Suddenly, she heard a van door slide open before his voice sounded again. “Get in.”
She swallowed hard as he shoved her into the back of a van.
“You can take the hood off,” he said before sliding the door shut.
She ripped her hood off, desperate to catch a glimpse of wherever she was but the thin sliver of light from the door disappeared almost immediately.
A curse escaped her as she scrambled to the door and searched for the handle to open it.
Her fingers wrapped around it, and she yanked but it didn’t budge. She heaved a sigh as the van shook around her when the front door slammed shut.
The engine fired, and they began to roll forward. “Hey, the least you could have done is let me ride up front. Especially if we’re going far.”
A tiny window opened, a sliver of light shining in from the front. “It’s not far.”
She scrambled toward the opening, attempting to see through the slit, but the only view she had was of Raven’s masked face.
“So…how did Miranda find your lair?”
“That’s a good question,” he answered. “One that I’d like an answer to.”
She arched an eyebrow as she sat back on her haunches. “I’ll bet.”
“I’m serious, Ava.”
Her lips parted as she furrowed her brow. “You’re asking me? How should I know how she found you?”
“Have you been talking to Chris Maxwell about me?”
She curled her fingers into fists as she glared at him. “No,I haven’t. In fact, I’ve protected you from the very beginning. Chris isn’t that trustworthy.”
“Then how did Miranda Vale track me?”
“I can’t believe this. You’re accusing me. You know what…if that’s your attitude, you can just stop this van and let me out right now.”
He didn’t stop, his gloved hands tightening around the wheel. “There’s no other way. You or Alex.”
“Oh, come on. Do you think Alex sold you out?”
“Yes,” he answered. “During his time with The Board. Maybe for better treatment. Maybe because he’s jealous.”
“That’s ridiculous. On all counts,” Ava said with a shake of her head.
“Is it?”
“Yes, of course it is,” Ava said, anger rising in her voice. “He has no reason to be jealous.”
The van lurched to a hard stop, sending Ava plowing into the front wall. “Ouch. Call your stops, you jerk.”
By the time she scrambled to her knees and peered through the small slit, the front door was already slamming shut. “Raven!”
Seconds later, the van door whipped open. Gloved hands reached for her, yanking her out of the back and into a dark alley.
He wrestled her forward, placing her between the van and a brick wall that blocked the street.
With a finger raising in warning, he spoke again. “I find it strange that one day after Alex Stone had been in Miranda Vale’s possession, my safe house is raided.”
“I don’t. You’re all over her radar, now. She could have had you followed. She could have used some clue from when you were inside that facility to track you. You drove that van, didn’t you? Maybe she followed it or tracked it. Come on, Raven, stop blaming us.”
