Chapter 7: Don’t Trust My Brother

Ava stared at Damien.

“What did he say?” he asked again.

The phone felt heavy in her hand.

Ethan’s voice still echoed in her head.

Don’t trust my brother.

After days of believing her husband was dead, she had heard him speak.

There was no mistaking that voice.

It was Ethan.

But if he was alive, why had he disappeared?

Why had he allowed her to bury another man?

And why was he warning her about Damien?

“Ava.”

Damien stepped closer.

She immediately moved away.

His eyes narrowed.

“What did Ethan say?”

“I never said it was Ethan.”

“You didn’t have to.”

The footsteps behind them grew louder.

A beam of light appeared at the far end of the tunnel.

Damien glanced over his shoulder.

“We can discuss this later.”

He turned toward the locked metal door and slammed his shoulder against it again.

It didn’t move.

“Help me.”

Ava remained where she was.

Damien looked back.

“Unless you want the men behind us to catch you, now would be a good time to stop questioning whether I’m your enemy.”

That was exactly what an enemy would say.

Still, the approaching footsteps left her with little choice.

Ava pushed the phone into her pocket and joined him.

Together, they threw their weight against the door.

Once.

Twice.

On the third attempt, the rusted lock broke.

The door flew open.

They stumbled into a dark maintenance room.

“Inside.”

Damien pulled Ava through and pushed the door closed.

There was no lock on their side.

He grabbed a heavy metal shelf and dragged it across the floor.

Ava helped him push it against the door.

Seconds later, someone slammed into the other side.

The shelf shook.

Ava jumped back.

“They know we’re here.”

“I noticed.”

Damien scanned the room.

Old cleaning equipment.

Broken chairs.

Dusty cabinets.

No windows.

No obvious exit.

“We’re trapped,” Ava whispered.

Damien walked toward the far wall.

“There has to be another way out.”

The door shook again.

A voice came from the other side.

“Mrs. Cross.”

Ava froze.

The man sounded amused.

“You’re making this unnecessarily difficult.”

Damien raised his gun.

“Stay behind me.”

Ava looked at him.

Ethan’s warning returned.

Don’t trust my brother.

She took another step away.

Damien noticed.

“What did Ethan tell you?”

“Why do you keep assuming it was him?”

“Because of your face.”

Ava said nothing.

Damien gave a humorless laugh.

“My brother calls from the dead, and somehow I become the person you’re afraid of.”

“You lied to me.”

“About what?”

“Your existence.”

Damien stared at her.

“That was Ethan’s lie, not mine.”

“You knew about me.”

“Yes.”

“You knew I was married to your brother.”

“Yes.”

“And you never once introduced yourself?”

His jaw tightened.

“No.”

“Why?”

The door shook again.

“Not now.”

Ava laughed bitterly.

“Of course. It’s never the right time for the truth with your family.”

Damien stepped closer.

“I stayed away because Ethan asked me to.”

“Why?”

“He believed keeping you away from the Cross family would keep you safe.”

Ava stared at him.

“And how well did that work?”

A loud crack came from the door.

The shelf shifted.

Damien looked around desperately.

Then he spotted something behind a stack of old boxes.

A ventilation panel.

“There.”

He rushed toward it.

The panel was large enough for a person to crawl through.

Damien kicked it twice until it broke away.

“You first.”

Ava stared into the darkness.

“Where does it lead?”

“I have no idea.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“Would you prefer the door?”

Another violent crash answered for him.

Ava dropped to her knees and crawled into the narrow shaft.

Damien followed and pulled the broken panel back into place.

Seconds later, the maintenance room door burst open.

Ava stopped breathing.

Voices filled the room.

“Where are they?”

“Search everything.”

A flashlight shone through the gaps in the panel.

Damien placed a finger against his lips.

Ava remained completely still.

One of the men walked closer.

His boots stopped directly in front of the ventilation opening.

Ava could hear her own heartbeat.

The man remained there for several seconds.

Then a voice called from across the room.

“Nothing.”

The boots moved away.

Ava released a silent breath.

Damien touched her shoulder and pointed forward.

They crawled.

The shaft was narrow and suffocating.

Ava tried not to think about the darkness surrounding her.

After several minutes, Damien whispered, “Stop.”

She froze.

“What?”

“Listen.”

At first, she heard nothing.

Then came voices from somewhere below them.

The ventilation shaft passed directly over another room.

Damien carefully removed a loose metal grate.

Light filtered through.

Ava looked down.

Three men stood around a table covered with photographs and documents.

Her breath caught.

One photograph showed Ethan.

Another showed Victoria.

A third showed Ava leaving her apartment.

They had been watching her.

One of the men spoke.

“The pilot should have died in the crash.”

Ava recognized the voice.

It belonged to the man who had threatened them through the hospital door.

Another man replied, “That’s no longer our biggest problem.”

“What is?”

“The phone has been activated.”

Ava instinctively touched her pocket.

Damien looked at her.

The man below continued.

“If she answered the call, she may already know Ethan is alive.”

Ava’s heart pounded.

Damien leaned closer to the opening.

“Then we move tonight,” the first man said.

“What about the brother?”

Ava looked at Damien.

The second man laughed.

“Damien?”

“Yes.”

“He’s still useful.”

Ava slowly turned toward him.

Damien’s face had become unreadable.

Below them, the conversation continued.

“Does he know?”

“Not everything.”

“And when he does?”

A pause.

“Then he dies too.”

Damien’s jaw tightened.

Ava didn’t know whether to feel relieved or more confused.

If these men planned to kill Damien, perhaps he wasn’t working with them.

Or perhaps he had been working with them and was no longer useful.

The first man gathered the photographs.

“The woman is the priority.”

“Which wife?”

“Ava.”

Her stomach dropped.

“Why her?”

The man placed one final photograph on the table.

Ava couldn’t see it clearly.

Then he spoke.

“Because Ethan gave her the key.”

Damien looked at Ava.

She shook her head.

She had no idea what they were talking about.

“What key?” the other man asked.

“The only thing that can open the Black Ledger.”

Ava’s confusion deepened.

Ethan had never given her a key.

At least, not one she remembered.

Her hand instinctively moved toward the necklace beneath her dress.

She had worn it every day for two years.

A wedding gift from Ethan.

A small silver pendant shaped like a teardrop.

Ava slowly pulled it from beneath her dress.

Damien stared at it.

His eyes widened.

Before either of them could speak, Ava’s phone vibrated.

The sound seemed deafening inside the metal shaft.

The men below stopped talking.

Silence.

Then one of them looked up.

“They’re in the ceiling.”

Ava’s blood ran cold.

“Run,” Damien whispered.

A gunshot exploded beneath them.

The bullet tore through the metal inches from Ava’s hand.

She screamed and crawled forward.

More bullets ripped through the shaft.

The metal beneath them shook.

“Faster!” Damien shouted.

Ava crawled blindly.

Then the floor beneath her disappeared.

She fell.

Her body crashed onto a hard surface.

Pain shot through her shoulder.

“Ava!”

Damien dropped down beside her.

She tried to stand.

Then a voice came from the darkness.

“Don’t move.”

Ava froze.

A gun clicked.

Someone stepped into the light.

Victoria.

She was holding Damien at gunpoint.

Her face was pale.

Her hands were trembling.

But her eyes were fixed on him.

“Ava,” she whispered, “get away from him.”

Damien slowly raised his hands.

“What are you doing?”

Victoria’s expression hardened.

“Lucas finally told me who arranged Ethan’s flight.”

Ava looked between them.

Victoria tightened her grip on the gun.

“It was Damien.”