Page 13

CHAPTER 13

March 6 th

5:39 A.M.

It had been a long night and she’d got no sleep whatsoever. To say she was running on fumes would be the understatement of the century.

Yet all things considered, Ava didn't feel completely horrible.

She knew why.

The man standing beside her as they walked into Prey’s main office building in the center of Manhattan.

Nathaniel had been a tower of strength for her through the hours of recounting in detail repeatedly what had happened until she felt like she was going to lose her mind. Still, the benefit of going over and over it, examining it in detail as she answered the dozens of questions the cops had for her, was that it had provided her with a little distance from the event. It started to feel like something she’d seen rather than something she’d experienced.

Now he was there with her again, his steady presence soothing in a way she wouldn't have expected. It had been clear when he’d been with her in the hospital that he was scared for her, and while he hadn't completely shut down his emotions, he’d checked them so he could focus on her.

Knowing he cared helped though.

And the fact he’d come to the hospital not because she’d almost been abducted but just because he’d changed his mind and wanted to helped even more.

Later they were going to have to talk things through. She needed to know where he was coming from, why he’d let her parents scare him off, and if he was in the least bit interested in her, but for now, she had bigger problems than her potential love life or lack thereof.

Much bigger problems.

Like the fact that the organ trafficking ring could come back for her at any moment.

They rode in silence—a companionable one—in the elevator after she scanned her card to access the cyber division floor. Apparently, her purse had been left on the street after she was kidnapped, which was what had first alerted Prey and her friends to her disappearance. Nothing had been stolen from it, and Chelsea and Teresa had taken it back to their shared apartment in the hopes that one day she’d be found.

Filled with the sudden need to be surrounded by her people, Ava hurried as fast as her exhausted body could go once the doors dinged open.

As soon as she stepped into the large, open, airy space she relaxed. This was her happy place. It might not look like much to anyone else, just desks covered in computer screens interspersed throughout the room, and a huge conference table in the middle, but it was where she felt the most comfortable. It was where she did everything in her power to keep the people who worked for Prey safe, and to help them make the world a better place.

Raven Oswald, the second oldest Oswald sibling who ran Prey’s cyber division was the first one to spot her. Immediately, her boss pushed out of her chair and hurried over to fold Ava into an embrace. Raven was a decade older than her, although with her long, silky black locks, intelligent blue eyes, and flawless complexion, you would never tell the woman was approaching forty.

Nor could you tell just by looking at her that Raven had been through a lot in her almost four decades. Almost dying in the same attack that stole her parents’ lives, she’d married the man she loved a couple of years later and had a daughter, only to have then three-year-old Cleo snatched off the streets. A decade later, Raven and her daughter’s father had managed to track down Cleo, and the now sixteen-year-old was adjusting to normal life again. Raven and Max had split in the aftermath of their daughter’s abduction, but then reconciled when they were following a lead, and were now happily married again with a four-year-old son Roman in addition to Cleo.

“We’re all so glad you're okay,” Raven said as she pulled back. “And we are all so proud of you. What you did was amazing. Literally amazing.”

“I always knew my girl had it in her,” Chelsea teased, bumping her shoulder.

“That’s because you only ever see the best in everyone, even when they don’t see it in themselves,” she said, only half joking as her gaze drifted to Josiah Fleet.

The thirty-year-old former SEAL was the only one who hadn't left his station to come and greet her, but she wasn't offended. The man had some deep scars because of an attack that had ended his career and killed the rest of his team. Josiah wore anger as his shield, and Chelsea was the only one who seemed to see right through it, not that any of them took Josiah’s anger personally.

“We shouldn’t have left you alone at the hospital,” Teresa said as she stepped up to draw Ava into a hug.

“You were here, working. And you haven’t gone home yet,” she reminded her friend.

“Still, I hate that you were alone and they tried to get to you,” Teresa added.

“No one thought they would come back, that’s on us,” Raven said. “We should have known better and assigned you security.”

“I don’t think any of us could have predicted they’d try to grab me a second time,” she assured her boss. Ava wasn't blaming anyone other than the trafficking ring themselves. She knew that Prey was one big family, and if anyone had had even a hint of an idea that she wasn't safe she would have been surrounded by more security than the President.

“Still, we all feel bad,” Tobias Ashford said as he moved stiffly to her side to give her an awkward hug. Tobias had been in Delta Force before an injury to his back got him kicked out. Even after surgery and intense and ongoing physical therapy, he was still in near-constant pain.

“Then let’s all just be grateful it didn't work, and I'm fine, and focus on finding these people and shutting them down.” The last thing Ava wanted was for any of her team to blame themselves. All she wanted was for this whole ordeal to be over and it wouldn't be until they had the main players in custody and the ring shut down.

“We’re working on it,” Raven assured her.

“Everyone, this is Nathaniel,” Ava announced, indicating the man who stood so protectively at her side. Without him there, Ava knew she wouldn't feel as safe as she did. No one was getting to her while Nathaniel was there. “And this is Chelsea. Teresa. Raven. Tobias. And the guy over there pounding his keyboard like he hates it, is Josiah,” she said, pointing each person out for Nathaniel’s benefit.

“Thanks for saving her,” Chelsea said, giving Nathaniel a hard hug.

Seemingly startled by Chelsea’s affection, Nathaniel awkwardly patted her back. “She did half the work on her own.”

The pride in his voice warmed her, and when Raven indicated that they should all take seats at the conference table, his hand landed on the small of her back as he guided her into a seat. He took the one beside her, and even though she knew she was safe at Prey, having Nathaniel’s presence beside her helped her keep a clear enough mind that she could function.

“We have a lot to go through,” Raven informed her once they were all seated. All but Josiah, who remained in his dark little corner, his fingers flying over the keyboard. Ava knew he was listening, though, and if he found something he would let them know immediately. While Josiah was difficult to get close to, she knew he was hard-working and dedicated, and whether he kept his distance from her and their team, he had their backs.

Something in the way her boss was looking at her, the way the rest of the team was looking at her, too, had the fine hairs on the back of Ava’s neck rising.

Whatever they had to tell her they didn't want to.

“What's wrong?” she asked, glancing at Nathaniel to see if he knew what was going on. His gaze met hers, quiet and steady, a rock to grip onto in the storm that had become her life. It seemed like he knew what they were going to tell her and was using his presence to ground her.

“Nathaniel’s team tracked the ship you were on,” Raven said gently. “But by the time they boarded it, there was no one left.”

“No one left as in the traffickers somehow offloaded everyone before Nathaniel’s SEAL team got there? Or no one left like …” She couldn’t even bring herself to say the words.

Because she knew.

Knew the answer.

And knew what had caused it.

“My team waited until the ship was close to docking because they wanted to know where it was going so we could learn who might be behind the ring. But when they raided it, everyone on board the ship was already dead,” Nathaniel said softly.

All those people, just like her, plucked away from their lives, tied to beds, operated on against their will, all dead. She was the only survivor.

Nausea churned in her gut, and she pressed a hand to her stomach.

“What about the doctors and nurses?” Surely they weren't dead, too. If they weren't on the boat when it was raided, they must have gotten off at some point.

“Dead,” Raven told her. “Looks like many were injured or killed when the helicopter crashed into the ship. The rest were systematically slaughtered, both victims and personnel. The captain and two other men looked to have died from self-inflicted injuries.”

So they’d been the ones to kill everyone else, then when they realized they’d be captured likely ended their own lives.

“How many?” Ava asked.

“Fifty victims, around seventy-five staff between the doctors, nurses, cleaners, and cooks,” Tobias answered.

“Was it … because of me?” It had to be, didn't it? She’d escaped, and they feared she’d lead authorities straight to them so they cleaned house. All those innocent people killed so she couldn’t bring help and save them.

“No,” Nathaniel said fiercely. His hands gripped the arms of her chair, and he spun it around until she was facing him, then crowded close. “Not because of you. Because someone thinks they can treat other human beings like bags of money instead of people.”

“That’s why they need me back. They already had to sacrifice some of their bodies, and they don’t want to let me go, it’ll cost them even more money.” Plus, they were probably furious that she had caused them all this trouble.

“We will find them, Ava,” Nathaniel said with such authority that, combined with the nods and affirmations from her team, she almost believed him.

Almost.

But not quite.

* * *

March 6 th

11:20 A.M.

“I wish I had something else to give you,” Ava said, and the frustration in her tone was obvious to him, and everyone else in the room.

Lines of tension bracketed Ava’s mouth, and the dark circles under her eyes made it look like she had a broken nose they were so black. The fine tremors in her hands that had started not long after they arrived there and started going through the faces of the people who had been found dead on the boat, looking for links between them and the hospital, were now much more noticeable.

It was time to wrap this up. Ava hadn't slept in more than twenty-four hours, and she was still weak, still battling infection, still recovering from the hell she’d been through. She needed sleep, proper sleep, in a bed not on a jungle floor, and without the hustle and bustle of a hospital.

Not that she could go back to it anyway. It wasn't safe for her. Given that the trafficking ring seemed determined to get her back in their clutches, she wasn't really safe anywhere. Not until these people were stopped, the ring dismantled, the perpetrators dead or in prison.

Personally, Nathaniel would prefer they were all dead for what they’d put Ava through.

But right now, that wasn't his priority.

The gorgeous blonde, sitting ramrod straight in a chair in front of her computer, flicking through the photos one by one of every single person who had been on the ship, was the only thing he cared about. She’d been so brave, so strong, and worked so hard, but it was time to call it quits for the day. She had an entire team of people who he knew would keep working while she took the time to give her body the rest it so badly needed.

“Hey.” Nathaniel grabbed the arms of her chair and turned her around so she was facing him instead of the wall of screens. Her eyes remained fixed on the glowing monitors until she couldn’t any longer, only then did her gaze drift to meet his. He held it for a moment, then let it drop to the small white bandage taped to her neck. Beneath it was the wound from the bullet that should have ended his life.

The one she’d taken in his place.

The one he’d never be able to forget.

“You’re wiped out. You’ve gone above and beyond, spent hours here looking through photos, running names, working with your team, but, Aves, now it’s time to take a step back.”

“I can't. Not right now. We don’t have anything yet,” she protested, looking aghast at the idea of taking anything that wasn't a step forward.

“Not true,” Teresa piped up. “We have names for everyone on that boat, and we’ve started running background checks on them. We have some leads to follow up on and we know that it’s possible that not all the staff were there by choice, that they’d been blackmailed into helping. That’s more than we had before you showed up here this morning.”

It was true, but her friend’s words didn't seem to placate Ava much.

No doubt if they left it up to her, she’d stay there indefinitely.

But that wasn't going to happen. Not on his watch.

“You haven’t slept in over a day,” Chelsea reminded her.

Like the words let out the final bit of wind in her sails, Ava deflated in front of them all. Exhaustion was etched into her features, and she had to know that it was no sign of weakness to go home and get some rest.

With a weary nod, Ava sighed and sank back into her chair. “Yeah. I guess I could catch a cab home and get a few hours’ sleep. Maybe when I come back tomorrow, I’ll have remembered something that will be helpful.”

Honestly, they all knew that wasn't happening. Whatever intel Ava had she’d already shared it with him, the agents who debriefed her when she got home, the cops last night, and now again with her team. There was nothing else she knew. It didn't mean she couldn’t still be a helpful tool in this investigation, it just meant she wasn't going to break the case wide open.

Right now, though, what she brought to the table wasn't his biggest concern. Nathaniel already knew she was a team player, smart and intuitive, with a never-give-up attitude. What he was worried about was keeping her safe.

“You can't take a cab home by yourself, Ava,” he reminded her gently. If her mind wasn't clogged with a million worries and concerns, she’d already have figured that out on her own.

“Why not?” Her brow crinkled and he knew it hadn't clicked for her yet.

“Because you have a target on your back,” Josiah said, speaking up for the first time since Nathaniel and Ava had come there after leaving the hospital. It was clear the man had some issues, and since they were all from the same world, he knew what had happened to Josiah and his team and couldn’t imagine living through that and coming out the other end unscathed.

Again, Ava seemed to deflate, sinking deeper into her chair, deeper inside herself. “Right. Of course. I should have known that.”

“You’ve been through a lot, cut yourself some slack,” Tobias said, and they all nodded their agreement.

She was acting like she should just snap back to normal now that she was home, but they all knew that wasn't what happened. Ava had lived through something traumatic and had lost pieces, not just of her physical self, but her psychological self as well. It was going to take time to rebuild those pieces, and many of them would never be completely the same again.

“So what happens to me next?” Ava asked in a small voice he hated. He wanted to see her strong and confident as much as he knew these moments when she felt weak were precisely when she needed him to be at his strongest.

Nathaniel had no intention of being anywhere Ava wasn't. He just wasn't sure what kind of resistance he was going to get to his plan. Prey was a family, and he was sure that any of the men or women who worked there would be more than happy to step up and play bodyguard.

Across the room, Nathaniel met Raven’s gaze. Her blue eyes studied him with an intensity he wasn't used to. Before today, he’d never met any of the infamous Oswald siblings, but now he’d met not only Raven, but Eagle had popped by earlier to check on Ava. He respected how the Oswalds had created such a tight-knit group at their company, and he was glad that Ava had found a sense of family she likely hadn't had with her own, the same way he had in the SEALs.

Was Raven going to pull rank now?

Shut him out because he wasn't part of this family?

When she gave him a small nod, he let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding in. He’d passed some sort of test, although he wasn't sure what it was or what he’d done to pass, but he was grateful he was going to be given this opportunity.

“Next, I take you home so you can rest and recuperate. Then tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it, I can bring you back here so you can keep working with your team. Ava …” Nathaniel shifted so his hands were holding hers rather than the arms of her chair, “… no one wants to shut you out or ask you to take a step back. You can be involved in this, but you also need to remember that your body is still healing, and so is your mind. Sometimes you might feel more detachment like you're working this case rather than being a part of it, but other times it might be harder to find that distance, and that’s okay.”

The smile she graced him with was almost shy and it sent a jolt through his length, which twitched as he remembered their conversation on unwrapping while they’d still been in Mexico.

“You're going to be my chauffeur?” she asked softly.

“I’m going to be your bodyguard,” he clarified, pleased when no one else protested. It was clear he didn't just have Raven’s blessing but the blessings of her entire team. He had to assume Josiah included since the man didn't voice a differing opinion.

“Bodyguard?”

“Not going to let anyone get their hands on you, Aves.” Almost absently, his fingers stroked her soft skin, only he wasn't sure if he was trying to soothe her or himself. “These people want you back. I won't let that happen. Which means I’m going to stay with you until we know the threat is over.”

A small part of him didn't want to walk away even then. A part he was pretty sure was going to keep growing the longer they spent together.