“Wait a minute. What?”
“Wake up, for Christ’s sake. I said I’m leaving.”
Aine’s eyes opened wide. “Sit down and tell me what’s going on.”
Ava sat on the edge of the other twin bed in the room.
“I just saw a woman go in Tabon’s front door.”
“Now?”
Ava nodded. “I couldn’t sleep, so I was looking for something to read. She pulled her car into the garage, closed the door, and then went inside the house. I couldn’t see Tabon, but someone opened the door for her, and I didn’t see Gunner’s SUV parked where it had been last night.”
“I’m so sorry, Ava,” said Aine. “I really thought he liked you.”
So had she, but obviously, the word had a loose definition. He may like her, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t invite someone else into his bed when she turned him down.
“What are you going to do?”
“Catch a flight home as soon as I can.”
“I think there’s an airport in San Luis Obispo.”
Ava nodded. “I’ll go see when the first flight out is, and then figure out how I’ll get there.”
“I can take you.”
“That’s okay. Go back to sleep.”
“As if that’s an option. I’ll just pack up and go home with you.”
“What about Penelope and Tara? I doubt they’ll want to leave so soon. And if we take the car, how are they supposed to get around?”
“Good point. We could call a car service.”
“You should stay,” Ava told her.
“No. It’s okay. Really.”
“I’d rather you did.”
“Oh.”
“I’m humiliated and embarrassed, Aine. I just want to go home, and I’d rather be alone.”
Her sister nodded. “Let me know when your flight is, and we’ll decide from there.”
—:—
His phone pinged right as Razor was pulling into the driveway of the Harmony house. He opened the alert from the tracking device he’d planted in Ava’s purse, and saw she was on the move.
“What’s happening?” he barked at Alegria when she answered his call.
“The subject left by car ten minutes ago.”
“By herself?”
“No. A car service, sir.”