APOV
I am exploring Beth's house while I wait for the pizza I put in the oven to cook. We don't get anything like this in the clinic so this is going to be the best breakfast I could ever think of. When the police called Elena to go to the clinic for an interview she left me behind and that was like two hours ago, anyway I have satellite TV and internet. I do wonder how Christian reacted to the news of my escape. Oh, what I would pay to see his face when he got that call.
The timer goes off so I take out the pizza and set it on the cooling rack, the phone Elena left me starts to ring so it has to be only Elena or Beth.
"Bonjour," I giggle.
"Ana, where are you?" Beth asks.
"In your brother's kitchen about to slice a vegetable pizza for breakfast because it is nearly eight in the morning. Why?" I roll my eyes.
"Christian got a call claiming it was you, he is on his way to New York."
"That makes no sense, I am here. You can come and see for yourself." There is a scuffle on the other end of the phone. "Hello? Beth you still there?"
"Ana, I am on your email and you just got one from your sister that you may find a little interesting. Log onto it on the tablet I left you," Elena orders.
"Ma'am yes Ma'am," I laugh
I set the phone down and put it on speaker, they talk about nothing really on the other end to fill up time while I find the email she is talking about. Elena went a little overboard with the flags and stars she added to grab my attention.
From: Leila Williams-Steele
Subject: Justice
Date: February 14 2022 07:36
To: Anastasia Grey
It's not fair, you got everything right away and I had to
fight for a tiny bit of food daily. You, you have the great
life with the fantastic husband, wonderful kids and more
then one house. You never had to go back to Mom and
Dad, you did that out of your own accord. I had to, I had
to go home a grovel because I never had food or clothes.
I had to the guts to run first, I should have had the great
life with great family. You are going to learn what it is
like to have no one and have to grovel for food and any
form of shelter. It is not fun. I tried to ruin you one way,
you were just to smart for that. You had to go and foil
that, since you ruined everything again I decided to
take drastic actions. Say goodbye to you husband, your
family, your kids. None of it will be around once you get
back to New York. As of sunset tonight you will be all
alone and I will not help you. You don't deserve any more
help or love. You got it all, you always had it all. I never
thought you would kill Mom and Dad, you took my only
people away. I thought that they would get you first. I
fucking hate you, I hope you suffer throughout the rest of
your life. Goodbye Anastasia, you won't hear from me again.
-Leila
I kept reading it over and over again, blocking out my surroundings. My sister has lost her mind and is going to kill my family for some ridiculous vengeance. It's as if she forgets everything that we went through as children with Mom and Stephan. We both went through that, she ran first and clearly that effected her a lot more then we all thought when she first turned up.
Beth and Elena run into the house with passports and bags, I left mine with Beth in case we needed to get me out of here sooner then thought. I guess that time is now. We go out to the car and to Boeing where Elena's private jet is ready and waiting. We load on and wait for it to taxi out onto the runway.
I knew something was wrong, the timing and the conversations. I granted her free access to my family, my children and this is what comes of it. The tears start once we take off. Beth holds my hand and lets me cry on her shoulder. It is a six hour flight on this type of plane, we will get there before sunset but I don't know where they are meeting up or what. I take out my laptop and start hacking into Christian's phone so I know where to go when we land and then get into the city. Knowing Leila it will be strangely personal, that is why she was so okay with the switch. It was a dry run to see if Christian could tell if it was her or not. How did none of us see this coming, oh yeah it was because she had everyone wrapped around her fingers.
"Ana, he's a Luciano. Christian will be fine and we will get her the help that she needs. Should we call someone?" Beth smiles.
"No, I need to do this on my own. Before we go to track them down I need to stop at the restaurant we have by the airport, it is mostly used by JFK staff since it is just off site. I need to pick up a few things if that is alright."
"Of course. Three more hours and we will be there."
"And what if we are too late?"
"I don't think so, not you."
We sit in silence but the attendant serves some greasy food which is what I have wanted since leaving the clinic in the middle of the night, cheeseburgers and fries. I nibble on the food like a bird, all I want right now is to land and deal with the whole Leila and Christian situation. Of course the big doofus would run head long into the situation without checking into it first, he is going to kill me with the amount of stupidity he holds in his brain.
We land and there are two cars waiting for us, I get in the first with Beth and drive over to one of the first Fifties we opened. Beth waits in the car while I go downstairs, my hair is still as dark as Leila's so hopefully he won't confuse us.
Down in the torture chamber, holding cells and offices I change into a back up set of clothes I keep in each of these places in case I get blood on me. I pull on the dark blue skinny jeans, white v-neck tee, grey sweater, brown leather jacket that is custom and finally the black combat boots. In with the weapons I take two 9mm Glocks and four extra clips, a switchblade and put them each in the built in pockets of my bag and jacket. I look around and this is the first time I am thankful for this room and everything it holds.
Back in the car I check my phone to see where Christian and Leila are, they seem to be together and heading to the penthouse with no backup. Everyone else is in the East Village or Tribeca, God damn it Christian! You are the biggest moron that I know.
We speed through the city to get there before someone ends up dead. I leave Beth in the car, Elena was driving up to our house in Stamford to check on the kids and I head into the apartment alone. Yeah, I am probably just as stupid as my idiot husband.
Flashback
Leila and I are six, sitting on the fence that lines our ranch in Wyoming. ray has set up targets for us to practice shots on. I am wearing his helmet and dog tags while leila is in one of his military jackets that are really cool. We normally aren't allowed to wear this stuff but he is teaching us how to shoot today and the safety measures that you have to take when using a gun.
"What is the number one rule?" Daddy asks.
"Only shoot the bad guys, right Ray?" Leila blurts.
"Guns aren't toys, right Daddy?" I smile.
"Yes Anastasia, guns are not toys. Even adults who have extensive training can make mistakes with them and someone can die."
"Then why teach us how to shoot one?" Leila asks.
"We have guns in our house because of my job, I want you both to have the knowledge on what to do if you come across one or your friends find one. You need to be smart in life because life does not make things easy. We all face our own trials and tribulations, life is not easy or fair so what I can do to prepare you for things I will," Daddy smiles.
Leila rolls her eyes and runs back up to the house, I look at Daddy and wait for him to tell me what to do next. He lifts me up and takes me to where we shoot the guns at the targets. I don't like the sound the guns make, it is not fun. After he says that we are done for the day we lock the guns in his special locker and then go to the docks.
"What other lessons are there?" I ask.
Daddy takes my hand and holds it flat with my palm up, "Annie, sometimes things get hard and you need to be aware when things are not safe and you need to run, but there is a trick to running for you life and safety and running for a joke. When you run for your life you have to run in a line, keep going and don't look back, the past is not a safe place if you are protecting and saving yourself. Okay?"
"Okay Daddy, one more thing?"
"Yes?"
"What is a tribulation?"
"Tribulation, it means a cause of great trouble or suffering."
"That doesn't doing very nice."
"No Annie, it doesn't. Come on, lets go see if dinner is ready."
He flips me over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes and tickles my sides. I try to keep my feet away from his hands because my feet tickle the most. He gets them anyway and no matter what I do he holds onto them until we are in the house and mom is mad since my feet are all muddy, we rush to the bathroom to wash off the mud.
"Daddy, you will always be my biggest and best hero in the whole world."
"What about superman and batman?"
"No way, you are way better then them, you don't have to wear a costume and mask to be a hero, that is what makes you the best."
"Thank you, Annie."
"Daddy?"
"Yes?"
"Can we have you and me days more often, I really like them and you teach me a lot of stuff I never even thought of learning before, and if I learn right I can help out more and even help teach Leila since she is stubborn."
He smiles and we go back to the kitchen, mom and Leila are setting the table and putting down the food. Mommy and Daddy are acting funny with each other, they act like me and Leila when we fight. During desert Daddy says he has to go back overseas but that he will be back soon as he can, that this will be the last time before he never goes back again. To bad last time couldn't have been the last time.
Daddy puts me to bed, promising before he leaves we will have seven more days just him and me, one for every year I have been alive. That's the best deal yet.
I fall asleep trying to remember all the gun rules. 1- Guns are not toys. 2- Always keep your eyes up. Then there was the third one, I didn't like the third one. 3- In real situations shoot first and ask questions later, my life is more important.
