Chapter 3 - The Woman Elias Could Not Find
Ava grabbed the nearest object she could reach.
A ceramic lamp.
The doorknob stopped.
She held her breath.
A second passed.
Then two.
Someone pushed lightly against the door.
The deadbolt held.
“Ava?”
Her heart nearly stopped.
The voice was female.
Familiar.
“Ava, open the door.”
She approached cautiously.
“Who is it?”
“Naomi.”
Ava closed her eyes.
Naomi Reed had been her college roommate.
They had not spoken in almost two years.
Ava opened the door three inches.
Naomi stood outside holding two coffees and wearing a look of disbelief.
“You look terrible.”
Ava stared at her.
“How did you find me?”
Naomi blinked.
“You called me.”
“No, I didn’t.”
The smile disappeared from Naomi’s face.
“What?”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Ava opened the door.
“Come inside.”
Naomi entered.
Ava locked it immediately.
Naomi set the coffees down.
“Okay. What’s happening?”
“Show me your phone.”
Naomi pulled it out.
The call appeared at 9:47 a.m.
Ava’s name.
Her old number.
Ava stared at it.
“I destroyed that SIM before leaving Manhattan.”
Naomi went pale.
“You’re scaring me.”
“Good. Be scared.”
Ava picked up the black envelope.
Naomi read the message.
“What the hell?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is this Elias?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
Ava looked at her.
“Elias has done terrible things. But if he wanted to threaten me, he wouldn’t hide behind an envelope.”
Naomi sat.
“Then who?”
Ava thought about the contracts.
The voices behind the door.
Victor.
The Seo faction.
A world she had deliberately ignored.
“I think someone wants Elias to believe I’m vulnerable.”
“Why?”
“Because I am.”
In Manhattan, Elias had found the first break.
The elevator records showed one unexplained maintenance override forty-one hours earlier.
Eight minutes.
That was enough.
Daniel placed a photograph on the table.
“Technician named Owen Pike.”
Elias studied the face.
“Employee?”
“Subcontractor.”
“Where is he?”
“Missing.”
“Family?”
“None.”
“Money?”
“Account received eighty thousand dollars yesterday.”
“From?”
“Shell company.”
“Owner?”
Daniel hesitated.
“That’s where it gets interesting.”
Elias looked up.
“The shell company traces back to a holding firm associated with Victor.”
Silence.
Elias’s hand tightened around the edge of the table.
“Bring him to me.”
“Victor?”
“Pike.”
“If he’s alive.”
“He’s alive.”
“How do you know?”
“Dead men don’t get paid before completing a job.”
Daniel nodded.
Elias’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Then a distorted voice said, “Your wife left Manhattan.”
Elias’s entire body went still.
“Who is this?”
“You told them she was disposable.”
Elias looked at Daniel.
Daniel began tracing.
The caller continued.
“We believed you.”
“Where is she?”
A laugh.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“You should have said that last night.”
The call ended.
Daniel shook his head.
“Burner.”
Elias grabbed his coat.
“Find the bus stations.”
“We already checked.”
“Check cash purchases.”
“That’s thousands.”
“Then check thousands.”
Daniel caught his arm.
“Elias.”
“What?”
“If this is internal, every search you launch tells them what you know.”
Elias stopped.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“They may be watching us.”
Elias stared at him.
Then he understood.
The enemy was not merely chasing Ava.
They were waiting for Elias to lead them to her.
“Cancel the search.”
Daniel frowned.
“All of it?”
“Publicly.”
“And privately?”
Elias looked toward the city.
“Three men only.”
At Bellweather House, Naomi paced.
“You cannot stay here.”
“I know.”
“My place?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because they found you through my phone.”
Naomi stopped.
Ava looked at the photograph again.
“If whoever did this can spoof my number, access my suitcase, and follow Elias, they can find your apartment.”
“What are you going to do?”
Ava looked toward the window.
Years earlier, Elias had made her memorize one phone number.
A secure line.
“For emergencies only,” he had said.
“What counts as an emergency?”
“If you ever believe someone is following you.”
“Wouldn’t I call you?”
“No. You call this number.”
“Why?”
“Because if someone is following you, they may be following me too.”
Ava had laughed then.
It sounded absurd.
Now she remembered every digit.
She picked up the room phone.
Naomi watched.
“Who are you calling?”
Ava dialed.
One ring.
Two.
A man answered.
“State your phrase.”
Ava swallowed.
“Blue lantern.”
Silence.
Then, “Mrs. Kwon?”
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is Mr. Kwon with you?”
“No.”
Another pause.
“Do not tell me where you are.”
Ava frowned.
“What?”
“Do not say your location.”
“Why?”
“Because this line may have been compromised.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Then why did Elias give it to me?”
“Because six months ago it wasn’t.”
Ava gripped the receiver.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Peter Shaw. I used to run counterintelligence for your husband.”
“Used to?”
“I resigned three months ago.”
“Why?”
“Because someone inside his organization was selling access.”
Ava looked at Naomi.
“Victor?”
Peter did not answer.
That answer was enough.
“What do I do?”
“Leave wherever you are.”
“How?”
“Public transport. Cash. Change direction twice.”
“And then?”
“There’s a safe property Elias doesn’t control.”
Ava almost laughed.
“You expect me to trust someone who worked for him?”
“No.”
“Then why would I go?”
“Because the people hunting you expect you either to return to Elias or run from him.”
“What’s the third option?”
“Learn why they need you alive.”
Ava became still.
“Alive?”
Peter lowered his voice.
“They could have killed you in your bedroom.”
Ava looked at the black envelope.
“But they didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you have something.”
“I don’t.”
“You may not know you have it.”
Ava closed her eyes.
The acquisition files.
She had carried them.
“What kind of something?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because three men died this week asking the same question.”
The line went dead.
Naomi whispered, “Who was that?”
“Someone who thinks I’m carrying something.”
Naomi pointed toward the suitcase.
“Are you?”
Ava stared at it.
Then they searched everything.
Clothes.
Shoes.
Toiletries.
Lining.
Handles.
Nothing.
Finally, Naomi picked up Ava’s passport.
“This?”
Ava shook her head.
Naomi opened it.
A thin metallic strip fell onto the bed.
Both women froze.
Ava had never seen it before.
It looked like part of a credit card.
Naomi whispered, “What is that?”
Ava picked it up.
No writing.
Only a tiny etched symbol.
A circle crossed by three lines.
She had seen it somewhere.
Then she remembered.
The acquisition contract.
The circled number beside her name.
Same symbol.
Her stomach turned.
“We need to go.”
They left through the rear staircase.
Twenty minutes later, two men entered Room Twelve.
They found the black envelope.
The empty suitcase.
And nothing else.
One man made a call.
“She found it.”
A voice answered.
“Then let her run.”
“Why?”
“Because Elias will follow.”
At 1:35 p.m., Elias received another photograph.
Ava leaving Bellweather House.
Naomi beside her.
He stared at the timestamp.
Ten minutes ago.
Daniel leaned over his shoulder.
“How did they find her before us?”
Elias knew.
“They weren’t searching.”
“What?”
“They already knew where she would go.”
He enlarged the image.
Ava was looking directly toward the camera.
Not accidentally.
Directly.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
Elias zoomed farther.
Her right hand was lifted near her coat.
Two fingers extended.
Then folded.
A signal.
Something Elias had taught her years earlier.
Two fingers meant one thing.
Do not come to me.
Daniel saw it too.
“She knows she’s being watched.”
Elias nodded.
Then another photograph arrived.
This one showed a black sedan approaching Ava from behind.
The passenger window was lowering.
Elias grabbed his keys.
Daniel said, “You can’t reach Pennsylvania in time.”
Elias stared at the image.
“No.”
His phone rang.
Ava’s number appeared.
Elias answered instantly.
“Ava?”
There was breathing.
Then a man’s voice said, “She doesn’t belong to you anymore.”
A woman screamed in the background.
Elias recognized the voice.
Naomi.
May you like
Then came a gunshot.
The line went dead.
