Hello loyal readers! I had a little spare time over the last few days and managed to get this chapter out.

Thank you for all your comments, reviews, and for sticking with this story—I know it's not for everyone.

Thank you again and again to Debbie Hannon for all your help, encouragement, and fantastic ideas! You're the best, Debbie!

As always, reviews are appreciated, abuse will not be tolerated.

MAJOR TISSUE ALERT!

I do not own FSOG.

Kate POV

As I climb into my rental car at SeaTac I am hit with another wave of grief and anger. I still cannot believe that Ana and my Godson are gone, and that bastard is still among the living. By the time I get done with him he is going to wish he wasn't.

I call Ray before I head out and tell him I will be there a between noon and 1:00. I have a few stops to make before I leave town.

He sounded a little better when I just spoke with him…I think the shock has slowly started to wear off and is being replaced by anger.

My anger is now being fueled by revenge…

It's almost 1:00 by the time I pull into Ray's driveway, and I see an unfamiliar vehicle in the driveway—at least it's not an Audi.

I wonder if his goons have been here yet.

I knock on the door and a minute later Ray opens the door, and as soon as we see each other the tears start falling again from both of us.

"Kate" is all he can manage as he pulls me into a bear hug, and we stand there, holding each other and crying for several more minutes. Ray was like an 2nd father to me, and treated me as if I was his daughter. Ana were sisters in every way, except DNA.

We finally break apart and walk inside, where I see Luke Sawyer sitting on the couch.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I yell at him. "Did your boss send you to threaten Ray to keep him from telling the world what a piece of shit Christian Grey is? This man just lost his daughter and grandson—how dare you show up and harass him! Have you no shame?" I scream at Sawyer.

Before Ray has a chance to say anything, Luke gets up and walks towards me.

I put my hand out to stop him "Don't take another step. If you think you are going to intimidate or threaten me, you have made a grave mistake."

'Miss Kavanaugh, please, I am not here on that asshole's behalf. I no longer work for him. I quit last night as soon as I found out from Taylor what has been going on-I refused to be a part of his sordid betrayal. Just by being here, I am in violation of the NDA that I signed, but I don't give a shit. I could not stand by and be a part of the cover up that I am sure is in the works as we speak."

Ray looks at Sawyer and then me before saying "Kate, I believe him. He got here late last night, right after he quit, and we sat up most of the night talking. He told me he had no idea about the affair, and I believe him. Please, we can trust him."

I stare at Sawyer for what seems like an eternity, and I can see genuine pain and guilt in his eyes.

"Since Ray seems to feel you can be trusted, I will take his word for it. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

He gives me a small, sad smile before telling me "No apology necessary. I'm glad Ana had you to confide in to help her—I only wish she would have trusted me enough to ask for my help."

I see tears in his eyes before he turns around and walks into the kitchen.

Ray turns to me and tells me he has the guest room ready for me if I want to freshen up or take a nap.

He reaches out for my bag and leads me up the stairs "Or you can stay in Annie's room if you would like."

I shake my head no—it would be too painful to stay in there, knowing Ana was 15 minutes from being home and sleeping in her room again.

Ray sets my suitcase on the bed and tells me lunch is ready anytime. I tell him I will be down in a few minutes and sit on the bed and look around. Ray's house has always had a warm, welcome feeling to it. Ana told me several times how much she loved growing up here, and coming home for visits—she said always felt safe under Ray's roof.

15 minutes. She was 15 fucking minutes away from starting over and being free of that bastard.

I cannot stop the tears.

20 minutes later I walk into the kitchen and find Ray and Luke drinking coffee and eating lunch. Ray gets up and sets a sandwich and a bowl of soup down in front of me. "What would you like to drink?" he asks.

"Water will be fine. Thank you."

We eat lunch in silence, nobody knowing quite what to say.

After lunch we move into the living room and take our seats, looking at each other, not sure who should start.

Luke looks at me, and hesitantly starts "Miss Kavanaugh…"

I interrupt him "Luke, please call me Kate."

"Kate, would you be willing to tell us what you know? I pieced some of it together from what little Taylor knew, or would tell me. "

I look at both him and Ray before starting "Luke, I knew everything. After Ana told me what had been going on, she asked me to put her in contact with an attorney. I was the go between for them, shuttling papers and information back and forth." I gave him a small smile "We did it right under your nose, too. All those visits to my apartment the last few weeks were actually meetings with Ana and her attorney.

He grinned at me "Ana was always smarter that we were."

I then spent the next hour telling him about the meetings with the lawyer, Ana finding the lipstick stained clothes and condom, and worst of all, seeing them in Escala that day. Luke squeezed his eyes closed as if in serious physical pain, and I saw him clench his fists as I told the story of Grey's betrayal.

"Ana found out the whore's name a few days before she left. After she saw them at Escala she realized that the dirty clothes and condom she found in their closest weren't from just a one night stand—that Grey was still cheating on her. Since she knew he always had background checks done on everyone he came into contact with, she logged into his email account looking for any information or correspondence between them. She found not only the email he sent to Welch 2 months ago requesting the background check, but the report Welch emailed back later that same afternoon—it was the same day as their encounter in the bar. Welch included a recent picture of her in his report, and Ana recognized her as the same woman she saw at Escala.

She printed everything out, and the next day I contacted a PI to do more thorough background check on her per Ana's request. Ana met with the PI Friday morning before she headed out of town, and he gave her a complete detailed report on the slut. It was on a thumb drive so Ana didn't have a chance to look at it before she left. She called me as she was headed out of town and told me it was in her purse, and she would look at it when she got here and would let me know what the PI found on her."

Ray looked at me, and then got up and walked into his bedroom and came out and handed me a thumb drive. "This must be it—do what you want with it, Kate. I want that bastard and his whore to pay for taking my little girl and grandson from me. All I ask is that you wait until the funeral is over before you publicize anything—I want to bury my daughter with her name and dignity. I don't want her funeral to be a circus with the press hounding us for answers. Annie deserves to be laid to rest peacefully."

I nod my head, taking the thumb drive from him "Of course Ray. Ana was my best friend—the sister I never had. I would never do anything to tarnish her name."

We all sit there for a few minutes before Ray tells us he will be meeting with the funeral home Sunday morning to make arrangements for her funeral.

"I am not letting that son of a bitch have anything to do with her arrangements. I will allow him to attend the funeral, but he will not be allowed to speak, and as soon as the service is over he will be escorted out of town. I will not let him taint this day, or turn it in into a public spectacle, making him out to be the grieving husband and soon to be father. I am going to call him tomorrow after I make the arrangements and make sure he understands that he will have no say in any of this. He will know that I know about his indiscretions."

Luke finally joins the conversation "GEH needs to release a statement soon—I'm sure they will do everything to sway public sympathy towards him, giving them time to work on covering up the truth. Kate, have you thought about that yet?"

"I was thinking about making an anonymous call to either Taylor or Carrick Grey tomorrow, asking if the rumors are true, and then sitting back and seeing what happens. What do you think? You know how they all work. I'm not going to mention anything about an affair…I want that to come out of the blue, when they think it's all been covered up and swept under the carpet."

"Let me call Taylor. I will tell him the rumors are starting to surface already, and that they need to get ahead of them and release the statement Monday morning. Maybe he will give me a heads up on when and where the press release will be."

I nod, and sit there staring out the window for a few minutes. "Ray, where did they take my car? It was packed with everything Ana was bringing with her."

"It's at an impound yard here in town. They won't give anyone access to it except you, since you are the registered owner. I can call and get access for you today or tomorrow if you would like."

"Can you set it up for tomorrow? I know Ana had all of her important legal papers with her—I don't want anything to happen to those. They were all in her briefcase—I saw her put it behind the passenger seat when she dropped me off at my apartment. After she dropped me off she was headed to her old bank to close her account, and she probably put those papers in her briefcase as well."

Ray looked at me, confused for a second "Her old bank? Was she still banking with them? I thought they did all their banking with Seattle National. "

I told him that Ana kept her old account in her maiden name, and that her earnings from GP went in there. "She also told me that Christian made a healthy monthly deposit into it as well, so in case of emergency she would always have access to money if she needed it. She never told me how much he put in there, and since she wasn't asking for anything from him in the divorce I am guessing it was enough to where she wouldn't have to worry about taking care of her son. Her salary at GP was substantial too, so that alone would have been enough to take care of them both for a while."

Ray nodded at me "That explains the envelope with five thousand dollars cash that I found in her purse. I took everything out before I gave it to you, Luke, but I left one of the ultrasounds in her wallet so Grey could see his son…I wanted him to see what he had lost."

Nobody said anything for a few minutes, and finally Ray walked into the kitchen to call and make arrangements for me to get access to my car.

Luke looked at me, and was struggling to get words out "Kate…I am so very sorry. I failed Ana in the worst way. I would have helped her get away from that piece of shit had I known what you guys were planning. I was sickened with the way he was treating her about the baby, but I swear to God that I did not know he was cheating. When I quit, I ripped Taylor a new one for not telling me about the affair, as it affected Ana's safety, and I should have been made aware of it. He said he knew about the one night stand a few days after it happened, but he didn't know Grey was still seeing her until he and Ana returned from New York. He said when he found out Grey was still fucking that bitch, he and Gail decided to resign, and started looking elsewhere for employment. They both found jobs in Vancouver this past week and were planning on handing in their resignations when Grey returned from this trip to Chicago this weekend. I don't know if that is still their plan or not—I didn't stick around long enough to find out. In my opinion, he is no better than Reynolds for keeping it from Ana."

I looked at Luke, and without saying anything I reached out and hugged him, whispering in his ear "Ana told me she always felt safe with you—she said you were like the big brother she never had. This was not your fault."

He said nothing, but I could feel him shaking as his body was wracked with sobs.

None of us said much for the rest of the day. We had a quiet dinner outside on the porch and we all turned in early. Luke stayed the night in Ray's den—he didn't want to go home to an empty apartment, and being here with Ray was helping him deal with his guilt.

I walked up the stairs and stopped in the doorway to Ana's room. Ray had the bed made up with fresh sheets and an old hand stitched quilt was on top. I remember when Ana told me about the quilt- Ray's mom made it years ago and had given it to him, and he passed it on to Ana. She had it on her bed in our dorm and in our apartment-she said it reminded her of being home. She brought it back here when she moved in Escala because it didn't go with any of the décor there, and that it belonged here, on her bed in her childhood bedroom. I sat on the bed and ran my hand over it, feeling how soft it was.

My eyes started brimming with tears, so I walked out and into my room, lay on the bed and cried myself to sleep.

Grace POV

I don't know what else to do for Christian. Holding my youngest son in my arms, trying to soothe him and calm him down for what seemed like hours was heartbreaking. I hated to have to sedate him again, but he was hyperventilating so bad I was afraid he was going pass out or have a heart attack.

I don't think Flynn will be able to help him through this, either. He is barely hanging on by a thread right now, and I don't know how he is going to deal with the funeral, and life without Ana. I am seriously thinking that after the funeral is over, Christian will need to go somewhere to recover...an inpatient facility with a therapist, or team of therapists, to help him cope with the grief from losing his wife and son.

After I sedated him, Carrick and Taylor helped me put him to bed…I'm sure he is going to be out for several hours. I walk back into the great room and sit on the couch and let out a deep breath. A minute later I feel my phone vibrating against my leg—it must have fallen out of my pocket earlier.

I see a text message from an unfamiliar number, and when I open the message, what I see shocks the hell out of me.

It's a picture of a naked woman with her legs spread wide open, asking if someone misses her…

There are several more text messages, along with similar pictures, all as vile and disgusting as this one.

Holy shit, this is Christian's phone! Why is some slut sending him these pictures?

As I go to shut the phone off, I see a picture of Christian holding himself in his hand.

And then it dawns on me…Christian is cheating on Ana!

I shove his phone in my pocket and try to get those images out of my head. OMG, did Ana know? Is that why she was in Kate's vehicle, on her way to her dad's house? Was she leaving him? Did his security know, and cover it up for him all the while lying to Ana? All these questions are going through my mind and I stagger out of the living room looking for Carrick.

I wander into Christian's office and find Carrick sitting behind the desk, staring at a pile of papers and a few pieces of clothing that are sitting on top on the desk. He looks up at me with a look on his face that I haven't seen in a long time; the last time being when Christian told us about his "relationship" with Elena.

Carrick asks me what is wrong, and without saying a word, I hand him Christian's phone.

Ray POV-Sunday afternoon

After breakfast Kate and Luke went to the impound yard to get Annie's belongings, I headed to the funeral home to make arrangements for her service—something a parent should never have to do.

I decided to have the funeral at the church where Annie was baptized and attended until she left for college. The minister who baptized her said he would preside over her services, and I will deliver her eulogy. It will be a simple service at the church, followed by a small graveside service. I left the home and spoke with the Chief of Police, who is an old Army buddy of mine, and he ensured me he will keep the press and gawkers away—threatening them with arrest and jail time if they push their luck trying to get close. I am hoping that by keeping the details of the funeral private, nobody will find out and turn it into a media circus.

I get home about 1:00 and Kate and Luke are still at the impound yard—they left shortly after I did this morning and should be back anytime. Kate said all of Ana's important legal papers were in her briefcase, and I hope nothing happened to it. From what I was told, her car was mangled pretty bad as they had to cut the driver's door off and part of the roof to get Annie out. The state trooper who called me about the accident stopped by the hospital with Annie's purse, and told me they had secured the contents of the car before it was towed off. I have not seen it, and I don't think I could handle seeing it. I am glad Luke is with Kate, because she will need someone with her for emotional support as well as help to retrieve Annie's belongings from inside it. I had Luke take my truck so they could bring Annie's things back with them.

I know it's early in the day, but I pour a small shot of whiskey in a glass and swallow it down…I need to calm my nerves before I make this call.

I take a deep breath and punch in the number, and wait to hear the voice of the bastard who took my daughter from me. After 3 rings I am starting to think that he's not going to answer, but finally I hear a voice at the end of the phone that sends my blood pressure through the roof. "Hello, Ray."

'Grey. I'm going to make this short and right to the point. I just made the arrangements for Annie's funeral. I will allow you to attend the funeral and grave side service, but you not be allowed to speak at either one… I will deliver her eulogy, not you. Immediately following the grave side service, you will leave Montesano along with your security entourage. Your parents are welcome at my home afterwards for the reception, but you are not. There will be no press allowed at either service or at my home, and you will not make any public statements to anyone, anytime. You will not turn my daughter's death into a media circus in an attempt to draw sympathy to yourself, because we both know what you did and what you are." I take a deep breath and continue "Do you understand me?"

I can hear him breathing then he finally begins to speak angrily "Ray, Ana is my wife. You have no right…."

I cut him off immediately "No, Grey. Ana stopped being your wife the minute you stuck your dick in that whore. Do you really want to do this? Do you really want to fight me over this? If you think you can intimidate me you are wrong-I am a man who has lost everything…I have nothing else to lose. I will have no problem destroying you if need be. You cannot hurt me any more than you already have. Have I made myself clear?"

"Ray…"

"Yes or no, Grey. It's a simple question."

There's silence on the line for several seconds before he replies "Yes. Alright! Goddamn it, Ray you win. Just let me speak for a minute…"

"I didn't win a fucking thing, you son of a bitch—I lost! I lost the most important thing in my life because of you. You have nothing to say that I care to hear. I will call your father tomorrow and give him the information for the funeral, along with very explicit instructions that he is not to tell you or your security anything until the night before. I also do not want to see a caravan of your security goons or any paps following you into town…you had better figure out a way to get out of Seattle without being followed. Do not attempt to make a grand entrance or you will be hauled off, and don't forget...you have no influence here—nobody here cares about Christian Grey. There will be security at the funeral and cemetery, and they will remove anyone I tell them to, so don't even think about trying anything. I hope I have made myself clear. Goodbye, Grey. Do not contact me."

I slam down the phone, pour another shot and down it, wipe the tears off my cheeks, and walk out onto the porch just as Kate and Sawyer pull in.

I see several boxes and bags in the bed of my truck so it looks like they were able to get most, if not all, of Annie's stuff from Kate's vehicle. I walk down the steps to help Luke unload the boxes and bags and I can see that they are both pretty emotional. Kate has what I am assuming, is Annie's briefcase in her hand, and Luke drops the tailgate and picks up a box and hands it to me. "Where should we put these, Ray?"

"Let's put them in Annie's room for now" and we head inside the house with the first load.

We make a few trips back and forth and I say to no one "There's not as much as I thought there would be.

Kate looks at me then says "Ray, Ana didn't want anything from him. She only took her clothes and a few personal things she acquired for herself the past 2 years. Any gifts she received from him she left ...she didn't want any reminders of him as he would not be part of their future."

I smiled a little "Annie was always a simple girl."

Luke grinned, and carried the last of the bags upstairs, and then came back down into the kitchen.

I handed him a beer and we both sat at the table as Kate set some sandwiches in front of us.

We both looked at her with surprised expressions on or faces, both having heard horror stories about her exploits in the kitchen.

"Hey—I can make sandwiches…just don't expect much else!"

We all got a good laugh out of that, and ate our lunch amid light conversation, knowing what conversations would be forthcoming later tonight.

Christian POV

I woke up with a fuzzy head this morning and drag myself out of bed and walk into the kitchen for a cup of coffee, and realize that it's almost noon. I look down the hall and see my office door open and the light on. Yesterday starts comes into focus, and I slowly remember everything that transpired…the letter, the divorce papers and custody papers, the clothes, the burning, and my mom holding me—it all comes rushing back. My head starts spinning and I have to sit down to keep from falling down, and try to catch my breath. I close my eyes and wait for the spinning to stop, and when I open them my father is standing in front of me, staring and boring holes through me.

"Christian" is all he says, and then throws my burn phone on the table.

"What are you doing with my phone?" I demand, realizing that he now knows everything.

He looks me right in the eyes. "That's all you have to say, you bastard?" He yells at me. "How the fuck could you do that to Ana? That girl put up with all of your shit, and you pay her back by taking up with some whore while abandoning your wife and your unborn son?"

I can't look at him…I can't bear to see the disgust and disappointment in his eyes.

"Do you have any idea how heartbroken you mother is? She considered Ana her daughter. She not only lost her daughter, but she lost her grandson, too. She is blaming herself for this—wondering where she failed you as a mother. She never got over the guilt for what Elena did to you, and now she is trying to cope with this fucking mess."

I could see rage and pure disgust in his face, and he continued "When she was holding you, trying to comfort you yesterday, your whore sent you a text message with a disgusting picture, asking if you missed her yet. YOUR MOTHER SAW THAT PICTURE CHRISTIAN! She thought it was her phone ringing, and when she picked it to answer it she saw all those disgusting pictures you and your whore have been exchanging. Can you imagine what she felt when she saw all of that shit and realized you have been cheating on Ana?" he screamed at me.

I couldn't answer him, I just sat there, looking down at the floor with tears running down my face, sobbing.

"I need to leave… I need to get home to your mother. Mia and Elliot are with her now…they don't know any of this shit and I don't plan on telling them either…it's your mess, Christian. You deal with it."

And with that he walks out of the kitchen and slams the front door, never saying another word to me.

I am sure he and my mom are now regretting the day they brought me home.

A few minutes my other phone rings…I pick it up and look at the number, and my heart starts racing when I see that it's Ray Steele.

Fuck.I am not ready for this conversation.

"Hello Ray…"

Taylor POV

I cannot believe that stupid son of a bitch was sexting that fucking whore. And for his mother to see the pictures- holy fuck, no mother needs to see that kind of shit about her children.

This just gets more and more fucked up every hour. As soon as he gets off the phone I am going to hand him mine and Gail's resignations—I really don't care anymore. Reynolds can deal with this shit…he obviously had no problem turning his back and collecting his paycheck while Grey fucked his whore.

Ana was right about Reynolds all along…she never liked him, and refused to have him as her CPO if Luke was off…she would only allow me to cover for Luke.

Just as I am about to get up my phone rings, and I see that it's a private number. I think about declining the call, but decide against it. "Taylor" I answer.

"T. It's Sawyer. "

Holy shit. I was wondering if I would ever hear from him again. He was pretty pissed off when he stormed out of here Friday night…I never thought he would call again, let alone so soon.

. "What can I do for you, Sawyer?"

"I wanted to know if GEH has been notified of Ana's accident, and if they plan on releasing a statement. There rumors have started already, and with Ana being best friends with Kate Kavanaugh, you know Kavanaugh Media will be all over the story.

"I called Roz this morning and she was going to contact the PR team so they can prepare a statement. I will give you a heads up on when and where they make the announcement. "

There is silence on both ends before I speak again "Luke—I know you feel responsible for Ana, but this was not your fault. There is only one person to blame here, and we know who that is. Do not blame yourself."

"Saying it doesn't make me feel any better. Keep me in the loop, OK, T? I gotta go" and he hangs up.

Fuck. He's right. I feel just a responsible as he does…saying it doesn't make me feel any better either.

A few minutes late I hear Grey hang up, and I walk into the kitchen and find him sitting at the breakfast bar with his head in his hands.

"Sir"

He looks up, and I have to say he looks like shit. "Yes, Taylor"

"I am giving you mine and Gail's notice" and I hand him 2 envelopes.

He stares at me with a blank look for several seconds before mumbling to himself "I'm surprised it has taken you this long."

"We will be here for 2 more weeks. After that, Reynolds will in charge until you hire a replacement. In case you weren't aware of it, Sawyer resigned Friday night, so it's only Reynolds and Ryan now. I will get Reynolds up to date on policy and procedures…he should know quite a bit of it already since he's been your CPO for the last several weeks."

Grey hangs his head again and without looking at me says "I understand Taylor. I don't blame you and Gail for wanting to leave. I will furnish you both with excellent reference letters."

Well that just pissed me off. "Sir, I don't want a fucking thing from you. I am ashamed of myself that I knew what you were doing to Ana and I didn't have the balls to say anything to her. If I had said something, she and the baby would still be alive, and away from you. I will never forgive myself for not doing anything. If anyone did to Sophie what you did to Ana, I would not hesitate one second to put them 6' under. You do not deserve to be among the living. I hope you and your whore burn in hell."

I turn and walk away, never looking back.

Kate POV

After dinner I Ray and I decided go through the paperwork in Ana's briefcase, and when he found the bank information he was speechless. Between Ana's salary at GP, and what Grey had transferred in every month for 2 years, there was almost $3 million dollars in the account. It looks like the transfers started the day they got married, and continue every month like clockwork—the last one being just a few days before Ana closed the account. No wonder Ana didn't want anything from him…there was enough money to care of her and her son for the rest of their lives. There were 2 cashier's checks in an envelope, along with papers to set up a trust fund for her son…she just needed to fill them out and give them back to Erica.

She also had Erica draw up guardianship papers in the event something were to happen to her…I just stared at them in total shock…she was planning on naming me as guardian of her son.

I looked at Ray, and he had a small, but sad smile on his face when he saw the guardianship papers. "Annie knew who was best to raise her son if something happened to her…she wasn't sure if I would be able to handle raising a child at my age, or even in 10 or 15 years. She made the right choice, Kate. I am not upset with her decision."

I feel my eyes start to burn, and the tears slowly side down my face. Ray reaches out and pulls me into a hug, and we sit there, hugging each other for several minutes.

Luke's phone rang, and he got and went outside to take the call. He came back in about 15 minutes later and told us that GEH would be making a statement tomorrow morning at 10:00 in front of Grey House.

I called my boss, and after swearing him to silence, I told him what was going on and that I needed a camera crew tomorrow morning. He agreed, and told me to be in his office by 7 tomorrow morning.

I am a journalist, and not a reporter, but this one time I will get in front of the camera and report the news. I know the truth, and somehow, some way, the world will also know the truth in the very near future. It won't come out through Kavanaugh media, but I have connections and sources everywhere…too many for Mr. Grey to shut down before his dirty secret gets out and damage is done.

Since I have to be in Seattle by 7 in the morning, I decide to call it an early night. I grab my laptop and pack it in my briefcase, along with the thumb drive from Ana's PI, and the one she left in my safe deposit box. I am too over whelmed to look at them tonight, so I will review them in my office tomorrow.

I called Erica earlier, but then remembered she was going to be out of town all weekend, so I just left her a voice mail, asking her to call me when she had a chance…it wasn't the kind of message I wanted to leave on her voice mail.

I closed my eyes and try to go to sleep, but my mind would not stop racing.

Operation Destroy Christian Grey has begun.