The room was in shambles. Ana stood, awestruck for a moment, trying to take in everything that was out of place or destroyed. Her bedding had been torn in to shreds. Charlie Tango was cut up and ribbons of his remains were sprinkled among the ruble on the floor. Her curtains were scarred by knife marks and her clothes were in shambles.
Every dresser drawer was open and emptied, the contents dumped in various places. The only piece of furniture in tact was her bedside table. Ana rushed over to it, trying to find the pictures of her and Ethan, but they were gone. Instead, there was just another note, printed in the same style as the first one: "Looking for something?" was all that it said.
Frantically, she began searching through the mess on the floor. What if they are in here somewhere, just waiting for Christian to find them? She had gone through only a small portion of her belongings when she heard footsteps down the hall and her door burst open. She turned to find Sawyer pointing a gun at her. Taken aback to see her, he relaxed when she appeared to be unharmed.
He spoke into his phone, letting Taylor know that the house was clear and that Ana was with him. From what she could gather from the short exchange, Taylor and Christian had been circling the neighborhood looking for her.
"Mr. Grey is not going to be pleased to find you here, Ms. Steele," Sawyer warned, only voicing what Ana already knew. She just nodded and took another general look around the room. Who had been in here?
Ana knew the instant Christian had arrived because of the string of profanity that announced his presence. When he made it to where she was, Ana could tell that he was seeing red. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of her room, but he was not going to be distracted from her trespass.
"What are you doing here, Anastasia?" he growled. "I told you not to come back under any circumstances. What if the bastard was still here?"
Ana struggled for an excuse, but could not find a reasonable response. Seeing her inability to defend her decision made Christian even angrier. "Are you trying to kill me? I thought the worst when we couldn't find you outside. What the fuck was worth going back in here for?"
"Some things are not replaceable, Christian. I had all sorts of things in here. Memories… pictures," she said, trying to sound casual.
Christian frowned at her and ran his fingers through his hair. "What picture would be worth risking your life? Jesus, Ana, this was the craziest thing you've pulled to date."
Taking it as a rhetorical question, Ana did not answer. Instead, she began to cry. Christian rushed to hold her, perhaps finally understanding how vulnerable she had felt having someone riffle through her belongings.
"Call Flynn and confirm that Leila has not been released," he said, speaking to Taylor from over Ana's head. "I don't want to stop until we find out who did this." Frowning, he looked down at her. "This is the first attack, right? Nothing else out of the ordinary has happened?"
Not wanting to lie in so many words, Ana just nodded and buried her face in his jacket again.
Kate had arrived minutes after Christian and had insisted on seeing the bedroom herself. As it was her apartment, there was little for Christian to do other than mutter under his breath and allow her inside. After her inspection, she joined them all in the kitchen. Wide-eyed, she had enveloped Ana in a hug and Ana had held on for dear life.
Christian had left the apartment to follow-up with Jason after Ana had assured him it was alright to do so; by that point she had a cup of tea in her hands and both Kate and Elliot for company. Of course, Sawyer remained, as well, for Christian's piece of mind. The night was getting late, however, and Ana found herself falling asleep after all of the adrenaline had run its course.
Kate gave her a sympathetic smile and went back to her room, trying to find some spare blankets and pajamas for Ana to wear. When she opened her dresser, there had been a thick envelope lying on top of her socks. Her heart stopped, knowing that the package did not belong to her and had likely been left behind by the intruder.
After making sure no one had followed her into the room, Kate slowly opened the flap and reached for the contents. What the hell?
They were all pictures of Ana and Ethan. There were several of them around town, but a few of them were pretty solid evidence that they were having a fling. Kate knew that they had gotten closer over the course of the past few weeks, but there had been no reason for her to suspect that there had been an affair.
When were these taken? Maybe they were taken during the first week Ana had moved in, when she and Christian had called things off. But even that doesn't explain who had taken them or why they were in her dresser.
Kate looked a little closer at Ana in the pictures. She looked so…happy and at ease. Maybe being with Ethan was how she had gotten over Christian in the first place. She had said something about how understanding he was…
But where did that leave Ethan now? If Ana was going to marry Christian, does that mean that Ethan was heartbroken? Kate scrunched up her face. No, Ethan had been his same annoying self all the way to the airport.
She gasped as she came to the pictures of the two of them in the apartment watching television together. Someone had been taking pictures through the window? She was officially disturbed even more, now.
Suddenly, a thought jumped into Kate's head. Maybe Ana was playing Christian. What if she really loved Ethan instead? Well, if that were the case, Kate would celebrate for days when the truth came to light; Christian had always been a sore spot between her and Ana. But should she confront Ana about the pictures or just wait it out until then?
Kate groaned. She was defiantly going to have to keep this from Elliot. The man loved his brother too much to keep quiet about an almost certain affair.
A few footsteps down the hall alerted Kate that someone was coming. Quickly she stuffed the envelope back into the drawer and grabbed a pair of pajama pants. She had just slammed the drawer shut when she felt Elliot's arms around her waist. Talk about a fucking close call.