A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
"I've been told it's possible people can hear while unconcious. I'm hoping that's true because I need you to hear me." Christian's tough guy persona in no where in sight as he stands by Taylor's bedside. With Gail holding his hand from the other side of the bed, Taylor remains unconcious following surgery to remove the bullet in his chest. He lost a lot of blood, but according to the surgeon, the surgery was a success. "You're been by my side for years as part of my team, but I've never actually told you how greatful I am for you. After last night and having you take a bullet for me...Taylor, I owe you my life. I owe you my future. I need my best friend to open his eyes. That's what you are, my best friend." Gail flinches slightly and then looks down at the hand she's holding. Taylor's squeezing it.
"Jason, Jason, open your eyes.", she pleads. Following her words, Taylor's eyes slowly open. "My darling, hi."
"Hi.", Taylor murmurs faintly. "I got shot, huh?"
"You sure did while saving my life.", Christian sighs. "Thank you for that."
"Thank you Taylor.", I tell him with out of control tears. "You're a brave man."
"I'm a man who wanted to protect his employeer and most of all best friend." He grins at Christian whose face is red. "I might have caught the end of what you were saying. Enough about me and my near death experience, what happened to you?" Christian's been released from the hospital but told to take it easy and get rest, two things which I'm sure he's going to ignore. "It was all so fast."
"The bullet that hit you grazed my shoulder and thanks to you pushing me to the ground my head hit the asphalt of the parking lot. I've got a slight headache but will make a full recovery as will you."
"What happened the bastards who did it? They're behind bars, right?"
"Not yet, but the police are looking for them. Welch is also monitoring any activity from Brad Anderson's credit card. Of course it's possible he's using cash to avoid being tracked. That doesn't change the fact that he's going to be caught. Bob told the police that Brad found out he was in Seattle. They were going to pay him a visit when they saw you and I. It seems Anderson figured he could get more money taking me than getting it from Bob."
"Bob.", I hiss, stepping back and sitting down in one of the chairs by the wall. "He's the one to blame for all of this. If he hadn't gone to that Anderson guy, Taylor wouldn't be lying in that bed, and you wouldn't have been almost shot. Now he's in police custody to protect him? The police should just let him go and make him fend for himself."
"Ana, baby, I'm not going to argue that Bob played a hand in all this, but Anderson's dangerous. It's still possible he might go after Bob. It's also possible he might go after others, and that's why I'm assigning security to everyone."
"Ah, ah, ah. You're supposed to be resting, and this doesn't look like resting.", I scold Christian. He told me he was going to rest in the bedroom, but I found him in the study instead. "Whatever you're doing can wait. I want you in the bed this instant." He wiggles his brows and flashes a seductive grin. "Don't give me your "fuck me" eyes."
"Why not? Isn't that why you're ordering me to bed which is very hot by the way."
"You're supposed to be resting. If it were me at that desk, you would be saying the exact same thing."
"You've got a point. In all the fussing over my well being, another key thing has been forgotten, your own health."
"I feel fine.", I shrug.
"That doesn't mean you should be neglecting taking care of yourself and Oliver. I need the two of you healthy. I'll only go to bed if you do as well. I also plan on staying home from work tomorrow, and that applies to you as well."
"But tomorrow is Monday. I have to hand out assignments."
"You can do that via email. While tomorrow is indeed Monday, you didn't get any rest this weekend." Mondays are always a busy day at the office, but what needs to be done can be handled from here. I also would feel better if I were here with Christian to make sure he's getting his own rest.
"You've got a deal." I walk around the desk and gently tug on his arm. "Close out whatever you're working on and come with me." My eyes cut to his computer screen where I see several phone numbers. "What's that?"
"This was sent to me from Welch. He was able to get Brad Anderson's call log from the last month. It has all calls to and from his phone. Naturally, he hasn't made any calls since the shooting, but he did receive a call shortly before the shooting. It was from Bob."
"Bob was probably calling to let Anderson know he was going to pay him the money. That's probably also when Anderson told Bob about his changed plan."
"Then why according to Detective Davis did Bob say Anderson called him, not the other way around? There's no record of Anderson making that call to Bob. While doing his search into Anderson, Welch discovered Anderson painted houses in Georgia and only had a few minor run-ins with the police. If he was a big time loan shark, his life would be a little more interesting."
"It could be his ploy to remain under the radar. Laying low and having others do your work could be his mantra." Christian moves some of the papers on his desk aside and picks up a mug shot of a guy who has dark, shaggy hair and brown eyes. "This is Brad Anderson's last mug shot. It was taken when he was arrested for DUI a few months ago. This is also one of the guys from the parking lot, but it's not the one who did the shooting."
"Who was the guy who actually pulled the trigger?", I ask. Christian picks up another mug shot. This one is one a guy who resembles the first one except his hair is a tad shorter. "Brothers?"
"Bingo Mrs. Grey. Meet Justin Anderson, Brad's younger brother. He's been in a little more trouble than his brother although his arrests weren't for serious crimes."
"I'm with you about things not adding up. I know we need to be resting, but it's still kind of early. Why don't we go and see Bob?"
"Ana, I'm not sure if that's the best thing."
"We won't be there long. We can go and see if maybe he can shed some light on everything. We'll have Sawyer, Lewis, and Ryan with us."
"Grab your coat Mrs. Grey.", he sighs.
"How are you Bob?", I ask. He's standing by the two way mirror in the interrogation room of the police department.
"I'm in jail. How do you think I'm doing?", he scoffs.
"You're in police custody, and hopefully it's only going to be temporary.", Christian tells him. "The detective I talked with said if Anderson and his accomplice aren't caught by tomorrow, they'll move you to a hotel."
"I just don't get why they don't go ahead and let me go now. They're treating me like I'm the criminal here. I'm not the one who shot someone." Christian narrows his eyes and shifts in his chair. "I'm sorry. How's your security guy?"
"He's doing better but still has a long road of recovery. Ana and I were wondering if you could tell us more about your relationship with Anderson."
"I've already told all that's needed to be told. What more can I say?"
"Anything.", I snap. "The smallest thing can lead the police to him. When he called you, did he give any hint of where he was staying or where he was might be planning to take Christian after kidnapping him?"
"Ana, I don't know. The guy only said he changed his mind and was going to take Christian as a hostage. A rich billionaire trumps a debt of thirty thousand."
"Thirty thousand? You told my mom and Christian Anderson changed the initial ten thousand to fifty.", I say, tilting my head.
"I mean..uh..it was originally ten before he went to thirty and then fifty. I'm sorry for leaving that out. I was only going with his final number." The doubt I had for Bob is growing with each comment he makes.
"You called Anderson not long before the shooting. Was it to tell him you were getting his money for him?", Christian asks.
"No. He called me, and that's when I told him he could stop with his threats. He said he had changed his mind and wanted you as collateral for more money."
"How come there's no record of him calling you? His call history only has a call made from you. It's also a weird coincidence he got to the hotel around the same time I was leaving. It was like he was waiting on me to leave."
"I assure you he wasn't.", Bob mutters. How can he be so sure, and more importantly, why is he lying about being the one doing the calling? "Where are you getting your crazy theory that I called Anderson?"
"I had one of my guys look into it.", Christian shrugs. "One of my employees is hospitalized from all of this so I'm going to do whatever I can to help find the ones behind it."
"Be careful. You never know when Anderson might try again."
"I'll be extra careful. Don't worry."
"Christian, Ana, I'm sorry if I can't be as much help as you'd like. It's been a stressful few days, and I think it's all getting to me. Maybe I'll be more beneficial tomorrow." Bob's calmness and smile are what sends me over the edge.
"Oh you're stressed? How do you think we feel? My husband and his security guy were hurt because of you. You didn't pull the trigger, but you're completely innocent either. I will never forgive you for this." Christian tries to place his arm around my shoulder, but I stand before he has a chance. "I wish my mom had never met you."
"You don't mean that. I was good for your mom, and she was good for me. I'm sorry for all the things I said to you at GEH that day. It was me acting out my anger towards myself."
"Ana, we should go.", Christian tells me. I look at his pleading eyes and realize I've said all I need to for now so allow Christian to take my hand. "Goodnight Bob."
"Goodnight.", he says.
Christian and I leave the room and step into the hallway where I see Detective Davis leaving the room next to the one we were in. Bob then steps out and smiles slightly before heading down the hall to where he's probably sleeping.
"Detective Davis, what do you think?", Christian asks. It dawns on me that not was the detective in the next room, but he was also watching through the two way mirror.
"Mr. Adams is definitely hiding something. I observed his behavior and noticed how his eyes kept shifting. That along with seemingly not being able to keep his answers straight add suspicion that he's not being completely honest."
"My wife and I are going home, but if you get any news, call me."
"The same goes for you too Mr. Grey. I appreciate your guy helping, yet I don't want anything kept from me. The only way we're going to get to the bottom of this is by working together."
"Mom, hi." After waking up, I headed to the kitchen where I see my mom sitting with a cup of my coffee. My stubborn husband is already out of bed and handing her a plate of French toast. "How long have you been here?"
"Not long. I wanted to stop by on my way to work. My security guy Alan is in the security room. "How are you and Oliver feeling?"
"We're feeling great which is shocking since I didn't think I was ever going to fall asleep last night. I might have kicked Christian accidentally."
"Oh you did.", he laughs. "They weren't hard kicks but enough to wake me up."
"I'm sorry.", I pout. "How are you feeling this morning?" He hands me my own plate of French toast and motions for me to take a seat at the table.
"Good. I tried to stay in bed longer, but I was getting restless so I went ahead and got up. Your mom and I were going over the Bob situation. I filled her in on our visit to him last night."
"I'm silly for taking Bob's word on anything.", my mom sighs.
"Mom, don't blame yourself for any of this. You simply thought you were helping Bob."
"The fact he can't keep up with what he's said makes me wonder what he's really hiding. He called me last night, but I refused to answer him. Nothing he says will change what's happened." Christian looks down at his pocket and grabs his phone which I didn't even hear.
"It was on vibrate.", he says, answering my thoughts. "It's Detective Davis." He presses the button and answers the call. "Good morning Detective Davis. I'm hoping since you're calling early you have news." My mom and I wait anxiously as Christian listens to the detective. The only sound Christian makes is repeating yes and ok. "Thank you for calling. Bye."
"Please tell us he had good news.", my mom says.
"It was interesting news. Brad and Justin Anderson turned themselves earlier. They wanted to tell the police their side of what happened. Brad said while they did conspire to kidnap me, it was Bob's idea. He's the one who wanted to take me in exchange for money. The plan was supposedly to take me and then get the money which they were going to share with Bob. He never borrowed the money from Brad. It was all a ruse. After getting a little overwelmed, Justin pulled the trigger. He said he never meant for anyone to get hurt."
"What they said could be the truth.", I shrug.
"One smoking gun to the entire thing is their plane tickets from Georgia were paid for by Bob. Although Welch was looking into the Andersons' credit card history, the police were looking into Bob's. Detective Davis said there's a charge for two plane tickets. To me, it sounds like Bob was the mastermind behind all of this. He was money hungry and decided to use us to get what he needed."
"That bastard.", my mom murmurs. "He needs to rot for what he did."
"He will Carla. I guarantee you he's going to pay for every single thing he did."