Taylor's POV – 13 July 2011
Tuesday 12th
I am so close to figuring out what is going on, Ana has been very specific about when she has felt threatened and I am sure it is someone in the office, we have used every means possible to determine that there has been absolutely no-one external to the office observing her, she has been in meetings with no external access and felt it, we have scoured with all sorts of electronic detection devices and there is nothing recording her other than our cameras.
Anyone else and I would have said it was attention seeking paranoia but I have come to know Ana and the last thing she wants is attention but more importantly when discussing this with Welch, he reminded me of what she'd do as a baby. She could sense good and bad in people and would turn away or towards them depending on their moral compass and she had more than once been of assistance on base because of it, if there was anything suspect about a person, as a baby she would become unsettled and need to be taken away from that person.
I had chills up and down my spine when he described what had happened one day when she was only one and really not talking, a new soldier on base had come near her and she'd started whimpering and when he looked at her, she'd started screaming and shaking and was inconsolable, that night he raped two female officers before shooting at the officers who tracked him down and then turning his gun on himself. She just knew he was evil from the minute he came into contact with her so Welch had reiterated that if Ana felt paranoid, there was probably a very good reason for it.
I have given the names of all the staff that have been present or within office distance to her at each of the times to Welch and he's chasing up all contacts, personally I think it is Kay Bestie that is the likely culprit as she has the most to lose from Ana's presence and he's had the trackers on her and a couple of others to see what he can find. We're so close to cracking this and now the Boss needs to go to Taiwan, dammit, 12 hour flights either way mean that if something happens here, we won't be able to get back in time and who knows how long we'll have to stay there.
Speaking to my beautiful Gail, I can hear the fear in her voice, she heard the Boss and Ana talking and is worried as well, I wish I could assure her that it's all going to be ok but I can't so just reiterate that I love her and that hopefully we'll be back soon. I hate that I can't say goodbye to her in person because just feeling her in my arms makes all the rubbish worthwhile and I know I'll miss her for the whole time we are away. I send her a text saying "I love you, will you marry me?" just so that she can smile and think about the question I ask her at least once a week, hopefully one day soon she will say "Yes".
Wednesday:
I'll give it to the Boss, we landed for the meeting but instead of taking the two hours to get to their premises he had called and had the meeting moved to a room in a hotel near the airport. He made an awesome impression and managed to wrap the entire meeting and purpose for the trip up in two hours and without losing face or jeopardising the negotiations, we were back in the sky after refuelling and resupplying.
I'm glad of it because he seems to sleep better on the plane and doesn't seem to have the horrid nightmares he has when Ana isn't with him. This means I am able to sleep outside his on-board bedroom and have a decent night's sleep myself without having to guard him from the staff that know nothing of his nightmares.
Our quick turnaround time didn't allow either of us a chance to call or send text messages as they would have been sent in the middle of the night and been likely to cause concern so neither of our girls know that we are heading home. There were no messages from anyone indicating any security concerns and I am relieved, that is 15 hours or so and nothing to report, I will be glad to be back in Seattle and hopefully figuring out what is going on before something happens, I really don't want another Cecilia type situation on my conscience.
The plan is that we should land mid to late afternoon and hopefully be able to surprise them, the Boss is smiling which is always disconcerting but it means I should have plenty of time with Gail tonight and that makes me want to smile too.
As we enter US airspace our usual message reception isn't working which has the Boss on edge as he is trying to finalise everything from the meeting before we hit the ground so that it is ready to go by the morning, all in the hands of legal tonight and he'll own a shipyard in Taiwan by the end of tomorrow. While it isn't unusual to have dodgy reception, it's enough to change his mood to foul from the previously, uncharacteristically happy one so I keep my distance and mouth shut.
It is just before we land that both our phones start going off and before I even have a chance to read my messages the Boss curses and his face drains in color, he is as white as a sheet when he looks up at me. "Jack Hyde has my mom and" and I assume he's going to say Ana but he looks guilty and so angry, and says "Gail" and the floor drops out of my world.
It is with a steely voice that he says as he looks at me, "I'd say that's the reaction they expect from you," and I know that is exactly why she has been taken but my insides are in turmoil, whoever has them has them to unsettle us and I'm damned if I am going to subscribe to their games although my stomach is turning with fear that my Gail has been hurt in anyway. This may be the thing that tips Gail over the edge and she'll never say yes to marrying me and we'll both have to find different jobs if it means we can be together but then I pull myself together, there'll be time for thinking about myself later, now I have to save her.
Then the obvious thought hits me, "Where's Ana?" I ask madly scrolling through my own messages, I know that there is no way that just Grace and Gail would have been taken, they are small fry in terms of the Boss but would have been used as bait.
"Fuck….Fuck….Welch and Sawyer are fired, they have sent Ana in to a hostage situation," he screams, his eyes wide as his hands go through his hair and I wouldn't want to be either man on the ground.
"Sir, there'd be a reason, I'm just about to speak to Welch," and thankfully right then my call to Welch makes it through.
"Welch, what the fuck is going on? What's happened?" I ask on speaker before the Boss has a chance to speak.
"I'm speaking quietly because the next phase is about to happen, don't jeopardise it by screaming at me. Grace and Gail are in an ambulance about to head to the hospital, Grace is fine and Gail, sorry dude, is unconscious and they're working on her at the moment, Grace said that Hyde punched her in the head." My hands clench and I swear I will kill Hyde with my own hands.
Welch continues, "Gail was extremely brave, as Ana was walking towards the SUV I rang to distract Hyde and whoever else was in the vehicle and Gail managed to answer and scream out that she and Grace were kidnapped and then I heard a thump and Hyde cursing as he turned the phone off." I don't know what he says for the next few seconds as a red cloud descends over me but feel the Boss shaking me and start to refocus.
"She's alive Taylor and she told Welch enough information for them to be saved," It's the Boss actually looking at me with concern as he shakes me.
Realising that I am back on board with the conversation he turns his attention back to Welch, "It's Ana I'm worried about, where is she, is she ok?" and surprisingly he is talking in a steely calm voice, although he is still white and his hands are shaking.
"Ana's still in the bank, they are demanding a $10 million ransom and she is in there signing the documents, we have a live feed on her and she's ok."
"Seriously?" And this time he doesn't stop the bellow, "You let her go in there? What if they kill her in there? Who is there with her?" As Welch pauses, I detect that he hasn't covered every contingency and the Boss is beside himself.
"Nicole Bestie? Is she related to Kay Bestie? SO that is the link, Ana didn't like her and now we know why… what? She is the bank employee? Fuck, this is well organised…. Who else? Elizabeth Morgan, well she raised her head again and Jennifer, who the fuck is Jennifer …. you don't know but she looks like Elena … and what? She has a gun? You didn't think of that when sacrificing Ana." And he looks like he is going to throw up, fear is trumping anger at this point.
"Sir, I can't explain now but Hyde and the Elena Lincoln will never be a problem again, we just need to deal with these two, Jennifer and Elizabeth and then it will be over." Welch says and the Boss curses.
"No it's not, it'll never be over, who is above it all, it wasn't just Elena, what have you missed, our plane has landed and we are coming, where exactly are you?"
I have never driven so fast, I don't care how many tickets we receive, twenty minutes is usually needed to make that journey when there is no traffic, this time it takes us less than fifteen in the peak hour traffic and I am pulling into the car park hoping that I will be able to help save Ana and get to Gail. We start towards where we can see the SUV and the ambulance although realise we need to be near the van which is parked by the bank's back entrance but are nowhere near it although in clear sight when I see the bank doors open and out comes a bank employee. Following close behind is Ana flanked by Elizabeth Morgan and an unknown person, which must be Jennifer and I suck in my breath as I see the resemblance to the Evil One.
As the van door opens, the first two women stop, propping back into "Jennifer" and what happens next has me cursing, stopping the car and leaping out after the Boss who is already running, they have bumped her backwards and I can clearly see the gun but what happens next has both of us skidding to a stop.
Ana taking stock of the situation, drops her money bag and grabs Jennifer's gun hand and within seconds executes a perfect Uchi Mata Judo throw that has Jennifer sailing through the air and slamming into the ground hard while leaving the gun in Ana's hands and calmly trained on the other two who stand there gobsmacked. Welch and Sawyer leap out of the van as a police officer who I recognise as Lisa Maxwell appears from behind the next vehicle. Jennifer is still too winded and the other two women too shocked to move so they are cuffed quickly and pushed unceremoniously into the police van that crawls up as soon as Lisa calls for it.
Ana is standing there, still holding the gun as the Boss starts to run toward her but a voice cuts through the air, "Not so fast asshole, this was all for me, Elena and the others were mere foolish minions to do the hard work. You keep taking what belongs to me, this time, the satisfaction is going to be all mine, I may not have gotten the money and I may go away for a long time but I will watch you die like the bastard that you are," and he raises his gun.
Four shots ring out and the thud that follows will reverberate in all our chests for years to come.