Chapter Forty-Four - Fletcher

The email on my phone showed over five hundred possible license plates with that combination, but only three were associated with a town car.

I’d been up half the night in my office while Ava slept contacting the companies that owned the three cars.

Most of them were closed for the night and the one I spoke to needed to wait until the owner got in to give me any information.

It was a great chance to figure out who had that car the night of the ball. However, whether the person who had it was a ligament person was another story.

If the person who took Charlotte had a brain, he wouldn’t have used his real name or had someone else book the car for him.

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my forehead roughly. I needed to go get sleep. I was afraid Ava would wake up and realize I hadn’t made it to bed yet.

That would only worry her more. As if her twin intuition wasn’t enough of stress, seeing me irritated would do it.

My phone buzzed around 2 AM as I stood up to leave the office. Duke’s name crossed the screen and I hurried to answer it.

“You got my message,” I said.

“Yeah, I did. Sorry, I’m just now getting back to you. The match ran late, we had to relocate because some police found out where we were fighting.”

“Any arrest?” I asked, sliding my palm into my pocket.

“Not really. A few college girls got taken in but I’m sure their parents will bail them out.”

I nodded and cleared my throat. “How much would I have to pay you to come home early?”

I listened to him moving around on the other end. “What happened? You sound a bit on the scared side, Fletcher.”

I rubbed my face with my palm and closed my eyes. “We think Ava’s twin sister, Charlotte, was taken.”

The moving around stopped. “There are two of them? Damn. Is she single?”

“This is serious, Duke. We found footage of her getting into a vehicle with a man before the party. We only have a partial license plate and the car-renting

companies aren’t answering questions right now. Ava isn’t herself. She says she feels like something is wrong.”

Duke sighed heavily. “I’m supposed to fight tomorrow night, but if you think she was taken, I could reschedule.”

I sighed heavily.

“No extra charge. Now, tell me about Charlotte.”

I went into a giant spill on everything I knew. From the auction to her business and making up with Ava.

Duke was stunned by the end of it.

“Ava stole Charlotte’s man. That’s some savagery if you ask me.”

I chuckled while walking down the hallway. I checked out one of the guest bedroom’s windows. The guards were still in place from their nightly switch.

“Yeah, it was pretty heavy.”

I stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and looked at Ava sleeping. She had her head buried into the pillow, and she was breathing slowly. “I can be there tomorrow around noon. That’ll give us both some time to sleep before we do any further digging. Maybe you’ll be able to find out who rented the town car by then, too.”

“Yeah, sounds like a plan. Thanks a lot for this Duke.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I ended the call and walked toward the bed. Slipping underneath the covers, I plugged in my phone on the nightstand and shifted closer to Ava.

She moaned slightly in her sleep when I moved her closer to me. I needed a few hours of sleep before Duke arrived.

The next morning, Ava was up before me, which wasn’t shocking since I hadn’t been asleep long.

The smell of breakfast lingered in the air and I followed the smell greedily. Ava sat at the kitchen island eating eggs and bacon while Lucinda drank her coffee.

“Good morning,” Ava said. “I didn’t wake you because I didn’t know what time you went to bed.”

“Late,” I said, rubbing my face. “Have you heard anything else outside of your room, Lucinda?”

She shook her head. “No, Sir. It’s been quiet since that night.”

I nodded. “Good. Duke is coming over today to help with the search for Charlotte.”

Ava looked up with sleepy eyes. “Have you heard anything about the license plate?”

I took a piece of bacon from the plate and nodded. “I didn’t want to wake you up last night but we narrowed it down to three license plates with those three digits associated with rental companies. I’m going to call in a bit and see if I can get any more information.”

Ava nodded and began to shovel in her food like a starving man.

I placed my palm on her thigh. “Don’t rush. Take your time. Duke won’t be here until noon…”

“But we need to call the companies,” she said, continuing her pace.

I didn’t argue with her. If she wanted to be a part of the search, I didn’t blame her. I’d do the same for my brother.

We finished eating and Ava beat me to my office. She was pacing when I grabbed my phone and made it inside.

I had a list of the rental companies associated with the license plates and I dialed each one. Each call was escalated to the manager who then had to ask the owner.

From a business standpoint, I understood, but on the other hand, Ava was pacing and making me nervous. The first two rentals gave me the names John Haynes and Lucas Townsend.

Neither of those names rang a bell, but I wasn’t sure if they were the real names or not.

The third company put me on hold for thirty minutes before coming back. “Sir, we found the name on the rental agreement.”

“Finally,” I hissed. “What is it?”

“It’s Fletcher Hines.”

I stalled and my heartbeat jumped in my chest. I looked at Ava’s curious face.

“Sir, are you there?” she asked.

“I am. Thank you for all of your help.”

I ended the call and sat back in my chair.

“What is it? Do you recognize the name?” she asked.

“Yeah, I do. Because it’s my name. The bastard put my name on the rental agreement. Forged my license and documentation.” I chuckled humorlessly. “At least we know which rental company he used.”

Ava covered her mouth and closed her eyes. “It has to be the Capellos, doesn’t it?”

“I can’t see who else would lure your sister into the car, and use my name. It was premeditated. But how would they know if Charlotte was going to attend? Unless they planned to snatch you instead?”

Ava covered her face, and I stood up slowly to pull her into a tight hug. “Everything is okay,” I whispered against the top of her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure this out.”

Ava pulled back and wiped her tears from her cheeks. “I’m so scared. Are they trying to set you up for something?”

“I don’t know, but I can afford lawyers that could easily handle this. I’m not worried about me. We need to worry about getting more information…”

The doorbell rang suddenly. “It’s Duke. The guards were told not to let anyone come in unless it was him or Levi. I don’t even want my dad over here at the moment. He isn't making rational decisions."

I grabbed Ava’s hand and led her toward the front door. Duke stood on the front porch with his duffle bag over his shoulder.

He had a familiar lopsided grin, a white T-shirt, and a pair of black athletic pants. As if he just walked out of the gym. “You made it early,” I said, opening the door.

Duke walked in and shook my hand while kissing Ava’s cheek. If it were anyone else I would have kicked him out of the house, but I knew Duke. I trusted Duke.

“So, what did we find out?” he asked.

“That they signed the rental agreement in my name.”

Duke gawked at me. “No freaking way. So it was definitely premeditated. Not a casual take me home and to bed?"

“Definitely,” I mumbled.

“And we’re not sure if they wanted Ava or her sister Charlotte?”

Ava shrugged while I shook my head. “We have no idea. Right now, we’re basically at square one.”

Duke nodded. “That’s not a bad thing. We’ll start from square one together. If I need to rough up a Capello or two, I don’t mind it. But first, you have any food around here?”