n

n

nAngelo wasn't known for being merciful but this time he decided to be nice and let Avery rest by taking over her food deliveries to Leah. She didn't see the woman for two weeks.

nIn that time she had gotten a rather vague update from Angelo that all of the scientists and their families were being taken care of but didn't get details until she was chatting with Leah, who knew much more about it than she did. The perks of being the one in charge of the money, she supposed.

n

"If I know anything about Nolan he's very angry right now,

" she confided in a low voice as she watched her children play with the kinetic sand Avery had brought from the living room.

"Especially since there isn't anything that can be done about it.

n

"Angelo was very thorough. There hasn't been so much as a peep in the news about what happened. Nobody connected three random labs being destroyed in one night in different states at all but I bet he knows there's someone gunning for him.

n

"Not knowing who will drive him crazy. That might make him sloppy, which will be our best chance to take him down for good. At this point it's only a matter of time. Especially since we're already working on our next plan.

"

nWhat a callous way to talk about your husband! Though Avery couldn't blame her. What little she knew of Leah's marriage did not sound happy.

nShe didn't even want to think about the next plan. At least they wouldn't be as rushed and she wouldn't have to worry about it until after the month of January was over. Angelo had promised.

n

"He won't be able to retaliate,

" she said confidently.

"You're right about that. You can't retaliate when you don't even know who you're up against. All he can do is try to put up more security measures. But even the best security can be broken into with enough planning and manpower.

"

n

"Speaking of manpower, you were amazing! I can't believe you destroyed all three of those labs back to back by yourself,

" Leah said in awe.

nAvery shrugged.

"It was no big deal.

"

n

"It was though! I could never do what you do.

"

n

"It's more my dad's suit than me. I'm just the pilot. Anybody could do it with a little practice. I'm just the one the biometrics are programmed to. You give me far too much credit.

"

n

"And you give your far too little,

" Leah insisted.

"Every time you go out you're putting yourself on the line for complete strangers. Just because you think it's the right thing to do! There's a heart of gold underneath that suit and it's all you.

"

nAvery thought she might cry. People didn't tell her things like that very often. Was this what it felt like to be a hero instead of a villain? The only other people who appreciated what she was doing where the insulin delivery recipients and she hardly ever ran into them. Most of what she did was thankless.

nThankless and degrading. The man she loved thought she was a bad person for doing it. That hurt more than she could say.

n

"You better quit while you're ahead so I don't cry,

" Avery told her.

nAlarm flashed across Leah's face.

"I'm sorry! Did I say something wrong? I appreciate everything you have done for me, especially letting me stay at your apartment and—

"

n

"You said something right. It's me who's wrong.

"

nLeah seemed confused by this.

"How are you wrong? What you're doing is technically illegal but people like Nolan need to be stopped. If you won't do it who will? Did someone say something to you? Because you can't listen to them!

"

nAvery wished she could. That her convictions would be enough to counteract what Christian thought. She had tried her best to push off any negativity from him because he didn't know or understand what she was up to. It had worked for a while but the closer they got to the wedding she became more terrified of losing him if he found out the truth.

nThe worst part of all of this was that she couldn't talk to a single person about it. No one else knew both her and his secret identities. Angelo might actually kill her if he knew she was planning on marrying Mercury.

n

"I'm fine,

" she said in a way she hoped she was reassuring.

"Just being down on myself. Don't worry about it, Leah. I shouldn't have said anything.

"

n

"…are you sure?

" the older woman asked compassionately.

nAvery gave her a brave attempt at a smile.

"Yeah.

"

nLeah clasped her hands suddenly and whispered,

"It's okay if you're not. You're allowed to have a hard time, you know. Goodness knows I am. I'm trying to be grateful I'm alive but it's warring with the part of me that hates being locked up with my children and never getting a break. The homeschooling and lack of exercise other than Just Dance is driving me crazy!

"

nShe couldn't help but let out a laugh. She couldn't even imagine being stuck in a stranger's apartment after losing her lifestyle and being on the run. Leah had an alarmingly good attitude about the whole thing.

n

"I'm so sorry! Do you want me to bring you guys more to do?

"

n

"It's alright. The best thing you can do for me is destroy Nolan so we can step foot outside again. Just keep doing what you're doing.

"

nAvery nodded, a lump in her throat. There were a lot of people depending on her. She couldn't be down on herself just because Christian—who didn't have all the facts—would never support her if he knew.

n

"I will. I promise. I'm going to make it so the three of you see the light of day again.

"

nShe had to do this for a lot of people. Those who had died. Those who wanted to live. Nolan Hunsacher and his cronies had destroyed a lot of lives. There was no bringing back what was lost but things could be made better for those who were left behind.

nFreedom. Real freedom. Freedom to live without being controlled from the shadows. Freedom to not have to choose between going into debt or getting medical treatment.

nThis was why Avery did what she did. She couldn't lose sight of that and be selfish. If it came down to the wire…if she had to choose between being Nox and being with Christian…she was going to have to break her own heart and choose the former. Her convictions may have been shaken lately but this reminder of why she did what she did had helped strengthen her resolve.

nOf course, she fervently hoped it didn't come to that. That she could fulfil her mission and live happily with him for the rest of her life.

nShe owed it to her dad to see his wishes fulfilled but didn't she also owe it to him to be happy? She was sure that was what he had wanted for her. He had loved her so much!

nAvery sighed. This sort of thinking never got her anywhere. She should just take Leah's compliment for what it was and keep moving forward. No need to get overly emotional about anything else in the process.

n===

nNolan Hunsacher very angry about what was going on. Furious, in fact. He had realized someone was out to get him as soon as the secret room containing the mind control files had been destroyed. The problem was that he didn't know who had done it.

nThe amount of infiltration required to pull that off was mind-boggling. When he went looking for the only people who could have been involved to interrogate them he realized that a few had gone missing. Vanished off the face of the earth. He was up against someone truly formidable if even he, with all of his resources, couldn't find them.

nControlling a country from behind the scenes took a lot of work. He had so much to oversee that it wasn't possible to notice patterns before then.

nAfter it happened he looked into who might have done this…who had been causing trouble in other business interests of his…but there was too much to sort through. That was the problem with owning virtually everything.

nHow was he supposed to find any sort of pattern when he owned everything from healthcare to agriculture to the national power grid? Too much happened in all of those sectors on a daily basis!

nHe tried to focus his search in New York after that at the very least because that was where the room had been. He had people wading through all of his holdings there and wasn't able to find anything conclusive before another very similar bombing happened in a factory all the way across the country in California.

nNo evidence left behind. Nobody saw it coming. No video proof. Just like the first time. It was the exact same MO.

nThe guards from both places (before they were fired and blacklisted from all Hunsacher Inc. companies) said they were spared from the blast by someone in a black suit with a robotic male voice but the details were hazy. The same person had to be involved!

nBut where were they? Who were they?

n