Chapter 117

Reaper

Chapter 117.

“That’s not possible. Emma could never do something like this.” Travis defends his sister.

Sure, he was pissed at her, but when it came down to it, she was still his baby sister. He would defend

her with everything that he had.

“Son, in my line of work, anything is possible,” Brian says tonelessly.

He then takes out a note book and begins scribbling down something. It’s only for a few minutes before

he looks up at us.

“But seriously, Emma wouldn’t hurt her; sure, she and Ava don’t see eye–to–eye, but she would never

hurt her,” Travis insists, while the rest just stay quiet.

I want to believe that Emma wouldn’t do something like this, but I wasn’t sure any more. The woman who

came back months ago isn’t the same woman who left years ago.

She was filled with so much anger and hatred towards Ava. So much so that she would threaten a child

and make up fucking lies just to get Ava in trouble.

“I’m not saying that she did it; all I’m saying is that she’s a suspect,” Brian clarifies. “Hatred and anger are

pretty strong motives to have someone killed as some sort of revenge. It’s also not coincidental that

Ava’s shooting happened not less than three weeks after she revealed Emma’s big secret. One that she

had gone to great lengths to hide.”

Looking at things, everything pointed to Emma. She’s the only one Ava has had a falling out with

recently, and given the strenuous relationship, it’s easy to see how Emma could have snapped and hired

someone

to kill Ava.

I look at Travis; he looks like he has been struck by lightning. I see it in his eyes. He regrets why he

opened his mouth, because he might have just gotten his sister in trouble.

“What about Reaper?” I ask, remembering he had targeted Ava and Emma.

“Yeah, I considered him, but for some odd reason, I feel like he isn’t behind this. His beef is with you.

Sure, he kidnapped Ava and Emma, but from those of his men we captured that day, he was just

messing with you. He didn’t plan on killing them—well, Ava, that is. He didn’t plan on killing her. He

specifically told

them not to lay a hand on Ava or he would slit their throats.”

I’m surprised at that little piece of information, but I don’t show it.

1/3

+15 BONUS

“That’s odd,” I mutter as I feel my brows pull together.

“Definitely. Even more weird is that the man who hit Ava died in prison under mysterious circumstances,”

he adds, “Anyway, as I was saying, his target is you. It has always been you. I believe that if he ever get

his revenge, he’ll either kill you or ruin your business.”

Both Gabe and I snort in unison. The bastard can try, but he won’t succeed in ruining my company. Many

have tried. Fuck. Even the Howell’s did try, and they still failed. As for killing me, well, we’ll just have to

see.

“So you honestly don’t believe it was him?” Nora asks in a small voice.

“Yes. Whoever shot Ava had a grudge with her. A huge one. It’s in the way he or she shot her. Reaper

has no grudge with Ava so he wouldn’t go after her the way this person or people did.”

He confirmed what I had already suspected. Whoever shot at Ava wanted her dead. That is the reason

for the multiple shots. He or she didn’t want her to escape death.

“What about the number plate of the SUV they used?” Theo looks like he has aged so much in the few

hours we’ve been here.

“Nothing on it. They took out the plate, so we only know that it was black,” Brian sighs. “There are

probably thousands of black SUVS in this city.”

We stay silent for a while. Each of us is lost in our own thoughts. There was so much going on in my

head that I could barely think straight.

I pushed all of those thoughts to the back of my head. What matters is Ava’s health. I can deal with who

wanted her dead after she recovers.

“Okay, I’ll leave you all and go back to the station.” Brian breaks the silence. “For now, I’ll advise you to

make sure not too many people know she’s alive. The last thing we need is whoever is after her coming

back to finish the job, though I’ll send two officers to guard the door to her room, just in case.”

I nod my head, and Gabe leads him out.

“I’ll call our contacts, and you call yours,” Theo says. “Let’s make sure word of her being alive doesn’t get

out until she’s out of danger.”

“Yes.” I agree.

I take my phone and begin making calls.

This was sure as hell going to be a long night.

2/3

+15 BONUS

I wake up to someone tapping my shoulder.

Fuck 1 had stapt in an uncomfortable angle and now my back and neck hurt like a bitch.

I open my eyes to find that it’s already morning. I look up to find an older nurse staring at me with a warm

smile.

“Morning, Mr. Woods, I just wanted to inform you that I’ll be Miss Ava’s nurse.”

I give her what I think resembles a smile, but I can’t really be sure.

“You can call me Rowan.”

I look at her room door and find the two officers still there. We had been transferred to the ICU waiting

room sometime during the night.

“Okay then. My name is Rosa,” she says, kindness radiating from her. “Is there anything I can get you?”

“No, but thank you.” I don’t think I can stomach anything right now. “When can we see Ava and the

baby?”

She looks down and checks her watch. “In about two hours or so. That’s when visiting hours start.”

I nod my head and thank her. By the time she leaves, all the rest are already up. Some looked confused

at first, until yesterday’s events hit them.

“What did the nurse want?” Nora asks.

“She just wanted to introduce herself as Ava’s nurse,” I mumble.

My thoughts were jumbled, and I was bone tired. Maybe I should have asked her for coffee and maybe

some breakfast since I haven’t eaten a fucking thing since yesterday.

“Did she say when we could see the baby and Ava?”

I was about to answer her when someone entering the waiting room caught my attention. Maybe it’s the

fact that I didn’t sleep much last night, but it takes a while for my brain to load.

The minute his face registers, my face shuts down and hardens. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

What the hell was Reaper doing here?v