen onto the counter before he twisted in search of paper. “Just a second, I know we have a notepad around here somewhere.”
“Take your time,” she said as she grabbed the pen.
The man turned toward the back counter, tugging open a drawer.
She leaned casually against the counter, her heart pounding as her fingers brushed against the stack of keycards.
With a swift glance to ensure the clerk’s attention remained diverted, she palmed one, feeling its cool plastic against her skin.
The thrill of the theft prickled up her spine, a mix of dread and adrenaline.
She shoved the key in her pocket as she glanced nonchalantly around at the others in the lobby. The man returned, waving a notepad in the air. “I found one.”
“Thanks so much,” Ava said with a grin as he set it in front of her.
“Cute pup. What’s his name?”
“Gizmo,” she said with a grin. She pressed the pen against the pad before she shook her head. “You know, I think I’ll just stop by later instead. I’m so sorry for the trouble.”
“Oh, no problem. Have a great day.”
Ava thanked him, returning the pen before she stepped away from the counter. “Well, let’s do a little more snooping, Giz. What do you think?”
She glanced up at the security cameras in the hotel. “From the comfort of our hotel suite?”
She left the lobby behind, climbing into the car again. “Hotel, Mrs. Stone?”
“It’s Ms. Collins, and if you could stop at an electronics store first, I’d appreciate it, thanks.”
“My apologies, Ms. Collins, I thought you were Mr. Stone’s wife.”
“I am Mr. Stone’s wife. I just didn’t change my name.”
“I see. Well, these days, it seems to be a more popular choice. Anyway, electronics store coming right up. Anything in particular that you need?”
“An RFID encoder.”
His brow furrowed as he flicked a gaze into the rearview mirror at her.
“Don’t ask. It’s for my husband. He loves his tech gadgets.”
“Oh,” the driver said with a chuckle. “Well, good thing he does. I love my StonePhone.”
The man lifted his cell phone in the air and waved it around.
Ava grinned at him. “Alex will be happy to know that.”
“So, uh, what’s he like? I can’t imagine having his type of mind.”
Ava smiled as she flicked her gaze out of the window, one hand absentmindedly stroking Gizmo’s head. “You may be asking the wrong person. I don’t know what he’s like to work for, but in general? He’s sweet and kind.”
“The thing about Alex is,” she said, her voice softening, “he makes all that brilliance seem ordinary.”
She shifted her eyes forward. “Don’t tell him I said of any this. He likes people to think he’s a ‘take no prisoners’ CEO.”
“He won’t hear it from my lips. How long have you been married?”
“Seventeen years.” Her forehead creased. Seventeen years sounded like a lifetime, yet here she was rediscovering the man she’d married under such unusual circumstances.
“Wow, that’s great. So…did you marry him before StoneCorp?”
“Yep,” she said with a nod. “He had the idea, but that was it.”
“That’s sweet. I bet he couldn’t have done it without you at his side.”
She offered him a fleeting smile, the words slicing at her unexpectedly. “Well, I don’t know about that. Alex is…amazing. Both professionally and personally.”
She pressed her lips together, something clawing at the back of her brain.
Words that she hadn’t yet said to him, words that it may be too soon to say, especially after the debacle with Chris.
She sucked in a breath as the driver eased the car to a stop outside of an electronics store, glad the conversation came to a close.
“I can run in for it if you remind me of what I’m purchasing.”
“I’ll go, but thank you,” she said.
He nodded before he slid from behind the wheel and opened her door. She carried the tiny puppy into the store with her, located what she needed, and purchased it before returning to the car.
“Now, to the hotel, if you wouldn’t mind,” she said with a grin.
“No problem,” he answered as he pulled into traffic, heading for the Magnolia Grand. Within the hour, she was checked in to a large suite and settled on the couch with her laptop as she awaited Alex.
“Let’s see if we can surprise Alex before he gets back, Giz,” she said to the dog who climbed onto her lap and curled up almost on the laptop.
She giggled as she shifted him aside to use the keyboard. “I don’t think he’s going to be impressed by your tech skills, buddy.”
Her fingers danced across the keyboard as she attempted to access the Crescent Bay’s security system.
“Alex would have had this finished already,” she whispered to the little dog as his eyes slowly slid closed.
She continued her work, receiving an ACCESS DENIED message that wrinkled her nose and elicited a curse from under her breath.
Gizmo’s eyes snapped open at the sharp word before they slowly slid closed again as she stroked his fur. “It’s fine, Giz, I’m just not as talented as Alex at this.”
She spent another few moments working before a grin crossed her features. “Ha! I did it.”
The little dog on her lap leapt to his feet at the words, and she stroked his fur to settle him.
The list of cameras populated on her screen, and she selected a few, keeping an eye on the lobby and the fourth-floor elevator.
With the laptop shifted to the side, Ava kicked her feet up, cuddling the puppy closer to her as she grabbed her phone to see if Alex had sent any messages.
Instead, she found one from Raven.
Her brows pinched as she opened it, spotting an image of herself carrying Gizmo through the Crescent Bay lobby. While seeing your beauty is always pleasing, I don’t love how cavalier you’re being here. Tighten up your sloppy work. Remember, failure is not an option.
The words along with the image of her chilled her to the core.
Her breath hitched as the message lit up her screen. The image of her walking through the lobby was a stark reminder of their ever-watchful gaze.
A cold dread settled in her stomach, her hands trembling slightly as she held her phone. Was Raven watching her every move even in New Orleans?