She raised her hands, her eyes going to Sebastian.
“Mom, put the gun down. Ava’s on our side.”
Vivienne’s features pinched before she cried out, doubling over as she collapsed into the chair next to the bed.
Sebastian wrapped his arm around her as she sobbed. “It’s okay, Mom. We’re okay.”
Ava scrambled to her feet, glancing back at the man’s body behind her. “We need a plan.”
“We have to move,” Sebastian said. “They’re on to us here.”
“How?” Ava questioned.
Sebastian shook his head. “I don’t know. This cabin isn’t even tied to the Bancrofts.”
Ava leaned over the body, searching his pockets. “So, you’re standing in The Board is okay.”
“As far as I know,” he groaned, his eyes squeezing closed as he pushed himself up to sit. “But it won’t stay that way if I don’t get back into the swing of things.”
“You can barely move. We need to pull back to another spot and wait this out. Did he tell anyone he found you?”
“To my knowledge, no.”
Ava pulled his phone from his pocket, toggling it on. “Locked. I need to hack this. We need to know who his contact is and what they know.”
Her mind buzzed as she reached for her phone to call Alex, but then Sebastian stood.
“We need to get out of here first. We have no idea if anyone else is coming.”
Ava raised her eyes to him. “You’re right. We’ll deal with this later. We should take the body and the car.”
“I can–”
“Barely walk,” she said. “Get in the car with your mother. I’ll drag this guy to his car and take that. We need a place to go, though.”
“My family has a house in Cold Springs Harbor,” Vivienne said. “We can go there.”
“I’ll follow you,” Ava said with a nod as she grabbed hold of the man’s hands and tugged him backward.
“Ava, you can’t do that on your own,” Sebastian said as he hobbled closer, sucking in a sharp breath as he moved.
“Watch me,” she groaned.
“Ava–”
“Back off, Shadow. If you open that wound, we’re delayed all the more getting Doc up here. Now, hobble down to the car and get into the passenger seat.”
“She’s right, Sebastian,” Vivienne said. “We can’t afford for you to open that wound.”
Sebastian shook his head, his fingers curling into fists. “I hate being this vulnerable, and I can’t do a damn thing about it.”
Ava waddled her way backward, dragging the man with her. “Cry me a river.”
“We should dump that body somewhere,” Sebastian said as he inched behind her, careful to keep his movements slow.
“Got any ideas?”
“There’s a quarry about an hour from Cold Springs.”
