Ch. 24: Cargo Plan

Ava's pov

 I leaned against the door, thinking about what she just said. If only she knew. I closed my eyes, the memory I dreaded flooding in.

 "Everyone has a secret," he had said, gazing at me with his cold eyes and smirking, "it's what makes us feel safe.... even though we really aren't."

 I checked my phone. No calls, no threatening voicemails. Which is a relief though, I don't know what I would do if he ever found me.

 I sighed and went back downstairs, and it was empty. I checked the rooms for the other guys, until I saw them on a bench by the garden. I relaxed and went to the fridge in the kitchen, taking out an orange juice and a glass cup before sitting on the stool beside the counter. I poured myself some juice before starting to think about everything.

 Yet no matter how I thought about it, it always felt like there was something bigger behind all this...and Kayla just seem to be in the middle of it all. There's something more to this. Cassidy's death, Bryan involvement and the two mafias, and the death of Cole's parents. I sighed and drank the liquid.

 "I'll get the bags," Cole said as the both of them bust in through the doors. I leapt up, reaching for my gun.

 "They found us?" I asked, reloading it.

 "What? No," he said on seeing the gun. I looked at him confusedly. "We found Ariel–uh...Ruby," he corrected himself.

 "Where?" I asked and walked towards him.

 "In a...shipping yard," he furrowed his brows, showing me the GPS mobile.

 "Is she trying to leave?" I wondered. Makes sense though, but why through a shipping container?

 "We should go before she leaves," he said as Cole came back with two bags. I'm guessing in those are our weapons.

 "Wait!" I grabbed his arm before he could leave, "what about Kayla?"

 "She's in no position to fight, and I'm not risking her. Plus, she's safe here," he said. I sighed, agreeing.

 "She's definitely gonna get mad," Cole muttered. We stepped out. "So who's driving?"

 "I am," Mark and I said in unison. Cole sighed.

 "Fine, I'll drive," he grumbled.

---------

 "We're here," I announced as Cole hit the brakes.

 "What time is it?" Cole asked.

 "Two o'clock, why?" I asked.

 "That's strange. Shipping companies open at 9am every working days except Thursdays, which is their day off," he explained, "But I don't see anyone."

 "That's because it's Thursday," Mark gritted and unzipped the bag, taking out a rifle.

 "Wait! What if it's a trap? It can't just be a coincidence that Ruby decided to come here specifically on their day off," I reasoned.

 "I agree," Cole said, "what if we're being set up?"

 "Then I'll take my chances. They don't get to mess with me twice," Mark answered and opened the door, stepping out and ignoring us as we called him.

 "I'm going after him," I told Cole.

 "No, stay in the car. I'll go," he said.

 "Please Cole. You may act as our getaway driver, since we both know I can't drift as fast as you can," I reminded.

 "Fine!" He said and mumbled, "Kayla's gonna kill me,"

 "You'll be alright," I assured and patted his shoulder, then took two handguns and opened the car door, following Mark.

 "You should've stayed in the car," he whispered as we hid behind one of the containers.

 "Glad you're getting to know me," I said.

 He sighed, "We stick together," he declared and raised his gun, moving to other containers. I followed suite.

 The yard was very big. Ten minutes later of searching, we found no trace of her. "Do you think she already left?" I broke the silence.

 "The tracker says she's here," he replied.

 "But what if she already figured out we were tracking her?" I reasoned. He stopped and thought about it for a moment.

 "Shit," he cursed and rested on the wall of one of the shipping containers. "At least we know it's not a trap," he said.

 Then I heard a soft bang on something metal. "Did you hear that?" I asked as I raised my gun.

 "Yeah," he whispered, standing straight and raising his too. I walked closer to the container he just leaned on and placed my ear close to it. Then I heard it again, louder this time. I scooted back immediately, pointing my gun at it.

 "Aren't they supposed to be empty?" I asked Mark who's gun was also at it.

 "Yeah," he said "Let's look for the door,"

 We walked round it carefully, checking around us for any surprise attacks till we reached the door. And it was open.

 A man who should be in his early fifties was tied up inside. His mouth was sealed with a duct tape, preventing him from speaking.

 "Should've known she placed a tracker on me," a voice said at our backs. We turned swiftly, ready to shoot whoever that was.

 "Who is he?" I asked her as she pointed her gun at us. His muffled voice rang out.

 "Nobody," she said quickly.

 "Ava, remove the duct tape," Mark said, his eyes not leaving her.

 "Don't!" She yelled, now facing her gun at me. I smiked and lowered my gun. Then I went in. I tore out the tape from his mouth. He groaned and worked his jaw.

 "Who are you sir?" I asked him.

 "Please, y'all should drop your weapons. There's no need for the violence," he pleaded.

 "J don't," she warned.

 "Drop your gun Ruby," Cole said, his gun positioned at the back of her head. She cursed and reluctantly lowered it. He took it from her.

 "We're taking them, this time she's not escaping," Mark said and brought out zip ties. After tying them up, Cole and I brought them towards the car, while Mark followed behind.

 "Freeze! This is the FBI, drop your weapons!" We suddenly heard. In front of us were four police cars and some agents beside them pointing their guns at us.

 "This doesn't look good on you Mark," I said, but heard no reply. "Mark?" I turned a bit to see him hiding beside a container, away from the view of the police. I groaned.

 "The car is parked behind the yard," Cole suddenly said, "we can make it if we run,"

 "Makayla Reyes and Octavia Davis, you are under arrest for the murder of seven civilians in a local hotel. Turn yourselves in and you will not be harmed," they said.

 They think Kayla's with us, meaning they don't know where she is.

 "On my count, we run back to the car," Cole said to us.

 "You guys go, I'll take a different route," Mark whispered.

 "How do we know she won't just try something dangerous," I said glaring at Ruby.

 "I'm not stupid Ava, Getting arrested is more dangerous than being with you guys, so are we running or not?" She asked.

 Five of them them started walking towards us slowly. "One..." Cole began.

 We slowly tucked our guns in. They stopped and positioned their guns at our movements. "Two..." He said. We raised our hands up. They continued walking slowly.

 "...Three!" He yelled and we took off, bullets flying and hitting the shipping containers.

 We ran through the corners, following Cole's lead until we reached the end. Then we saw the car in sight.

 "Come on!" He yelled. We ran towards it. I opened the door for the man while Ruby sat on the passenger seat. I entered and bullets flew, shattering my side of the glass. Cole started the car and took off.