Michael Lincoln sat down behind his desk with a smile a mile wide. "So… what do you have for me?" he asked the private eye.
"He's definitely dating her. She spent the weekend with him; he dropped her off at work on Monday, picked her up for lunch that same day. Unfortunately, they used the private room at the Mile High Club so I couldn't get any audio."
"What do you know about her?"
"She's an average Jane in regards to her lifestyle, the only interesting thing about her is her mother. She's been married four times and currently lives in Georgia. Miss. Steele is your everyday American girl, but a very good looking one." Linc smiled at that. "One unfortunate thing… she already has a CPO."
"Fuck." Linc bellowed. "Grey is certainly serious about her. Okay, thank you, Clint." He said dismissing the private eye. "One more thing Clint. Can you find me, someone... to take the girl if need be?" Clint smiled.
"No problem at all," Clint answered with his grin getting bigger.
His thoughts that day was centred on how to get to the girl with a CPO. He'd most certainly have to hire someone. But right now he'd let Grey enjoy the girl a little while longer before snatching her from him. He wasn't above raping her. "Sir." His PA called diverting his attention back to business.
"Yes, Martha," he answered.
Miss. Baldwin is here to see you." What did she want? The woman stared at him like he was her next meal.
"Send her in," he said not hiding his displeasure.
"Angela, how can I help you." Clearly calling her Angela didn't help, but if he honest with himself he liked flaunting the fact that she couldn't have him.
"GEH just bought seventy-one percent of Lincoln Timber." Linc wasn't sure he heard her correctly.
"Grey owns majority shares in my company," he asked in a low voice.
"I'm afraid so," she answered in a bored tone.
"Martha, call a meeting with the board right now." He bellowed. "Angela, find out how this happened," he said pacing his office. The son of a bitch just screwed him again. Grey owned almost five times the shares he did. There was nothing he could do if Grey decided to sell the company. A company his family had owned for generations.
Martha wanted to slit her wrist, which was a more appealing thought than having to tell Michael Lincoln that with the exception of two people the rest of the board no longer had any business with him. "Martha, what is taking so long." Fuck, she didn't notice the man was standing in front of her.
"They are not coming in." she stuttered.
"Why?" He asked with barely controlled fury.
"With the exception of two, the rest no longer own shares. Mr Pearson and Miss. Clyde cannot attend as you do not have the authority to call a board meeting." Martha watched him walk back into his office without incident before blowing out the breath she was holding.
"Grey had gotten to his board there was no doubting that. Pearson was still with him not out of loyalty, but because of the dirt he had on him. Clyde because she was under the impression he'd marry her. He knew about Grey owning his company because Grey wanted him to know, the question was why. Now getting to the girl was imperative, Grey will give him the shares in exchange for the girl. Grey had doomed the poor girl and didn't even know it. This was far from over.
Clint Murphy was growing old and tired of his job. Not only that he was growing old, literally. He had a flourishing career with the LAPD before it all went to pot when he made the wrong call and the son of a senator died. As hard as he tried his career never recovered. What he needed was money and a lot of it to keep paying alimony to his two ex-wives, and Michael Lincoln had just dropped the solution to all his problems right on his lap. He exited his car outside SIP and approached the driver's door of the Audi SUV. "Can I help you?" A voice asked behind him. Fuck this guy was good.
"Yes, I have information for Mr Grey regarding Michael Lincoln." Sawyer eyed Clint up before pulling his phone out to call Taylor. Clint watched him pace the sidewalk as he spoke to someone called T.
"Get to GEH, they are expecting you." Clint smiled and saluted the former Marine, his father was a Marine he could see one from a mile away. How Lincoln expected to get to the girl with guys the size of tanks watching her was beyond him.
Christian sat behind his desk watching the dishevelled looking man who was clearly ready to leave the game. It was obvious money was the reason this man was betraying Linc. "You bring me every piece of information you collected on Miss. Steele and bring me everything you have on Michael Lincoln and I will pay you half a million dollars to disappear from Seattle after you help me get Linc."
Clint tried his best not to look shocked by the amount of money Grey was offering. The kind of money he would never make if he worked every second of every day until his dying day. Shit, he'd kill Lincoln himself for that money. "You have a deal, Mr Grey." Clint pulled his cap off and shook Grey's hand before leaving the office.
"Half a million," Taylor asked incredulously.
"Yes, money Linc cannot match," he answered with certainty. "Sir, there is a Nathanial Pearson on the phone for you." Andrea's voice came over the intercom.
"Nate, What's happening?"
"He knows," Nate said with a chuckle. "Tried to call a meeting with the board."
"Thank you, Nate," Christian said hanging up. Christian had planted Nathaniel Pearson in Linc's company the month he walked into his office demanding half of GEH. They also made sure Linc got his hands on what he thought was dirt on Pearson. He needed eyes on Lincoln and Pearson was just that. Pearson owned just five percent of Lincoln Timber bought by Christian, but it was enough to get him on the board. Linc was a greedy asshole who sold all but fifteen percent of his company and now Christian was taking full advantage of it.
"He may have changed his mind about going after Miss. Steele now that he knows you own his company." Taylor said though he doubted it.
"Well Clint can find out for us," Christian said sitting back in his chair. Who did Lincoln think he was playing with?
Ana could now tolerate Jack; soon the man would no longer be her boss. She was out with her colleagues from SIP, despite knowing Jack was there she was enjoying herself. She'd spend the last two days fielding questions about Christian. Since picking her up for lunch on Monday, most of SIP now knew he was her boyfriend. A lot of the girls were happy for her though some had become downright hostile.
"So you and Christian Grey." A girl who she didn't know asked. Ana knew she worked in accounting.
"Yes," she answered.
"What does he see in you?" she asked openly, clearly alcohol made her brave.
"You are going to have to ask him." She turned and picked up her bottle of Budweiser. Ana walked under the bright light that graced the ceiling of Fifty's to her seat when she noticed the fizzing at the bottom of her drink. "Son of a bitch," she muttered to herself. Jack was watching her intently, clearly making sure she drunk the drugged beer.
He turned and bought himself a bottle of Bud; Ana saw her opportunity and made her way over to him. Sawyer also made his way towards Jack bumping into him.
"Watch where you are going as…" Jack cut his expletive short when he noticed who it was. Ana made her way to her seat and took a swig of her beer. Jack with a smile tipped his bottle in salute to her and took at large swig of his own bottle. Now, how to get rid of the bodyguard.
Jack watched Ana as she ungainly made her way to the bathroom, he took a look at the bodyguard who was on his phone and promptly followed her. He swayed a bit and cursed himself for drinking on an empty stomach. He needed his wits about him if he was to pull this off. "You took your time." Sneered Ana as he walked in.
"I'm sorry." He laughed. "I didn't realise you were waiting for me." He swayed again and looked up to find Ana smirking at him.
"The next time you drug a girl, keep her occupied until the tablet at the bottom of her drink has completely dissolved," she said as he held onto the wall to keep himself from falling. As he went down he realised the bodyguard bumped into him as Ana swapped the drinks.
Sawyer walked into the ladies bathroom and promptly hauled Jack over his shoulder and out the emergency exit by the bathrooms. He threw Jack into the back of the SUV and got in the front seat. "Are you sure about this, Ana?" He asked.
"Hell yes, I thought he had that many assistants over the last three years because he was an asshole of the highest order. I think it's because he most likely drugged and raped them. So yes I'm sure." Sawyer drove to the destination where Grey and Taylor were waiting for him. Hyde had seriously underestimated her; he saw Jack drug the bottle of Bud, but before he could do anything Ana shook her head at him. He saw her move the moment Hyde ordered a new bottle and knew exactly what she had intended to do and gave her a little help.
"What is going on, Ana?" Christian asked the moment Ana jumped out of the SUV
"Jack drugged my drink. Don't worry I swapped my bottle with his." She added quickly to calm him. Sawyer pulled Jack out of the SUV and again hauled him over his shoulder.
"What are we doing here with him?" Christian asked despite having a good idea of Ana's intentions.
"We are going to leave him naked right here," Ana said with a devious laugh.
Jack's head was pounding as he came to, his mouth felt dry and his eyes hurt as he tried to open them. It took him a minute for last night's events to come back to him. The bitch drugged him; his thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he heard voices. "Sir, can you hear me." A voice shouted.
"Yes, no need to shout," he growled squinting at the lights.
"Sir, could you tell me what you are doing here in a state of undress." What the hell was the idiot talking about?
Jack forced his eyes open and found himself lying on his side in cuffs. He looked around the room and saw toys in boxes, children's drawing all over one wall; the other wall had a rainbow over a meadow mural. He looked down at himself and he was indeed naked. Oh shit.
Despite his archenemy owning his company. Linc couldn't help but laugh as he read the article on his iPad about a local man who was found naked in Happy Rainbow Nursery naked and lying on top several of the children's drawing. The man was confirmed to be Jack Hyde an Editor at SIP. "Sir." His driver drew his attention to the sidewalk. Lincoln stepped out of his car and walked across the road.
"Elena." He called her, but she ignored him and carried on walking. "Elena, I know I left you high and dry… but this time, it's different I will get you out of this if you help me. Grey owns Lincoln Timber." That piece of information stopped her.