Page 112 of This Love
He was right. And Geneva had surely figured out Ava was pregnant. She stalked her everywhere and knew at least roughly where we lived.
Marcus spoke again. “You want me to do it?”
I stood up. “No, I will.”
Marcus was too antagonistic in moments like these. I lifted my phone from the side table and unplugged the charging cord. If Geneva had gotten to Ava, we needed to handle her carefully.
Could she have known Ava had come here in labor? Had a seizure? Had she known she would be vulnerable and led her right out the door?
We couldn’t ignore the possibility.
I clicked on her contact name and let out a long breath. I had to do this exactly right.
Geneva answered in a suspiciously antagonistic tone. “What can I do for you, Tucker?”
The moment I heard her voice, I shifted tactics. “We wanted to update you on Ava.”
She immediately changed. “Is she all right? Did she have another seizure? Oh, my God. Where are you?”
She was too frantic. She didn’t have her. But just in case, I said, “Are you aware of her situation lately?”
Her voice rose another notch. “What do you mean? Are the seizures worse? Is she getting brain damage?”
Marcus watched me intently. Maybe I should let him hear this, too. I switched to speaker.
“She doesn’t have brain damage, and her seizures are about the same,” I said.
There was a pause, then Geneva spoke again, her voice breaking. “I wish you all would listen to me. My treatment works the best.”
I glanced at Marcus. He nodded at me to continue.
“I understand your position,” I said. “We all want Ava to be better.”
“So, what is the update on her? You scared me half to death!”
I lifted my eyebrows at Marcus.
His lips pursed. Then he said, “Geneva, she has gone missing again.”
I was glad he was the one to say it. I wondered if he would mention the baby. Or if we should.
“Again?” Geneva laughed. “And you think I magically stole her. You two couldn’t keep a homing pigeon in the right place.”
Marcus tightened his hands into fists. “We wanted to update you on this so you could keep watch. We’d appreciate it if you let us know if she turns up near you.”
Geneva laughed again. “Right, so you can keep me away from her all over again. Fat chance. I’ll start looking, though.” She hung up.
I shoved my phone into my pocket. “That went well.”
Marcus rubbed his chin. “You know, I don’t think she’s aware Ava was pregnant.”
“She didn’t ask about the baby,” I said.
Gram spoke up from the corner. “Or else she didn’t want you two to know she knew.”
“Well, she’s looking for her now,” Marcus said. “I’ll put a tail on her. She won’t take off with her again.” He started tapping on his phone.
We had no more aces to play.
