Chapter 5
ALEX
Alex leaned closer to his laptop screen, searching for a problem with Ava’s feed, his stomach fluttering. “Ava?”
No one answered him, and an ache lodged itself in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed hard as he went over the interaction with Miranda Vale, his former CFO. She’d never pulled out a weapon, no shots had been fired. Nothing could be wrong, right?
“Ava?” he tried again, his voice trembling a little. “Doc? Do you have eyes on her?”
His mind raced with worry, wondering if The Board had sent more than one person to the meeting. Had Ava been caught by an unexpected Board operative? He replayed the last words she’d said before her pearl cam went dead and all communication with her had ceased. Yeah, I’m good.
He didn’t think it, though. There was something in her voice that sounded off.
“Doc, are you there?” he asked before leaping from his seat, ready to go after his wife himself.
“I’m here. Heading into the tent now,” Kyle answered.
Alex slumped back into the seat, scanning his screen. “Please tell me Ava’s okay. I’ve got nothing on her pearl cam, and no communication with her.”
He waited for a few tense breaths before he pressed his earpiece further into his ear. “Doc?”
No answer. Now, it seemed that even Kyle had disappeared on him.
Begrudgingly, he tried his last source close to the problem. “Chris?”
No answer from the angry architect either. His stomach clenched, worry surging inside him. With a curse under his breath, he searched his cameras, finding nothing on them. Had they all disappeared into the tent covering the carousel?
Had Chris double-crossed them? He swallowed hard, picturing the scene.
Chris pulled a stubby-nosed pistol from his pocket and pushed into the tent, holding it on Ava and forcing her to call Kyle over so he could incapacitate both of them.
Alex drummed his fingers on the desk in the back of the van as he waited for any word. “Hello? Anyone?”
No one answered him, and he shook his head, jumping up from his seat and headed for the van’s door. He flung it open, the night air cool against his skin as he leapt out.
Leaving the van behind, he hurried into the amusement park, toggling on his cell phone’s flashlight.
He swept it around, his shoulders rising toward his ears with a grimace as he searched every shadow for a threat.
His throat parched and his palms turned sweaty as his footsteps slowed. What if this was a trap designed to draw him into the park?
What if he was playing right into The Board’s hands?
He shook his head. He needed to find Ava. It didn’t matter. If they were all captured together, that would be better than being separated from her, right?
Or was he wrong? Would it be better to be on the outside and about to do something about her captivity than stuck with her where The Board could use her as a bargaining chip?
His mind swirled as he tried to make a decision, his feet uncertain if they should move forward or retreat.
After a moment of panic, he blew out a shaky breath. He had to know. He wasn’t going to run back to the van like a coward when Ava may need him. “I’m coming, Ava,” he murmured as he pressed forward toward the carousel.
He approached it warily, slipping behind the side of one of the game stalls and peering at it.
He didn’t see any movement, but a light glowed from inside.
He hovered there for a moment, trying to assess the situation, but the canvas cover was far too thick for him to even determine if more than three people were inside.
“Now or never, Alex,” he muttered as he forced himself to step out from his hiding spot.
With his heart hammering, he approached the tent, his trembling fingers reaching to pull back the flap. Before they found their mark, it shifted, and Chris emerged. “Oh, hey.”
“What the hell is going on?” Alex snapped.
Kyle and Ava followed behind him, neither of them looking worse for wear.
“Ava?” Alex asked, his brows furrowing as he studied her.
The expression on her features looked upset, but it appeared she was trying to cover it.
“Sorry,” Kyle said, “just a little blip.”
“Little blip?” Alex asked, his gaze stuck on Ava. “Ava, what happened to your surveillance camera and earpiece? All of your earpieces, actually. I had zero communication from anyone. What’s going on?”
“Ava thought there may be a bug inside the tent. We were just making sure no one overheard that conversation or any other. Had to go radio silent, just in case,” Kyle said with a nod.
“Yeah,” Ava agreed, “I shut everything down when my hand hit a bump on the saddle. Turned out to be a cocoon from some sort of bug, not an electronic bug.” She chuckled as she clapped Kyle on the back. “I couldn’t turn my light on earlier to check without giving myself away.”
Alex stared at her for a moment. Something wasn’t adding up. Why had she sent out what sounded like a distress signal to Kyle over something she could have easily checked on her own once Miranda left?
“No bugs,” Chris answered, making Alex even more wary about the story they were trying to sell. What had happened between the three of them?
“So, I know Miranda said to find a cheap hotel and hole up, but umm, I mean the Hotel Stone seems pretty nice, so…would be nice if I could keep staying there,” Chris added.
“After your behavior earlier, you’re lucky we’re not leaving you here,” Ava said. “But we’re not, so let’s go. We have plenty to talk about.”
“Such as?” Chris asked with a scoff as Ava strode forward to grab Alex’s hand and lead him back to the van. He stared over his shoulder at the carousel for another moment, willing it to tell him its secrets.
“Such as this little test of Sebastian,” Ava answered.
“Oh, yeah. I was going to try to get more out of her on that, but boss man over there said no.”
“It was stupid to push her,” Alex shot back, his voice irritated. “She wasn’t going to tell you the plan.”
“I wish she would have. Either way, we need to warn Shadow. He has to know something’s coming so he can plan accordingly,” Ava said.
“I don’t know how we’re going to plan anything. We have no idea what her play is, and no idea what the right response is. Is she looking for him to betray The Board for her? Is she looking for him to prove his loyalty to The Board?”
Ava shook her head. “It sounds like The Board is split. We need to take advantage of that somehow. This could actually strengthen Shadow’s position.”
“How do you figure that? He’s going to have to prove his loyalty to the Queen Witch and risk his position with The Board, most likely, or choose The Board, and we lose our in with Miranda.”
“Or,” Ava shot back as they reached the van, “he goes to The Board, tells them Miranda is out to get them, then plays double agent.”
“Except,” Alex said, a finger poking in the air, “he’s actually a triple agent because he’s loyal to us.”
“Right,” Ava said with a curt nod.
“Or he’s a quadruple agent because he’s really loyal to The Board,” Chris said, climbing into the back of the van.
Alex narrowed his eyes at the man before he slid the door shut in answer to his comment.
“Just sayin’,” Chris called from behind the closed door.
Alex rolled his eyes as he skirted the vehicle and climbed into the driver’s seat to make the trip home. Their mission had given them precious little information, but at least they still could have an in with Miranda. Maybe they’d be able to exploit it somehow.
He glanced sideways at Ava, dying to bring up the incident with the supposed bug, but with the door to the back open, he decided not to. He preferred to discuss it with her in private where he knew she would be honest.
Instead, he asked about the cell phone in her hand. “Texting Shadow?”
“Yeah, letting him know Chris may have a shot at getting back in with Miranda and that she supposedly has some sort of test planned for him.”
She sat straighter, flicking her gaze out the windshield, her brow furrowing.
“You’re thinking something,” he said, recognizing the familiar look on her face.
“I’m thinking…what if this is all a ploy?
What if the test has something to do with this information making it back to Sebastian?
” She quickly snatched her phone from her lap and tapped on it.
“I’m telling him to lay low, play it cool.
We have no idea what her game is, but I do not want him blowing this. ”
“Good thinking, Sparky,” Alex said as he pulled into the parking lot of the bus station where they’d left a vehicle earlier.
They left the van behind, climbing into Alex’s SUV to return home. A few reporters still lingered outside the property. Ava tugged her hood up and slid on her sunglasses, slouching down in the seat as they pulled past them.
“Looks like Sierra’s press conference did a little good,” Alex said.
“Yeah, let’s hope the next one does even better. She’s got another one planned in two days,” Ava answered.
Alex screwed up his face. “Why didn’t she just do everything in one fell swoop and finish it?”
“She says she wants to see how they react to what she put out earlier and that will guide her next steps. I don’t know. I trust her. She seems to have settled Grant’s problem pretty easily.” Ava shrugged.
“Sierra is an excellent spin doctor,” Kyle agreed.
Alex frowned at her. “She settled Grant’s problem by finding him a new wife.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I don’t want her to solve our problem by finding you a new husband.”
Ava clicked her tongue. “She’s not going to do that.”
“What if she does? What if her new strategy is to say you slinked off to be with another man, and then you have to go live with him and pretend you love him to make the story go away?”
Ava’s features pinched. “That’s…Alex, that’s stupid. That’s not going to happen.”
“If you say so,” Alex said as he killed the engine, and they all climbed out of the vehicle.
They pushed into the house, and Ava heaved a sigh. “Well, I guess we need to wait to hear from Shadow. Anyone up for a gaming session?”
“Ugh,” Chris groaned. “I’m going upstairs. I don’t combat stress by playing Mario.”
He shuffled away from them as Kyle smiled. “I’ll play.”
“Awesome, Doc. Just…give us a second, okay?” Alex grabbed Ava’s arm and tugged her upstairs. “Just want to change my hoodie.”
“Ace?” she asked as he dragged her along with him. “You okay?”
“Not really.” He shoved their bedroom door closed after he pulled her inside. “What really happened at that carousel?”
“I told you. I thought I found a bug. Turns out it was a real bug.”
“You could have checked that on your own. Why did you call Doc?”
She licked her lips, her eyes sliding sideways as she shifted her weight. “I…didn’t want to touch it. It was gross. He’s a doctor. I figured he’d be cool with it.”
Alex raised his eyebrows higher. “Really?”
“Really, that’s it. I just…didn’t want to say anything about being grossed out about it because I’m usually pretty cool.” She inched closer to him, sliding her arms around his waist as she rested her chin on his chest.
“If you’re sure that’s it…” He let the words hang between them, studying her face.
“I’m sure.” She grinned before she stole a kiss from him. “Now, let’s not keep Doc waiting.”
Alex stared after her as she strode to the door and disappeared through it. He swallowed hard, his features pinching. That had been the first time in their lives Ava Collins had lied to him. Why?