Chapter 49 THE TRADE
Ava's POV
I ran to Isabella and grabbed her shoulders trying to get her to look at me instead of at the body on the floor but her eyes were unfocused like she was somewhere else entirely.
"Isabella look at me," I said firmly, shaking her slightly, "are you hurt?"
She blinked slowly and her eyes finally focused on my face.
"He came through the window," she said and her voice was shaking, "I was sleeping and I heard glass breaking and when I opened my eyes he was standing over me with a knife."
Dominic was already on his phone calling the police while Adrian knelt next to the body checking for a pulse even though it was obvious from the amount of blood that the man was dead.
"He's gone," Adrian confirmed, standing up.
"Who is he?" I asked, looking at the stranger's face, he looked ordinary, maybe in his forties with brown hair and a scar on his cheek.
"I don't know," Isabella said, "I'd never seen him before tonight."
"How did you get the knife away from him?" Dominic asked, putting his phone away.
"I didn't, it was mine, I keep one under my pillow," she looked down at her hands still holding the bloody knife and dropped it like it burned her.
I grabbed a blanket from the couch and wrapped it around her naked body because she was starting to shake from shock or cold or both.
"The police are on their way," Dominic said, "Isabella you need to tell them exactly what happened, this was self-defense and they'll understand that."
"What if they don't?" she asked, tears starting to fall, "what if they think I killed him for no reason?"
"You have a broken window and defensive wounds," Adrian pointed out, "anyone can see you were attacked."
I looked at Isabella's arms and saw scratches and the beginning of bruises forming.
"Come on," I said gently, "let's get you cleaned up before they get here."
I led her to the bathroom and helped her wash the blood off her hands and arms while she cried silently, I found some clothes for her to put on and by the time we came back out the police had arrived.
Two detectives took Isabella's statement while crime scene techs photographed everything and put markers down, Dominic stood with his arms crossed watching them work and I could see his jaw clenching the way it did when he was trying to control his anger.
"Miss Martinez, can you walk us through what happened one more time?" the older detective asked, his name tag said Morrison.
Isabella took a shaky breath and explained again about hearing the window break and waking up to find the man in her room, about fighting him off and grabbing her knife and stabbing him when he lunged at her.
"And you'd never seen this man before tonight?" Morrison asked.
"Never."
"Do you have any idea why someone would want to break into this specific apartment?"
"No."
"Miss Martinez, I need to ask, is there anyone who might want to hurt you? An ex-boyfriend, someone from work, anyone with a grudge?"
Isabella looked at Dominic and then at me before answering.
"There have been some issues at work lately," she said carefully, "corporate politics, people who weren't happy about my position."
"Would any of those people hire someone to attack you in your home?"
"I don't know, maybe."
Morrison wrote something in his notebook and then looked at Dominic.
"Mr. Hayes, you own this building correct?"
"Yes," Dominic answered.
"Has there been any unusual activity lately? Strange people hanging around, security breaches?"
"Nothing that was reported to me."
"We'll need to review your security footage from tonight."
"Of course, I'll have my security team send everything over."
The detectives asked more questions and took photos of Isabella's injuries and finally around six in the morning they said she was free to go but not to leave the city.
After they left with the body Isabella collapsed on the couch looking exhausted.
"I killed someone," she said quietly, staring at her hands even though they were clean now.
"You defended yourself," I corrected, sitting next to her.
"It doesn't feel like defense, it feels like murder."
"Because you're in shock," Dominic said, "but in a few days when you've processed everything you'll understand that you did what you had to do to survive."
My phone rang and I looked at the screen expecting it to be Maya but it was an unknown number, I almost didn't answer but something made me pick up.
"Hello?"
Heavy breathing on the other end and then a voice I didn't recognize, distorted like they were using some kind of filter.
"Did you enjoy your little show tonight?" the voice asked.
My blood went cold.
"Who is this?" I demanded.
"Someone who's been watching you very carefully, the attack on Isabella was just a warning, next time we won't miss."
"What do you want?"
"I want Dominic Hayes to meet me alone at the warehouse on Pier 47 in two hours, if he brings anyone with him or calls the police, people you care about will start dying."
"Why should we believe you?"
"Because I have something you want, I have Marcus."
The line went dead and I stood there frozen with the phone still pressed to my ear.
"Ava what's wrong?" Dominic asked, coming over to me.
I told him about the call and watched his face go hard.
"They have Marcus," I repeated.
"Or they're lying to lure me into a trap."
"What if they're not lying though, what if they really have him?"
"Then we call the police and let them handle it."
"They said no police or people die."
"They're bluffing."
"Are you willing to bet Isabella's life on that? Or mine?"
He was quiet for a long moment and I could see him thinking through all the angles.
"I'm going," he finally said.
"Not alone you're not," Adrian spoke up.
"They said alone."
"They also tried to kill Isabella tonight so I don't think they're particularly trustworthy."
"I'll go too," I said.
"Absolutely not," Dominic replied immediately.
"You don't get to make that decision for me."
"Ava this is dangerous."
"Everything about our lives is dangerous, I'm coming whether you like it or not."
Isabella stood up and grabbed her jacket.
"Then I'm coming too," she said.
"You just killed someone and you're in shock," I argued.
"Which is exactly why I need to do this, I need to feel like I have some control over what happens next."
Dominic looked at all three of us and sighed.
"Fine but we do this smart, Adrian you'll stay in the car with a phone ready to call for backup if things go wrong, Isabella and Ava you stay behind me at all times and if I tell you to run you run, understood?"
We all nodded and went to get ready, I put on jeans and a hoodie and sneakers in case I needed to move fast, when I came back out Dominic was loading a gun.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
"I've always had it, I just never needed to use it before," he tucked it into the back of his waistband.
The drive to Pier 47 was tense and quiet, the sun was starting to come up painting the sky pink and orange which felt wrong somehow like the world should be as dark as what we were walking into.
The warehouse was exactly as rundown as I remembered from when we'd trapped Robert, Adrian parked a block away and handed Dominic a phone.
"Speed dial one," he said, "I'll have the police here in five minutes if you need them."
We walked to the warehouse and the big metal door was already open like they were expecting us, Dominic went in first with me and Isabella behind him just like he'd said.
Inside it was dark except for one light in the center where someone was tied to a chair, as we got closer I could see it was Marcus and he looked like he'd been beaten badly, blood dried on his face and his eyes swollen.
"Marcus," I said, starting to move toward him but Dominic grabbed my arm.
"It's a trap," he said.
"Very good Mr. Hayes," a voice called out from the shadows, "you're learning."
Someone stepped into the light and my breath stopped because I recognized him even though I'd only seen him once before.
It was my father.
He looked older than I remembered with more gray in his hair and lines around his eyes but it was definitely him, the man who'd abandoned me and my mom fifteen years ago.
"Dad?" I said even though the word felt foreign in my mouth.
"Hello Ava," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "I've been waiting a long time for this moment."
"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"I'm saving you," he walked closer, "from him, from all of this, I'm giving you a chance to walk away before it's too late."
"Too late for what?"
"Before you become like your mother," he looked at Dominic, "before he destroys you the way his kind always destroys everything they touch."
"My kind?" Dominic said calmly but I heard the edge in his voice.
"Don't play stupid, I know what you are, I've known since the day you walked into my daughter's life and I've been trying to protect her ever since."
"By hiring someone to attack Isabella?" I demanded.
"That wasn't supposed to happen, my man was only supposed to scare her, he went rogue and paid for it."
"You're insane."
"I'm the only sane one here," my father pulled out a gun and pointed it at Dominic, "now here's what's going to happen, Ava and Isabella are going to leave with me and you're going to let Marcus go and forget any of this ever happened."
"And if I refuse?" Dominic asked.
"Then I shoot you and take them anyway."
Nobody moved and I could feel the tension crackling in the air like electricity, then Marcus started laughing which was the last thing I expected.
"You're all so stupid," he said through bloody lips, "you think he's here to save anyone? He's here for the same reason I am, for Dominic's secrets, for what he's been hiding in London."
"Shut up," my father snapped.
"No I don't think I will," Marcus continued, "see your dear old dad and I have been working together for months now, he knew exactly where to find me after I got arrested because he's the one who helped me plan everything."
I looked at my father and saw the truth in his face.
"You've been working with Marcus?" I said, feeling sick.
"To protect you," he insisted.
"By helping the man who shot me?"
"That was an accident that wasn't supposed to happen."
"None of this was supposed to happen," Dominic said and his voice had changed, gotten colder and somehow not quite human anymore.
That's when I noticed his eyes, they weren't their normal blue anymore, they were glowing a strange gold color.
"Dominic?" I said, taking a step back.
"I didn't want you to find out this way," he said and when he smiled I saw his teeth were different, sharper, "but your father's right about one thing, I'm not like you."
His whole body seemed to change, growing taller and broader, and the shadows around him moved even though there was no wind.
I watched in horror as the man I loved transformed into something else entirely and I knew in that moment that nothing would ever be the same again.