Page 123 of Exposé

"Am I?"

I tipped back in my chair, Echo purring in my lap as I studied her 'gotchya grin'.

"Don't do this, Ava."

"It's already done. I'll clear my desk on Monday."

She hung up the phone and dropped it on the table while I placed mine on the desk with a frown. "Dammit, Ava."

Echo chattered, then tucked his head under my arm and purred, his needle-like claws kneading into my flesh.

"You know I don't like you, right?"

His purring grew boisterous as I crossed my ankle over my knee, staring at the beauty on the large screen.

"But her... she's got me conflicted."

The thought of letting her run down her path of self-destruction had my teeth grinding against one another, and my fingers curled into a permanent fist.

We are both headed towards mutual destruction.

She'd thwarted my every attempt to sabotage her little story at every corner, and somehow, she'd roped me into distracting the Mayor's secretary so she could break into his office.

There's no way she's that manipulative.

But she had me hooked.

I kicked the cat off of my lap and turned toward my living room floor. Moving the computer screen in my direction, I dropped the picture with the transactions into the same pattern as she did, our identical canvas singing their secrets to her.

Hours later, I'd stared at the new picture she'd hung up on her board of Keith, along with a slew of red string, my gut instincts firing one right after the other.

What does Keith have to do with this?

How much does she know already?

I stood and stretched my back, then snagged my jacket off the back of the chair as my phone buzzed.

Groaning, I shrugged the jacket over my shoulders and checked the message.

Low battery.

My teeth ground together as I made my way back to the kitchen cabinet filled with batteries and pulled out a handful.

"Useless pieces of shit."

Pocketing both phone and batteries, I slammed the door on my way out, causing the cat to screech like his tail got caught.

How am I supposed to follow someone when the gear is busted?

I drove to her apartment and scanned the dark parking lot.

Ava’s car sat under a streetlight, its shadow stretching long across the fractured asphalt, the acorns littered across the ground like frozen cockroaches. Distant footsteps and the hum of a passing car pricked at my nerves as I made my way toward it.

I dropped to a crouch, my knees hitting the gritty pavement, and slid under her car. The cold metal frame loomed above me as I fumbled for the tracker. My fingers brushed its smooth edge as a dog barked in the distance, sharp and jarring. I froze, breath locked in my chest, before swapping the dead battery, each click of the casing ringing louder than it should.

Get in, get out.

Note to self: buy more batteries.

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