Reckless (Finding Ava)

by Jennifer Loren

  “Ethan wait!” He pauses, sliding his hands causally into his pockets as he seemingly waits to see if he is interested in what I have to say. “Joel did mess with Sean’s brakes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he hates him, he is so overly jealous of him. He wanted to get rid of him or at least ruin his career. He didn’t care what happened really, as long as he lost everything, including his wife. That’s why he tried to get Ava to sleep with him, anything to hurt Sean.”

  “But Ava didn’t sleep with him.” Ethan asked.

  “No, he even tried to force her … a few times.”

  “What else?” I look up at him, confused. “Did he drug Ava too?”

  I laugh, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that – no, he didn’t do that.”

  “You did, didn’t you?” Ethan asked, shaking his head at me.

  “Yes, but it was harmless, I only wanted to get her out of the way for awhile.”

  “And the hospital?”

  I huff at him, “I didn’t do anything there.”

  Ethan approaches me angrily, grabbing my arm and looking me dead in the eyes, “The hell you didn’t!”

  “You’re hurting me, Ethan.”

  “Tell me what you said.”

  “I said that no one wanted her anymore, that everyone blamed her and that you were planning on making her pay by taking her home and her child and anything else that mattered to her.”

  “Blamed her for what?”

  “Sean’s death and losing his baby. She had no idea and it was easy to convince her since she was in that horrible room and none of you were anywhere in sight. Pretty pathetic really, how easily she fell apart.”

  Ethan lets go of me and promptly walks towards the door, “Have a nice life Rebecca.”

  “Wait Ethan, aren’t you going to help me?”

  He turns around looking me up and down, “No … I changed my mind.”

  “ETHAN!” He continues to walk out while I chase after him, but I am stopped when another man walks in.

  “Ma’am, I am here to take possession of all household items to pay back taxes on behalf of Mr. Butch Castor.”

  Ethan laughs at me, squeezing out behind the gentleman and his henchmen as I run to save what I can. I lay in the floor crying, holding as many of my handbags and shoes with one hand and my dresses with the other, while all of my furniture is gone, my rugs, my dishes, are all taken away. The house echoes as the men exit to post a notice to vacate the premises. Tears well up in my eyes as I focus in on a dusting of white powder on the floor.

  Chapter 28

  Ava

  According to Sean, time is flying by. According to Sean, that is, but he isn’t the one carrying a bowling ball or been unable to sleep for the last eight weeks. This baby is nearly ready to be born and Sean is even more protective of me than usual. I try to be patient with him and his overprotective ways, but I am becoming anxious and I need to get out of the house. I need something to distract me.

  I pull out the mail to find some magazines or even some junk mail to read, and stuck in the middle of it all is a letter addressed to me. I don’t recognize the handwriting, but I am curious and bored enough to not care.

  My Dear Ava,

  I have to say I am quite surprised that you haven’t come to visit me and gloat, but then again you do still have some time. Anyway, I would actually love to see you if you ever get a chance. I want to apologize. It has been hard to come to terms with what I have done, but I promise I am truly remorseful for what has happened. Ethan said at one time he could help me stay out of jail, I assume that he can also help me get out. My attorney said personal references could go a long way. If you could get them to make some calls for me, I would be so grateful. I promise I will never bother you again or ask for anything else ever again.

  Please Ava, it is so scary here and they have taken everything from me. Even when I get out I am not sure what I will do. My career is surely over and Joel is not expected to get out for some time. His father is long gone and all of Joel’s money with him. I have nothing and will have even less when I get out, but the thought of staying here any longer is so terrifying. I have been threatened and beaten, I don’t know how much longer I can survive in here. I am so frightened. I would call, but Sean threatened to make things worse for me if I ever contacted any of you. I had to try something, though. I hope this letter finds you well and that you are able to find it in your heart to forgive me before it is too late. If I do not survive before I am able to speak to you again, please know, I don’t blame you. I do believe you to be one of the kindest and most sincerely wonderful people I have ever met. If nothing else please visit me and let me apologize properly to you.

  Best Wishes,

  Rebecca

  I twist the envelope right and left until I see a prison stamp. Rebecca must have assumed I would know how to get a hold of her, but since I don’t, then obviously Sean must. Anger and fear course through me as I try to remember everything he said, Ethan said, the actions of the both of them including short trips to L.A. I never thought to question.

  “Okay, I got you a little bit of everything since I wasn’t sure what you would want,” Sean says, walking in with several bags of groceries. I stare at him intently as he approaches. “What?”

  “I got a letter today,” I wave it at him until he takes it from me. “What is going on Sean?”

  “That fucking bitch! Don’t worry about it, I will take care of it.” He slams the letter to his side cursing under his breath.

  “What did you do Sean?”

  “I didn’t do anything, now relax and forget all about it.”

  “I don’t understand. Rebecca is in jail? For what? And Joel? I don’t know what is going on, but I am pretty damn sure you and Ethan do and at the very least have some responsibility for it.”

  “Baby, calm down.”

  “No! Not until you tell me what that letter is all about.”

  I can see him contemplating, but he eventually sighs and looks at me with his hands on hips, “We set them up.”

  “Set them up how?”

  “We hung out some bait for Joel to take. He took it and spent all of his money on a failing business.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Because he thought he had outsmarted Ethan and I, buying it before we could. Then he decided to celebrate.” He begins to laugh. “Although celebrate doesn’t do it justice. I never imagined him buying that much.” He glances back at my irritated face and straightens. “He bought a lot of drugs and other things he shouldn’t have. I had a feeling he would do something like that, so we made a few calls and had his house raided and surprise, I was right.”

  “And?”

  “And they were arrested and that’s that.”

  “No it isn’t, I know better than that Sean. I’m not stupid and that letter said Joel’s father took off. Why would he do that?”

  He rolls his eyes, sitting at the edge of the bed. “That was more of calling attention to his own stupidity. The man was making a ton of money and not paying any taxes on it. So they convicted him, of all kinds of charges, things we didn’t even know about so they liquidated as much as they could to pay back his debt. In the meantime, he took off to hide what little he managed to save.”

  “What about the movie?”

  “It was sold.”

  “To who?” He smiles at me. “You?” He nods.

  “Ethan and I both, since it was our company that bought it. We are working on getting it back on track, hoping to get it released sometime this next summer - early fall at the latest.”

  “And Rebecca and Joel are serving time on drug possession charges?”

  “Yes, and no. Ethan also got Rebecca to confess to some additional charges, crimes that she and Joel both committed. Such as, tampering with my breaks, drugging you and attacking you several times. We didn’t do anything illegal, we simply know the right people to call and the rest was betting on them being themselves.”

&nbs
p; “How did you set the bait?”

  “You don’t want to know.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Mom.” My eyes widened with shock. Sean laughs, “I have to give her credit, the woman still has it. We sent them tickets to a restaurant opening that we knew they couldn’t refuse and Mom went with Bobby, making sure to run into them accidently, baiting them perfectly.”

  “Oh, I don’t want to know.” I said, hiding my face in my hands.

  “The only surprise was that stupid Joel bought a puppy. We knew that wouldn’t sit too well with you, forcing another puppy into the pound.”

  “Hollywood?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Yes. We got the paperwork needed for Randy to go in there and pour on the charm, and he walked right out of there with no problems. Of course, we also made a sizeable donation so they would not think to call anybody about it. He barely got out of there before Rebecca showed up. We shouldn’t have bailed her out so soon, but who would have ever thought she would ever think to rescue the puppy?”

  “I’m not going to ask.”

  “Probably best. When we got back from Ireland I went to check on them both. Joel was ready to tear me apart - I enjoyed that immensely. Rebecca was more subdued. She made small talk for a few minutes, then started yelling at me to help her, that I owed her for helping convict Joel on more charges. Then she calmed again and started asking about you, which pissed me off, so I told her if she ever came near you I would find a way to make it worse for her. And now the stupid bitch goes and writes you. I swear … Ava don’t fall for her bullshit. Nothing has happened to her. Hell, she sits in her cell all day watching TV and being a snob to anyone that tries to talk to her, well except for the guard that she is sleeping with to get extra privileges. No one has threatened her or done anything to her, I promise. Trust me, she is fine. Now don’t worry about anything else, both of them are out of our lives for good. All you have to worry about is taking care of yourself and having my baby.”

  ~

  I wake up to the bright sun beaming through the window. “Good morning,” my overjoyed husband said while rocking our newborn son.

  “How is he?” I asked.

  “Perfect,” he said, walking over and putting Jayden in my arms. I nuzzle my son while checking all his fingers and toes. “They’re all there, I checked,” Sean said.

  The door slowly opens and balloons drift in, “Can we come in?” Mary asked.

  “Definitely. Come meet your new grandson.” The whole crew comes in, each of them taking their turn to come over and kiss me and look over Jayden.

  “Another beautiful baby Ava,” Kyle said while kissing me, tears already streaming down his face. I grip his hand and he nods before having to go hide his face in Michael’s shoulder.

  “I love you,” I said and he nodded, burying deeper into Michael’s shoulder.

  Ethan walks over and kisses me. “Well I don’t know what all the crying is about, the boy is only another fine Grant boy, just like his uncle.” I hand him Jayden, much to Ethan’s surprise, but he takes him anyway. “Definitely a Grant, too handsome not to be. So what did you end up naming my nephew,” Ethan asked, cradling Jayden as Abbey plays with him at his side.

  “Jayden,” Sean said, watching Ethan carefully.

  “Jayden, that’s a good name,” Ethan said.

  “Jayden … Ethan … Grant,” Sean said confidently with a smile. Ethan looks up in shock, already showing watery eyes. “Well you got Dad’s name, so we took the next best.”

  The brothers’ bond is unbreakable, no matter what life throws at them. No one can get to one without having to get through the other first. Their father always told them, “You can accomplish anything in life but together you can accomplish everything.”

  Epilogue

  Sean

  I can’t take the silence anymore, I don’t care if she is mad at me for being here. “So what are you going to say?” I asked.

  “I don’t know for sure,” Ava said, still dazed by the landscape passing by.

  “Then can you tell me again why the hell we are doing this?”

  “We weren’t supposed to be doing anything. But for the tenth time today, I want to see her and verify on my own that she is truly not remorseful about anything.”

  “And you think you are going to know that by seeing her?”

  “I do, actually.” She said. I shake my head, disbelieving that it could be possible.

  “I don’t care what you think Sean. You got your closure - I didn’t.”

  “I know Ava, but …”

  “But nothing. I deserve this as much as you did.” She yells at me as I pull in and escort her inside.

  They are allowing us to talk to Rebecca during off hours so we can have privacy from other visitors. My mind is racing, watching everything around me as I hover over Ava, wanting to grab her and carry her out of here as quickly as possible. This is the exact reason I never told her anything about it in the first place. Damn she’s so fucking stubborn. “You know our plane leaves in two hours?” I said, earning her typical shut-up-Sean expression. I fidget tirelessly as we wait for them to get Rebecca. “It’s going to take us at least forty-five minutes to get to the airport and we should try and get there early so …”

  “Sean!” She snaps at me. I put my arm around her shoulders mumbling under my breath, but sit up straight when the door opens. Rebecca comes in casually and smug at first, then she eyes us with a sarcastic grin. I already want to strangle her. I take notice of Ava’s fists balling up tighter. There is no glass, or barrier of any sort, blocking her from us, only a room-length counter with barriers in between each guest section. I am not sure if I am more worried about Rebecca trying something or Ava, although I probably will not stop Ava.

  “Well if it isn’t the couple of the year” Rebecca said, sitting down in front of us, glancing in my direction but concentrating on Ava. “So what do I owe this visit to?”

  “I wanted to talk to you, of course. I would have sooner, but I didn’t know you were here until I received your letter,” Ava said.

  Rebecca looks hard at me with a slight laugh, “Of course you didn’t, because you two are so open and honest with each other.” I roll my eyes leaning into Ava and ignoring the witch across from us.

  “Sean did what he thought was best for me at the time, Rebecca,” Ava said.

  “Oh that’s right. I heard congratulations are in order. A boy, is that right?”

  “Yes,” Ava said.

  “And how is he doing?” Rebecca smiled her meaningless smile.

  “He’s perfect, and none of your damn business,” I snapped at her.

  “I’m not here to talk about us Rebecca,” Ava said.

  “Well, then why are you here darling Ava?”

  “Like I said I got your letter, and now I am here as you requested. So you tell me, why am I here?” Ava said as I glance at Ava suspiciously.

  “Really? Oh Ava, if you help me I will be forever in your debt. I didn’t realize you were going to be so kind, I thought you were here to gloat. I am sorry, but you can understand my harshness. I always knew you had a good heart despite your husband.” She said, glancing my way while I laugh at her. “You just wouldn’t believe what they have done to me here. They took everything from me, my home, my clothes, my jewelry and my cars. It’s been horrible and now I am in here with all these scary people. It’s torture, pure torture.” Rebecca wells up with tears.

  I shake my head at the rotten actress. She continues for some time, talking about her routines and what she has to do and what she has to eat. She rambles on and on forever about the same things. I keep glancing over at Ava to see when she is going to stop her but she never does. “Ava this is …” I said to her before she hushes me.

  Rebecca smiles at me under her hands clearing her watery eyes, “So, you’re going to help me Ava?”

  “Even if I wanted to help you get out of here Rebecca, I couldn’t. My husband made that demand before I c
ame out here, and he is the only one that can. There is nothing I can do and I am certainly not going to make him do anything he doesn’t want to do.” Ava spoke so smoothly and so calmly, I wonder if she isn’t about to shoot Rebecca between the eyes at any moment.

  “You bitch!” Rebecca stands up and I follow suit, hovering over Ava protectively, but still Ava remains calm. “You act like you are so self-righteous but all the while you only wanted to come out here and rub it in, watch me suffer. You deserve everything I did to you!”

  Ava stands and leans around me, “All I wanted - was the apology you promised me.” Ava walks out with her head held high. I look back at Rebecca’s shocked face, happily.

  I escort Ava back to the car, kissing her with pride, “I have never been more proud to call you my wife.” She smiles at me, “I thought for sure you were going to give in to her.”

  “She hasn’t changed at all. She still blames everyone else for her problems. No matter what I think about what you and Ethan did, you didn’t force them to take the drugs or even lose all their money.” She sighs, “I wonder if Joel is the same, maybe we can …”

  “Absolutely not!” I yell, enforcing my demand. “Not even close to the same situation Ava, Rebecca is crazy but Joel is on a whole other level. He’s angry as hell, and in way deeper trouble than he was originally. I will save you the trouble, I am sure he is blaming everyone but himself. And he certainly has no reason to be nice to you and even less reason if I am there.” She nods and I am relieved that she settles into her seat calmly and without arguing with me any further.

  ~

  Our flight was right on time, both of us anxious to get back home, me even more so. My mother is taking Lillah and Jayden for the night, allowing Ava and I some personal time together for the first time since we brought Jayden home. My mother is suppose to wait until we get back so we can see them one last time before they leave and then it will be only us and I can’t wait. I have been staring at her all day, her breasts, her legs, her lips, they have all been torturing me throughout the day. Ava nearly runs inside to see our children before they leave. I am not far behind her, preparing for Lillah as she leaves her mother’s arms to run and jump into mine. My mother hands Jayden over to Ava and she quickly nuzzles our son like she hasn’t seen him in weeks rather than hours. It is wonderful to see, especially after everything she has been through. I kiss Jayden on the head, then swing Lillah around in my arms causing her to giggle but as soon as I round the corner I see Dillon sitting comfortably, too comfortably as he munches on some of our food.