CHAPTER 17

A week and a half went by and it was the weekend that Roz left with her wife Gwen to the Bahamas. Christian decided to take Ana out on his sailboat the Grace before they put her in dry dock for the winter. They decided to leave Friday and come back Sunday morning for brunch with the parents. Ana packed up dinner for Friday night, everything for Saturday and a light breakfast Sunday morning. During the week, she had baked fresh chocolate muffins for Sunday morning when they got up. It seems as though a few did not survive the week, due to a chocolate gremlin in the house. She had made ahead of time a beautiful fresh peach and honey cream cheese tart in an extra large tart pan to take to the brunch on Thursday.

Gail and Ana had everything packed ready for when work was over to just pick up everything and leave. Ana of course thanked Gail for all her help in rounding it all up.

At work Friday, Ana was coordinating appointments with her new PA Rene Crawford. A package was delivered with the mail to her office. After her PA left , she was sorting her mail and found a personal letter with no return address. Very strange. She opened it.

Dear Anastasia,

I know it has been a long time but I was going to be in Seattle for a few days and wanted to get in touch with you. I hear you engaged and getting married. I'm so happy for you. I'm glad you turned out to be such a successful woman. Life has been hard for me. I'm glad Ray took such good care of you over the years. I will be in town from Tuesday, Oct 25th to Friday, Oct 28th in the morning when my flight leaves at 8:40am. I am booked at the Econo Lodge by SeaTac Airport. My phone number is 912-347-2498. Please call me and maybe we can get together for lunch somewhere or perhaps dinner. I would really like to see you.

Your mother,

Carla Jamison

—--

Ana was stunned to say the least. It was brief, it was concise. There was no emotion, nothing heartfelt. She said she knew about the engagement, so she knew it was Christian from the tabloids or celebrity update shows on TV, without a doubt in her mind. She must have moved on to husband number seven or eight to have changed her last name again. She knew she was after money. What other motive would it be? That's why she left her and ran off with husband number three. Ana sat the letter aside. She was pissed that Carla could think she would even give a damn to see her after all these years. Bullshit! Fucking opportunistic bitch.

Ana looked at the package left on her desk and it had no return address. She thought that was peculiar. The postage mark was Seattle. She carefully opened it and found a box that was sealed with tape. She cut the tape and opened the lid. It was filled with candid photos of her walking out of stores or Escala. She stopped and called Taylor and Christian about the box. They both rushed to her office.

Christian said, "Anastasia are you alright?" Ana nodded her head. Taylor brought rubber gloves and started pulling out everything in the box under the photos was a note and a dead mouse. It said:

Anastasia Steele,

Roses are red, violets are blue

Someone is out there watching and waiting to catch you.

I'll see you soon, because you can't have him, he was mine first. But I'll have a taste of you too, pretty baby. I tasted his sweet body long before you. You may need to be removed after I tie you up and strip you naked. I'll spread your legs to see what he had tasted that was so good to make him go vanilla. Mmm… yes… a little vanilla morsal. If you taste good enough I might share you with friends.

Ta ta for now

—--

All Ana could think is, 'Get me the hell out of this fucking brace! I'll take this bitch down myself!' Frustration started to build. Ana got out of her chair and started to pace.

Christian said, "Baby calm down. It'll be alright." He was afraid to touch her because she was in her own thoughts.

Ana said, "The perp is female. She from your past. She said she tasted you, so we know it was a sexual encounter from before I ever came along. Were any of your subs camera enthusiasts and bisexual? Perhaps, Elena shared you with her. Maybe she's just like her, photo and film happy?" Taylor was surprised she was analyzing the note and inquiring like a detective would.

Christian said, "Many people in BDSM are bisexual. I wasn't, but a lot were, even Elena was. I did have a sub that was a camera buff, but that was a while back. Marta James, I believe, was her name. I'll check my files at home to be sure. If this is another sub, I'm so sorry Anastasia. Elena had about half a dozen of her friends or acquaintances come in the room when I was restrained and they were female. I told her if she ever shared me with a man I was gone forever."

Ana said, "It's not your fault. Crazy is crazy. Nobody can control that. I'm going to call my Uncle G and see if he has a compiled list of names and or faces of all the people that were in her files. I want a complete list of everyone she had dirt on or was associated with. I can get him to run the faces though his facial recognition software and I can though mine too, if any get spit out. I'll then get a much smaller list you can look at and see if you recognize any of them as those sharers. My software can sift it by gender, age, race, hair color, eye color, etcetera." Taylor thought, 'Damn, she doesn't play at this, but is handling it like a pro.'

Ana said monotone, "I have something else." She handed Christian her letter. "My mother, it seems, in her skewed wisdom, thinks she can come crawling into my life after sixteen years of complete radio silence and a abandonment. She probably saw the tabloids or something and thinks I'm a meal ticket. Funny, how daddy and I hit our first million, ten years ago and she just now thinks I got money through you. I think she can rot in her motel. I'm not even curious about her motives. I already know them." Taylor was packing up the box with everything.

Christian put down the letter and put his arms around her. He said, "Just ignore it. She doesn't matter." Taylor looked at the letter and put it back on her desk.

Ana said, "It's just amazing the balls some people have to pop up out of nowhere thinking everything would be hunky-dory status quo to move back in on your life, and then there are crazies out there laying claims on people like they own them."

Ana said, "I know my mother will show up here or at Escala. She obviously knows I work here with you too. I guess one of the tabloids leaked that out or the stalker nutball wouldn't have sent the package here too. Can you let security know she will be in town Tuesday until Friday morning next week, Taylor? A new background check on her would help too."

Taylor said, "Yes, I'll notify them to make sure she doesn't get access and run a new background check too. I'll take this box and get it analyzed for fingerprints and anything else we can find about who it came from." Taylor left her office taking the box.

Christian kissed her and said, "I'll see you later, baby for lunch." She smiled at him and he went back to his office. Ana took a deep breath and continued with her assessment she was working on.

—--

Later that evening, it was 9 pm at night and Ana was laying back on Christian's chest in the dark, after making love in the main cabin on the sailboat. It was dark and the boat was anchored out in the Puget Sound near Eglon in deep water. They had Taylor and Sawyer on board. Ryan and Reynolds were in a smaller boat, off a ways from them.

They were quiet and basking in the afterglow. Christian was lulled by the rocking of the boat as his hands caressed her beautiful silky skin. His mind was drifting on how drastically his life had changed since July. He had everything in his arms that could ever matter to him. They had come so far from the back field of her Montesano property. She had saved, nurtured, loved and protected him from evil in all its forms. He could never trust or have faith in anyone but her. She had proved herself over and over that she wouldn't leave him behind. He almost wrecked that but, thank God he was able to put it to right again. He promised himself to never deny her anything. If she asked for it. It was hers.

There was a loud thud above them on deck. Ana jumped up at attention. She looked at Christian and they both bolted for clothes. Ana locked and put a chair under the door. Ana and Christian yanked on their underwear and jeans and tshirts. Ana grabbed her purse and pulled her Sig Sauer P226 and took off the safety. She slid her feet in her tennis shoes pulling up the backs, as did Christian. Christian freaked when he heard gunfire on deck.

Ana said as quietly as possible, "Christian, get between the closet and the bed. Now! Stay there until I come get you." He did what she said. She knelt on one knee at the foot of the bed and put her brace on tight, just not the sling. She picked up her gun off the bed and listened, putting her finger to her lips to tell Christian to be silent.

Ana heard several sets of footsteps coming down the steps into the galley area. A door to a couple cabins was slammed open. Someone was still on the aft deck. A couple people were in front of the bedroom door trying to open it. There was a shot through the lock on the bedroom door lock. Ana got down and took aim over the bed as they tried to ram open the door. The chair was holding.

A man outside the door was pissed off and yelled, "Open the fucking door you rich mother fuckers, or I'll murder you both when I breakdown the goddamn door!"

Ana knew this dumbass had a death wish. He and one of his cohorts started bashing the door in and shooting out the hinges. The first guy in the door got it between the eyes and fell into the room dead in the middle of the floor. The one behind him, she got with a cranial shot to the side of the head as he turned to take cover.

She heard Sawyer's voice call out, "Ana! Two!"

Ana yelled out, "Sawyer! Two!" More gunfire. One more guy was low creeping in the hall. Ana couldn't be sure who it was, until she saw the person pull a body out of the doorway around the corner, staying out of the line of fire.

He said from around the wall, "If you come out peacefully, there won't be any more bloodshed. If you don't, well my friends have orders to launch a fire bomb at the his boat to motivate you to jump ship."

Ana said, "Fuck you! You lie!" She moved position away from where her voice came from. She moved behind a wall next to the closet by the door silently. She could see him between a sliver of her wall and the door jamb of the room door. She dare not breathe.

He said, "Your lack of cooperation is a fatal mistake." Ana took aim in the crack she had. Her aim felt true. She squeezed off two rounds. The guy slumped over. She looked for movement. She got low and watched for movement under the door debris. He didn't move and a dark pool was forming. She listened, no sound.

Ana yelled, "Sawyer! Three!" She changed position to the other wall looking out towards the stairwell. There was a shot and a big splash overboard.

Sawyer yelled out, "Ana! Three! One more below!" Ana moved to a different angle and was plastered up against the wall the last dead guy was on the other side. She knelt down low and saw someone creeping back up the steps to the deck. She shot them in the calf and he fell backwards. Ana sprang forward and had her gun instantly in the middle of their forehead.

Ana shouted, "Sawyer lights!"

Sawyer reached around the stairwell and flicked on the light. He kicked the gun away from the guy and patted him down. He looked up grinning at her and pulled out cable ties and cuffed the guy. He said, "Why do you get the live perp? Damn it!"

He said, "Taylor got knocked out on deck, but he's alright. The seven came over the edge all in black. Two more knocked out Ryan on the other boat and Reynolds called the Coast Guard. They will be here soon." Once he secured the guy's hands and ankles to the back of his ankles as he bled from his calf.

Ana said, "The one guy said that if we didn't surrender, they were going to launch a fire bomb at the boat to force us off. I called him a fucking liar. I know this was about money when the first asshole called us rich mother fuckers."

Ana went up top to check the perimeter. She went back down to the bedroom, clicking on the safety on her gun and kicked the guns away from the dead guys as she went. She found Christian right where she left him. She laid the gun on the bed.

Ana said, "Baby? It's ok now, are you ok?" He pulled her down into his body. He was shaking violently. She had him straddled. She held him in her arms as he had his face buried in her neck. She massaged the back of his head. She was rocking him whispering, "I love you, honey. I got you. Everything is going to be alright." He hated fucking guns but she just saved his life and interacted with his security to do it. He had never been so scared and she acted like a professional body guard. He wondered if there was anything she couldn't do.

They heard a speeding boat and, "This is the U.S. Coast Guard. Put your guns down! We are boarding your vessel." Ana just waited until they came down to get them. Christian would not let go of Ana.

The Coast Guard officer asked, "Mam, are you ok?"

Ana said while rocking Christian, "Semper Paratus, Sir. Marine brat, Anastasia Steele. We had a scare here with my fiance Christian Grey. I took out three perps and injured the survivor with my Sig Sauer P226. It's on the bed, on safety. Please, secure it." The officer retrieved the weapon off the bed like she said.

Ana said, "Come on, my love, let's go on deck and talk with the Coast Guard." She stepped back and Christian got up. He held onto her hand tightly passing the dead bodies. He refused to let go of her.

Ryan and Taylor were taken to the nearest hospital and released after treatment for cranial bruises. They went back to Escala after Ana contacted her Uncle G and told him about the nine perps and the one that survived. He said he would get on top of it and make sure to find out if it was a retailiation from the human trafficking ring or a new threat to her and Christian.