AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’ve been stalking her without my permission? Withoutherpermission?”
I am so angry. Jim has gone behind my back to do this, and only now he’s telling me? Weeks on?
It’s not right. It’s unprofessional of him.
I can’t have him undermining my authority, no matter how well-intentioned he might think his actions are.
This is not how I do things.
“Hold on,” Jim says, raising his hands as we fly high above rural New York State, anticipating my anger. “I needed to do this because I saw she was also being followed, and not by us.”
“Who?” I ask. “Who was following her?”
“That boy she was with. Her ex.”
“The motherfucker...”
“I was worried about his intentions and so I ran a thorough background check on him,” Jim explains.
“And?”
“Nothing serious or out of the ordinary,” he says.
“So why are you bothering me with all this?” I ask, my voice rising. This excuse for following Ava will not be forgotten, but I am more interested - for the moment - in whatever dirt Jim has managed to find on the guy. The last thing I want is for Ava to end up hurt over her ex, especially if he is violent.
Especially if he is stalking her.
She’ll need to know. She’ll need to protect herself.
“I had a run-through of this Luke Abbott’s social media, and... well, you just need to see this. I can’t explain it.”
And then Jim hands me a print-out.
It’s a photo of a man.
And though the years might have aged him somewhat, the memory of that face has been forever seared into my mind since my first – and last – encounter with him.
It’s a photo of the man who killed my godfather.
The man I’ve been hunting for years, and who I could never find. The man who has eluded me for a lifetime.
I see his face in the photo in my hands.
What the hell does he have to do with Ava?
53
AVA
Luke has takenme to a restaurant in town. Very fancy. Hedefinitelywouldn’t have attempted such a nice date when we were properly together. No way in hell. Back then, it was typically drinks at his place or long make-out sessions in his car in one of the more secluded high school hangout spots on the edge of town. Such a teenage thing. Nothing fancy at all. Nothing like an actual freaking restaurant, with seats and menus and servers and everything.
“This is...nice,” I say as we settle into our table by the window. Outside is dark; you can barely see the rest of the town. The restaurant is lit by candlelight, giving it a romantic vibe. I know for a certain fact that I amnotgoing to sleep with my ex tonight, but – sitting across from him - I do allow myself the briefest of moments to relive our past and all the happy times I’ve had with him. Times before he changed. Happy, carefree times before he dumped me for the most petty of reasons...
“I wanted to take you somewhere nice,” he says with a smile.
And there is the old Luke back - that popular gorgeous teenage boy who’d showed me interest. I can see him sitting in front of me.
It’s like a rain cloud has lifted and I can see the sun again.
