“It sort of is,” he answered, his voice taut with pain.
She popped the cap of the pain killers and shook two into her hand. “Oh, right. It’s my fault the DHS thinks you put the bomb on the flight. Well, I saved your life, so we’re even.”
After downing some of the water she gave him, he grabbed her wrist before she could pull away. “Those DHS agents were Board.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “Whoa, wait. They were Board members posing as FBI or–”
He shook his head before he finally dropped back down to the dining room table with a thud. “No. I think The Board infiltrated the FBI.”
Ava’s shoulders slumped as she dropped into a chair. “You’re kidding.”
“No. That’s why we can’t stay here.”
She snapped her gaze to him. “Wait, do they know who you are?”
“They’re going to figure it out. Unless you get me up and moving. Come on, you’ve got to help me.”
“How are they going to figure it out?”
“Because Sebastian Bancroft is missing. I need to handle that.”
She stared at him before she made a face. “Oh, right, absolutely. I’ll get you right up and you can hobble your way back home for an appearance. No one will realize you’ve been shot.”
“Better than being missing. I’ll cover the pain.”
“You can’t even sit up on your own, but you’re going to go wandering around pretending you’re not shot. Not going to work. We need another way to cover. Have your parents say you were called out of town unexpectedly.”
“Oh, that’s not suspicious at all, Ava.” Sebastian scrubbed his face, groaning in pain again.
“Stop,” Ava said with a shake of his head as she pulled his hands away from his face. “You can’t do this alone. We need a new plan. One that makes sense. And unfortunately, you’re going to have to take a little leave of absence for a few days until you’ve recovered enough to stand up straight and not look like you just got shot and a doctor dug a bullet out of you on your dining room table.”
“My phone,” he murmured.
“I have it.” She crossed to the server and retrieved it. “What do you want it for?”
“Not funny, Ava. Give it to me.”
She arched an eyebrow. “I don’t know. You did a lot of unfunny things when you were Raven, so I feel like I have a few coming to me.”
“I need to call my mother. She may have a way to keep me out of the spotlight with The Board for a little bit. And if she’s heard anything about what happened on the beach, she’ll be worried.”
With a sigh, she handed the phone to him. He toggled on the display and input his passcode. “Fifteen messages and five missed calls. Most of them are from my mother. This is the last thing I need right now.”
“Unfortunately, you’re stuck with it. Tell me what I can do to help.”
He shook his head. “I may need you to run some errands, just to make it look like I’m still around.”
“Got it,” she said with a nod as she retrieved her own phone. “I need to text Alex and get a car back. I left his at the Beach Comber when we brought you back here.”
He groaned again, sweat beading on his brow. “I still need to deal with Chris.”
“That’s being taken care of.”
He cut his gaze to her. “How?”
“Alex and Doc are handling it. Don’t worry, they’ll get the job done. I dated this guy, remember? I know exactly how to guilt him.”
“Too bad that didn’t work before he tried to have you killed,” Sebastian said, pressing his phone to his ear. “Mom…yeah…no, I’m fine…I know…I’m fine…but we have a little problem.”
