The Carrier (The Carrier Series Book 1) (16 page)

The next day I knew I had to step up my game a
little. I stopped at the florist on my way to work and bought a dozen red roses
and a blank card. On my way in I noticed that Brian was alone at Lower One. It
was too early for Suzanne’s shift to start—perfect.

“Hey, Brian!
How’s
it
goin
’, buddy”? I walked up to the booth and went
in the door. “I was wondering if you’d do me a
favor?
You know I’ve got my eye on Ava, and I think I need to do something romantic to
sort of reel her in. Would you help me pull something off?”

“Oh, God.
I
don’t have to sing or dance or something embarrassing like that, right?” Brian
said.

“No, no, buddy, nothing like that. I bought
some flowers and a note, and I stuck it on her windshield.” I pointed out the
ticket window. “I’m sure she’s going to come up here to Lower One to hang out
after one of her first trips, and I need you to tell her to go look at her
car.” I gave him a manly pat on the back.

“Right, right.
I can
do that. No prob.” A couple came up to the window to buy some tickets, so I
snuck out the door and headed back to Lower Two.

Once the booth was open, I took a seat, sat
back, and watched the Bailey come into the bay to dock. Less than twenty
passengers shuffled off the boat, and then Jack and Ava walked up the stairs
together. She looked so good in her uniform, and I loved seeing her laugh and
smile—it simply lit up her eyes.

At the top of the stairs, they split up. Jack
headed straight for the Last Chance snack shop, and Ava bolted it over to the
bathroom. A few customers approached my window, and I kept busy for almost
twenty minutes. Ava never stopped by, and a small feeling of frustration filled
my heart when I realized she had decided to go to Lower One instead of my
booth. I thought for sure she’d come see me before she went to say hi to Brian.

Well good, then Brian would tell her to look at
her car, and she’d see the roses and come running back to my booth. 

More customers came, more minutes passed, but
still no Ava. Nerves brewed in my stomach and my heart sank. Maybe I had made a
big mistake. It was entirely possible that she didn’t think about me every
second they way I thought about her.

For a moment I considered running out to Ava’s
car and whisking the roses off the windshield before Brian told her about it,
but I abandoned the idea. I tried to replay our date in my mind to see if I
could recall any sign that she wasn’t enjoying herself, that I had done
something wrong. But my mind was only filled with her smiling face and our
sweet kisses.

I took a deep breath and told myself to trust
my first instinct.

I glanced towards the front ticket booth and
there she was, walking casually back through the waiting area with Jack. I
looked carefully—no flowers or card in her hand!

My momentary excitement crashed down to the
ground. Had she thrown them away?

This was not good.

Ava and Jack loaded up their boat and then
headed back downriver for another tour.

Crap
! This was not working out as
I thought it would.

I picked up the phone and called the front
booth, but no one answered so I couldn’t get the scoop from Brian. I let out a
sigh. Ava would be back in only one hour. I’d have to wait to see whether she
got my note and the flowers.

I pulled out my tablet and tried to read the
reports Agent Harper had emailed me. My eyes kept darting toward the window
facing the river, subconsciously wondering where Ava was. Customers came and
went. One hour started to feel like five. But then I saw it: the blue and white
tour boat coming around the bend. It pulled into the dock and several people
got off. Ava and Jack walked up the stairs and split up again. This time Jack
went towards Lower One and Ava was walking towards my booth. My heart turned
flips inside my rib cage. My stomach was suddenly infested with fluttery
butterflies! I quickly turned away and looked out the front window as she
approached the booth.

Play it cool, kid.

The door opened and I turned to see pretty Ava
as she graced me with her presence.

I couldn’t hide my smile. I carefully read her
face, especially those beautiful brown eyes, for any hint that she was happy to
see me. I dared to tell her I was glad to see her, although if my heart had a
microphone it would certainly be saying a lot more.

“It’s great to see you, too.” She smiled
sweetly at me and then took a seat.

It was a good sign. The butterflies kept
fluttering, but backed down a bit.

“Did you and Ted have a nice time last night?”
Wait,
stop...don’t
go there! Keep it about you and her!

I watched her lips move as she talked about her
evening. Her whole face was sparkling. Her mouth was moving, but I was having
trouble focusing on her words until I heard her say, “I told him a lot about
you.”

“Really?
All good, I hope.”

“Absolutely.
I didn’t
have a bad word to say.”

Ah-ha
.

The butterflies subsided some more. Should I
say something about the roses? What if Brian hadn’t said anything to her yet? I
didn’t want to ruin the surprise, so I decided to let it wait a little longer
and see what panned out.

A few groups of customers showed up at my
window, and Ava and I chatted a bit between sales. We had a nice little visit
together until she had to leave for her next trip. I didn’t want to let her go
without a little something for her to daydream about, so when she hopped off
her stool, I took a risk. Moving in close, I put my hand on her lower back and
stuck my cheek right next to hers. I inhaled the sweet scent of her hair and
knew she’d smell my cologne. I pulled back, slowly brushing my cheek across
hers and then kissed her lips quickly. “Have a great trip,” I whispered in her
ear, and hopefully she left with her head spinning exactly like mine was.

The day slugged by slowly, mostly because Ava
only came to see me once more. If she was playing hard-to-get, then she was
damn good at it because her two visits only made me crave her more. Late in the
afternoon, I noticed Jack loading up the Bailey, but Ava wasn’t on the dock
with him. I stared down at the dock confused for a while, until I saw Ava running
madly through the waiting area. In her left hand she carried a bouquet of very
wilted and ugly roses.

Dammit
,
Brian!
Last time I ask him for a favor.

I had the early shift and it ended while Ava
was still out on her tour. I closed up the booth and walked out to my car.
Suzanne was the only one at Lower One, and I didn’t feel like talking to her,
so I pretended I was on my phone as I walked by the booth. She waved, and I
gave her a nod.

There were a few hours before my date with Ava
would begin, should she accept it, so I headed south of town on Highway 16 to
do some more scanning with my Geiger counter app. I took eleven scans,
recording each reading in a document, and ended up only a few blocks from
Animal Island. I drove back to my cabin and changed out of my boat uniform
before checking over the data I had collected.

Just as before, the readings became stronger as
I headed towards the center of the city. This was good news; I felt productive.
I thought about heading out to take some more readings, but there were only
twenty minutes before Ava may appear for our date.

Anticipation and eagerness were taking over my
body as I got ready. I guess that was good, though, because those feelings made
me want to clean up a bit. I picked up the dirty clothes off the floor, put the
food wrappers in the garbage, and even wiped down the toilet and sink. Then I
made the bed and shoved my CBB briefcase under it. I wasn’t expecting the date
to end up in the cabin, but I wanted to be ready, just the same.

As 7:15 rolled around, I heard people out at
the campfire. I thought I might as well go socialize while I waited for the
hands of the clock to swing around, so I dressed in my favorite plaid golf
shorts and a plain white T-shirt,
spritzed
on some
cologne, and headed out the door. Almost all the boat employees that lived at
Animal Island were out. They had music pumping, and the bonfire was roaring. I
talked with a few guys I had never met before and then chatted with the
Ukrainians again. God, they were funny. I wondered what Ava was doing and often
looked back at her house, waiting for a precious glimpse of her.

Right before 8:00, an Upper Dells pilot, who
was very short but full of spunk, yelled to the crowd that he had decided to
move the party to the docks and take a boat upriver. Within minutes, the party
dispersed, and I found myself left alone with a few Upper Dells female guides I
didn’t know very well.

“Hey Nolan, you should come out with us
tonight,” one of the guides said. “We’re
gonna
head
downtown to the bars.
Wanna
come?” She looked about
eighteen and had long, curly red hair. I was not attracted to her in the
slightest, but I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she was trying
to hit on me.

Good luck.

“No thanks, ladies. I’ve got plans tonight.” I
had passed on a few beers during the party because I didn’t want to smell like
I had been drinking when Ava and I went out. I took a sip on the water bottle
someone had offered me instead.

“
Awww
...come on
Nolan. We’ll keep you company all night long!” The other guide, who was equally
unattractive to me (okay, she was downright ugly), tried to move over closer
and touched my upper
thigh
. I jumped up quickly and
told them I had forgotten something inside. I ran into my cabin and then peeked
out the window through the closed shades. The girls stood up, got in their car,
and left.

Thank God. I’d have to remember to avoid them
from now on.

Once everyone left I went back outside, locked
the door to my cabin, and then took a seat by the roaring fire. I stared into
the flames, letting the sight take me away with my thoughts. I thought about
how much I liked Ava, about my undercover job with the CBB, and about the
mysterious Carrier whom I was supposed to apprehend. I pulled out my phone and
went over the data I had collected with my new apps. The numbers got larger as
I entered the heart of the city.

“It’s near the middle of town,” I said out
loud. Although it went against the process I had organized, I decided to do a
scan right there on Animal Island. I stood up and ran the app, holding my phone
flat out in front of me. It finished scanning with a loud beep.

I gasped—the reading was through the roof.

“This has to be a mistake,” I said as I ran the
app again. A few seconds later the scan completed and the number was the same.
My jaw dropped. It was like I was standing right next to a huge meteor. I
turned a slow circle, heart beating out of control, looking for the gigantic
space rock that must be sitting in a pile of grass right outside my cabin. But
instead I turned to see Ava walking down the alley towards me. My mouth
involuntarily spilled out what my mind was thinking. “You look absolutely
beautiful.”

I pocketed my phone.
No! You’re onto
something!
my
brain urged.

But I saw sorrow in Ava’s eyes and my heart
took precedence. She hadn’t smiled yet. “What’s wrong?” I asked carefully.

She was reluctant to tell me. Was it about me?
I couldn’t play it off like there was nothing wrong. I had to make her
comfortable enough to tell me what was bothering her. I asked her to sit next
to me and gently put my hand around her back and kissed her sweet face.

I had never seen her like this before.

Finally she showed me an email from her
college. She was on academic probation. My heart broke for her as I watched
tears form in her eyes. I felt so sorry for her. She wanted nothing more than
to be a teacher, but her freshman year had been somewhat of a disaster.

My mind raced back to the time I punched Aaron
in the face. Was he to blame for this?

I tried my best to make her feel better and
finally a beautiful smiled showed on her lips. She was going to be okay.

We took a quick tour of my cabin and then my
phone buzzed in my pocket as I had opened the car door for Ava. With my back
turned to the window, I pulled it out—a new text from Agent Harper. I looked
over my shoulder inside the window and saw Ava touching the dials on the
dashboard, so I clicked to retrieve my message.

New
intel
acquired.
Report by phone,
7:30am.

Interesting.
What
could the new
intel
be? I
put the phone back in my pocket and pulled open the door. When I sat down I
leaned over and put an open hand on the console, hoping she’d take the hint and
make a move.

Ava was impressed with the Audi and placed her
hand on my arm, her thumb rubbing my skin very sweetly as she gushed about the
car.
I moved my arm so I could hold her hand in mine. It was very soft
and comfortable.

Just as I began to fly high with the excitement
of a new relationship, my brain interrupted with a nervous thought—
You
shouldn’t be starting a relationship, considering the secrets and lies it will
have to endure
.

Then, as if she knew I needed to hear it, Ava
told me how much she enjoyed being in my company. And with those few words, all
my insecurities and worries melted away. If it felt wonderful simply being with
Ava, then it was the right choice.
At least for now.