Richard lunged forward and dropped his head in his hands. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
“We don’t know for sure…” Maverick started to say, but then he died off. “It would make a lot of sense though. Especially if he was controlling, like the type who make it hard for people to leave.”
Richard shot to his feet and reached for his phone.Please say she’s at the hotel.“What if she went back to him?” he asked, another dose of nausea pushing through his gut.Lord, don’t let her go back to him.
“You better go get her,” Maverick blurted. “Hurry!”
“I am.” Richard bolted for the cabin door but stopped short as Maverick called out once more.
“Hey, wait!”
“Yeah?” Richard’s foot bounced as he stared down at his phone. Why wasn’t the stupid app opening?
“I’m sorry for everything. I’ve been a total jerk and I made life harder for everyone.”
“It’s okay,” Richard said. “I’m sorry for getting with Ava while you were sleeping.”
Maverick grinned. “No, you’re not.”
So did Richard. “You’re right, I’m not. But I am sorry that it hurt you.”
Maverick nodded. “I know. Okay, now go, go!”
“I’m going.”
His app finally opened, and there was the little icon for Ava’s phone. The only trouble was, according to the app, it had been offline since 3:00, and now it was 6:30.
It wasn’t often that her phone went offline. In fact, since she’d left it hadn’t gone offline even once, until now. She could be on a plane. Or in a cab, heading back to controlling, abusive Wren Brandler. People went back to their abusers all the time.
Richard would feel bad if he was wrong about the guy, but at this point, he felt certain he’d finally cracked the case behind Ava’s mysterious past. Now, whether she wanted to be with Richard or not, he had to make sure Ava never went back.
