Drumming her fingers on the laptop, she waited for an answer. It didn’t come fast enough for her taste. She snapped a picture of the location, just in case, before she shoved the phone into her pocket and grabbed the keys to Alex’s SUV.
Seconds later, she was out the door and heading to the vehicle under the moonlight. Climbing behind the wheel, she fired the engine and whipped the car around in the gravel driveway, pushing it toward the road as fast as she could.
She hit the pavement and increased her speed, careful tostay only slightly over the speed limit so she wasn’t pulled over. The last thing she needed was a cop pulling her over and realizing who she was.
Her palms were slick against the steering wheel as her mind vetted options. Had Sebastian reached out or was this a trap, designed to draw her in and make sure she stayed dead this time?
She should have searched the cabin for a weapon.
But she didn’t have time for that.
She urged a little more speed from the vehicle, pulling her hood up over her head as she neared the Hamptons.
She navigated through backroads toward the Beach Comber resort, spotting Sebastian’s van sitting in the lot.
She pulled in next to it, double-checking it despite the news she’d received earlier. She found it empty.
Her eyes fell onto the dark building between her and the beach. Had he circled around and found a way inside the old resort?
She crossed to it, keeping to the shadows as she moved and grabbed hold of the door handles to the main entrance. The doors didn’t budge.
With a low curse, she circled around, checking a few other doors until one swung open.
She slipped inside, toggling on her cell phone’s flashlight.
Sweeping it around the hallway, she let it fall onto the tile floor leading to the laundry. Droplets of blood stained it.
With her heart in her throat, she followed them until she hit a carpeted area leading to old meeting rooms.
Chairs remained stacked in some of the rooms, an eerie reminder of how quickly things could change. She swept her beam around each room, searching for anyone.
“Come on, Shadow, where are you?”
She searched the floor for more blood spots, but with the dark pattern, it was almost impossible to see anything.
The carpet turned back to marble tile as she hit the main lobby. More blood spatters led to a stairwell. She followed the spots to the second floor, exiting into a hallway of hotel rooms.
She crept down the hall, the moonlight shining through from some open doors as an eerie sense of silence pervaded the space.
As she inched past one open door, her heart skipped a beat. A body was sprawled on the floor near the two beds in the room.
Ava raced inside, turning the dark-clad body over to find an unconscious Sebastian.
“Sebastian?” Her voice wavered, panic threatening to overtake her as she patted his cheeks, willing him to wake up. The flashlight's beam shook as she ran it down his body, catching on a dark, spreading stain on his hoodie. Heart pounding, she lifted the fabric, revealing a bullet wound in his abdomen. The sight made her stomach lurch, a cold dread settling over her.
The phone chimed, snapping her back to the present. She quickly checked the screen, seeing Alex's message:Calling now.
As the phone rang, she swiped to answer, her voice strained with urgency. “Alex… get Doc to the Beach Comber, right now. Sebastian’s been shot. He’s losing a lot of blood.”
She pressed her hand to the wound, desperate to stanch the flow as his blood seeped through her fingers. Panic bubbled up, but she shoved it down. This was no time for fear. As she looked at Sebastian’s ashen face, a single thought echoed in her mind:If we lose him, we lose everything. The gravity of the situation pressed on her, knowing that without him, their chances against The Board dwindled to nothing.
CHAPTER 19
ALEX
Alex slid into the passenger seat of Kyle’s car, shaking his head. Where was the man who’d rescued Ava? And did he really want to find him? The very idea felt ludicrous. Here he was, hunting down the person who’d saved Ava’s life, yet had been a thorn in his side for so long. Part of him wanted to be grateful, to see this man as a hero. But another part—the louder, more distrustful part—couldn't shake the feeling that trusting Sebastian Bancroft, aka Shadow, was like inviting a wolf into the sheepfold. How could he reconcile these conflicting feelings?
“Well, that was a bust. You want to check anywhere else?” Kyle asked.
