“And your best friend. Alex, we’re a team. I’m not leaving you for Sebastian. But I do think we owe him something. He was there because I insisted he bring you here. I knew you couldn’t handle processing my death, and I didn’t want you to. I wanted you to know.”
“Let me guess, he didn’t.”
“Not really, but he relented. He let me call you, and then when I didn’t get through, he went to get you himself. We owe him.”
The urgency in her voice made guilt roil inside him. “Fine, fine. We’ll save Sebastian. As long as you promise he won’t be your BFF.”
“Not even close. Doc is my backup BFF. Sebastian didn’t even make that.”
Alex tugged a corner of his lips back. “Gee, I kind of feel sorry for the guy. He keeps leaving you all those roses, and you’d pick Doc over him.”
“He can get in line,” Ava said. “Now, we need to figure out where he is. There are no surveillance cameras on the beach…”
“And that crappy van he drives doesn’t have a GPS I can tap and track.”
“No, but maybe you can trace it through his license plate like we did with Doc when he went missing in New Orleans.”
Alex heaved a sigh as he collapsed into the armchair withthe laptop in hand. “This would be way easier if I was at home with all my tools handy.”
She leaned over the arm of the chair, rubbing his shoulders. “Do you want to head back?”
He snapped his gaze to her. “Heck no, Avs. I just found out that you were alive after a horrible twenty-four hours where I thought you were dead. I’m not leaving you.”
She kissed his hair before she rested her cheek against the top of his head. “I get that, Ace, but you’re going to have to go home sometime. And you’re going to have to act like I’m still dead.”
He stared at the screen, his fingers frozen on the keyboard as he frowned. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
She rubbed his shoulder, reassuringly. “Alex, you have to. This is exactly the reason Sebastian didn’t want to tell you. He was afraid you’d blow it, but I insisted you’d be fine. You need to go back and act like I’m dead.”
Alex heaved a sigh. The task would be impossible. He’d been dead inside when he thought she was gone. Would he be able to pull this off?
“Seriously, Ace,” she added, “we need this to work. Although…”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Could you leave your car? In case I need to make a run to pick up our new bestie, Shadow.”
Alex heaved a sigh, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this is happening. And how do you expect me to leave the car? We’re like an hour away from the Hamptons. I can’t walk it.”
“I’ll drive you part of the way back. Then call Doc and tell him your car broke down. Maybe mention that you were distracted. He’ll understand.”
Alex hesitated, a flicker of doubt crossing his face. “You think he’ll buy that?”
Ava gave him a reassuring smile. “No, but that’s the storyyou’re going to tell everyone. After you tell Doc I’m alive. You need someone on your side to help you navigate this.”
“Right,” Alex said as he slammed the laptop shut. “Okay, I guess…I need to do this.”
Ava rose as Alex did. He set the laptop down on the seat before he stared at his wife, his features melting before he pulled her into a tight hug. “I don’t want to do this.”
She held him tight for another moment. “I don’t want you to go either but we can talk now.”
She poked her finger at the laptop.
He bobbed his head. “I should have brought another phone. I’ll bring you one.”
“Wait,” she said as she glanced around. “Maybe he has a landline.”
“Is that safe?” Alex asked. “I mean, we don’t want people tracing the numbers I’m calling and finding you.”
