One Good Reason by Nicole Salmond Page A

she had
pissed him off, but she didn’t care anymore. Nothing she said would convince
him she didn’t know who Thornakorn was. She was sick
of the games. Sick of everything.
    Hayden
stood. Ava half expected him to yell at her, punish her in some way, but he
didn’t. Instead, he walked out of the room and locked it behind him, leaving
her alone, once again.
     
    ***
    Hayden
sat on the couch going over and over in his head what Ava had said hours ago.
Something about this operation just didn’t sit right with him. Since day one,
Ava had shown no knowledge of Thornakorn . He had been
convinced it was all an act, but after nearly two weeks of holding her captive,
he still had no information from her. She was scared, frightened, and defenseless . All attributes that came across real, not faked.
Yet she never caved and told him anything. She was either an extremely good
actress like Aun had said, or she really had no idea,
and he’d just been holding an innocent girl captive for thirteen days. He
prayed that wasn’t the case.
    The
brief had seemed too basic. It wasn’t often that he wasn’t given much detail
about his captive’s, but it was never as simple as what it was in this case.
    He
had been told Ava had connections with Thornakorn .
She knew information about him and his whereabouts. That was it. That was the
only information he had to go on.
    Hayden
stood up, grabbing his handgun and shoving it into his holster under his arm.
He then went upstairs, changed into jeans quickly, and put on a leather jacket
to cover his concealed weapon.
    He
was going to go and find out more information. They were too far into the
forest to get reception. They thankfully had running water from the rain tanks,
and electricity from the generators, but the isolation meant no cell service,
he would have to go for a drive into town and use the landline. 
    He
ran down the stairs, stopping as he saw Aun at the
bottom.
    “Where
are you going?” Aun asked.
     “I’m
heading into town for supplies. I thought while I was there I’d check in with
our progress,” Hayden replied casually.
    Aun grunted. “Or lack of.”
    Hayden
didn’t want to give away that he was suspicious about the operation, in case Aun was in on something he didn’t know. He also didn’t want
Ava to lose her protection. At the moment, she was a captive with information,
without the information, she was invaluable to the Thai men, and he knew what
would happen to her then.
    “I
think I’ve nearly cracked her. Give her a couple more days and we will have the
information we need. She’s a fighter, but from our talk before, she’s losing
the fight.”
    “Good.
We need to finish this up. The men are going stir crazy.”
    Hayden
agreed and then walked to the front door.
    “I
shouldn’t be gone long. You, and only you,” Hayden said pointing to Aun , “are to watch over her. Nobody is to enter her room
for any reason unless she needs something. Understood?”
    Aun nodded.
    Hayden
turned and walked out the door, praying Ava would be safe while he was away. He
knew in his gut something wasn’t right, and he was about to find out if his
instincts were right.
     
     
    Ava
smiled for the first time in thirteen days.
    This
is it , she thought
to herself. My chance of freedom .
    After
her conversation with Hayden, which again put them back to square one, Ava had sat
at the door hoping she would hear Hayden returning to talk to her, or talking
about her to the other men. She held onto the tiny bit of hope that what she
said might have made Hayden rethink the situation, believe her when she said
she didn’t know Thornakorn , and that it was all a big
mix-up.
    After
two hours of sitting on the hard ground, she had finally overheard the
conversation she’d be yearning for; Hayden was leaving the house to go into
town.
    Hayden
out of the picture meant that she might actually have a chance to escape. She
couldn’t hold onto the thought that Hayden might realize her innocence