“Okay, fine. You’re awesome, and you don’t need to plan ahead.”
Alex shook his head as they exited the elevator and passed the guard.
“Have a great night, Mr. Stone,” the guard called.
“You too,” Alex replied, his voice steady despite the storm inside him.
They pushed outside as a car rolled to the stop at the curb. They climbed inside, and Alex gave him an address a few blocks away from Ava’s location.
They arrived at the location, climbing out of the car.
“Why’d you give him this address? We should have gone straight to the location and kept the ride share for when we grabbed Ava back.”
“I don’t want our aviary ally seeing us roll up, duh,” Alex said as they continued to follow the route to the red dot.
“But now he’ll see us walking and be like oh look, two chumps who walked.”
“I’m not…whatever,” Alex said. “We’ll look way less obtrusive walking than coming in a car that’ll definitely trigger an alarm. We could try to avoid any cameras.”
“Of which I’m sure he’ll have many,” Kyle answered.
“Exactly. And we want to make a discreet entrance.”
“Uhh, wait, speaking of making an entrance, how are we going to get in there? No offense, but…you’re not Ava and neither am I. She’d just go in, guns blazing.”
“I know,” Alex answered. “And I have no idea. Even if I have a gun, I couldn’t use it. I barely can load it.”
“I can use one. I know how to load it. Ava showed me. Like five minutes before we rescued you.”
“That’s not helpful. Because you miss all the time. This is Raven. Raven shot Miranda from forever away. He’ll shoot you easily, then I’ll be worse off.”
“Yeah, well…whatever,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. “That leaves us still uncertain how we’re going to get inside and rescue Ava.”
Alex wrinkled his nose as they walked. “I know. And I don’t know how we’re going to do it. But Ava rescued me.”
“If we pull this off, I will have rescued you both.” Kyle grinned at hm.
“Ifwe pull this off. I’m suddenly feeling like we won’t.” He rubbed at his forehead. Ava had just rescued him from the clutches of The Board. And he was worried about how he’d get her back from a single man. “I feel like such a wimp.”
“We’re trying our best,” Kyle said. “And talk about feeling useless. Ava is a bad ass. She kicks down doors and handles a weapon like a pro. She literally went into the facility like it was nothing. Then, there’s you…you’re a tech genius. You can manipulate any code anywhere to find Ava. And I just…tag along. I’m like the useless sidekick who’s only here to make witty quips.”
“But the witty quips are the best part of the duo.”
Kyle’s forehead crinkled. “Really? You think…my witty quips are cool?”
“Absolutely, Doc. Hey, you’re a valued part of the team. Both Ava and I appreciate you.”
He clapped Alex on the back. “Thanks, buddy. Well, now that we’ve wasted all that time…we’re here. And we still have no plan.”
Alex stared up at the building. “Nope. And unfortunately, we have no idea what floor he’s on.”
“I’m going to the door to look at the names.”
“Wait,” Alex said, tugging Kyle back. “You can’t go to the door to see the names. He’s probably got cameras.”
“I’ll hide my face,” Kyle said, tugging his collar up.
“You can’t…” Alex hurried to catch up with Kyle as he went to the door.
