Читать книгу An Unexpected Clue - Elle James - Страница 9

The FBI agent Tom sent delivered the car and cash and left in a yellow taxi, no questions asked. Which was just as well. Ben didn’t have time to spare. Ava sat alone in the theater, exposed to who knew what. Ben parked the car in the movie theater lot, then Ben peeled a twenty off the wad of bills the agent had given him. His mouth watered at the thought of the popcorn he could buy. But, first things first. He had to get to Ava and ensure she was all right.

At the ticket counter, he paid for a ticket to theater seven and hurried past the concession stands, his stomach rumbling angrily.

Once he stepped into the darkened theater, he stopped and waited for his sight to adjust to the dim lighting. The metal clank of a door surprised him, the sound coming from near the front of the cavernous room. Who would be leaving before the movie even started?

Ben’s heartbeat ratcheted into high gear. Had Ava skipped out the back door to avoid him? He scanned the empty seats noting two couples kissing high in the back corners. The rest of the theater was empty.

“Damn,” he muttered beneath his breath and jogged across the darkened theater to the exit door. If the door closing had been Ava leaving, she couldn’t have gotten far. Not in her condition.

In order to keep from scaring her, he eased the door open. With her so close to her delivery date, he didn’t want to add so much stress that she went into premature labor. When Ben peered out onto the nearly deserted employees’ parking lot, he didn’t see anyone moving about.

Now a little more than worried, he ran to the nearest corner, stopped and peered around the edge.

In the dim glow of a parking lot light, the dark silhouette of a huddle of people made Ben’s blood run cold. What looked like the man and woman he’d seen enter the theater flanked Ava and hurried her toward the cars parked near the front of the building.

No! Ben fought the urge to race after them, his mind grappling with his best options to rescue Ava without her coming to harm in the process. He ducked behind a row of cars and, keeping his head lowered to window-level, he moved as quickly and quietly as he could. When he was within one car length from the others, he paused, looking for his opportunity.

“Is this the fastest you can go?” the woman asked, jerking Ava’s arm.

“You try carrying a thirty-pound bowling ball in front of you,” Ava retorted, yanking her arm out of the woman’s grip.

“Where’d you park the damned car?” the man barked.

“That’s it, three cars down.”

Ben hunkered low and ducked behind the cars, moving another three cars over before he slipped between the vehicles and waited in the shadows for the two to make their second mistake. The first had been to mess with Ava.

The electronic beep of a car lock and the blink of taillights pinpointed the vehicle they were headed for. The man opened the back door. “Get in.”

“No.” Ava pulled back, her feet planting on the pavement.

“Don’t piss me off, lady.” He pointed his gun at her belly. “Get in the damned car.”

Ava hesitated only another second, then quietly bent and slid onto the seat. The man and the woman stood outside the car, their backs to Ben.

That’s when Ben made his move. He hunched and charged across the open space between the lines of parked cars and barreled into the woman. On impact she crashed into the man, causing the gun in his hand to fly through the air, landing a yard away from where they lay sprawled on the pavement.

Ben crawled over the man and woman, reaching for the gun. “Get out of the car, Ava! Now!” When he thought he had the weapon in his grip, a large hand grabbed his ankle and yanked him back.

Behind him, the woman was climbing to her feet.

Ava swung the car door open, slamming it into the woman’s backside, sending her flying yet again. She landed on top of the man, hitting him square in the chest.

Air whooshed from his lungs and his grip on Ben’s ankle loosened.

Ben scooted out of reach, grabbed the gun and rolled to his feet all in one movement.

When the woman got to her feet for the second time, she reached beneath her blazer.

“I wouldn’t, if you value your life,” Ben growled.

Her hand stalled in midair. “You wouldn’t shoot a woman, would you?”

“No, but I’d sure as hell shoot a criminal.” He held the pistol level with the woman’s chest and nodded. “Ease the weapon out of your jacket with two fingers and toss it behind you. If you even twitch an eyelid, I’ll shoot.”

The woman’s lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes narrowing as if she were trying to gauge the sincerity of Ben’s promise to shoot. Her hand reached inside the jacket and she hesitated.

When she jerked it out, Ben pulled the trigger on his own weapon, hitting the woman in the shoulder, spinning her around and slamming her into the car next to her. Her weapon dropped to the ground and skidded under the car. She slid to the pavement, holding her shoulder and cursing like a sailor.

The man scrambled across the pavement toward the fallen gun. He reached beneath the car, stretching as far as he could.

Ben leaned over the man and pressed the gun to his head. “Don’t.”

The car door opened on the other side and a hand reached beneath the car retrieving the gun. Ava slid out and stood, walking around to the end of the car. “Looking for this?” She held the gun in her hand, her finger on the trigger.

“Good, God, Ava. Put that thing down before you shoot yourself.”

“I know how to handle a gun.” She pointed it at the man’s chest. “Want me to demonstrate? Anyone who’d threaten an unborn child deserves a little pain.”

The man glared at her.

“That won’t be necessary.” Ben nodded toward the car. “Anything in there we can use to tie these two up?”

Ava stared at the man on the ground, for a long moment refusing to lower her weapon, her eyes blazing. Then her hand dropped to her side. “Yeah, the duct tape they’d planned to use on me.” She hurried back to the car and returned with a roll of thick gray tape.

Ben jerked his head toward the woman. “Start by securing her good hand to the car and taping her feet together.” He looked at the woman. “You hurt her in any way and I won’t aim for a shoulder this time.”

She glared at him. “I’ll kill you. You just wait.”

“Yeah, yeah. If Wayne doesn’t do it for me. You two bungled an easy job. You can’t even kidnap an eight-months’ pregnant woman without screwing it up. You think you’ll last long in his organization at that rate?” Ben snorted. “If I were you, I’d head out of town and keep going until you run out of road. Even then, I’d keep an eye on my back.”

After she had the woman’s good wrist firmly secured to the handle of a car, Ava squatted down and almost toppled over.

“Wait.” Ben moved around the man, still pointing the gun at him. “Here, you hold this. If he so much as sneezes, kill him.”

He passed the gun to Ava and took the roll of tape. He quickly wrapped the woman’s ankles and reached for the man’s hands, yanking them behind his back. “If you ever point a gun at my wife or my baby again, I’ll kill you,” he said as he pulled the tape tight enough the man would be hurting. After he’d secured his feet and laid a strip of tape on the thugs’ mouths, he flung the roll of duct tape across the parking lot.

“Ready?” He hooked Ava’s arm and walked her to his rental car.

“I can’t leave my car here.”

“You can’t take it. They know what it looks like. You’re not safe in it.” He sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “Please, Ava, get in the car.”

“No.” She pulled out of his grip and marched across to her car.

Ben followed her. “Where are you going?”

“It’s none of your business.” She climbed in and would have shut the door if Ben hadn’t grabbed it and held it open.

“Maybe you don’t get it.” He leaned close enough to get right in her face. “Your life is in danger.”

“So, I’ll be careful.” Tears hovered on the edges of her eyelids as she jammed the key into the ignition and started the car.

The tears ate at Ben’s empty gut, twisting in it like a knife. “You can’t go alone. At least let me come with you.”

“I need time to think.” She rested her forehead on the steering wheel. “Time without you in it.”

Although she whispered, Ben heard every word. Her rejection hurt. More than he ever thought it would. His hand fell away from the door and he stepped back, his heart like a dead weight in his chest.

Ava shoved the shift into reverse, and slammed her foot to the floor. As she pulled out of the parking space, her tires squealed.

Ben stared after her in numb silence. After all the weeks he’d spent dreaming of his homecoming, he didn’t expect this. And it caused him more pain than all the wounds he’d received during Nicky Wayne’s torture sessions.

Before Ava cleared the theater parking lot, Ben came back to his senses with a jolt. He couldn’t let her get away. He had no idea where she’d go or when Wayne’s organization might strike again.

He ran to the rental car, climbed in and raced after Ava’s disappearing taillights. At the rate she was going, she’d kill herself if Wayne didn’t get her first.

AVA HATED that Ben had been right. She’d thought his warnings about the Wayne organization were all part of his ploy to get her back to Kenner City and the medal he wanted so badly.

The couple in the movie theater had taken her completely by surprise. But were they really part of the Wayne organization, or were they just a couple of crooks, looking to rob her or kidnap her for ransom?

Ava snorted. Like she had any money to steal. And who would pay a ransom to get her back?

She liked to think Ben would, but after the way she’d treated him…

Her chest tightened at the thought of him being held captive for the past couple months. What kind of torture had he endured? Was she being fair to push him away?

Her fists clenched around the steering wheel. She couldn’t fall for his lies. She’d be as bad as her mother, believing her father would come back any day. For years, she’d held on to the hope, like her mother did, that her father would return. But after so long, she’d finally come to the realization that men didn’t stay. They made big promises, but didn’t deliver. Or at least, the two most important men in Ava’s life hadn’t delivered. Both times she’d given her love unconditionally, risking her heart.

Both times she’d been disappointed. She’d be damned if her baby went through that.

She could understand why her mother had welcomed her father back each time. He was so charming, endearing and handsome, how could a woman resist?

If she’d been smart, she’d have recognized the same traits in Ben up front, before she’d fallen for him. But she’d been as bad as a besotted schoolgirl with her first crush. Willing to believe she could actually have that fairytale happily-ever-after end to her story.

Hadn’t her mother proven that wasn’t the case?

And her sister Emily had suffered through a divorce, also proving the same.

Was it fate for Ava to fall into the same trap?

With nowhere else to go, Ava headed back to her sister’s house. Maybe she’d pack her bags and head for a hotel. Or she could keep driving until she made it to California. She’d always wanted to visit San Francisco and never seemed to have time to get away from the Kenner County Crime Unit. With a month to go before the baby was due and out of work, by doctor’s orders, she had plenty of time now.

Yeah, like she’d drive across the state eight months pregnant with no plan, no place to stay and no desire to be alone.

She sat at a stoplight, her foot resting on the brake, thinking she should take the easy route, give in and let Ben take care of her…

The light turned green, her foot fell hard to the accelerator and she shot forward. What was she thinking? Had she become her mother?

When she turned onto the suburban street her sister lived on, she coasted into the driveway and switched the engine off. Tired beyond belief, she could barely stand the thought of packing and leaving. Maybe she’d just go in, take a shower and climb into bed. Tomorrow was another day. Her troubles could wait.