Chapter Nineteen
Wade Cooper
A small smile crosses my lips as I watch Ava sitting in the living room as she laughs at something funny from the TV. She’d finally decided to come out of her bubble after days of keeping me in the dark.
I noticed she was distant and spoke to me less after Daniel’s call, but I made no move to say anything because I didn’t want to push her. She seemed very disturbed after his call, and though I can’t pinpoint what it is, I feel like she is hiding something from me.
She apologized for giving me the cold shoulder and I accepted but I knew there was still something else she hadn’t told me. There’s no way Ava would be this disoriented just from a phone call.
She’s one of the strongest people I know and even though the scar DJ’s father left on her heart still bothers her, I know she is way past that and on her way to healing.
He must have said something that triggered her emotions, or even did something, but there’s no way I will know what unless she decides to tell me. I’ll wait until she’s ready.
When I saw her crying in the room, I had the urge to hurt the one behind her tears but when she mentioned it was Daniel, I couldn’t do anything. Even though he had caused Ava a lot of pain, he was still DJ’s father, and I knew she wouldn’t like it if I repainted his face in multi-billion shades of purple.
The only reason I’m holding back from tracking him down and breaking some of his bones is because I have to focus on the task at hand and that’s keeping Ava and DJ safe.
When the culprit is caught and Ava is free to return to her daily life, I will not sit back if he tries to contact her again. He’s out of her life–Thank God for that–and neither Ava or I want him back in it.
The doorbell rings and brings me out of my daze. I went to open the door, already knowing it’s the pizza as the place was just round the corner. A mistake on my part.
As soon as I opened the door, a man wearing all-black came into view and my entire body tensed. He’s wearing a mask, and I can only see his dark eyes staring at me. Before I can try to get my firearm, he brings out his gun and fires it right at me.
The bullet grazes my shoulder as I am able to dodge it in time, but I still fall to the floor from the force of the bullet. Groaning in pain, I struggle to get my gun out of my back pocket. Shit! I looked up to see the shooter staring behind me which made me turn to see a shell-shocked Ava standing just right before me. Her eyes are wide open and filled with tears and I just want to hold her close to comfort her, but I’ve got some trash to take care of first.
I jumped to my feet instantly, blocking Ava from his view and I punched his face before I turned around to yell, “Ava!! Get DJ and hide!!”
Ava spins on her heel and runs deeper into the house.
The man tries to fire at me again, but I kick the gun out of his hand before punching him a second time. He stumbles down the stairs of the porch, and I follow after him before closing the door behind me.
“Finally, we meet,” I hiss as I aim my gun at him. Pain sears my skin from where he shot me, but I focus on the man in front of me.
He tries to get to his feet, but I shoot him in the leg which makes him cry out in pain. A wicked smile spreads over my lips, the sound of his agony like medicine to my wound.
“You were foolish to think that you can eliminate Ava in her house when I’m right by her side. And even more foolish to think I will let you leave here alive.” I uttered coldly and his fearful eyes stared at me. Coward. He’s so eager to beg for his life when he has taken the lives of others without the blink of an eye.
“I would have loved for Ava to watch your sick story come to an end but alas, I will have to revel in this moment alone.” I take two steps before setting the cold tip of the gun on his head.
“Good. Bye.” I grit my teeth before moving my finger to pull the trigger, but I see the police heading towards me .
“Wade.” Marcus calls me and gestures for me to back down. The other men move to grab the masked man on the ground, and they swiftly handcuff him before shoving him into the police car.
I am about to follow them, but Marcus shakes his head before pointing back to the house. I don’t know if it’s because he knows I will leave thousands of scars on his body if I’m left alone with him or if he wants me to check on Ava.
Ava.
I remember her terrified face when she saw me bleeding on the floor. God, she must be traumatized.
“Sir, let me check your wound.” one of the paramedics steps forward but I shake my head and move back into the house. I hear him calling me from behind me, but I pay no heed to him.
I move to Ava’s room but she’s nowhere to be seen. Something tells me to move to her walk-in closet and I open the door slightly to check if she was in there. My eyes catch a piece of cloth stuck in the cabinet in a corner.
The cabinet looked big enough for a grown woman and a child to fit in. I can almost hear her silent sobs from here. I flinch when the wound on my shoulder stings, but I don’t stop until I get there.
When I open the cabinet, Ava gasps and uses her body to shield DJ who’s whining for her to release him from her tight hold.
“No! Not my child! Take anything you want but not my baby, please!!” She begs profusely and my heart breaks to see her so frightened .
“Ava.” I call her gently, not wanting to startle her more than she already was.
Ava looks up and tears fill her eyes when she sees me. “W-Wade,” her lips quiver.
“Ava.” I hold her shaking hands, but she gets out of the cabinet and throws herself into my arms.
“Oh, Wade.” Ava wails as she tightens her grip on me. I held her just as tight, not wanting to let her go.
“It’s fine. It’s all fine now. You don’t have to be scared.” I let out comforting words as I pat her back gently.
DJ leans against his mother’s back silently. I can see he sees his mother is already stressed so he doesn’t burden her with his whining.
“A-Are you okay? You were shot, I-I saw you on the floor and the man-the man with the gun. W-Where is he? What happened? D-Did you kill him?” Ava blurts out in a single breath and her eyes look around wildly as though someone is going to appear from nowhere and attack her.
“Hey, hey.” I took her face in my hands and forced her to look at me. Only me.
“It’s fine. The police are here, and they will take care of that bastard. You’re fine now.” I assured her and she breathed out in relief before she hugs me tightly again.
We sat on the floor for what seemed like hours as I comforted Ava and reassured her of her safety before the paramedics finally intervened to treat my wound .
Everything is fine now.
* * * *
But I was wrong. Everything was not fine. I watch as Ava sinks to the floor after hearing the devastating news from the police who arrived this afternoon with grim faces. I quickly rush to her side but she’s out of it. Her eyes are far from reality, and I fear there’s nothing I can do to bring her back.
It’s been a week since the shooting in the house and after the police’s investigation, I realized it was too soon to celebrate. The delivery man wasn’t the culprit. He was merely a shooter sent by the real bastard behind these atrocities. He confessed as soon as he was in custody but never revealed the name, address or contact information of whoever sent him to kill Ava or me. The person had done a great job at sealing the man’s lips. The police confirmed the man wasn’t the one we were looking for after several days of tracking his whereabouts for the last few months since Lynn’s death.
Ava, who had been relieved that she was finally out of danger, was miserable for a few days as the case wasn’t still closed, but she managed to get herself back after I did everything I could to make her smile again.
Life was finally returning to the normalcy I’ve known for months when the police came knocking at the door with something worse.
* * * *
Now, DJ has been kidnapped and the men who had been in charge of taking him to school and bringing him back home had all been murdered. Shot several times to the chest and signs of resistance were shown.
It happened when they were on their way to the house after picking DJ up from preschool and all the CCTVs around that area had been compromised. The culprit had been five steps ahead of us and for the first time, I felt deep horror sinking to my gut.
I remembered the picture of DJ sent to Ava about a month ago and I looked at Ava in my arms who’s not talking, moving, and hardly breathing.
Nothing is fine.