Chpt. 36 CPOV:
"Who?" Welsh and Taylor say together.
"That fucker! The one you threw out of the restaurant that night Taylor," I explain. "He is involved in the lifestyle; both Ana and I saw him at a club just outside of Seattle. He was also at the Coping Together Gala when Ana and I found each other again."
"I have a background check on him," Taylor quickly digs through his desk drawer.
"What do we know about him?" Welsh asks.
"His name is Adam Martin, he is 43 years old, married with two children," Taylor reads. "He is the vice president of operations at a rather large distribution company based in Seattle. His wife does not work. They have approximately ten thousand dollars in the bank account plus various other investment accounts. He has no criminal record, no accusations against him, not even a speeding ticket. Are you sure this is him?"
"The voice sounds like his but it's distorted so I can't be certain," I admit. "He seemed like he was obsessed with Ana though. He approached her initially at a club when she first arrived in Seattle, then at the gala a couple of times before we left, at the restaurant that night where he wouldn't take no for an answer. I would put money on it being him, it just fits….he wants her."
"Sawyer, take two and get to his house now!" Taylor orders. "I don't think she is there, the background from the video doesn't look like a house, but put pressure on his wife. We're looking for abandoned space, perhaps a warehouse or storage building. It has to be someplace with privacy."
"I'm going to pull any real estate the company he is employed by might own, perhaps they have a warehouse they are not using," Welsh announces.
"Mr. Grey, your mother and Ms. Kavanaugh have called several times this morning asking them for an update, what should I tell them?" Gail asks.
"Tell them we are getting close to finding her," I answer with more confidence than I've had since Taylor first told me someone took Ana.
Ding
"It's another text," I announce.
Once again, Barney does his thing on the computer and we open the message after insuring it's not going to download some virus onto my phone. Personally I could care less about a virus, but Barney pointed out that a good virus could embed itself into my phone and then be transmitted onto the GEH servers when my phone backs up. We can't risk having a virus effect GEH, business could be shut down for weeks or months plus confidential, protected information could be leaked.
Midnight tonight – there's an abandoned shopping center just outside of Seattle located at 693 Front Street. Bring the money in a black duffle bag, place it into the empty garbage can in front of the largest store. Come alone.
"He doesn't say anything about Ana," I whisper.
"I don't believe he intends on returning her even if you give him the money sir," Taylor admits.
"We have until midnight then to find Ana and rescue her," Welsh says with confidence.
"Ask for proof that Ana is still okay," Barney suggests.
Text: I want proof that Ana is alive.
"I sent the text," I sigh.
Ding
"He responded…" I give Barney my phone.
"It's another video," Barney says a few minutes later.
From the video:
Ana is still tied to the cross, her back and legs are bloodied with lashes. I can't imagine the amount of pain that Ana must be in right now and how utterly exhausted she must be.
"That boyfriend of yours doesn't want to pay to get you back, so it looks like you will be giving me your submission whether you want to or not," a deep male voice once again comes from behind the camera.
"Never! You can go fuck yourself!" Ana screams in defiance.
"He took something from me, it seems fair that I take the thing that matters most from him," the voice yells.
"He didn't take anything from you! That bastard had it coming!" Ana screams.
I have no idea what either of them is referring to but obviously he must have said something to Ana about it. Ana's body jerks hard against the wooden cross as a belt comes down on the back of her thighs hard. Like before she doesn't scream or make a sound, obviously not wanting to give him that satisfaction.
"You both will pay for what you've done!" He screams as he hits her again before the video cuts out.
"Welsh, I want you to dig through everything you can and try to come up with what Martin is talking about. Has GEH ever done business with him or his company? Maybe a past company he worked for?" I ask.
"Already on it sir," Welsh replies.
"Mr. Grey, what should we do about Ana's dad?" Taylor asks.
"I'll go call him, I was hoping to wait until we had more news," I admit.
I go into my office and sit behind my desk taking a deep breath, desperately trying to calm my nerves before I call Ana's dad. He was far from happy with me the last time we spoke, but I know I need to let him know what's going on with his daughter.
Ray: Hello
Christian: Mr. Steele, this is Christian…Christian Grey.
Ray: What's wrong? Has something happened to Annie?
Christian: She has been kidnapped sir.
Ray: WHAT?!
Christian: We just identified the man who we believe has her and we are working to find out where she is right now. I have every member of my security team working to find her sir.
Ray: Is she…
Christian: We know she is alive.
Ray: And the baby?
Christian: We don't believe the baby is hurt but we won't be sure until we get to Ana and have her checked by a doctor.
Ray: Do we know what they want?
Christian: They have demanded 10 million dollars-
Ray: Annie doesn't have that type of money! Maybe a couple years ago, but she just bought the apartment plus the two companies-
Christian: I have the money sir; it was delivered by the bank a few hours ago.
Ray: So what are you waiting for? Go get my Annie!
Christian: the drop off time is midnight tonight.
Ray: What can I do?
Christian: I don't know sir (sigh).
Ray: Get my daughter back Christian. That girl loves you, more than you will ever know.
Christian: I love her too sir. I can't imagine my life without her.
Ray: Call me as soon you find her. Keep her and my grandbaby safe son.
Christian: Yes sir.
That was the hardest phone call I have ever had to make; I can't imagine what Ray must be feeling right now or what he must be thinking. I sit back in my chair and sigh, I don't know what I will do if I lose Ana right now. My life has completely changed since that first trip to Taiwan; I thought I lost her after our time there only to find her a year later at the gala. We've become so much more than we were then, I can't imagine what I would if I lost her again. I need to find her, I need to have her in my life. No matter what, I will get her the best medical treatment and will have the best therapists available to help her get through whatever that sick fucker did to her. I just need to have her back in my life, I can't…
"Mr. Grey?" Taylor interrupts my thoughts.
"What?" I snap.
"We found records of an old farmhouse that was owned by Martin's wife's family. According to the wife, the property has been abandoned for years and that the only thing standing is an old horse barn but even that is in disarray. She thinks an old tractor garage might still be there but she couldn't say for certain as they haven't been to the property in at least ten years," Taylor explains.
"Do you think this is where he is holding her?" I ask.
"It's our best lead right now," Taylor sighs.
"Let's go," I quickly stand up and follow Taylor to the security office.
Taylor and Welsh develop a plan for when we arrive at the property which is at least two hours away. Barney pulls up satellite footage of the area and it appears that there are two buildings on the property. At one time there were obviously additional buildings; all but two buildings have collapsed. Based upon the video footage, we believe it is most likely that if Ana is here she is being held in the tractor garage. Taylor makes several calls and announces that he has arranged for at least a dozen former military personnel to meet us at the location. I have no idea who these people are, but if Taylor trusts them then I will as well. Taylor opens his safe and draws out several handguns before distributing them.
"Mr. Grey, you need to take one," Taylor hands me a gun.
"Taylor, you know how I feel about these things," I remind him.
"Yes I know," he pushes it towards me again. "You need to do this for your own protection and for Ana."
I sigh and ultimately know he is right. After everything that happened at SIP and now with this Martin fucker, I know Taylor is right. Sawyer, Taylor and myself climb into one SUV and head out to the address of the farmhouse. I would have rather take Charlie Tango, but we can't be certain that it hasn't been compromised. There isn't enough time to run checks on it therefore we quickly determined the best way to travel was with the SUVs.
"Sawyer?" I ask about an hour into the trip.
"Yes sir?" he turns to look at me from the front seat.
"How did Ana seem when you dropped her off?" I ask, curious to know what her thoughts were before she was kidnapped. I can't help but wonder if she knew something was going to happen and that is why she insisted Sawyer go with Gail to the market.
"Happy sir," he smiles. "Her meeting had gone very well at Seattle E books as they were preparing to electronically publish a book at the same time that SIP was publishing the same book. Apparently it was going to be the first time that both companies have published the book at the same time. She kept saying that this is what she wanted when she sought to merge the two companies."
"I see," I smile thinking of how happy Ana must have been.
"It had just started raining when we arrived to Escala which is why she insisted I go with Gail to the market. She promised me that she wouldn't leave the apartment for any reason and that she would call me if something came up. I knew we would only be gone a short time as Gail only needed a few items, I didn't think-" Sawyer quickly tenses up.
"None of us thought there was a threat, Sawyer," Taylor reminds him.
"We are approaching the property now, this is where we split up," Taylor announces a short time later.
I look out the window at the overgrown property; I can see what likely once was a dirt driveway in front of us but it's completely overgrown to the point that you can't see what is beyond the driveway. As previously planned, we will approach the property from the side, one car will approach from the front and one from the rear. We don't know how many people might be in the building so we are using extreme caution. We also don't know if this fucker has a gun and where he is in relation to Ana. Everyone assisting with retrieving Ana was provided with a picture of Martin so they know what he looks like. Taylor has instructed that team that our priority is to retrieve Ana; our second priority is to capture and hold this son of bitch until the police arrive. Barney and Welsh have remained at Escala to monitor the situation through a secure channel; they will notify the police and request appropriate medical staff as soon as we confirm that we have Ana.
We drive through a bumpy, overgrown area before Taylor parks the SUV just at the edge of the woods. From this point, we will be on foot – Welsh and Barney confirm we are only a few hundred yards from the building we suspect Ana is in. From the secure channel that all of our team members are using, I know that the other teams have now exited their vehicles and are heading towards the building. Several minutes later we finally find the building; to say that it should be knocked down is an understatement. How it's even still standing is beyond me. There are several holes in the roof; the walls are surprisingly still intact but most of the windows have been shattered. We cautiously approach the building, at this point we don't even know if this is where Ana is but it's the only place that makes sense. Taylor quietly approaches one of the broken windows and looks inside while indicating for Sawyer and I to remain where we are a few feet away. A minute or so later, Taylor quietly approaches us and confirms that Ana is in the building. Sawyer and I let out the breath we were both holding, but then Taylor informs us that she is still tied to the cross and that he didn't see her move. He did not see Martin; we are waiting to hear from the other two teams to see if they have eyes on him. The sun is slowly setting behind the trees; we know darkness will reach us soon and if Martin is not inside the building this could complicate things.
"He is in the far end of the building…it looks like it's a separate room from the victim," A voice comes through the ear piece.
"I want someone covering all exits, when we go in he is either going to run for Ana or run for an exit. If he isn't close to her my money is on exit. I want this fucker, dead or alive he is not to leave this building," Taylor says firmly.
Taylor and I meet the security team in the front of the building while Sawyer meets the other team at the rear. These are the only two exits into the building and with half a dozen people at each exit we do not believe he will escape.
"When the door opens, you three and the entire other security will find Martin. Grey and I will go to the Ana; do whatever you need to do but he is not to get near Ana. Protect her at all costs," Taylor instructs the team.
I take a deep breath as one of the men kicks the door open, Taylor and I immediately rush in and head to the right where Ana's lifeless body is still tied to the cross. Taylor is guarding me and Ana, as I don't pay any attention to what is going on. I am only concerned about Ana, making sure she is okay, making sure the baby is okay and then I will worry about what is going to happen to this fucker.
"Ana, baby, can you hear me," I approach her slowly but she doesn't respond.
She flinches as soon as I touch her; I immediately want to throw up when I see the marks from the multiple beatings I can now see that she received at that fuckers hands.
"No, Please….don't touch me," she whimpers.
"Ana baby it's Christian. I'm going to untie you and get you out of here," I assure her.
She doesn't respond, I'm not sure she is even awake right now. Taylor hands me a knife when I struggle to untie the rope from her wrists. Within a few seconds the rope is cut from her ankles and then her wrists; as soon as she is released her body collapses onto me. I hear gun shots behind me, but I don't pay them any attention. Taylor is behind me with his gun drawn, protecting us as I wrap my coat around Ana's frail body.
"He is down," Sawyer's voice comes over the ear piece.
"Police and EMS are five minutes away," Welsh announces through the ear piece.
"Taylor, go make sure he can't go anywhere. Handcuff him to something if you need to," I instruct.
"Yes sir," Taylor quickly leaves my side.
I pick Ana up and carry her to a nearby corner where I sit with her on the floor. From this position I can see everything, not wanting to take the chance that this piece of shit can get near her again. Until Taylor confirms that he is secured, I'm not taking any chances. I can do nothing but sit here and hold Ana tight against my body, I gently rock her back and forth and whisper to her that I love her. I don't know what else to do right now; I've never felt so helpless in my entire life.
"Mr. Grey," Taylor quietly approaches us. "He is dead."
"Thank you Taylor," I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.
We hear police sirens in the distance, Taylor goes outside to meet the police and will send in the EMS as soon as they arrive. I can't imagine what Ana must have gone through over the last two days; I can only assume she was tied to that cross the entire time. There are clear rope burns on her wrists and ankles from where she was tied; the front of her body has scratches all over it from the wood. Looking at the cross now, I can see it really is just two pieces of wood secured together. The wood is unpolished and rough, splintered in most areas and must have rubbed against her poor body every time she moved. Other than her body flinching every so often, Ana doesn't move or make a sound. I don't know that she even knows she has been rescued at this point.
"Sir, we need to load her onto the gurney so we can get her to a hospital," the EMT says after trying to exam her in my arms.
"I will be riding with her," I say firmly.
"We only allow family-" he says.
"I am her family – I'm her husband," I lie knowing this is the only way I will be able to ride in the ambulance with her and likely the only way I will be able to find anything out at the hospital.
"Okay," he reluctantly agrees.
I lay Ana's lifeless body onto the gurney where the EMT strap her in and take her the ambulance that is just outside the door. Taylor agrees to meet me at the hospital as soon as he is finished with the police; a coroner has been called to take care of Martin's body.
"Do you know if she was given any drugs?" The EMT asks as we ride to the hospital.
"We don't know," I answer.
"Does she have any medical conditions?" he asks.
"She is pregnant," I answer. "About 14 weeks, she is due in the beginning of April."
"Any allergies?" he asks.
"No," I answer. "Is she okay?"
"Her blood pressure is low; I've started an IV as she is clearly dehydrated. I'm guessing that she hasn't eaten or had any fluids in quite some time," he explains. "The hospital will need to evaluate for any internal injuries."
"Can you tell anything about the baby?" I ask cautiously.
"I think we have a doppler here somewhere," he says looking through the cabinets. "Here it is. I can try to find the heartbeat but I need to warn you that considering how early she is I might not be able to find it. It doesn't mean there is something wrong with the baby, so don't panic."
"Okay," I take a deep breath.
"That is her heartbeat, you can tell because it's slow," he says moving the little wand around Ana's belly near her panties. "And there's the baby's heartbeat, nice and strong,"
"Thank god!" I exclaim; I don't know what I would have done if Ana lost the baby.
I text Taylor asking him to notify everyone as soon as possible that Ana has been rescued and we are on our way to the hospital. I confirm that right now we don't know the extent of her injuries as she is unconscious but that the baby has a strong heartbeat. A short time later we arrive at the hospital and I follow the EMTs and the gurney into the emergency room where we are met by a team of doctors. I'm relieved to hear that Welsh called ahead to alert them that we were coming and provide them with what we know occurred over the last two days. There is much we don't know but right now, we know she was beaten several times and likely denied any food or liquids.
"Mr. Grey, we need to examine her. Can you please wait outside?" a nurse asks.
"I'd prefer to be here," I answer.
"I know sir, you saved her now let the doctor's check over her. We need you to complete some paperwork on your wife so we can enter her into our system," she says handing me a stack of papers on a clipboard. "You can stay right here outside the door."
I reluctantly do as I'm told, knowing that I will likely lose this argument as I sit down in the chair just outside the room where Ana is. I fill out the paperwork quickly and return it to the nurse's desk as I pace back and forth waiting for someone to tell me something about Ana.
"How is she?" Taylor and Sawyer rush towards me.
"They're examining her now," I sigh.
"Mr. Steele will be arriving first thing in the morning," Taylor says. "Your mom is on her way-"
"She doesn't need to come," I interrupt.
"I tried telling her that but she was very insistent that she needed to be here," Taylor sighs.
"Mr. Grey?" A doctor comes out of the room some time later.
"Yes? How is she?" I ask quickly.
"She is severely dehydrated and has a mild concussion," the doctor explains. "We had to stitch up some of the lashes on her back and we've applied antibacterial lotion to the others. We removed several splinters from her body and gave her a tetanus shot."
"And the baby?" I ask.
"By some miracle, the baby appears to be perfectly healthy," he smiles. "The heartbeat is strong and she is showing no signs of contractions. We have hooked her up to a fetal monitor for observation."
"Is she awake?" I ask.
"Not yet, I expect her to be out of it for awhile," he answers. "From what I can tell she has been through a lot."
"Can you tell…did he…." I can't even say the words; I'm disgusted at the thought of his hands on my Ana.
"We performed a rape exam and there were no signs of sexual trauma or recent intercourse," he confirms.
"Thank God," I sigh.
"You can go in if you would like," he says.
"Thank you Doctor," I reply and immediately head to Ana's room.
Opening the door, I immediately see Ana who looks as if she is sleeping peacefully in the bed. She is hooked up to all sorts of monitors; I see straps around her stomach which must be the fetal monitor. I can tell other monitors are checking her heart rate and blood pressure. She has an IV that is giving her fluids; I cringe seeing her wrists covered in bandages from the rope burns that she received from that bastard. I pull a chair up next to her bed and just sit there holding her hand; I try talking to her but I really don't know what to say. I end up telling her over and over again that she is safe, that the baby is healthy and that we got the fucker who did this to her.
"Christian?" My mom quietly opens the door waking me.
I step outside with my mom and fill her in on everything that happened. I leave out the part about the BDSM tie to what happened and play this off like a stalker who wanted her. I know there's more to the story and my mom suspects that I'm holding something back; however we won't know more until Ana wakes up. Even when she wakes up I don't know if she will remember everything that he said to her; I have Welsh and Barney still digging to find some link between me and this fucker.
"When will she wake up Mom? Why won't she wake up?" I sob, hugging my mom tightly for the first time in my entire life.
"Christian," she says gently holding me closer to her. "Her body has been through hell, she needs some time to recover. It doesn't sound like she likely slept at all, combined with not having food or fluids her body is probably exhausted. Not to mention the obvious physical and emotional trauma."
"Will you talk to her doctor? I want her and the baby to get the absolute best treatment; I don't care the cost I will pay anything," I insist.
"Of course Christian, I will speak to him as soon as I can," she assures me.
"Oh, and I sort of told them Ana and I were married," I smile.
"What?!" she asks shocked.
"Calm down, we didn't get married," I laugh. "It was the only way they would let me ride with her in the ambulance and I knew that once we arrived here they wouldn't tell me anything if I wasn't family. Her dad isn't arriving for a few more hours; there is no way I could have waited that long to find out how her and baby were doing."
"I understand Christian," she says.
"Thank you Mom," I say before heading back into Ana's room to sit by her side again.