AN: This is still Madison's Friend. I'm sorry for it being so long between updates. On May 10th, my Mom fell & broken her leg. She tore her artery in her leg & nearly died. She's still in a rehab hospital & will need a 3rd surgery in the future.

Chpt. 26 CPOV:

"We have a call scheduled with Barney and Welch in 15 minutes," I purposely wait until everyone has finished breakfast to share this information. Of course Taylor knows about the call and what time it's scheduled for, but Ana and Mr. Steele didn't. I wanted to give Ana these few minutes with her dad before she starts worrying about what's going to be shared on the call.

"He's here isn't he?" Ana looks right at Taylor when she asks the question.

"Yes," Taylor confirms quickly without hesitation.

"Welch and Barney will give you all the details, but he's in Seattle now," I add.

"You know where he is? Like right this minute, you know where he is? You know he's not waiting in the building somewhere or-"

"We have eyes on him," Taylor interrupts quickly. "We've had eyes on him since shortly after Ana arrived in Seattle. A few days ago we added a second guy to ensure that he can't dodge us. We have eyes on him right now and he's not in Escala."

"Where is he?" Ana asks.

"A hotel a few blocks away," Taylor answers.

"Let's go into my office and call in; Barney and Welch might have more information," I suggest knowing that we could stay here for hours trying to reassure Ana and Mr. Steele. Hopefully hearing the details about the SIP building from Welch and Barney will help.

"Where's Teddy going to be when all of this is going on?" Mr. Steele asks. "Certainly he's not going to be anywhere near-"

"No, that bastard will never get near Teddy," I hiss.

"We have five guys identified to be with Teddy and Gail when…during the meeting," Taylor explains. "We've been discussing location options and believe we've finalized a plan that reduces any risk to either of them."

"Which is what Taylor?" Mr. Steele asks impatiently.

"We know Escala is the safest place for Teddy, taking him out of the building isn't an option," Taylor explains. "That said, Junior and his buddies know exactly where Teddy is right now. It's common knowledge that Mr. Grey owns the penthouse here. While I have confidence that no one will be able to breech our security and get into the penthouse, we decided not to take the chance regardless."

"So Teddy will be in the building but not here? Where will him and Gail be then?" Ana asks.

"GEH owns a condo just a couple floors down that we use for clients coming into town for several days, employees relocating or most recently when a member of our executive team and her family need a place to stay because the house they bought is being remodeled and their current place sold quicker than anticipated," I explain.

"Is it empty? I don't want anyone else at risk-" Mr. Steele asks.

"Ms. Bailey and her family moved out of the condo more than a month ago and no one is scheduled to be there for another few weeks," Taylor answers.

"A crib will be arriving today along with another one of those bouncy toy things that Teddy likes," I add. "They will be delivered to that apartment so that Gail has everything she might need to keep Teddy entertained and content. Ana if you give me a list of other items you think Gail will need, I can get them here later today."

"We could have just moved the excersaucer down to the apartment you know," she giggles at me.

"We could have but, I didn't want to raise any red flags especially because it's going to look as if you're taking Teddy to the meeting with you."

"What do you mean?" Mr. Steele asks.

"Based on Junior's emails, he's eager to see Teddy and expects him to be at the meeting. Our concern is that if he sees you leave Escala without Teddy that he's going to cancel the meeting," Taylor explains.

"So I'm going to pretend to bring him with me?"

"Yes, along with the crib being delivered, I've ordered a….doll that will go in the car seat that you'll carry. With a blanket over the car seat, he won't know that Teddy isn't in there," I say.

"But Teddy and Gail will be downstairs in the condo," Mr. Steele realizes.

"Correct. We will have moved them down in the morning long before the meeting is scheduled to start. Formula, diapers, changes of clothes can be packed in the diaper bag and brought down with them. If need be, one of the security detail can run back up here if Gail needs something at the last minute."

"The guys…you trust them?" Mr. Steele asks.

"Without a doubt," Taylor answers quickly. "I've served with three of them and the other two came highly recommended by the others."

"Is Gail okay with all of this?" Ana asks cautiously. "I've never talked to her about it; maybe she thinks it's too much of a –"

"Gail is fully aware of what's going on and is more than agreeable to be with Teddy during the meeting," Taylor chuckles. "In fact she told me I stood no chance of trying to keep her from being involved in any of this. I believe her exact words were hell would have to freeze over before she would step away from helping."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure Ana, you have nothing to worry about."

Ring

"I'm going to connect the call now," I answer the phone, confirming it's Welch and Barney before putting it on speaker so everyone can hear. "You're on speaker phone with Taylor, Ana and Mr. Steele. What do you have?"

"Junior arrived late last night at Seattle-Tacoma Airport; he took a direct flight from Atlanta that was booked at the airport itself rather than online. From the airport he took a cab to the hotel where he entered the room that the others were staying in," Welch explains.

"Are they still watching Escala?" I ask.

"There's one guy parked in a car across the street," Taylor answers. "They can't get any closer than that and from their location can't see into the parking garage."

"The bugs placed in the room-"

"You have bugs in the room?" Mr. Steele interrupts.

"Correct," Barney answers. "Hotel rooms are joke when it comes to security. While the guys were scoping out Escala, we…gained access to their room and may have left a few things behind."

"I like this guy," Mr. Steele chuckles.

"What have we found out?" I ask.

"They plan to bring Junior to Escala as he doesn't believe that it can be that difficult to get inside. They should be leaving in the next few minutes. Junior is getting frustrated that Ana hasn't responded to his email yet. He sent another email this morning, again stressing that he wants to see Teddy and that it's unfair for Ana to keep him from his father. He made it a point to say that he hopes to work something out without getting lawyers involved."

"He terminated his rights!" Ana exclaims. "Let him fucking get a lawyer, he'll never win."

"He's getting desperate Ana," Taylor assures her. "Remember we said when people get desperate they make mistakes. He's either forgotten that he signed away his rights, forgotten what that means or is just so desperate that he doesn't give a shit and is willing to say whatever is needed to get you to meet with him."

"Is the SIP building ready?" I ask.

"Cameras are installed and fully operational," Barney confirms. "They transmit directly to the server at GEH which you already know cannot be breached."

"Cameras were placed at all entrances, in the lobby and in the three office rooms we left unlocked," Welch adds.

"What's the story we're going to use about the building?" Mr. Steele asks. "Why would Ana suggest this building as opposed to somewhere else?"

"If questioned, we'll have her respond that she overheard Christian mentioning that he was frustrated that the space wasn't selling fast so he requested the keys so he could try to figure out what the issue was. Ana can say that she can grab the keys from his office and they can meet there. She'll stress that she chooses the location since she's going to give in and agree to bring Teddy with her. Almost like a trade…I'll bring Teddy so you can see him, but I pick where we meet," Taylor explains.

"And you think he'll go for it?" Mr. Steele asks.

"I think he will; again he's desperate," Taylor points out. "He'll probably send his guys to check out the building first, but all they will find is an empty office building."

"So when do we set up the meeting?" Ana asks.

"Any time after today would be my recommendation," Taylor answers.

"Everything at SIP is ready?" I need to confirm again.

"Yes sir," Welch and Barney both answer at the same time.

"You're still sure you want to do this Annie?" Mr. Steele asks. "It's not too late to-"

"I'm done running Daddy," she interrupts. "He's controlled our lives for too long. I want him to pay for what he did to…Kate, to Teddy, to your house…he needs to pay. He needs to know that just because he has money doesn't mean he can get away with anything he wants. I want Teddy to be able to go outside, to go to a park or just to play in the grass without having to worry. I want Teddy to know that he's safe in this world."

We're all blinking away the tears at Ana's words, looking at the little boy sitting on his grandfather's lap completely oblivious to everything going on around him. He has no idea that this bastard wants to kill him and has already killed his mother and tried to kill his aunt. He doesn't need to know that people like him exist in this world.

"Have you ever spoken to Junior Ana?" Welch asks.

"Before….yeah, here and there. Not much though; he never…he didn't want to be bothered with our family."

"Why do you ask?"

"It would best then for the emails to come directly to Ana; he may suspect something if the wording seems off if I send them. Ana, I can send you over talking points to stress, things to avoid, but the emails should be in your own words."

"Everyone will be there by the time I arrive?" Ana asks.

"Yes, to anyone watching the building it'll look as if I'm the only one driving you to the meeting," Taylor explains. "I have guys at the building right now, alternating shifts there will always be at least three guys at SIP at all times. You're not going to tell Junior where the meeting is going to take place until the morning of, this way we can have everyone in place before hand."

"Won't he get suspicious if he's watching the building and sees cars leaving?"

"Most of the guys who will be there aren't staying at Escala, so from here it's just one car but we will send two of our SUVs out during the morning rush when most people are leaving the building to go to work. With the tinted windows he won't know who is in the SUV but if followed we will lose him."

"But you're sure he'll know when I leave with Teddy?"

"I don't know that he'll actually see Teddy's car seat since he currently can't see the parking garage but it's a precaution none the less. You're going to set up the meeting for 9:30 which will have you leaving Escala at 9. Instead of taking one of the SUVs, we're going to go in one of the smaller cars. While the windows are still tinted, they're not as tinted as the SUV so he'll see you in the back seat and me driving. With an SUV he might get suspicious that there's other people in there. I have several different routes planned to get us the building safely. Once there, I will walk you to the door and unlock it for you. It'll appear as if I'm driving away at that point but I'll be parking the car a few blocks away. I'll then go back in through the back door."

"And we're all inside the building at this point already correct?" Mr. Steele asks.

"Correct," Taylor answers. "When you enter the building, you of course come into a large lobby. Just to the right are two offices that will be open and another one to the left. Just past that office is a large conference room which will be locked, but that's where Mr. Grey and several other members of our team will be. There will also be men stationed inside each entrance, in several other locked offices and then we have three that are positioned in nearby buildings."

"Sharpshooters?"

"Correct."

"What prevents Junior from grabbing Ana before she gets into the building?"

"Not going to happen," I growl.

"I'm with her until she enters the building; she's not walking even that short distance alone," Taylor assures him. "What stops him? Two of the guys will have guns trained on the entrance to that building, ready to take a shot if he even attempts to so much as touch Ana before she enters the building."

"What about once she's inside? How do we know that he's not armed?"

"We don't," Taylor sighs. "It's the one unknown in this plan; in fact I would assume Junior would be armed. The only part that I think works to our advantage is that he hasn't done his own dirty work in the past. He doesn't have a permit to carry and from what Welch can find has never legally owned a gun before."

"So how the fuck do we stop him? What prevents him from pulling the gun on Ana when she's in the room with him? I don't like this; we need to come up with something else-"

"Here Taylor out," I interrupt knowing his reaction was the same one that I had when Taylor and I first started talking about this possibility.

"That's where you and I come in," Taylor quickly jumps in. "In each room we've hidden an access point in the ceiling that is accessible from the second floor of the building. You and I will already be on the second floor before the meeting even starts."

"You're sure you can get back into the building before the meeting starts? What if he has eyes on the building by then? You know he will-"

"And we'll have eyes on him," Taylor reminds him. "I will be entering through the building next door to SIP; at one point the two buildings were owned by the same company but later split and sold off. We've spoken to the owner of the building next door and they're giving us access to the second floor which they believe is the only way we can access the area between the two walls for a construction project. They were compensated heavily for their assistance with this project. Last night Elliot's team cut through the wall on both sides of the building and put in a temporary door. When this is over, his team will come back out and patch it all up."

"And no one suspects anything?"

"No sir, Elliot isn't even aware of what is going on."

"Okay, so you meet me on the second floor and then what? You said there's hidden access points up there? For what? I'm all for jumping into the room from above, but something tells me if he has gun that's not what you have planned."

"You're right," Taylor chuckles. "Although I'm not going to lie it did cross my mind to have us jump in like we used to."

"Too bad my knees aren't what they used to be," Mr. Steele smiles for the first time since the meeting began.

"The access points are small so trust me neither of us will be fitting through them," Taylor continues. "They're just large enough for a sniper rifle to fit through."

"Oh."

"Currently the access points have cameras in them which will feed through to the monitors in both rooms. The cameras are attached to a thin wire so if needed, we simply pull that out and we'll have complete access to where Junior and Ana will be sitting."

"So he makes a move…"

"And he's done."

"I like that plan; I'd prefer to do it the moment he walks in though."

"Me too," I agree.

"We all would, however the FBI is confident that if we can get the evidence they need to arrest Junior that they get him to flip on the hired killer that…"

"The one who killed my baby girl."

"And the one who hurt Ana," I add.

"They want him alive; if we need to, we aim for a non vital spot. But-" Taylor puts up his hand knowing Mr. Steele is about to object. "They understand that if we have no other option we will take whatever shot we have."

"As much as I hate to say it Daddy, you need to not kill him," Ana says after being quiet for most of the meeting. "It's the only way to keep them from coming after us again."

"I know, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to kill him."

"Like I said, Mr. Grey will be in the conference room with several other members of our team all of which will be armed and ready to intervene if needed."

"We will also be monitoring all the activity from GEH," Welch reminds us though I admit I completely forgot they were still on line.

"Plus the FBI will listening from the van," Taylor adds.

"So we're ready?" Mr. Steele asks.

"Everything is in place," Taylor confirms.

"Ana just needs to send the email to Junior agreeing to the meeting," Welch says. "It's important that he thinks that you're going to bring Teddy to the meeting. We believe it's important to his plan to have both of you in the same place at the same time."

"Right," Ana agrees quietly.

"I'll help you with the email," I offer.

"Ana you understand what the FBI needs from the meeting to arrest Junior?" Welch asks.

"They need me to get him to admit that he was involved in Kate's….and having me kidnapped. I need to get him to confess."

"Exactly; him confessing will give the agents what they need to issue the arrest warrant."

"I'll get him to confess," she says confidently.

"Gentleman, if there's nothing else, we're going to get working on the email to Junior and get the meeting scheduled so we can get this bastard behind bars where he deserves to be."

The call is disconnected a few minutes later, but the weight of the call remains between the four of us long afterwards. I wish there were another fucking way to get the bastard without Ana and Mr. Steele having to go through all of this. I've racked my brain, along with Taylor's, but we can't figure out another option. Not when we know that Junior is so focused on Ana and Teddy. As much as I want to demand that she get on the jet and fly somewhere, I admire her determination to put this behind her once and for all. I want Ana to stop having to hide; I want to be able to take her and Teddy out to dinner without having to worry about Junior watching them.

"You're supposed to have another session with Claude tonight Ana," I remember. "If you'd like, Taylor can have security escort him up here for the session."

"Are you sure?"

"We can clear some space in one of the bedrooms and have some mats brought up from the storage room next to the gym."

"This guy won't be suspicious?" Mr. Steele asks.

"We'll tell him that there's a new security threat against Mr. Grey," Taylor suggests. "It's never come to that before so he'll know it must be something serious but he won't suspect the real security threat is against Ana."

"If…if you don't think he'd mind, I'd like to keep the session tonight. It might help during the meeting…just in case."

"I'll contact Claude," with Ana wanting or maybe needing this, I'll move heaven and hell to get Claude here. I remember how excited she was after the last couple of sessions with him, the smile on her face knowing that she's gaining the skills to be able to react instead of freezing if that bastard ever tried anything with her again.

Teddy starts getting fussy, clearly done with just sitting on Mr. Steele's lap and ready to move onto something. Him and Taylor head out of the office at Taylor's suggestion that he show Mr. Steele some of Teddy's favorite toys. Ana stays behind with me; I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her close to me neither of us saying a word for several long moments.

"Is that job still available?" Ana surprises me by saying.

"The marketing director?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"I want to apply for the position."

"Baby, you don't need to apply, the job is already yours. It has been since the moment you did what that moron of a director couldn't do."

"You're sure? I mean shouldn't I need to interview with someone?"

"You interviewed with someone, me," I lift her chin and kiss her. "That day, you astonished me with what you could do. The job is yours Ana; it's the reason I haven't filled or even had the position posted yet. I was waiting, hoping you would agree to take it. I saw how happy you were when you were talking about what you had worked on that day. I just hoped that it was what you wanted."

"Did you know I talked to Taylor that day? When you offered me the position?"

"I didn't," it doesn't surprise me though. It's taking some getting used to knowing that her and Taylor are close. He's never really known any….well anyone on a personal level that I was involved with. But I quickly came to be thankful that Ana has Taylor because I can't imagine how hard it was for her to come all the way out here without knowing anyone. She hadn't seen Taylor in a number of years, but at least she had known him through her dad.

"He asked me that if none of this was going on would I accept the position you offered."

"Would you?"

"I told him what I told you, it would have been my dream job. I would have accepted it in a heartbeat. He reassured me that even if all of this…was still going on that you would find a way for me to do the job and still keep me safe. He said if it's what I wanted I should do it."

"Is it still what you want?"

"It is; it's still my dream job. I know it'll be hectic trying to balance it and figure it out, but I want to try if you'll still give me the chance. I don't know if I'll ever feel comfortable putting Teddy in a day care, but Gail offered to watch him during the day for me. And since you said that the hours could be flexible…"

"I have office furniture ordered and on hold for you," I smile down at her when she looks at me in surprise. "When it's safe, it'll all be delivered and installed upstairs. Pick any of the bedrooms and we'll convert it to an office for you. Welch and Barney already have all of your IT equipment ready to be delivered as well."

"You knew I'd accept the position."

"I was hopeful," I correct. "I knew you wanted it but I didn't want to pressure you if you weren't ready. Gail already talked to me about her offer to watch Teddy; she'll be wonderful with him you don't have to worry about that. She was a nanny in some of her previous positions."

"I'm not worried about that; she's wonderful with Teddy. Are you sure it won't pull her away from other things though? Stuff around here that she normally does?"

"I spoke with her about that; she thinks she can do it all but we've agreed that if it becomes too much that I'll arrange for some of the tasks to be handled outside. Like when she was gone, the laundry can be picked up; she doesn't love the idea but groceries can be delivered as well. Taylor and I agreed we won't let her get overwhelmed; we'll step in and arrange for help at the first sign that she can't manage both."

"I'll cover the cost of her time watching Teddy-"

"It's not necessary-"

"I'm not going to let you pay for his care."

"You will; as an employee of GEH you're eligible for all benefits offered by the company. One such benefit is child care; we cover the cost of child care for the executive management team of which your position is part of."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"When HR sends you over the benefit you'll see it listed in there," I chuckle. "Although I want my employees to have a good work/life balance, being a member of the executive management team sometimes means longer hours or even time on the weekends when we're in the midst of an acquisition. Plus the occasional travel that I told you about. The last thing I want concerning any member of my team is how they're going to pay for the additional child care expense that typically comes along with the late hours or weekend work. So, I take care of this for them. They pick the day care or in some cases private nannies and I cover the cost."

"That's…very generous of you."

"I admit I hadn't even given it a second thought until Roz, that's my COO who you'll eventually meet, had her first child. Her wife has a more typical nine to five job, but she had a big project going on at her company the one day and Roz was already scheduled to go to one of our other offices for a few days. We were finalizing the plans for her trip and she vented about how much extra the child care was costing her and Gwen because they were both working long hours. While she was gone, I contacted the day care center I knew her daughter was at and inquired not about Roz's child specifically but more in general and was surprised to learn just how much extra it was costing my employees when they needed to stay even just an hour late at the office. So when Roz came back from her trip, her and Gwen learned that their child care was now being taken care of by GEH. That was a few years ago but since then it's a benefit that has been rolled out to all members of my executive team."

"You're sure?"

"You don't need to worry about Gail's salary Ana," I assure her. "I'm thrilled to have you as part of GEH."

"I'm excited," her entire face lights up and I swear in that moment I would do anything to keep her looking that happy.

"I know Gail is too."

"Really?"

"When I met with her to make sure she was okay with her role in all of this, her only question was when it was over if we could move the crib into her apartment so when she watched Teddy she had a place for him to sleep. She was hoping too that you would accept the offer."

"Thank you Christian; for all of this….for everything."

"Anything for you Ana…anything."