Kyle’s eyes went wide as he raced around the desk to eye the screen. “Really? You can get in?”
He clicked his tongue. “Not exactly, but…I’m making a modification to the program, and sending out an update. Unless he’s on a closed system, it should automatically update, sending the location to him and backlogging it to me.”
“Oh, you are a genius, Mav.”
He raised his eyebrows as his fingers flew across the keyboard. “Yep. Only problem is…in order for himnotto know I’m on to him…I’ve got to send it on a delay.”
“How much of a delay?” Kyle asked.
“Ten minutes,” Alex answered.
“Ten minutes? A lot can happen in ten minutes, Mav. I mean…a lot…you were kidnapped in less than ten minutes.”
“No kidding,” Alex muttered, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “But I’m not risking getting caught. If he smashes her phone, he could disappear with her for good.”
Kyle snapped his gaze to Alex. “What? Seriously? You think he’d do that?”
“I don’t know.” Alex’s heart thudded as he faced the question again. His mind recalled the roses, the protectiveness of the man when he’d stormed into her hotel room to take her away. “Yeah, I think he would.”
“Seriously? I mean…he’s weird but–”
“He leaves her roses all the time. He took her out of a hotel room to protect her. Yeah, I think he could totally disappear with her. And we have no idea who this joker is.”
“How have you not tracked him yet? He’s got phones, cars, buildings–”
“Yeah, I get it, Doc,” Alex interrupted. “And I don’t know. This guy has serious firepower. He hacked into StoneCorp’s system and left me a message. He’s got enough burners to stay hidden. The buildings lead back to nowhere. It’s like he’s a ghost.”
“Or he’s got someone covering his tracks really well.”
“No kidding. He’s got to have someone good. And that makes this so much worse. He’s a phantom, and if he disappears with Ava…” Alex shook his head, his heart hammering against his ribs.
“Okay, we can’t let that happen. Finish the code.”
Alex gave him a skeptical look. “Is that an order?”
“Yes. No. It’s…I’m trying to focus you. I’m your doctor. It’s my job.”
“It’s really not,” Alex said, shaking his head. “But you’re right. I need to finish this.”
He leaned closer, his fingers rushing across the keyboard as his heart paced their pace. Code spilled onto the screen as he added the extra bit to send Ava’s location back to him on a ten-minute delay. “All right, here we go.”
Alex tapped his mouse to compile the code before he received an error.
“What is that? What happened? Did he block you?”
Alex groaned as he scanned through the code and tapped the semicolon key. “Missed a semi. Stupid. I better check this. I’m rushing.”
“Don’t rush…if this works, we’ll find her, Mav.”
Alex held back his annoyance, his nostrils flaring. “Somehow, when Ava says that, it’s so much easier for me to hear than when you say it.”
“No kidding. She’s way cuter than I am. It’s always better coming from a cute girl.”
“She is,” Alex agreed as he double-checked his code. The joke only made his heart ache more. His beautiful Ava was gone, and the thought of life without her was unbearable. He had to get her back.
He missed her smile, her laugh. He loved her more with every second. And now that she’d declared her love for him, she was like an intoxicating drug that he couldn’t get enough of.
“Okay, I think we’re good.” His chest constricted as he tapped the compile button and allowed the code to run.
