Chapter 12
It was amusing watching Dr. Aguero, or should I say my cousin Abby, going back and forth with Ros over price. Ros is a tough negotiator, but it was soon abundantly clear that Abby was a true spitfire with a good head for business on her.
"Ros is it or should I just call you ginger number two?" Abby asked. When Ros nodded affirmatively Abby told her to blow her latest offer out her ass. They both laughed about it.
"Abby," Rami snapped. "I understand that you are amusing yourself busting Miss Bailey's chops, but we need to discuss your ongoing security."
It was strange seeing the five foot nothing Abby stare up at the giant of a man that was Rami without any hesitation or apprehension on her face. "I thought the issue was resolved. I terminated your contract with regard to my security. Case closed."
"Pix, I know you are aware that is an unacceptable action," Rami countered. Even I had to admit, it was nice seeing Abby force Rami out of his cool, calm, controlled personality. He continued, "I promised Luke that if anything were to befall him I would secure your wellbeing. So, Pix, are you going to make a liar out of me?"
She just continued to glare up at him while tapping her foot impatiently. She's a defiant little thing. Must be a family trait. Just thinking that made me smile. I must be going soft. I'm getting too trusting when it comes to family – well, potential family. I exchange a look with Taylor before giving him an approving nod.
"Dr. Aguero," Taylor countered. "I would like to offer you our protective services until you can resolve your differences with Rami and his team. As you know, it's in Luke's best interest to remain calm once he fully regains consciousness. If he discovers you have discharged your security team without a replacement squad, it will cause him a great deal of stress and at this time, there is already more than enough stress in his life."
Rami broke the awkward silence. "Well Pix, your choice? You're not leaving here without a security team even if it means I have to handcuff your wrist to mine until Luke is better. There's a shit storm coming – EF5. Under the circumstances, no security means no freedom."
"Fine you big oaf," Abby muttered unhappily. "You can stay but only because if I switch I'll have to listen to Luke bitching at me along with you."
Rami grinned broadly.
"So, Pix?" Elliot asked with a smirk. "As in Pixie?"
She nodded but her glare sent the clear message – don't ask.
"Give me your phone," Rami ordered as he removed his from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. "I need to synch up with your real calendar, not the fake one you use to avoid your security detail."
Abby huffed as she handed him her cell phone. It was actually quite amusing watching her act her age after having seen her professional work at the emergency room ten days ago. With a few swipes of his fingers on both phones, followed by a gentle tap of them against each other, their calendars were synched. Rami immediately reviewed her upcoming week. The more he looked, the larger the grimace on his face.
"Let's review the next week, shall we?" he ordered glaring down at her. "You have two distinct track days scheduled – one motorcycle and one auto. Until we can develop a security plan for each facility, you and Javi are unable to attend these events."
"But-
"But nothing," he snapped silencing her immediately. "You know the rules. You've been living with them since you were a child. You are beginning hours at the free pediatric clinic tomorrow but we haven't cleared the staff or facilities as of yet. We informed you it would take into the end of next week for the review to be completed."
"Sick children can't wait," she informed him sternly.
"Grand Rounds at Miami Children's Hospital on Tuesday, followed by Grand Rounds on Wednesday at OSHU. That's a great deal of traveling for two days considering you are covering the pediatric night shifts Wednesday thru Friday nights for Dr. Trevelyan. I need to make travel arrangements for your security," Rami mutters unhappily.
"Javi is coming with me. While we're in Miami we are scoping out a night club to potentially purchase."
"You will take at minimum three operatives, preferably four to six," Rami ordered. When she sighed, he rolled his eyes at her than gave her his best death glare.
All she did was smirk at him. "Behave Rami or I'll be sending you and members of your team to every pharmacy in town on tampon and other unmentionable girly gear runs just because I can."
Over the past week, I've felt more secure in our privacy. Taylor's team ran surveillance checks on the house on the Sound, Escala, our vehicles, GEH, and SIP on a daily basis, sometimes even twice or more per day. Barney had even met with Luke's IT guy and together helped secure the GEH servers. Tonight however, left me on edge. It was our follow up to our off-site meeting regarding following the pros and cons to releasing the special cell phones to the poor portions of Africa. The meeting was held in my home office and include my father, Kate, Ros, Barney, Welch, Taylor, Ryan, Reynolds, Ana, and even a reluctant Elliot.
What we realized was while releasing the phones would help some of the poor people in different parts of Africa, it still wouldn't help provide significant relief efforts where they are most critically needed – to those smaller, remote clans without political connections. They were the ones in most need. Despite all our efforts over the years, those without the appropriate clan connections are more likely to die of starvation and the fact remains – you cannot eat a cell phone. The phones might improve our delivery, but the reality is, the corrupt governments would sweep into these unconnected areas and redistribute the supplies to their allies. So the impact of releasing the phones is minimal in terms of helping the most at need populace. The pro argument to releasing the phones is that this redistribution could be reported. We'd know our enemies. The overall impact of releasing the phones was minimal at this point in time. It seems when it came to Africa, I was an idealist; blind to some of the more nuanced occurrences once food deliveries were made.
Not releasing the phones means nothing would change. We'd continue to distribute food and while most of it went to the needy, those who were desperate would receive minimal aide. We'd have to develop new distribution mechanisms and cater our approach by country and sometimes within region within each country.
Toward the end of our discussion, I was surprised when Ana chimed in. "There's more to this than we all realize. The northern half of Africa is for the most part an Islamic region. It's been all over the news of late that radical Islam is encroaching on this territory. Many of these groups live in the rural areas for their protection, but they are more and more associating with other like-minded groups. If the phones were to fall into the wrong hands, it would easy communications between the radical groups. Any advances made toward women's rights would be setback a hundred years if the radical groups were able to better coordinate their efforts.
"There is also a pro-side when it comes to releasing the phones with regard to radical groups gaining power – it provides the poor population a method of quickly reporting events in real time. In certain countries the loss of control at the government level, whether it be due to warlords or rebel groups gives the radical groups an advantage because battles by governments can only be fought on so many fronts before the façade cracks," Ana continues. "Any phone distribution strategy needs to be addressed country by country. We can't think continent-wide. We also need to call in experts in both the political climate by country, but by the relief aid necessary by country."
"I agree," I replied looking at my wife with admiration. I'd asked her to read up on Africa and she made me proud.
"With regard to Luke, he was different when we returned from our honeymoon. I remember him smiling more. Before that it felt like he was settling in; for example, when we returned home from the Coping Together gala he was jumpy. The day Ethan was coming to pick up the apartment keys from me at SIP, that morning in the car we were in the back and Luke was with Taylor in the front. I remember asking if he was going to spy on us, but then I corrected myself to patrol. I distinctly remember Luke's ears turning red. At the time, I assumed it was because he was embarrassed that he was caught watching over me when I wasn't supposed to be aware of it; now I'm not so sure."
"Why do you say that?" Carrick asked.
"Luke never blushed. I mean, he flirted with Hannah and I once caught them in a bit of a compromising position and he wasn't embarrassed one bit," Ana laughed. "Hannah however was mortified. I knew they dated but she was always jealous of Luke's friendship with Claire in reception as according to Hannah, she'd heard them speaking to each other occasionally in a language she didn't understand. It's why they broke up last year and I had assumed it was part of the reason Luke moved on from GEH."
"Claire? You mean boho, flirt, who eye-fucked my brother, that Claire?" Kate stated flatly. "Are you implying she's one of Luke's operatives within GEH/SIP? She's sweet but dumber than a box of rocks."
"It makes sense though, doesn't it? I mean, where better to plant someone than in reception to see all the comings and goings," Ana commented. "Maybe I've read too many spy novels, but it makes sense."
"It does, but it almost feels too easy," Taylor commented deep in thought. "She doesn't come off as a rocket scientist."
"But remember, neither did Luke at first," I replied. "Ana's right though, he was different by the time we returned from our honeymoon. I too took it as him settling into his job. He was less nervous, calmer, and it felt like he was always one step ahead until …"
"The Jack Hyde incident," Taylor finished my sentence. "When he called me to tell me he was taking Ana to Escala because she wasn't feeling well, he was worried about her, but he also sounded relieved. Could he have known Hyde was out on bail? When Ana ditched him at Escala, he was in pure panic mode. When we were heading toward where the Dodge had stopped, he got there as we did, with the FBI, police and ambulances. Calling the police is one thing, but why would a regular CPO, who'd never served with the FBI, have the ability to pull them into it. I mean why did they trust him? It was Luke who found Mia within moments of our arrival. We didn't even know she was missing at that point."
"That was the beginning of the end of his cover," Ryan continued rubbing his eyes. "He grew more serious and seemed to withdraw. He had all the typical signs of an operative who was too attached to his assignment – over-preparing for even the most insignificant event, over-protectiveness of Mrs. Grey, he was obsessed, though he won't admit it, with the Grey family safety to the point where it affected his sleep."
"Yeah but, it felt like he was preparing for something more," Reynolds countered. "It always felt like he was standing on a shoreline somewhere waiting for the storm to blow in. I just assumed he was burned out, but in hindsight, we're in that storm now."
"That's where the manuscript comes in," Ana announced. Kate and Ana spent hours going through the manuscript with highlighters in hand. They practically had it memorized. "Kate and I have conflicting theories based on the text. I've been focused on the phones, but Kate, well she has her own theory."
As we all turn our attention toward them, Kate explains, "We've all been focused on the phones, but what if they are just another red herring? Don't get me wrong, but it's a possibility. The novel isn't about phones, but it is about radicalism and how it's subtly everywhere, even within our own government. The redistribution of a portion of the GEH food drops makes me wonder if they aren't being steered toward supporting the upcoming radical groups in Africa. I mean, could this be about stopping the food drops; or hell, even getting GEH to increase them as the radical groups in northern Africa are expanding. Right now we are in the middle of a power struggle between two factions of a secretive government agency – Sawyer vs. Mubarek. One radical, one not. Which is which? Who really can be sure as the waters are muddied with this espionage crap?
"My father was telling me there was a power play early under the Clinton administration having to do with some spy agency and radicalism, but information was like the wind and proof of the agencies existence, much less the conflict, was never acquired. Over the years, he watched and listened, but never heard more. What if today's conflict is related to the one back then? The timeline fits," Kate concludes.
"Same agency," Ryan comments. "At the time of the first power struggle it was Graham vs. the unknown radical infiltrators. Now it appears the next generation at least has a name. Based on the FBI training module, when I first started at the agency, it was a case study in an agency under attack. It was bloody and no one was off-limits. Graham, her supporters, and even her family went down. The agency's funding and actions were restricted after that because the Intelligence Committee had concerns over who was in control in the end, so limits were set and the group was for lack of a better term, practically decommissioned. There were rumors about eight years ago that a subtle power struggle was beginning once again. Supposedly there was a shadow group funded by the Intelligence Committee to the tune of five hundred billion dollars to set up shop and take the radicals down; though proof of this has never been found."
"Do you believe it's true?" Carrick asked.
Ryan chuckled wryly. "I do. You'd be amazed at the stuff our government funds. The anonymous person who was supposedly in charge of this shadow group was known for a quirky sense of humor. It was called project East Coast-West Coast, after the rap wars. The existing agency is based out of Baltimore, so it only makes sense that the shadow group is based on the west coast. Looking at it now, given Luke's background and what we know, it all makes sense. He's well-connected in Africa. From what I heard, he's been sent into tense situations down there at the behest of the U.S. government to negotiate anonymously, and he's the last Graham connected to the founding family of the other agency."
It was clear Ryan had more to say on the topic, but hesitated. "Just say it," my dad and I stated firmly at the same time.
"Rumor has it there is a build project ongoing here in Washington State connected to the shadow agency with phase one valued at fifteen to twenty billion, and a second phase to start once phase one is completed. According to satellite imagery, it's just over the mountains from Seattle," Ryan informed us.
All eyes immediately turned toward Elliot and his recent government contract now started to make sense. He merely shrugged, but kept quiet.
"You know all of this already, don't you son?" Carrick asked him.
"My government contract is limited to a small local office building," he replied.
"Bullshit," I exclaimed bitterly. "Grey Construction went from a twenty-million dollar business to a three-hundred million dollar plus business in the past eighteen months with no sign of the growth slowing any time soon. Yet you don't build outside of Seattle? Coincidence? I think not."
Elliot got to his feet and began pacing the room. After a few tense, uncomfortable trips back and forth while running his hands through his hair, he stopped in front of Kate.
"You couldn't do the one thing I asked, could you?" he snapped at her. "I told you to stay the fuck out of my files, but you didn't. My business is not a story for you to pursue. This marriage is officially over. I'm offering you a quick divorce, with a nice seven to eight figure settlement on one condition – you stop digging and you keep Ava here with Christian and Ana under their security protection until this plays out. After that, we'll discuss custody arrangements."
"But-
"But nothing. Marriage is about trust, Kate. You knew before I signed the first government contract there would be things I couldn't tell you. It was business pure and simple. You said you understood, but now, your little investigation has put my child and my family in the line of fire. I'm done with you Kate. After all, without trust there's fucking nothing. You chose your career over family and that's unforgivable."
I'd never seen this side of Elliot before and clearly my father hadn't either. Jovial Elliot -yes. Angry Elliot – yes, but furious Elliot – hell no. Even I will admit, it's terrifying. Even when Kate burst into tears he didn't flinch. He merely turned toward my father, stated he'd email him the terms for the divorce agreement, and stormed out of the room, out of the house, and off the property.
If I said it was a rough night at the Grey house last night, I'd be lying. Rough doesn't describe it. After Elliot stormed away, it took my mother coming and practically sedating Kate to get her to sleep – she was shattered. I know I've never been the biggest Kate Kavanagh supporter over the years, but in her shoes, I probably would have done the same thing – dug, because we'd all noticed Elliot change over the past eighteen months. There were fewer glimmers of mischievous Elliot. He'd grown much more serious. Old Christian, pre-Ana, would have said: thank God, he's growing up, but today's post-Ana version of myself knows better – the stress what changing him and Kate had a front-row seat.
Kate and I clashed when we first met because we are similar, though I will admit, she was better adapted to normalcy than I was back then. We finally bonded when we realized it was Ana's influence on us, so she was four years ahead of me on the normalcy scale. Well, that, and she had a normal, yet affluent, first four years of her life.
Now. Well, as I peek into her cracked open bedroom door and spy my sister-in-law curled up in my wife's arms, both asleep, my heart breaks for her. I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that she loves Elliot, and he loves her. His last words to her were harsh and hurtful; and yes, to a certain extent deserved, but in my opinion, worthy of forgiveness. Ana taught me that forgiveness is key when you fuck up, but only if you truly regret what you did and understand why it was wrong. Seeing Kate's puffy red eyes and nose from crying uncontrollably as she sleeps cradled in Ana's arms can't help leave me wondering if one day that will be my fate – I'll do something Ana can't forgive. I mean, out of the three Grey siblings, Elliot was the most understanding, patient, and just dealt with stress with a twisted sense of humor no matter how bad it was. When he found out about my teenage sexual relationship with Elena, after the shock died down he said: 'at least you nailed the bitch pre-plastic surgery when she was still hot.' That was Elliot. The man who left his wife was different.
My thoughts were interrupted by Ava's sleepy voice calling out for her dada, as she put it. It was heartbreaking to think how she would be affected by the divorce and the stress. After pulling her from her crib and changing her diaper, Teddy woke as well. I gave Ava a bottle and Teddy his favorite sippy-cup with milk, grabbed the laptop from my office, and took them to my bedroom. After throwing the extra pillows we keep in the closet on the bed, the three of us watch Aladdin until we all fell asleep. All the while I knew, Ava's life would never be the same. Fucking Kate and Elliot!