“We need to draw them off,” she answered. “I’ll get them to follow me.”
He grabbed her arm. “Ava…”
“I can do it. They’ll follow me. Just…make sure you have my back.”
He yanked her closer to him, a gloved thumb rubbing her cheek. “I always do.”
She bobbed her head, her heart rising into her throat as she backed away from him, stepping closer to the door to the bathroom. “Hey, boys…anybody looking for a promotion?”
Two automatic weapons pointed at her.
“I wouldn’t do that,” she warned. “I’m Ava Collins. I think you may want to check with your bosses because I’m pretty certain I’m more valuable alive than dead.”
The two men exchanged a glance as Ava backed toward the bathroom. It was a dead end, but if she could draw them away from the computer, it would be worth it.
Raven would need to step up and take them out from where he hid behind the pillar. One man inched his wayforward, gun trained on her as the other dug a cell phone from his pocket. The line trilled as he toggled on his speakerphone.
A woman’s voice answered, “Tell me you eradicated the problem.”
Ava swallowed hard, her pulse pounding as she recognized the speaker: Miranda Vale.
She may have just overestimated her value. Her fingers found the door jamb to the bathroom, and she wrapped them around it, trying to stop her knees from wobbling.
“We have an unexpected situation,” the man said into his phone.
“Tell me you got the files,” Miranda demanded, her voice sharp.
“Not yet, but don’t worry, we’ll get them. But…we have a little snag on this end. The place isn’t empty. I’ve got one Ava Collins here who claims she’s useful–more so alive than dead.”
Ava shifted a foot back slowly, her stomach rolling again as the ramen threatened to make a nasty appearance. If she stepped into the bathroom, she’d have nowhere to go. She had to be ready to take both of the men out if she had to.
She wanted to rely on Raven, but she wasn’t certain she could trust him.
He’d saved her once. Would he do it again?
“Ava Collins…tell me you have her under lock and key.”
“Not yet, but she’s got nowhere to go. You want us to bring her in alive?”
Miranda scoffed on the other end of the line. “No. I want you to kill her. And don’t leave any question about her. Make sure she’s dead, then bring me her head on a platter.”
Ava’s knees wobbled at the words. She wouldn’t escape this apartment alive.
As the weapons raised to her again, she dove for the tilefloor, plastering herself against it as bullets ripped through the wall, peppering the vanity behind her.
She army-crawled forward, before she climbed into the claw-footed tub.
With a trembling hand, she raised her weapon, desperately trying to steady it as two shots rang out.
She held her breath as another barrage of gunshots fired. This time, none of them reached her.Raven.
Another two gunshots before a second barrage from the automatic.
They were in a gunfight, and Raven was severely outgunned, though it seemed that he’d at least taken one of them down.
Ava forced herself to climb out of the tub and scurry across the tile floor as quietly as she could. She pressed herself against the wall and slid to sit before she risked a glance around the jamb and into the main room.
The assailant was pressed against one of the beams. She scanned the room, finding the other man sprawled on the floor, two bullet wounds in his back.
