132

Ava took a deep breath before walking into the library.
“Detective Smith and Brown, how can I help you today?” she asked as she walked in and saw them standing in the middle of the room.
“Mrs. Velky, we have a couple of questions,” detective Brown told her.
“Let’s sit down, it has been a long day and I don’t think I want to face this standing,” she told them and gestured to the couch and armchairs. The detectives took the armchairs, leaving Ava to sit alone on the couch.
“I hope there hasn’t been bad news,” detective Smith said.
“They don’t seem to stop coming today, I’m afraid,” Ava confessed. She took a deep breath and placed her hand on her belly. She was playing up the pregnant, tired and vulnerable side.
“Anything we can help you with?” detective Brown asked. Ava knew he wasn’t asking out of concern, or willingness to help. It was a way to get her to give them information. But she was happy to play along.
“That is kind of you. Unfortunately I don’t think there is much for you to do. The day started with a contractor falling through wich has set our charity back several weeks and then we got the word that my father-in-law has become ill. He lives abroad so it has been a stressful day getting information and trying to sort things out,” she told them. Small white lies. “And now here you are. I’m assuming you don’t have good news.”
“Maybe we should come back tomorrow,” detective Smith said, she sounded unsure. Detective Brown shot her an unapproving look.
“No, no. Don’t mind my little pity party. I would prefer it if we deal with it today or I will lose sleep thinking about it,” Ava insisted.
“Where is your husband?” detective Brown wanted to know.
“He is eating dinner,” Ava told him honestly.
“And he leaves you to deal with this?”
“I insisted. As you can imagine he has had a rough day. I know my husband. When he worries he stops eating. Since I was tied up at the office for most of the day due to what happened in the morning, I haven’t been around to make sure he takes care of himself. This is me making sure he doesn’t collapse on me. Besides, last time you sought me out specifically so it made sense,” she told them. “Now, I would appreciate if we get this over with as soon as possible.”
“We got an anonymous tip a couple of hours ago that there had been some kind of confrontation here and that there were a lot of dead bodies as a result,” detective Brown came right out and said. Ava let out a little gasp and hoped her acting was convincing.
“Bodies?” she asked. “I don’t know what to say to that. We have had a bad day, but we don’t have any bodies laying around,” she told them.
“We didn’t see any traces of it as we drove here. But this is a big place,” detective Smith said.
“It is. Our close friends live on the other side of the property and there is also apartments for some of the people my husband employs. Zane is big on making sure his employees are taken care of, he always tells me his business is like a family and we all need to look out for each other. It’s something Gabriel and I try to live by as well,” Ava agreed.
“Would you mind us taking a look around?” detective Brown asked.
“Do you have a warrant?” she asked.
“Do we need one?”
“Yes. Although we are more than happy to help the police in any way we can, there is also other aspects we need to consider. As I said, there is more people living here and I am obligated to protect their privacy. Both my husband and myself work from home and therefore there are business secrets present in our home. In my case there is also client information that I need to protect. And it has been a long day and I’m not going to guide you around this, as you put it, big place to look for something as ridiculous as dead bodies,” Ava told him.
“You think it’s ridiculous of us to investigate a received tip?” detective Brown asked. He was getting rallied.
“No, that’s not what I said. I simply think the tip in it self is ridiculous. And judging by what you told me, your superiors agree with me.” Detective Brown were turning red in the face. Detective Smith glanced at her partner and decided to jump into the conversation again.
“Why would you say that, Mrs. Velky?” she asked Ava.
“If anyone was taking the tip seriously, it wouldn’t have taken you hours to get here. You told me you received it a couple of hours ago. I’m no detective, but even I know that getting to a crime as soon as possible is a good thing. If it took you a couple of hours to get here, I’m guessing no one really thought there would be heaps of bodies here to find. I would further guess that you are here because one, or both, of you don’t want to let go of the investigation into my husband and this was an easy excuse to snoop around,” Ava told them and watched as they gave each other looks. The looks made Ava certain that she was right. “I get it. Finding something like that regarding Zane would be a major find. It’s a career maker with the close ties he has to the city and the mayor. But as I have explained earlier, my husband is not the man the rumours make him out to be.” As on cue, Zane walked into the library without knocking. He headed straight for Ava, not giving the detective the time of day.
“You have been in here for quite some time, I was getting worried,” he told her and kissed the top of her head.
“I’m fine, we both are,” she assured him.
“You should eat, it has been a long day.” Ava smiled at him.
“We are almost done here,” she told him. He nodded and sat down next to her on the couch and placed his arm around her. Both of them focused back on the detectives. The detectives looked back, both stunned it seemed.
“Was there anything else?” Ava finally asked after a long silence. Detective Brown cleared his throat.
“No, not at the moment. But we will be back with that warrant,” he said. Zane’s eyebrow shot up in a question.
“Be sure to do that and we will be happy to let you have a look around,” Ava said. The four of them stood up and said goodbye. As the detectives had left the house, Zane ordered some men to make sure the detectives didn’t take any detours on their way off the property.
“Let’s get you some food. The others are waiting,” Zane told Ava. She nodded and followed him to the diningroom. As she sat down and talked to her friends and the other men and women around the table, Ava relaxed. The food was just what she needed. She was moved by how many that came by just to make sure that she, Gabriel and Linda was okay.

“I think that will do it for this evening. Thank you for all your hard work today,” Zane said after an hour. He got up and helped Ava up from her chair. The room emptied of people, leaving just Jax, Linda, Ryder and Gabriel with them. “We’ll meet in my office at eight in the morning. I want everyone to be there,” Zane told them and they nodded. Usually Gabriel and Linda would not be required to participate in a meeting like that, but for some reason Zane wanted everyone there. Ava got worried. Ava and Zane walked up to their floor. Zane stopped her at the top of the stairs and gave her a light kiss. “I would love nothing more than sharing a shower with you and then crawling into bed. But we need to talk. Bedroom or my office?” he asked her. Ava smiled up at him, he had changed since she first met him. To the better. Back then he would have tried to hide things from her, tried to carry everything on his own shoulders. Ava was proud of him.
“I know, I was expecting it. Let’s go to your office.” They closed themselves in his office and Zane lifted her up to sit on his desk as he sat down in his chair. Ava frowned, this was new. She opened her legs to let him get closer. He pulled his chair as close as possible to where they could still look at each other. He placed his hands on her thighs. Ava placed her hands on his broad shoulders. “Are you going to tell me what has been gnawing at you?” she asked.
“I am,” he told her with a deep sigh. “But first you are going to tell me what you and the detectives talked about.” Ava nodded. She told him what they had talked about and Zane chuckled. “You are amazing. Stoping the police, very sexy,” he told her. Ava rolled her eyes.
“Do we need to worry if they come back with a warrant?” she asked.
“No, angel. There are no traces of what happened. And we don’t dump the bodies in our back yard,” he told her.
“I know that much. But what about the basement?”
“We have ways to hide that. No need to worry.” She nodded. “I guess then it’s my turn,” he said.