Agent Sanderson tugged her lips into a frown as she bobbed her head. “Fair enough. Board members are responsible for some pretty horrific stuff—plane crashes, blackouts, chaos.”
“So, they’re just terrorists?”
“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “No, they’re worse than that. See, they sow the chaos, then they swoop in to claim the rewards as they clean it up.”
Ava pressed her lips together as the picture came together. “Right, so these people profit off of people’s pain.”
Agent Sanderson poked the business end of her pen at Ava. “You got it. Now, back to your captivating tale.”
“Hardly captivating. Like I said, I went to the event. It was held at an art gallery. I purchased a painting there for the event. It happened to be painted by Vivienne’s son, Sebastian.”
“Happened to be.” Agent Sanderson narrowed her eyes at Ava.
Ava lifted a shoulder. “It was two ships weathering a storm together. I liked it. Reminded me of Alex and me, so I bought it and made a generous donation to the charity.”
Agent Sanderson shifted her eyes toward her partner as she opened her folder and grabbed a photo from within, sliding it across the table toward Ava. “And that’s how this came about?”
Ava stared at a photo of her, held close by Sebastian Bancroft at the Independence Day ball. “Yes and no. Alex always receives an invitation to their party. This is the first year we attended.”
“That’s interesting. Why is that again?”
“Alex and I don’t have the most traditional marriage. We’re just starting to settle into our lives after pursuing our separate careers. We decided to go this year.”
“I see. Interesting timing. And, uh, how did your husband like the way Sebastian Bancroft looked at you.”
“Alex has nothing to worry about.”
“So, Mr. Bancroft was merely…smitten after meeting you at the ball?” Agent Sanderson asked.
Ava sucked in a breath. “Well, we’d met before. He was…ecstatic that I’d purchased his painting. He wanted to involve me with a charity initiative. He offered to paint a portrait of me in return for my support. We obviously had to spend quite a bit of time together for that to happen.”
“And…why would he do this?” Agent Sanderson asked.
“My husband has a lot of money. He hoped to woo me into the project.”
Agent Sullivan leaned forward. “And at any time did Mr. Bancroft mention wooing you into…another initiative?”
“The Board, you mean?” she asked before she shook her head. “No, he never mentioned The Board to me.”
“Really?” Agent Sanderson asked, her features surprised.
“Why would he?”
“He looks quite taken with you. Maybe he offered you power in exchange for…I don’t know…marrying him?”
Ava chuckled. “Well, that’s a leap.”
“Is it? You’re a beautiful woman. You have a lot to offer.” Agent Sanderson rifled in her folder again, pulling out a sheet of paper. “Graduated with high honors, black belt. Smart, dangerous, beautiful. Sounds like a combination that would be very attractive to The Board.”
“If it is, I don’t know anything about it. He never mentioned it to me.”
“You’re saying you have no idea about The Board?”
“I didn’t say that. I said Sebastian never mentioned it to me,” she answered. “I do know about The Board. They are the ones responsible for the skimming from Alex’s accounts at StoneCorp.”
“Were you aware that the Bancrofts were members of The Board?” Agent Sullivan asked.
“Yes,” Ava answered, careful not to give any more information.
