The brown-haired officer took a few steps and stood behind Ava’s car. “There’s extensive damage and paint transfer.”
“Is there anyone you know that would want to harm you in any way?” the officer asked.
Ava shook her head. “No.” There was no way she was about to tell the cops what was going on.
“Officer Donovan and I are going to investigate what happened. Is there a number where we can reach you?” the brown haired officer asked.
Ava rattled off her home and cell numbers.
“Either me or Officer Collins will be in touch.”
Ava nodded.
“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?” Officer Collins asked.
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Come on, Ava. I’ll take you home.”
Ava allowed Dominic to lead her away from the crash site. “Where’s your vehicle?”
“On the grass.”
They walked on the shoulder of the road. Traffic was backed up as another policeman directed traffic into one lane. They soon came to Dominic’s Hummer. He opened the door for her and helped her inside. She groaned as she finally sat down. Ava sighed as Dominic came around and climbed in on the driver’s side. He started the engine and looked over at her. His eyes were narrowed.
“When I find who did this to you, I’m gonna have his balls.” He reached over and slowly touched her face.
“I’m alright. A little banged up, but I’m going to be okay.”
“I would still feel better if you went and got checked out. Just to be on the safe side.”
“As soon as we pick Maia up from the hotel, I’ll let you take me, okay?”
“Alright. Where is she?” Dominic asked.
He turned on his blinker and prepared to move into the slow flow of traffic.
“We were staying at Rushmore Hotel on Fifth Avenue.”
Dominic waved his hand as another vehicle let him slip into traffic. “That’s about five minutes from here with good traffic. Who knows how long it’s going to take with the accident blocking one of the lanes.”
“Hopefully it won’t be too long once we get around my wreck.” Ava grabbed Dominic’s hand.
He brought it to his lips and kissed it. “If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do with myself.”
Ava leaned on his shoulder as he steered the vehicle. They crept along. Finally ten minutes later they were moving past her car. It was totaled. The front end was crumpled and smashed. The rear panel of the car had been hit so hard the panel had folded in and the tire was twisted sideways. The car was not fixable.
With traffic flowing again in less than five minutes they were pulling up in front of the hotel. Before Ava could unbuckle her seat belt, Dominic was stopping her.
“Take it easy. I’ll help you down.”
She smiled at him. “Okay.” She was too tired to fight.
Dominic came around and opened the door. He unbuckled her seat belt and helped her out. Closing the door behind her, he pulled her into his arms for a long, lingering kiss. He tasted of mint and safety. She eased back to look at him.
“You know just what I need.”
He smiled. “I try. Come on, let’s go get Maia.”
He linked hands with her and together they entered the lobby of the hotel. More people milled about than when she’d left this morning. They walked over the elevator and caught it as the doors opened. Ava leaned against Dominic as they took the ride up to where her room was. As soon as the doors opened, she pulled out her keycard and led Dominic to her room. She placed the card in the slot. When the light turned green she pushed it open.
“Maia, I’m back.”
Ava entered the room and froze. It was empty. A table was overturned. The bedding had been ripped off the bed and thrown on the floor. The curtains were yanked from the rods.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. They’re gone. Maia’s gone.”
“Calm down. Maybe Mrs. Valdez had to leave unexpectedly.”
“Dominic, I told her if I wasn’t back in three hours to take Maia somewhere safe and not before. I have an hour left. They’ve taken my daughter. They’ve taken my baby.”
Ava’s knees gave out and she sobbed. She barely registered as Dominic took her into his arms. Her little girl was gone and she had no idea where she and Mrs. Valdez had been taken.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Dominic, we need to call the police. We need to do something.”
“Ava, you know why we can’t involve the police.”
Another tear slipped down Ava’s cheek as they drove. Finding her child gone had rendered Ava so hysterical, she’d been ready to tear the world apart. Dominic had held her as she’d cried and raged about finding her child missing. Then he’d carefully rearranged the room and checked them out of the hotel. With Maia and Mrs. Valdez missing, there was no telling if the person that had taken them was still watching the hotel or not. They needed to be elsewhere. Somewhere safe. But to Ava no place was safe.
“I don’t care what they think of me, Dominic. If they can help find my baby, I’m willing to grovel before anybody. I just want my little girl home,” Ava said.
“Baby, I know you’re scared. I’m scared too, but we need to put this in perspective. If someone had wanted to hurt Mrs. Valdez and Maia, they could’ve done it right there in the hotel. There was no need to take them away.”
Ava looked at her lover. “What are you saying?”
“That whoever took Maia isn’t going to hurt her. This was done to send a message.”
“And what message would that be? We’re sick creeps who kidnap children?”
“No. Whoever is behind this wants you to know that they can get to you one way or another.”
“And what am I supposed to do now? Just sit around and wait? I can’t do that, Dominic. My child is missing.”
“You aren’t going to have to wait for anything.”
Dominic pulled into the parking lot of the new hotel they were moving to.
“How can you say that?”
“Because things have escalated. Whoever’s behind this wants you to know who they are. They’re going to call and soon.” He killed the ignition and climbed from the Hummer.
What Dominic said made sense. There was a reason her child had been taken. Everything was coming to a head and Ava feared what might happen next. Dominic opened her door. He had gathered their luggage from the trunk. She allowed him to help her down from the vehicle. Ava looked up at the hotel.
“The Four Seasons?”
“Yes. You’ve been in an accident today. You need to be somewhere nice to relax and recuperate before we have our showdown with who’s behind this. Please don’t argue with me, Ava.”
Ava raised her hands. “Fine. You win this round, but if someone has not called me about Maia before tomorrow evening, I’m going to the police.”
“Okay.”
Dominic offered her his arm. She took it leaning on him as they entered the foyer of the hotel. There was a small mill of activity around them. Walking up to the front desk, Dominic pulled out a wad of cash.
“I’d like a suite, preferably one with a Jacuzzi tub.”
The man at the front desk quickly went about taking Dominic’s information and payment and giving him the key to their room.
Soon they were on the elevator heading up. Ava leaned against the wall.
“Baby, you look beat.”
“I am.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of you tonight.”
The elevator doors opened and they walked down the hallway to their room. Dominic put the keycard in and as soon as the door opened, Ava was inside. She barely noticed the living room and kitchen. Instead she marched straight to the bedroom and fell across the bed. She was so tired. The adrenaline she’d been running on had finally been depleted. Dominic sat their bags down and came over to her.
“I’m going to run you a bubble bath. You look like you could use a nice, long soak.”