Elle James - An Unexpected Clue

The operator hesitated. “One moment please.” The line clicked.

After several moments of silence, Ben tapped his foot. Had he been cut off? Was the department slipping in his absence? Here he was in a life-and-death situation and he couldn’t get in touch with anyone.

The line clicked again. “Ben, this is Tom Ryan. Are you all right, buddy? Where are you? Better yet, where the hell have you been for the past two months?”

“Tom? Why the hell are you answering Ortiz’s line? Never mind, I don’t have time to go into detail. I need to know where Ava is.”

“Look, Ben things aren’t good for you here. Since your disappearance, some have it in their heads that you’ve gone bad, jumping from Del Gardo’s organization to join Nicky Wayne’s team of thugs and that you were somehow involved in Julie’s and Del Gardo’s murders.”

“Damn it!” Rage shot through his veins. Just when he thought captivity was the worst place he could be, he’d escaped to find out his own team thought he’d joined the other side. Ben inhaled and let out a long, steadying stream of air before he replied in a tight voice. “You know I had nothing to do with Julie’s or Del Gardo’s murders, Tom. And isn’t it enough to tell you that I’ve been on assignment?”

“I know you cared about Julie as much as Dylan and I did. You couldn’t have had anything to do with it. And for a while there, I’d guessed you were on some kind of mission. I just didn’t know what. But when you disappeared, rumors had it you ran because you’re guilty and involved in the Wayne organization up to your eyeballs. You have to come in and straighten everyone out.” Tom delivered his words in a calm, deliberate tone, one he’d used to talk suicidal maniacs off ledges.

“Including you? I thought we were friends. More than friends.”

“The evidence is pretty damning.”

“What evidence?”

“We found the note and pictures you received from Julie. You know,” Tom continued, “the one where she said ‘I know who you really are.’ That plus the pictures of you with Nicky Wayne has everyone in Kenner City convinced you’re one of the bad guys. You need to turn yourself in and straighten out this mess.”

After two months, Ben had almost forgotten the package’s other contents besides the medal. Now he recalled the note and pictures Julie had sent, her abbreviated message flashing through his memory. Ben stifled a groan. He could understand how easily her words could have been misinterpreted.

But Ben wasn’t going to turn himself in, not with so much at stake. “To hell with everyone else. I need to find Ava. Where is she?” So the FBI even thought he was crooked. That hurt. A lot. He guessed he’d been a little too successful at his undercover role. But he had bigger dragons to slay than a mucked up reputation.

“Look, buddy, you need to come back to Kenner City and talk to the powers that be. It’s the only way they’ll stop painting you as an insider in a crime ring. We’re pretty sure Boyd Perkins killed Julie, but there are those who think you might have orchestrated Julie’s death and the hit on Del Gardo.”

“Why do you only think it? Why not pull Perkins in for questioning?”

“Boyd Perkins died in a standoff before we could get a confession and you haven’t been around to confirm or deny anything.”

Ben nodded even though Tom couldn’t see him. At least one nasty character wouldn’t be plaguing the earth anymore. “I’m not coming in until I find Ava. Either you tell me where she is or I’ll hang up and find her myself.”

“All right, keep your shirt on.” Tom sighed into his ear. “Ava took a leave of absence and left town.”

Ben’s fingers tightened on the phone until he thought for sure the plastic would crack under the pressure. “Where’d she go?”

“After you disappeared, your house became a crime scene, with you a prime suspect. The stress eventually got to Ava and made her go into premature labor. She had to take off or risk delivering too soon. She’s at her sister Emily’s house in Vegas.”

Ben closed his eyes and fought a wave of hunger, fear and relief that threatened to make him nauseous. Ava was in Vegas. Close to him but even closer to Nicky Wayne.

“Ben? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes, I need money, identification and a vehicle I can count on.”

“You know I can’t give you those things without becoming an accomplice.”

“If not for me, then do it for Ava and my child. I won’t let Nicky get his filthy hands on her.” Not after all the pain and agony he’d inflicted on Ben.

A long pause stretched the silence between them, then Tom sighed. “I’ll have someone out there within two hours. How will I be able to contact you?”

Voices echoed in the hall outside the locked office door. Someone tested the handle.

Ben ducked low in case they broke the door down or used a key. “You still have the same cell number?” he whispered into the phone.

“Yes.”

“I’ll contact you.”

“I really wish you’d turn yourself in, man.”

“I can’t. Ava’s in danger. I’ll fill you in when I’m sure she’s all right.”

“If this is the way you want to play it, I’ll get the money and the car to you within the next few hours.”

Ben didn’t risk a response. Instead, he set the phone back in its cradle and waited for Wayne’s people to break down the door or move on. He had to find a way to Emily’s house and get there before Nicky Wayne found Ava.

Ava paced the length of her sister Emily’s living room, staring out at the tops of the Las Vegas high-rise casinos in the distance. Neon lights lit the night sky like Christmas on steroids, yet the bright colors and blare of traffic did nothing to lift Ava’s spirits.

Emily perched on the arm of her bomber-jacket-brown leather couch, a crease marring her elegant brow. “I wish you’d sit and take a load off your feet. You’re making me tired just watching you.”

With a wobbling about-face, Ava made another pass across the room. “I shouldn’t have taken time off. I’m not used to inactivity.”

“Maybe not, but you’d better rest while you can. After that baby comes, you won’t get a decent night’s sleep.”

Ava ran a hand over her swollen belly, trying to imagine holding the baby in her arms at last. With another month stretching before her like a slow-motion film, she couldn’t stand the thought of spending it twiddling her thumbs or crocheting baby booties. Sorry kid, I’m not that maternal. “I should have stayed in Kenner City.”