Chapter 4
AVA
Ava narrowed her eyes at the auburn-haired woman on Alex’s screen.
The plan to infiltrate VoltTech and retrieve the program had been shut down. She didn’t entirely disagree, but that left them with few options. They needed information on The Board—and fast. But they also needed to stay alive getting it.
The situation with the heavily guarded facility seemed to prevent them from entering the building and making their way to the server room.
It was a blow, especially when they had no other plans in place. They needed the information. Something had to be done.
What she didn’t understand was what the smirking woman on the screen had to do with retrieving that information.
She tilted her head, not caring at all for the woman’s look. “I don’t understand.”
Alex raised a finger in the air before he twisted back to his laptop, his fingers dancing across the keyboard. Windows flew around the screen until he finally poked a finger at a spreadsheet titled Project Eclipse components. “I found this.”
Ava arched an eyebrow as she leaned closer. “Okay. So, Project Eclipse looks like it’s being drafted in pieces. Is that right?”
Alex bobbed his head. “Yeah, that’s what it looks like. Probably so that not everyone–or maybe no one–has any idea what its final use is.”
“Which we still don’t know either, right?”
Alex clicked his tongue, raising his eyebrows as he glanced up at her. “We can make an educated guess. It’s designed to ‘take out the entire Eastern seaboard’, and it’s coming from a power company. I’d say they’re looking to kill the power on the entire east coast.”
“Which would be a disaster of epic proportions,” Ava answered with a nod.
“Yes, and that’s if that’s all they’re planning. Without the program, we have no idea what they’re up to. We not only need more information to try to prepare or prevent this, but we need to know the scope so we can nail them just like we did with PharmaTech.”
Ava chewed her lower lip as she pulled her blonde hair into a floppy bun on the top of her head. “I still think we need to chance going in there. Shadow’s right. We just need to be smart about it.”
“Babe, no,” Alex said with a shake of his head, his voice betraying his worry. “I told you, I have an alternative.”
“What?” She shrugged as she glanced at him. “I don’t understand how Megan McKee helps us.”
“Vanessa McGee, and you didn’t pay close attention to the spreadsheet.”
Ava leaned closer to the sheet, studying it. “She’s the lead programmer on multiple components.”
Alex bobbed his head, his lips curling into a smile. “Correct for a thousand points, Sparky. And on top of that, it looks like she was the primary programmer on some of the most important components.”
Ava crossed her arms and shrugged. “So what? I doubt she’s going to just give those to us.”
“Ah, but she might. At least unwittingly,” Alex said with a giddy grin.
Ava screwed up her face. “How do you figure that, Alex? She’s likely Board. She’s pretty high up in the ranks at VoltTech. What are the chances they haven’t recruited her?”
“Maybe they have and maybe they haven’t. Doesn’t matter. And it may even work to our advantage if she is.”
Ava wrinkled her nose. “Did that deadly flu do something to your brain, Ace? How is it to our advantage if Vanessa McGee is a Board member? She’s not going to hand over Project Eclipse.”
Alex wagged a finger at her. “That’s where you’re wrong. All I need to do is send a message into the universe that suggests that I’d like to recruit her away from VoltTech for a high-ranking position at StoneCorp. Obviously, I’ll need samples of her work.”
Ava scoffed as she shook her head. “And you think she’s going to give you samples from Project Eclipse.”
“Well, I’m basically going to ask for them–but not in so many words.”
“Alex!” Ava curled her fingers into fists, letting her hands fall to her sides.
“I said not outright. I’ll just say something like, ‘Can you show me an example of a major project you’ve overseen and how you coded it?’”
“And what if she gives you some mundane thing? She has to be working on other things with VoltTech.”
“Not according to the records,” Alex said as he dug through another set of spreadsheets. “She’s been all Project Eclipse, all the time for the last two years. Looks like she’s a manager on it. So, I just tell her I need to see something recent, from within the past six months.”
“And she gives you some mundane piece of code that turns your light switches off after fifteen minutes of detecting no one in the room.” Ava flung a hand in the air. “Alex, this is not going to get us what we need.”
Alex wrinkled his nose at her, frowning. “Gee, thanks for your faith in me.”
She let her head loll to the side, trying to stop herself from becoming annoyed. But the situation was quickly spiraling out of control. The options they had were few and far between, and this one wasn’t great.
“Alex, that’s not–”
“No, it’s fine. You clearly don’t think I can do the job.”
“That’s not what I said at all. I’m just not sure she’s going to give you the keys to the kingdom like you think she may.
She may not even respond to the request. Maybe she’ll tell you she loves VoltTech or maybe she’ll play the game in the hopes of getting something out of StoneCorp.
We know The Board has planted a mole before. What if they do it again?”
“Avs, clearly I’m going after her.”
“They could still use it to their advantage,” she shot back. “Alex, this isn’t a great ideal, babe, I’m sorry.”
Alex shifted his gaze from her, his features twisting with upset. She’d hurt his feelings, and it was obvious. But she didn’t want to see him being used again.
Ava sighed, staring at the spreadsheet again. Vanessa wasn’t just another coder; she was the key. Without her, they were taking stabs in the dark. But trusting someone so tied to VoltTech—a potential Board member—felt like they were asking for trouble.
“Babe–” she started as she reached for him.
“No, it’s fine,” he answered, shrugging his shoulder away from her.
She considered walking away from him, letting them both cool off a little from the stressful situation, but she couldn’t do that. She didn’t want to leave things this way, especially with everything going on with The Board.
“It’s not fine.” She sighed, stepping closer to him as she rubbed his back.
He shrugged her away again as he continued to stare at the screen, his fingers typing code for something. “It really is, Ava. I get it. You don’t think it’s a good plan.”
“Not because I don’t think you can do the job, babe,” she said, her voice soft. “Because I don’t think it’s’ going to work out the way you think. And I just don’t want you being used by The Board again.”
“I’m not stupid,” he retorted, his tone defensive.
“I know that. But these people will take every advantage they can. I’m just not sure we should invite one of them into our lives.”
“Oh, you mean like we did with Shadow? And Chris? We have two of them in our lives. But that’s okay, right?”
“Alex!” Her voice went up an octave as his tone turned nasty.
He buried his face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I’m just…”
“Stressed. And tired from being sick. I get it, babe, I do.” She rubbed his shoulders before she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “I don’t like this anymore than you do, but…”
He stared at the screen as she pressed her forehead against his temple before she kissed his cheek. “Okay, go for your plan with Vanessa.”
“Really?” He grabbed hold of her forearm, squeezing it as he turned to face her.
“It can’t hurt. As long as you have a healthy dose of mistrust for her, let’s see if she can provide us with any of the information we need. If she can, good. If not, we’ll need to revisit the idea of Shadow and me going into that facility.”
“You’re not going in there, Ava. That’s a way worse idea than me trying to woo Vanessa.”
Ava’s chin tugged back toward her chest as her eyes widened. “Whoa, wait a minute. You didn’t say anything about wooing. Who is wooing?”
“StoneCorp,” he said with a shrug, avoiding her gaze.
Her lips parted as she stared at him before she reached out and slammed the lid of his laptop down. “Uhhh, and how is ‘StoneCorp’ going to woo this woman?”
“With a job offer and maybe a nice dinner?” Alex said, his tone questioning and his voice weak.
Ava crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow.
“Nope,” Alex said with a wag of his finger, “you do not get to do that. You do not get to give me that look.”
“I don’t want you wooing another woman.”
“You wooed Shadow,” he answered, his tone still uncertain.
Her jaw clenched. “I did not. He gave me roses. I didn’t woo him.”
“You did so. You went off with him as Sebastian for a dance.”
“Where I told him I was married and wanted nothing to do with whatever offer he was trying to make. Alex! I don’t want you wooing another woman.”
“I’m not…going to…it’s just…It was just a figure of speech,” he tried with a shrug and a shake of his head.
She stared at him, her features taut. “Oh really? But the dinner is real.”
“Corporate dinner.”
She remained unimpressed. The thought of Alex sitting across from Vanessa, laughing, making her feel wanted, gnawed at Ava’s insides.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Alex—she just knew how dangerous the game they were playing could be, and how easily someone could get hurt.
“Let me guess. Fancy place. Candlelight. You being really nice to her.”
“Ava, come on.”
Ava clenched her jaw, a gnawing sense of dread forming in her stomach.
It wasn’t just about Vanessa being a potential risk—it was about Alex wanting to involve her at all.
Maybe he was tired of fighting side by side with her, or maybe he wanted something…
safer. Rationally, she knew that wasn’t true, but she couldn’t let go of her insecurities.
“No, you come on!” She set her hands on her hips, a pout forming on her lips. “We’re married, Alex. I don’t want you to do this.”
His features softened, and he took her hand in his. “Babe, I’m not going to cross any lines or do anything that will jeopardize us. You know that. You know how much I love you, right?”
She gnawed on her lower lip, a jittery feeling in her stomach as she pictured Alex with Vanessa, their smiles soft as they stared at each other over the flickering candles in the middle of the table. “I’d like more confirmation.”
He offered her a slight chuckle as he rose and pulled her closer. “Ava, I love you. Like crazy love you. Like I waited twenty years for you love you.”
“Yeah, but now that we’re together, maybe you’re bored. Maybe it’s not all you hoped for.” She flicked him a questioning glance.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m not the one suggesting that I woo someone over a candlelight dinner.”
He kissed her forehead. “Okay, I will…take her to lunch. No candlelight will be involved.”
“That’s somewhat better,” she murmured.
“I have no interest in her other than learning about Project Eclipse.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning into him as she pressed her cheek against his chest. “I still hate it, but okay.”
He held her closer, gently rubbing her back. “It’ll be fine, Ava, I promise. And maybe we’ll get the information without you having to risk your life.”
She slid her eyes closed, her mind whirling as she considered it.
They needed the information, and this was definitely the safest way for them to try for it.
But something in the back of her mind screamed that this was a terrible idea.
And that soon, everything was going to come crashing down around them.
One question burned in her mind. Would she lose Alex over it?
Ava leaned into Alex’s embrace, her heart pounding.
She wanted to believe him, to believe that this was just another step toward taking down The Board.
But the shadow of doubt lingered, whispering that this was more dangerous than they realized.
What if this plan was the one that finally tore them apart?