“I hate to do it, but we have no choice,” Ava said as she worked her way down the stairs, her muscles aching and sweat beading on her brow.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Vivienne lifted the man’s feet, struggling to toddle along with Ava.
“This man tried to kill me and my son. I will do anything to protect Sebastian.”
Ava nodded, accepting the help. “I understand. I feel the same way about Alex. And I’ll do anything to protect him from The Board’s attacks on him.”
“Then let’s do what needs to be done,” Vivienne said as they carried the body into the cool night air.
Sebastian used the man’s keys to open the trunk. The two women struggled but managed to push the body into it.
With a heaving chest, Vivienne dabbed at sweat on her forehead. “Follow me. I’ll lead you to the quarry before we take shelter at the house.”
“Ava,” Sebastian said as she headed for the driver side of the government car. “No calls until we’re safe, okay?”
She bobbed her head. “I’ll call Alex when we’re settled.”
She slid behind the wheel and fired the engine. With her still-shaking hands, she gripped the wheel.
Behind her, Vivienne already turned the car around. She threw the shifter into reverse and turned around to follow her.
The drive wore on her from the time they hit the paved road. She flicked her eyes to the trunk constantly, reminded of the body in the back
She hadn’t wanted to kill the man, but it had been her life or his. The small gun she’d found in his boot would have been enough to kill her when shot by an expert like him.
The moment replayed over and over again as they traveled to the new destination. As the moonlight hit her hands on the wheel, she gasped, spotting the blood on them.
Her features pinched as she licked her fingers and tried to scrub it off. Most of her hand came clean, but a few traces of the red stain remained.
She shook her head, sickened by the latest turn of events. Her fingers found her phone, her breathing shaky as she removed it.
She wanted to call Alex, to tell him what happened, but with a shake of her head, she dumped it into the cup holder. She couldn’t call anyone until she knew more. She wouldn’t panic him until she had more information to settle his nerves.
He had a job to do, too, and she wouldn’t interrupt his work.
They needed a victory on that front to try to clear some of the battlefield.
Her eyes focused on the taillights front of her, determined to focus. “You’ve got this, Ava. Just calm down.”
The car pulled off the road, heading down a gravel and dirt path. The dense forest gradually gave way to a barren landscape as they neared the quarry, the trees thinning out until nothing but rocky outcroppings surrounded them. The early morning light cast long shadows across the ground, making the place feel even more desolate.
Ava followed them in her own vehicle.
Vivienne led her to the locked gates of an abandoned stone quarry. She hurried from the vehicle as light began to crest on the horizon. The single shot of the gun blew the lock away and she pushed the gates open before she returned to her vehicle and drove inside.
She led Ava deeper into the abandoned property before she eased to a stop. Ava climbed from the car into the early morning light.
Sebastian rolled down his window. “It would be better to ditch the car entirely. We don’t want it traced back to us.”
“You’re right. We’ll push it into the quarry.” Ava hurried back to the car, wiped down the wheel of her prints, and positioned it at the edge of the steep hole in the ground before she climbed from within. “Parking brake is off. We should be able to push this into the quarry.”
Vivienne nodded as they positioned themselves behind the vehicle. They began to push, getting stuck on a rock under one of the back tires.
Ava cursed as they slipped, and she landed on the ground in the dusty dirt. With a curse, she pushed up to sit, her eyes catching on a red light on the car’s undercarriage.
She froze, her lips parting as Vivienne scrambled to her feet, brushing herself off. “Ava? Are you hurt?”
“No,” Ava answered as she reached forward, her head cocking. “But there’s a tracker on this car. Someone has been tracking our every move.”
