Drew did not ask Ava for loyalty. He asked her for exactly twenty minutes. That number changes their alliance from a loose revenge pact into a timed operation: Ava must keep Jack Brennan away from his hotel room while Drew searches for the file he believes can give him leverage. The plan is simple enough to explain in one breath, which is exactly why every possible failure now feels so dangerous.
Ava can create a convincing distraction because Brennan already wants Wyndemere and remains interested in anything connected to Jenz Sidwell. Drew can exploit that interest, but only if Brennan believes the conversation is real. One wrong detail, one impatient glance at a phone, or one interruption could tell a trained intelligence chief that someone else is moving behind him.
Ava and Drew plan the distraction that gives Drew access to Brennan’s room
The twenty-minute request exposes Drew’s real disadvantage
Drew is acting as though the room contains an answer, but he does not control the location, the schedule, or the man he is targeting. Brennan can return whenever he wants. Hotel staff can enter. A phone call can end Ava’s performance. Even if Drew finds a folder, he must decide in seconds whether to photograph it, remove it, or leave it exactly where it was.
That last choice matters. A missing file tells Brennan that his space was searched. A moved paper can do the same. Drew needs information without leaving proof that he was there, yet his anger makes patience difficult. The operation asks him to behave like the kind of careful strategist Brennan expects to catch.
Ava therefore becomes more than a decoy. She is the only person who can control the length of Drew’s window. If Brennan grows suspicious, Ava has to invent another reason for him to stay. If Drew needs more time, she must stretch a story without making it sound rehearsed. Her performance is the clock.
Wyndemere is the bait Brennan is least likely to ignore
The Wyndemere-and-Sidwell story works because it touches territory, power, and unfinished business. Brennan does not need to trust Ava completely to listen. He only needs to believe that she knows something useful. That is a narrower and more believable goal than trying to charm him into forgetting every instinct he has.
But the bait also creates a trail back to Ava. If Brennan discovers the search, he can replay the conversation and understand why she appeared at that exact moment. Drew may be inside the room, yet Ava is the person standing in full view. She absorbs the immediate risk while he reaches for the prize.
The file can hurt more than Brennan
Drew’s target is Brennan, but information rarely stays inside the conflict where it was found. A WSB file can contain names, surveillance notes, financial links, travel records, or political pressure points. Any one of those details could touch Willow, Nina, Josslyn, Carly, or another person who believes Brennan’s current problems are separate from their own.
That is the deeper danger in Drew’s plan. He is searching for leverage while several people already hold pieces of damaging information. Willow has her own recording. Nina has made a threat in public. Ava has given Brennan a reason to connect her to Wyndemere. Another document does not automatically make Drew stronger; it may simply add one more unstable object to a room full of people trying to control each other.
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Ava’s exit may matter more than Drew’s entrance
If the operation works, Drew still has to leave without being seen and Ava has to end the distraction naturally. A sudden goodbye can be as suspicious as a weak opening. Brennan may let her walk away and investigate later, which would turn apparent success into delayed exposure.
Ava also has a reason to protect herself from Drew. She can help him without surrendering every detail of her conversation with Brennan. She may learn something during those twenty minutes that has value beyond their partnership. If she keeps it, the operation produces two secret files: the one Drew searches for and the memory Ava chooses not to share.
That is why the countdown has more tension than a simple break-in. Drew believes the decisive action is happening inside Brennan’s room. The real power may belong to the person outside it, deciding how long the door stays open, what Brennan hears, and whether Drew receives a warning before the timer runs out.