GABRIEL'S POV
I spent the entire lecture scanning the classroom for Ava's face. Third row, center seat – empty again.
Two days in a row now. This wasn't rebellion anymore. This was something else entirely.
This morning when I didn't see her, I figured she wanted some time alone so I didn't bother to check her room.
I tried to focus on my discussion of moral ambiguity in Victorian literature, but my mind kept drifting to our argument the night before. The way she'd looked at me when she'd overheard my phone conversation. The accusations in her voice. The sound of her bedroom door slamming.
Maybe I should have told her more. Maybe I should have explained the complexities of the situation we were both in. But some truths were too dangerous to share, especially with someone as impulsive as Ava.
"Professor Thorne?" One of my students was looking at me expectantly. "You were saying about Hardy's treatment of social class?"
I blinked, refocusing on the class. "Yes. Hardy consistently portrayed the rigid class structure as destructive to individual happiness."
The irony wasn't lost on me.
When the lecture finally ended, I gathered my papers quickly. I needed to get home, needed to find Ava and have a proper conversation about what she'd heard. No more half-truths or careful omissions. If she was going to be part of this world, she needed to understand all of it.
I was heading toward the door when someone called my name.
"Professor Thorne?"
I turned to see a young woman with short brown hair and worried eyes. I’ve seen her in my lectures beside Ava before.
"Yes?"
"I'm Sophie. Sophie Lucas. I'm Ava's best friend."
Ava had mentioned Sophie several times. The roommate who'd helped her move out. The friend she'd wanted to call.
"Miss Lucas. What can I do for you?" I kept my voice neutral, professional.
"It's about Ava." Sophie stepped closer, lowering her voice. "She's in trouble."
Every muscle in my body tensed. "What kind of trouble?"
"She told me everything. About you, about the men threatening her sister." Sophie's words came out in a rush. "She went to meet them last night."
"She what?" My voice was sharp enough to make several passing students look in our direction.
"She didn't want to tell you. She said she couldn't trust you anymore after what she overheard." Sophie pulled out her phone with shaking hands. "But I'm scared something's happened to her. She asked me to go to the police instead, but….but I…don't…know..what to do."
Her voice was breaking.
She showed me the screen. There was a map application open, showing a red dot blinking slowly in what looked like an industrial area downtown.
"What is this?"
"Her location. We share our live locations with each other for safety." Sophie's voice was getting higher with anxiety. "She promised she'd be back before your class ended, but she's not answering my texts anymore."
I studied the map. The location was in the warehouse district, not exactly the kind of place for a friendly negotiation.
"When did the texts stop?"
"About an hour ago. We were messaging back and forth, and then suddenly nothing." Sophie looked up at me with desperate eyes. "I wanted to call the police, but I figured it would make things worse."
An hour. Ava had been radio silent for an hour in one of the most dangerous parts of the city.
"She told me you might know about these people," Sophie continued. "That you understand this world better than she does."
I understood it better than she knew.
"Thank you for coming to me," I said, already moving toward the exit. "I'll handle this."
"Wait!" Sophie hurried after me. "Shouldn't we call someone? The police? FBI?"
"The police can't help with this." I pushed through the building's main doors, Sophie right behind me. "This is a private matter."
"Private? Professor Thorne, these people kidnapped her sister. They're probably going to hurt Ava too."
I stopped walking and turned to face her. "Miss Lucas, I need you to go back to your dorm room and wait. Don't call anyone, don't talk to anyone about this. Can you do that?"
"But—"
"Can you do that?" My voice carried the same authority I used when shutting down classroom arguments.
Sophie nodded reluctantly. "You'll bring her back safe?"
"Yes."
I didn't wait for her response. I was already jogging toward the faculty parking lot, my mind racing through possibilities and contingencies.
The drive home took twelve minutes. Twelve minutes of running red lights and taking corners too fast while my phone remained stubbornly silent.
I parked in the underground garage and took the elevator directly to my apartment. The place felt empty, abandoned. Ava's bedroom door was still closed, but I could sense the emptiness behind it.
I went straight to my study and pressed a hidden panel behind my bookshelf. The wall slid away, revealing a narrow staircase leading down into the building's basement levels.
Most of the other tenants didn't know about the sub-basement. It wasn't on any building plans or city records. It was one of the reasons I'd chosen this particular property.
The room below was climate-controlled and well-lit. Along one wall were several gun safes. Along another were cases containing equipment most people would never have occasion to use. Surveillance gear, communication devices, and other tools of a trade I'd hoped never to return to.
I opened the largest gun safe and began selecting items methodically. A Glock 19 with extra magazines. A tactical knife. Body armor that looked like an expensive suit vest. Everything went into a specialized trunk designed to look like an ordinary briefcase.
When I was satisfied with my selection, I pulled out a secure phone I hadn't used in over two years. It took a moment to power up, the encrypted systems running through their security protocols.
I scrolled through the contacts until I found the number I needed. Marcus Blackwood answered on the second ring.
"Gabriel? This is unexpected. I thought you were out of the game."
"I was." I carried the trunk upstairs and set it by the front door. "But circumstances have changed."
"What kind of circumstances?"
"The kind that require your particular expertise." I walked to the window, looking out over the city. Somewhere out there, Ava was in danger because of choices I'd made. "Remember that favor you owe me from the Prague situation?"
There was a pause. "Of course."
"I'm calling it in."
"What do you need?"
I gave him the warehouse address Sophie had shown me. "Full tactical support. Clean extraction. No questions asked."
"How many targets?"
"Unknown. Assume hostile." I checked my watch. Ava had been missing for almost two hours now. "How quickly can you mobilize?"
"Twenty minutes. Maybe fifteen if we push it."
"Push it." I ended the call and pocketed the phone.
I stood in my apartment for a moment, looking around at the carefully constructed life I'd built for myself. The books, the expensive furniture, the illusion of being nothing more than a literature professor with refined tastes.
In twenty minutes, all of that might be blown apart. But Ava was worth more than any cover story.
I picked up the trunk and headed for the door. At the threshold, I pulled out the secure phone one more time and dialed another number.
When the gravelly voice answered, I said simply, "It's time."