Razor

by Heather Slade

  “We’re the drone,” she told him.

  “Where are we going?” he asked when she led them in a direction different than he would’ve gone in.

  “Short cut,” she answered.

  A few minutes later, they exited the caves at one of the beach’s public parking areas. Onyx was waiting in an SUV while Monk sat nearby on the four-wheeler.

  Razor hurried Ava into the vehicle and climbed in beside her while Alegria got in the front passenger seat. Monk was already on his way back up the beach, to the house.

  Onyx looked at Razor in the rear-view mirror. “I guess you know we have company.”

  “How in the hell did they find us?” Before Onyx answered, Razor figured it out. “Jesus Christ, the suitcase,” he muttered. Fuck.

  He’d told her, on their way back from the airport in San Luis Obispo, that he’d do a sweep of her belongings when they returned to the house in Cambria, but he hadn’t ever done it. It was an amateur mistake, one that now put her life in more danger than before.

  “Where’s the plane?” Razor asked when Onyx went south on the highway. “Florence?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “I need her phone,” Alegria said from the front seat.

  “It’s at the house.”

  “No, it isn’t.” Ava pulled the phone Razor gave her in Cambria out of a pocket in her shorts and put it in the woman’s outstretched hand.

  “Yours too,” she said to Razor.

  Razor handed his over and watched as she dismantled both of them.

  “Anything?” he asked.

  “Negative.”

  “Good. Anybody behind us?”

  “Not yet,” Onyx answered.

  “Turn left at the next light. In a quarter mile, take Highway 39 on the right. Immediately after, make a left and then another quick right. You’ll see a warehouse. Pull behind it.”

  They waited a few minutes, parked where Razor had led them, but no other vehicles passed the warehouse.

  “Go out here,” Razor said, pointing to another exit. “When you hit the two-mile marker, pull off on the left side of the road.”

  When they did, Razor opened the door. “Come on,” he said to Ava.

  “Sir?” asked Onyx.

  “Proceed according to the original plan. Fly from Florence to Eugene and wait to hear from me.”

  “Roger that.”

  Razor tossed his phone on the back seat. “Go,” he said, closing the door behind them.

  “What’s going on?” Ava asked. “There’s nothing here.”

  “Sure there is.” Razor pointed to a trail that went through the woods.

  “Will you tell me where we’re going?”

  “You’ll see in a minute.”

  A few hundred feet later, the woods opened to a clearing where a cabin sat. Razor walked up to the door, reached up to the ledge above it, and pulled down a key.

  “This was my dad’s fishing cabin,” he said, opening the door.

  He walked through the musty space, opening windows as he went. When he reached the back, he motioned Ava closer. “Look,” he said, pointing out to the lake.

  “It’s beautiful,” she murmured.

  “Sorry about all the dust. I don’t know when anyone was here last.”

  Ava walked into the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator door. “Does it work?” she asked.

  Razor shrugged. “Plug it in, and we’ll see.”

  She opened up a couple of the doors while Razor went upstairs to open the windows on the second level.

  “It really isn’t that bad,” she commented, which made him laugh. “I’m serious,” she added. “Give me twenty minutes, and it’ll look a lot better.”

  “What can I do to help?” he asked, unable to contain his smile.

  “Do you know if there’s a vacuum hidden somewhere?”

  He didn’t, but he looked and found it in the downstairs bedroom closet. He picked up the rotary phone that sat on the bedside table, stunned to hear a dial tone.

  “Hey, Sis,” he said when Saylor answered.

  “Hey, Raze. What’s up?”

  “I need your help with something.”

  “Sure. What can I do?”

  He told her where they were and that he needed her to make contact with Monk. “Tell him I need two phones. He’ll understand what to do.”

  “Roger that,” she joked. “Anything else?”

  “I’m not sure how long we’ll be here. We might need some provisions.” Razor rattled off a list.

  “On my way,” she said. “Be there as soon as I can.”

  Razor went back out to the main room and saw that Ava had made considerable progress getting the place cleaned up.

  “My sister is on her way.”

  Ava cringed.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m just…” She looked down at her clothes. “Dirty.”

  Razor walked over and put his arms around her waist. “Just the way I like you, baby.”

  “Stop,” she laughed but didn’t move away from him.

  “We could take a shower.”

  “And put my dirty clothes back on? Yuck.”

  “Good thing I asked Saylor to bring you something to change into. Several somethings, as a matter of fact.”

  Ava moved his arms from around her waist. “Tabon, what happened back there?”

  “I had reason to believe we were being followed.”

  Ava raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.

  “What?”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  “That is the truth.”

  “Who was following us?”

  “I’m not certain.”

  “You know what…never mind.”

  Before he realized what was happening, Ava went into the bedroom, closed the door, and locked it.

  “Ava?” he said, trying to turn the knob.

  “Go away, Razor.”

  He had no idea what just happened, but that Ava had called him Razor meant whatever it was, was bad. Thank goodness Saylor was already on her way here.

  17

  She couldn’t believe Tabon had just lied to her again. When they were in the SUV and Onyx asked if Tabon knew they had company, his immediate response had been, “How in the hell did they find us?”

  Yet he’d just told her he wasn’t certain who was following them. Making it worse, his face did that thing she’d only seen before when she knew he was lying.

  It was one thing for him to say there were things he couldn’t tell her. That, she’d accept, but he’d lied outright, and that, she wouldn’t.

  It was her life, after all, and her sister’s. His lies meant she couldn’t trust the man in charge of orchestrating both those lives in the way he saw fit.

  “Avarie, please talk to me.”

  Until he apologized and told her the truth, she had no intention of opening the door or talking to him.

  —:—

  Razor walked out of the cabin, stunned to see Saylor wasn’t alone. She hadn’t thought to ask him if it was okay for her to bring their mother and his two nieces with her?

  “Where’s Ava?” Saylor asked, getting out of her Jeep.

  “Uh…she’s calling me Razor again.”

  Saylor burst out laughing. “Uh oh.”

  “It’s so good to see you,” his mother said, putting her arms around Razor’s waist.

  “Where’s Aunt Ava?” asked Savannah, climbing out of the back seat.

  “She’s inside,” Razor answered and then made eye contact with Saylor. “Help,” he mouthed.

  “What’s going on?” his mother asked.

  “I told you, Mom. She only calls him Razor when she’s pissed at him. Otherwise, he’s Tabon.”

  “Oh dear.” His mom turned and looked wistfully at the cabin. “A lot of happy memories were made in this place.”

  “Some of the best times of my life.”

  “What did you do to make her mad?”

  “I don’t know, Mo
m. No clue.”

  “Tell me what happened,” said Saylor, sitting down on the porch step.

  “Come on, girls,” said his mom. “Let’s go see the lake.”

  Savannah dug her heels in. “No, Ya-Ya, I want to see Aunt Ava.”

  “Shh, Aunt Ava is sleeping right now. You don’t want to wake her up, do you?” Saylor put her finger in front of her mouth and motioned toward the lake. “You can see her when you come back up.”

  “Okay,” both girls said, taking their grandmother’s hands.

  “All right, they’re gone. Tell me what happened. Word for word.”

  Razor reiterated their conversation.

  “Stop.”

  “What?”

  “Do you know who was following you?”

  “I have a fairly good idea.”

  “But you told her you didn’t know.”

  “What was I supposed to tell her?”

  “The truth.”

  “I can’t, Saylor. There’s a good reason why I can’t.”

  “Why didn’t you just say that?”

  “Because I was afraid she’d keep asking questions.”

  Saylor raised her eyebrow and went inside, leaving him no less confused than when she got there.

  —:—

  “Hey, Ava. It’s Saylor.”

  What was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t ignore her. Ava walked over to the door, unlocked it, and held it open for Razor’s sister.

  “Okay for me to come in? I come bearing gifts of clothing.”

  Ava smiled. “As long as Razor isn’t with you, it is.”

  Saylor laughed. “Oh boy, he is in trouble.”

  Ava sat down on the bed. “I feel terrible about hiding out in here, but he made me so mad.”

  “Can I ask what he did?”

  “He lied to me.”

  Saylor nodded. “I told him that’s why you were pissed.”

  “Are the girls with you?”

  Saylor nodded. “So is my mom.”

  “Oh, God. Does she think I’m the rudest person ever?”

  “Nah. She took the girls down to the lake so I could straighten out my baby brother. They’ll be back up soon.”

  “How did you get my clothes?” Ava asked when she opened the duffel bag.

  “That hotter-than-all-get-out Monk left them for me at a secret location in town. God, I feel like a spy myself. It’s pretty cool.”

  “Would you mind if I changed?” Ava asked, looking down at her sweaty, dirty t-shirt and shorts.

  “Go right ahead, I’ll hold the wolves at bay.”

  “The wolves?”

  “My girls have talked about little else but ‘Aunt Ava’ since the day they met you. I don’t know why they started calling you their aunt. I hope it doesn’t bother you.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Ava actually thought it was sweet.

  “They’re convinced that Razor is going to ask you to marry him, and you are going to ask them to be flower girls in your wedding.”

  Ava smiled when Saylor rolled her eyes.

  “I may be way overstepping, but you do know he’s in love with you, right?”

  Ava took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Did he tell you to say that?”

  “Good God, no. I saw it straight away. He’s head over heels, girlfriend.”

  Ava shrugged.

  “And you love him too.”

  “It’s crazy, but I do,” Ava murmured.

  Tabon knocked and then slowly opened the door. “Can I come in?”

  Saylor looked at Ava, who nodded.

  “I’ll be able to hold them off for ten minutes tops. If you’re going to change, do it now.” Saylor slipped out the door and closed it behind her.

  “I’m sorry,” Tabon said once his sister was out of the room.

  “What are you sorry for?” she asked, hoping he’d tell her the truth, because if he lied again, they were going nowhere.

  “I lied to you. I had a good idea who was following us, and why.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

  “It’s complicated, Avarie.”

  “Was it the people who have my sister?”

  Tabon scrubbed his face with his hand and nodded.

  “Is there anything else you can tell me, Tabon?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Tabon?”

  “Answer my question.”

  “No, Avarie. There’s nothing else I can tell you.”

  “Okay. Now, go. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Why do I have to leave?”

  “Because I’m going to take a quick shower and change my clothes.”

  “So?”

  Ava put her hands on her hips. “Don’t push me, Razor.”

  —:—

  “She’ll be out shortly,” he told his sister.

  “Good.”

  He looked up and saw his mom down by the lake with Savannah and Sierra. “How’s Ya-Ya?”

  “She’s okay. She hasn’t been up here since Dad died.”

  “Who has been?”

  “Me. I bring the girls up here sometimes. I want them to know things about him, ya know?”

  A week ago, he wouldn’t have understood why. Now, though, he felt the same way with Ava. He wanted her to get to know his family, and that included his father.

  “I told her you love her.”

  “What? What the hell, Saylor?”

  “Are you telling me you don’t?”

  Razor shook his head. “What did she say?”

  “I told her she loves you too.”

  “Are you kidding me? What is wrong with you?”

  “Ask me what she said next.”

  “I’m asking.”

  “She said, ‘I do.’”

  “Is it crazy, Sayl?”

  “She asked that too.”

  —:—

  Ava saw Tabon and his sister sitting on the front steps, and the girls and their grandmother walking up from the lake in the back. She slipped out the door by the kitchen and waved at them.

  “Aunt Ava!” Both girls shouted and ran toward her.

  “Well, hello,” said Tabon’s mother. “I’m Sally.”

  “I’m Ava, and it’s so nice to meet you. I’m sorry I wasn’t out front when you arrived.”

  Sally tucked Ava’s arm in hers. “Did he apologize?”

  Ava laughed. “So you know?”

  “I know that you only call him Razor when you’re mad at him, otherwise you call him Tabon.”

  “I’m so embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be. I think it’s adorable.”

  “Grandpa’s name was Tabon, too,” Sierra told her, coming up to take her hand. “Why don’t we call Uncle Razor ‘Tabon?’”

  “When your Grandpa was still alive, it was confusing calling him and your uncle the same name.”

  Sally leaned closer to Ava. “Not that ‘Grandpa’ would’ve been thrilled with that name either.”

  “I told Saylor my mother won’t even let my sister and I call her ‘Mom.’”

  “No?” Sally laughed.

  “We have to call her Peggy. If we don’t, she doesn’t acknowledge we’ve spoken.”

  “Goodness. Well, that’s…different.”

  “You don’t have to be so nice. It’s weird. And really awkward.”

  “What about your father?”

  “He’s good with ‘Dad,’ thankfully. He has other issues, though.”

  “Is it rude of me to ask what?”

  “No,” laughed Ava. “His thing is wives. With each divorce, they get younger. My sister and I are a year older than wife number four, who is the current one. Well, she was last week. It’s hard to keep up.”

  Sally laughed. “Oh, sweet girl. How did you turn out so lovely and…normal?”

  “My sister and I kind of raised ourselves,” she answered, blinking away her tears.

  “Did I say the wrong thing? I’m so sorry.”

  “It isn’t that. My sister…” Ava looked up at wh
ere Tabon sat with Saylor. “The truth is, I’m not sure I’m allowed to say anything.”

  “It’s okay,” said Sally. “I’m used to it. I used to think that Razor told me he couldn’t talk about things so he didn’t have to tell me the truth. Now, I’ve accepted that when he says he can’t, there must be a good reason.”

  —:—

  “Thanks for the phones, Sis.”

  “You’re welcome. Although you should thank Monk, or maybe I should.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’ll go rescue Ava from my girls who are now probably asking to get fitted for flower girl dresses for your wedding.”

  Razor was entering codes into the phones and only caught the tail end of what his sister said. “Wait. What? My wedding?”

  She punched his arm and walked away.

  Razor shook his head and checked his signal. Once the phone completed its setup, the first person Razor called was Doc, figuring he’d know the most about what was happening with Gunner and his team, and also with Onyx and Alegria.

  “Where the hell are you?” Doc bellowed when he answered Razor’s call.

  “Remote cabin in the woods, and safe, thanks.”

  “What the fuck, Razor? You asked Onyx to leave you by the side of a road?”

  “I know what I’m doing, Doc, so instead of bitching at me, tell me what’s happening.”

  “I’m still pissed about your tactics, but I will brief you on what’s gone down.”

  Doc told him that Ivashov’s intel on the Armenians was credible, and that while they hadn’t been able to pinpoint exactly where the girls were being held, they believed they were close.

  “And my team?”

  “As much as I don’t want to admit it, you were right. Onyx said they picked up the black SUV tailing them shortly before they arrived at the airfield in Florence. Once they got to the hangar, there was no sign of them. However, you know that means they’re still looking for you.”

  “Roger that. Are we sure it was the Armenians?”

  “As sure as we can be. We still haven’t been able to locate Petrov.”

  “Any idea how he got to Finnegan?”

  “When Striker first came to us with this, he said the agency believed there was an FBI agent in on it. My guess is whoever that is either killed Dash himself, or made arrangements for someone else to get access.”