Chapter 4 - The Night Reed Saved Ava From an Abduction, I Discovered the Man I Feared Most Had Been Protecting Us All AlongThe attack came at 2:14 a.m.
Three men entered through the fire escape.
Two more came through the lobby.
Reed's security team caught them before they reached my apartment.
I woke to shouting.
Then a crash.
Then silence.
I grabbed Ava.
Reed was already outside my bedroom.
“Stay here.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing you need to see.”
“Reed—”
“Claire.”
His voice was different.
Not the restaurant owner.
Not the billionaire.
Not the man people feared.
A protector.
“Stay with her.”
He disappeared.
Five minutes later, Tommy returned.
“It's over.”
“Who were they?”
“We're still finding out.”
“Did they come for me?”
He looked at Ava.
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
“They came for her.”
I held her tighter.
“Why?”
Tommy didn't answer.
Reed returned.
His knuckles were bruised.
His suit jacket was torn.
I stared at him.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He looked at Ava.
Then at me.
“They won't come back.”
“How can you know?”
“Because they know who they're dealing with now.”
I hated that answer.
“You can't guarantee that.”
“I can.”
“Reed—”
He stepped closer.
“Claire.”
I stopped.
“You don't understand what happens when someone threatens my family.”
I stared at him.
“Your family?”
He looked at Ava.
Then at me.
“Yes.”
My heart skipped.
Before I could answer, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
“It's Ethan.”
My blood froze.
Reed answered.
“Where are you?”
Silence.
Then Reed's expression changed.
“You have five minutes.”
He ended the call.
“What did he say?”
“He wants to meet.”
“Why?”
“He says he knows who is hunting Ava.”
I grabbed my coat.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“She is my daughter.”
“And that's exactly why you're staying here.”
“I won't hide while strangers decide what happens to her.”
Reed stared at me.
Then finally nodded.
“Fine.”
The meeting took place under an old bridge.
Ethan stepped from the shadows.
He looked older.
Tired.
But the same face.
The face I had once loved.
The face I had once believed would protect us.
He looked at Ava.
His eyes filled with tears.
“She looks like you.”
I didn't answer.
“You never told me she was this beautiful.”
“You knew about her.”
“Yes.”
“You saw her at the hospital.”
He closed his eyes.
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Your father.”
I looked at Reed.
Ethan continued.
“Reed's father wanted the ledger.”
“What did you steal?”
“I didn't steal it.”
“Then where is it?”
He looked at Ava.
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
“In the one place nobody would search.”
Reed stepped forward.
“Where?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Your daughter.”
I froze.
“What?”
“The ledger is hidden in something you gave her.”
I thought of Ava's belongings.
Her stuffed animals.
Her baby blanket.
Her necklace.
Then I remembered.
A tiny silver locket.
The one Ethan had given me before he disappeared.
I had put it around Ava's neck the day she was born.
I touched it.
Ethan whispered:
“The key is inside.”
Then headlights appeared behind us.
Ethan looked terrified.
“They found me.”
Gunshots exploded.
Reed grabbed me.
“Down!”
He pulled Ava behind a concrete barrier.
Bullets struck the bridge.
Ethan ran.
A car sped away.
I looked at Reed.
“Where is he going?”
Reed watched the vehicle disappear.
“He's not the enemy.”
“Then who is?”
He looked at the darkness.
“The person who ordered the attack.”
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And then he said a name I never expected.
“Tommy.”
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