Perfectly

51. Years



I would've spent any amount of money to untangle the web of lies and suspicious events that led Ava and me to our current situation, but this time, luck seemed to be on our side. Detective Navarro and his team got to work immediately after my visit, and while we were still at the Victorian, trying to heal and come to terms with our new reality, I got a call from Kirk.

Ava and I returned to Emerport because what he had was too important to ignore. Dec took Ava to work, and I waited at the condo.

The intercom buzzed at ten. I went to open, downing my black coffee on the go.

Jay, Fin, and Nick entered the apartment. Their expressions lacked the usual cheer, probably because they weren't sure what version of me would greet them.

"How are you, man?" Jay asked, following me to the kitchen with my bandmates in tow.

I rested my empty mug on the island and sat on a stool. "There's coffee. Grab some if you want."

Nobody moved. All eyes were on me, wary and sympathetic.

I slid both hands through my hair. "We're as okay as we can be, given the shitty circumstances. I called you because I need your help."

"Sure," Nick said, sitting across from me. "Did the PI find anything out?"

I drummed my fingers on a thin black folder resting on the island. "Yeah. It's about the nightclub where I got roofied."

"The Limelight?" Jay raised a brow, leaning on the kitchen counter where the coffee maker sat.

"Yeah."

"And?" Fin asked, glancing between Nick and me.

"A guy was working there at the time. He quit, but guess what? It's the same person who was fixing the internet in Ava's office building unless there are two dudes with identical first and last names. The problem is, there's no way to know if he was at the club when I was drugged. They only kept records for a year after he left, and I was too out of it to pay attention."

Nick frowned. "And the cameras were out of order. Can't the police look into it?"

"They already are. But I thought maybe you'd recognize him. Especially you," I looked at Jay, "because you've been their customer for a long time."

"Was," Jay said. "I haven't set foot in that place since you got roofied. But if you have a picture, I'll try."

"Here." I slid the folder across the island. "These are from the internet. Kirk dug them out somehow."

In the several photos the PI put in the folder, the guy was behind the bar in the background. Not the best quality, but neat enough to see his face almost as clearly as the faces of a group of girls posing for whoever took a picture of them grinning at the camera, cocktails in hand.

Jay walked up to the counter and flipped the folder open.

"Let us take a look too," Nick said, rising from his chair. He and Fin stood behind Jay, studying the images.

Jay sighed. "Fuck, man. I was wasted half of the times I was at The Limelight. This dude looks like any random guy on the street. I'm sorry."

I was grasping at straws, and I knew it. The security camera footage was the only way to confirm the bartender was there that night. If he were, it'd be a bit less crazy to assume he could've been the one to spill oil on the staircase at the office center. But Kirk and I could have been wrong about all of it. Someone else might be trying to mess with Ava and me for whatever stupid reason.

Jay went on to close the folder, but Nick put his hand on his wrist. "Not so fast."

"Why?"

Nick grabbed the pictures and flipped through them. "Look at this here."

Jay's incredulous expression was enough for me to spring to my feet. "What did you see?"

"This girl." Nick pressed the pad of his index to the photo. "I think she's Wyatt's niece. Remember when we confronted her about that shit with the note she pulled? I thought I'd seen her somewhere then but said nothing because I wasn't sure."

He removed his hand. All I saw was part of a profile and blond hair, but she did look familiar.

We examined the rest of the images, but she was only in one of them, and although I'd seen her enough times, the angle was too tricky to confirm her identity.

"I'm not sure." I groaned, clasping my hands behind my neck. "Guess I'll need to trust the detective and wait for him to call me."

"Or we could ask the girls," Jay said. "Like the League is so sharp she never misses a thing."

Fin cocked his head, looking at the photo again. "He's right. We don't know her well, but her friends do."

Sighing, I grabbed my cell. "I'll call Ava."

***

Instead of staying at the office over her lunch break, Ava came home with the girls. Ivy snatched the folder from the island as soon as I explained what we were trying to do.

Jay chuckled. "Calm down, Like the League, or you'll destroy the evidence."

She glared at him, and Ava let out a soft giggle, pressing herself to my side. I kissed her forehead at the same time Ivy let out a whistle.

"What?" Isla asked.

"I've seen this guy before."

Ava and I rushed to Ivy's side. She pointed at the bartender. "This one. He was staring at you on the beach. Remember?"

Ava cocked her head, her expression blank.

Ivy waved the picture in the air. "Cocktails at my place. The morning after, when we went to the beach, and I told you guys my ex knocked me up. This weirdo had his clothes on and went away when I caught him gawking, and later you said you thought he took the pictures of you in a bikini that were all over the internet a few days later."

"I think she's right," Isla whispered, leafing through the rest of the photos. She paused and put one on the island. "And this girl is Tasha."

She pointed at the already familiar profile, and Nick exhaled loudly. "Damn it, I'm not sure I wanted to be right."

Ava was quiet. I cupped her cheeks, my heart squeezing at the vacant look in her eyes. "Baby?"

"He was fixing the internet in my office," she mumbled, gripping the edge of the island. "He was at my office building a year after that beach thing. And if Tasha was at the same club, it couldn't be a coincidence. That was when you got roofied, right?" Her eyes paused on me before she refocused on the girls. "We were at a coffee shop together, and then she said she was going to meet Jim O'Brien."

"Holy shit." Ivy gaped. "That's true. She left before we did."

Thick, meaningful silence hung in the air. I took Ava's hand and pulled her into my arms. She was shaking, and I tightened my hold on her, loathing that something disturbed her peace before she had a chance to heal.

The tremors coursing through her body stopped. She ran a palm over her face and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Years," she said quietly. "She's been hating and trying to harm me for years."