Page 56 of Andy

As Ava drove passed Andy and Mel’s place, she glanced over and saw a man going through the back gate. That was wrong.

Ava took her foot off the gas and slowed. She immediately dialed Wild. He was breathless when he answered.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” Wild asked.

"I just saw some man enter Andy's back yard. I don't feel good about this."

She heard Wild talking to Andy on the other end of the phone. "Fuck. He says no one should be there. He's pulling up his security application. Peach is calling the cops and telling them what is going on."

“I need to go?—”

“No. You don’t have a gun, do you?”

Helplessness slid through Ava. “No.”

“Okay, just hang tight. Pull over and watch. Don’t go and interrupt them.”

“I can’t just sit here.”

“Ava, I’m telling you to stand down.”

“I have the keys.”

“Fuck. Do not go in that house.”

“But—”

Someone took the phone from Wild. It was Andy. “Ava, I love you like a sister. I’m telling you not to go in. You don’t have a weapon. I hear sirens.”

“I’m going to give the cops the keys.”

“Don’t go in,” Andy said.

She wouldn't go in on her own, but she wasn't going to abandon her friend. She backed up and parked close to Andy and Mel's place. The cops stopped right in front of the house, and she was out of the car.

"I have keys. Someone is in the house with her," Ava called out. A female officer came closer. "She's been targeted. She was shot at, and her roommates at the last place she lived were murdered. Also, the bank where she works was robbed."

“Okay, give me the key. Do I have permission to enter?” the officer asked.

"Please. I have the owner on the phone. He says go in."

The officer headed over to the front of the house, and they unlocked the door then dropped the keys on the porch. Ava watched as they headed inside. She was standing beside the cars when she saw the back gate open. Anger filled her as she watched the guy dragging Mel. She couldn’t stand there and watch the man take her friend. No way could she hang back.

Hot anger whipped through her and she screamed and ran at the guy dragging Mel behind him. There was no way she would allow this jerk to hurt her friend. She’d suffered abuse at the hands of a man and nearly been broken. There was no way in hell she would allow anyone to hurt Mel.

Ava launched herself at the man, going low, hitting him with her head in the middle of his stomach. He let out a huge oof. He dropped his hold on Mel. Ava had to take this guy down. If she stopped now, he could get away. Possessed with an anger she’d never experienced before, she went after him like a wild woman, unhinged and out of control. She punched and screamed but was pulled off the guy a moment later.

It took her a second to realize the police were the ones pulling her off the man. She wanted to cause him pain, but more than that, she wanted to help Mel.

Chapter 34

Peach drove, anger so evident it made Andy flinch. He’d seen Peach actually kill someone, and the man looked fiercer now than he ever had. It probably had something to do with the fact all the guys knew Mel was pregnant with his kid. He knew Peach had a soft spot for pregnant women, but this was next-level Peach. The man drove over sidewalks, the wrong way down one-way streets, and took chances, but he got them to Andy’s house in record time.

The ambulance was already there. The cops had someone in the back of a police car, and he saw Ava standing near the back of the ambulance. Tears streamed down his face as he got out of the car and headed over to the ambulance.

“She’s okay,” Ava said.

He couldn't talk. He just climbed into the back of the ambulance and dropped his head in his hands as tears slid down his cheeks. He met Mel's gaze, and she was crying, too.

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