“Ava,” Wolf said quietly. “Start talking.”
Thunder explodedoverhead.
Rain lashed through the broken window hard enough to whip papers across the room.
Ava looked at me first.
Not Hersh.
Me.
And somehow that scared me even more.
“I didn’t know the senator connected you and Blaze until recently.”
Hersh’s voice sharpened instantly.
“But you DID know us.”
Ava exhaled slowly.
Then finally nodded.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Trigger actually looked offended.
“You brought a cartel witness to us without telling us you knew who we were?”
“I brought her here because I trusted you,” Ava shot back immediately.
Wolf’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Ava looked toward Hersh now.
And what she said next made the entire room freeze.
“Because your brother saved my life in Afghanistan.”
40
BLAZE
Nobody spoke.
Rain pounded the roof hard enough to shake the old farmhouse while Ava stood at the top of the staircase with four guns aimed directly at her chest.
And somehow?
She looked more exhausted than afraid.
