Chapter 17
ALEX
Alex’s heart seized as Ava’s words hit him. He closed his eyes for a moment, certain he was living in a nightmare. Ava was trapped, being held in a powder keg that was about to blow at any minute.
He lifted his trembling hands from his keyboard, his eyes going wide as he focused on Kyle.
The man shook his head, licking his lips. “Okay, uh, this is going to be a little difficult but–”
“Ava, babe?” Alex said, his voice breaking as he yanked the phone from Kyle’s hands.
“Alex? Hey, babe, we’re a little busy right now, but–”
“Ava, I heard the whole thing, okay? Babe, please tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. It’s Chris. He’s not so good, so could put Doc back on the phone so that I can make sure he makes it out of here alive.”
His lower lip trembled as tears threatened to fall. He needed to protect her, keep her safe, but he couldn’t do a thing from here.
Sebastian rose from his seat. “I’m heading there now.”
Alex shifted his laptop to the table. “Me too.”
“No,” Sebastian said, poking a finger at the laptop. “You need to stay here and work on reversing this program.”
“No,” Alex said as he rose, tightening his fingers into a fist, “no way. I’m not sitting here while Ava’s trapped by that maniac.”
“Babe, Alex,” Ava’s called through the phone, her voice soft, “you need to stay there and work on this program or none of us are getting out here.”
He twisted away from the others, upset swirling within him. He squeezed his eyes closed in a desperate attempt not to cry. “Avs–”
“Ace, I need you to focus. I know you want to be here with me. And I want you with me, too, but babe, you are the only person who can reverse Project Eclipse. Please, babe. You need to do this.”
“I can’t,” he murmured, running a shaky hand through his hair. “Ava, I can’t focus when I know you’re in that much danger. Not just Vanessa, but the build-up of power…”
“Which only you can reverse. Alex, please. I need you to focus, okay? And I need you to do what you do best.”
Alex puffed out a shaky breath. “I don’t know if I can. Nothing I do is working to stop that program from running and doing what it’s doing. And on top of that, even if I can wrangle control back from that rogue software, I’m not sure what to do about it.”
“Alex, listen to me, you can do this, babe. You are the smartest person I know. You’re probably the smartest person in the world. You can do this. You’re the only person who can do this.”
His mind swirled with visions of Ava trapped in the hellish room, the heat building, sweat slicking her skin, and the threat of Vanessa just outside the door, ready to harm her, maybe irreparably.
There was no way he could focus on sitting still and working on tackling this computer program with this hanging over his head. But he had to. He had to do this to protect her.
“Listen to me, Alex, I will be right here with you. Okay? Just…I need to talk to Doc and get Chris stable, and then I’m right there with you, okay?”
“Uh-huh,” he murmured, his voice barely audible. He forced strength into it. “You, uh, Avs, you concentrate on what you’re doing there. I’ve got the program okay? I’ve got this.”
But did he?
They’d faced danger before, but never to this degree. Ava had never been trapped inside a bomb before.
In a matter of hours, that plant would be so overloaded, nothing they could do would stop it from imploding.
In a matter of mere hours, Ava could be gone.
A wave of nausea passed over him as he tried to process it. Sebastian reentered the room, weapon in hand.
Alex’s gaze lingered on it, his lower lip quivering.
“Ace.” Ava’s sharp voice snapped him back to reality. His heart tightened in response. “Babe, you’ve so got this. I’m trusting you–with my life. It’s time to be the hero of my story.”
He swallowed hard. She was right. He had to save her, and he could…not by going to the power plant, but right here with his keyboard.
That was his strength. He had to use his best skills to help her.
Every part of him screamed to be there with her, to shield her from danger, to hold her tight. But he knew that staying meant the difference between saving Ava and losing everything.
“Right. I can do this,” he said, determination filling him. “I’ll find a way to stop that program. And then we’ll figure out how to reverse the energy build-up.”
He licked his lips, his grip tightening on the phone. “Avs…I love you.”
“I love you, too, babe. Now, go kick Project Eclipse’s butt. And please give me back to Doc. Chris isn’t looking so good.”
“Right. I’ll be right here, too, babe. Okay?” He sucked in a deep breath, lifting his chin.
“Thanks, Ace. That helps more than you know.”
Kyle waved at him to take back the phone. “Ava? How is my patient?”
Alex handed it over reluctantly before he grabbed his laptop. He still hated that Sebastian was about to charge into that power plant and play the white knight.
But he was needed here. He set his fingers on his keyboard, his ears still tuned to the conversation between Kyle and Ava as he worked to find a backdoor into Project Eclipse to stop it from destroying the east coast’s power grid.
Alex set his jaw, his fingers steadying over the keys. This wasn’t just a battle against code; it was a battle for Ava’s life. He would tear the program apart, byte by byte, if that’s what it took to bring her back home.
His hands shook uncontrollably as he forced himself to focus on the code in front of him. Sweat beaded on his forehead, trickling into his eyes, but he barely noticed. Ava’s voice was the only anchor he had in a sea of fear.
The keys clicked softly under his fingertips as Ava answered. “Not looking so good, Doc.”
“Okay, I need to know where the wound is. Is the bullet still inside him? How much blood loss are we talking here?”
Another alarm klaxon blared through the phone. A garbled voice sounded on the other end, and Ava swore under her breath.
He tried to focus on what he was doing, chasing down what looked like a hole that would let him through the barrier, but his mind pulled him to whatever was happening with Ava.
“Just a second, Doc, I need to release these valves again or none of those questions are going to matter.”
Bile crept into his throat as she said the words. A groan floated through Kyle’s speaker as he paced the floor.
“Chris? Buddy, is that you?” Kyle asked.
“He’s in and out of consciousness,” Ava called, her voice sounding far away.
“He must be in pain—that’s him groaning. Though, at this rate, it’ll be me next. These valves are… really… hard… to turn.”
Her last words came out as a breathless grunt.
“Avs?” Alex asked, his gaze locked on Kyle’s phone.
“I’m good, Ace. These are just really hard to turn, and I need to go another round to get this pressure down.”
“I’m on this program, babe. I’m almost in. I think I can at least stop the build-up of energy.”
“That would help. Because I can release a little here to keep this from boiling over, and then we can determine how to deal with the build-up,” Ava answered.
“Okay, let me know when you’re finished with that, Ava, and then get me a report on Chris, okay?” Kyle asked.
“Almost…done,” she groaned out, breathless.
“Okay,” she said, puffing for breath, but her voice closer again. “Okay, I’m good for a little bit. Now, I’m going to check for an exit wound.”
“Okay, be careful moving him, okay? If the bullet is inside, it could do more damage.”
“Right,” Ava answered.
Alex held his breath, his fingers still moving across the keys as he managed to find the core of the program.
“He’s got an exit wound, so the bullet went through,” Ava reported.
Alex’s fingers surged faster as he worked to locate the stop button on the portion of Project Eclipse that continued to force energy to pool at certain substations.
“Okay, good, that’s good. Now, uh, how much blood did he lose?”
“Ummm, it’s a good bit, but not tons, if that makes sense,” Ava said, her voice a little shaky.
“More than Sierra or less than Sierra?” Kyle asked.
“Less but not by much. I think he’s not conscious because of the heat. It’s really, really hot in here.”
Alex located the piece of code that forced energy to build up and stopped it. “Babe, I think I have the energy build-up stopped. Can you confirm that the build-up isn’t growing at that sight?”
“Yeah, just a second.” Ava hesitated before the crackle of a radio sounded again. “Bob, can you confirm whether energy is continuing to build or if we’ve stabilized?”
Alex gnawed his lower lip as he waited for the answer to come back.
Static sounded again, and a low voice spoke. “Not coming as quickly as before. Hold on.”
Kyle eased onto the couch next to him, and they waited in silence until the man spoke through the radio again. “It’s stabilized. We still have the build-up, but nothing new coming in.”
Alex slid his eyes closed as he celebrated the small win. His fingers stilled, a small surge of triumph replacing the crushing panic. For the first time since this nightmare began, he’d made real progress.
“All right, can we release the build up from here? If I just keep turning the release valves, can I get rid of all of it?” Ava asked.
“No,” the reply came. “With this build-up, that would take forever, and it would get hot enough in there to damage the equipment. In fact, it’s got to be pretty hot now.”
“It’s very hot,” Ava answered. “Stand by for more information as I have it.”
“With no new energy building up, you can ease off the valves,” the man answered.
“Roger,” Ava said. “All right, Doc. I’m all yours for the time being. Alex? Any ideas on reversing this build-up?”
“I’ll check with Grant. Maybe he has some ideas.” Alex pushed from his seat, his knees wobbly.
They had solved one problem, but they had so many more to fix. The power wasn’t building anymore, but one false move on their ends and the whole place could still blow.
And he had no idea how to fix what was happening.
Even if they did, she could still be shot or worse by Vanessa.
He slipped out of the sliding door onto the patio surrounding the pool. Grant paced back and forth, his features taut.
“Hey,” Alex said, his throat parched.
“Just a second,” Grant said into the phone before he lowered it. “Any luck stopping the influx of power?”
“Yes. I managed to stop it at all plants, but we still have to deal with the residual build-up. Ava can’t handle it with the emergency release valves on site. Any ideas?”
“That’s great. Let me pass this along to the engineers. They may have some solutions for us.”
Alex bobbed his head. “Come inside if you have anything as fast as you can. I’m on the line with Ava now. She’s…there’s another problem at the plant.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say the words, so he left the statement dangle between them as he ducked back into the house.
Grant twisted on his heel, speaking into the phone again before he froze, his eyes widening.
Alex hovered at the door as Kyle continued to talk Ava through care for Chris.
Grant lowered his phone, hurrying to Alex. “They have an idea, but it’s risky, but it could be our only chance.”
Grant’s words carried both a promise and a threat. The solution could save Ava—or trigger the explosion they were desperately trying to avoid.
Alex’s breath hitched. Was it worth the risk or was he simply gambling with Ava’s life?