Chapter 40: Chapter 40


"Ana are you alright?" My mother rests her hand over Ana's. We are all seated around their large dining table trying to absorb the last 48 hours. Getting Olivia to leave Ana's side was impossible, even while we were at the hospital. The attending literally had to look over Ana with Olivia in her arms. Thankfully Ana was fine, just a few bumps and cuts, a mild concussion. My shoulder was dislocated and a few ribs cracked but a few weeks of rest and I would be back to normal. It was just after noon and Oliva was still sleeping. Ana didn't sleep at all. She tossed and turned beside me.

"I don't know, Grace. I just don't know. It feels like me being around Oliva is the best thing for her but then it also feels like the worst thing. Like she will never form a bond with you and Carrick while I am here. And as much as I want her to be mine, I know that no court will ever give a single 21 year old custody. I also know that Christian has no interest in being a father." For the first time all night Ana looked me in my eyes. There was a glint of hope that i might intercede and tell her all the things she wants to hear.

"Is that true, Son?" Carrick askes knowing full well the answer about to come out of my mouth.

"It is." Ana answers for me and breaks eye contact. "We can't stay here anymore. All of us being in this house has been confusing to Olivia, confusing to me. I know I promised Olivia that i would never leave her again but feeling like i am doing more harm than good."

"That is not true, Ana dear. You have done wonders for Olivia. And there is a very large part of me that wishes you and Christian would adopt her and raise her as your own but that is a fairytale. There is just too many things spinning out of control and Olivia needs and deserves stability. And this situation is anything but stable.

" I agree. We need to leave here, all of us. Carrick and Grace need to get back to their lives. We all needs to get back to our lives. Hyde can not control all of us like this, Christian, can you make the arrangements."

"Ana, we are all here for security reasons. I think it would be best if we sta…" She cuts me off, anger in her eyes.

"Security reasons! We were almost killed in a fucking helicopter crash. I am 100% sure that Hyde had something to do with it. And we are no safer here because with all due respect your security team sucks, Christian. Sorry, Taylor but Hyde has been able to break into Escala, get the leg up on Ryan, assault Gail, break into your offices, tamper with your chopper, almost get us killed and god knows what else he is up to right now while we sit here and wait.I have been thinking about this from all angles and my gut is telling me that someone on your "team" is a mole. That's the only logical reason." I am shocked that she has put these pieces together, it is something that Taylor and I had been discussing for a then again Ana could always see things no one else could.

"Who do you think it could be?" Taylor has this theories and I am sure our crash has solidified his fears.

"At first I thought is was Ryan. I mean his bump on the head after the Escala break in seems a little sketchy. But I have been watching him and my gut tells me no, it's not him. He truly cares about all of then it dawned on me. It must be Sawyer. You told me once that it was Sawyer who paid Hyde a visit after he was fired from SIP, maybe that is when it happened. Maybe Hyde has something on Sawyer or maybe he is paying him off, but Jack didn't have a ton of money though so maybe he has a benefactor. Someone else pulling the strings. Do you have any other enemies?" In that moment it all clicked into place. Ana, Taylor and I all looked at one another and said the same name.

"Elena."

"That fucking bitch!"

"Elena? Elena Lincoln? What in the world? Christian she is one of my oldest friends and you're one of her investors. It does not make any sense."

"Mom, it is a very long story and I promise one day I will tell you all about it. But right now we have a lot to do."

"Taylor where is Sawyer now? I will fucking kill him."

"He is out front, checking the perimeter." I could tell that Taylor was seething and that he would help me bury the body. Gail was nearly killed because of Sawyer's disloyalty. I could see him adding all the moments in his head, all the read flags that he ignored because he trusted Sawyer, the same way I did. What could have turned him? "I don't want him to know that we know. As much as ai want to break all his limbs and throw his off the roof, we need to wait. We have the upper hand here. I am going to make a few calls and bring in some black ops guys I know. I don't 100% trust Ryan either so I would rather bring in a new group."

"I agree, spare no expense. For now I think it should be only you watching Ana, Taylor. You are the only one I trust. I want you to get her out of here tonight."

"Just me? What about you? What about Gail and Olivia? You can't leave them here with just Ryan and Sawyer and the rest of the crew who may or may not be in on all of this too. Taylor needs to stay here. I need to leave. If I leave quietly I don't need security. The only time I am ever in danger, Christian is when I am close to you. I can go visit my mom. Get on a plane and go to Georgia for a week or two until you guys get this figured out. I don't need security there."

"Out of the question!"

"Sir, it's not bad idea. Ana is right. I can deflect Sawyer and Ryan on a wild goose chase. We can get Ana out safe. Put her on a domestic flight. I will have my ex-wife charge the ticket on her card so it wont trace back to you. We can give her a burner phone. If we act fast we can have this done by morning. You could be sipping a mint Julep by lunch time."

"She needs security."

"I don't trust any of my men right now, Sir. I am sorry to admit that but it's true. There is a missing piece here and I am just not finding it."

"Christian this is the right thing to do and you know it. The further away I am the less leverage your enemies have against you. You can focus on the problem instead of keeping me safe."

I hated to admit it but they were both right, Ana was safer far away from me. And I could focus on putting an end to this is she wasn't here. It was killing me to let her leave because some small part of me felt like once she was gone she would never come back.

"Okay. Make it happen, Taylor."

Getting Ana out of the house was easier than expected. We had a doctor friend of Gails make a house call to check on my shoulder and Ana hid in his trunk. It killed me not to be able to see her on the plane and make sure she was okay. We said our goodbyes quickly in the bathroom. She was crying, I was crying because we both knew that we were over. We didn't want to admit it or say it outloud but in our hearts we both knew. I held her in my arms for as long as I could the last six month of our time together flashing before my eyes like a dream.

"You have to promise me that you will stick to the plan. You won't deivate for a single moment."

"I promise."

"You are the most important thing in the world to me. Nothing else matters but your safety. And I am sorry that you have been unsafe since the moment you met me. I am sorry you got tangled up in this mess that is my life."

"What are you saying. This is all my fault. You fired Jack because of me. You cut Elena off because of me. This is all my fault. I have put everyone and everything you love at risk. I am so sorry. I only hope that getting me as far away as possible will make this somehow better."

"Nothing is better without you and You didn't make me fire Hyde or cut off Elena. Those were choices that I made.I promise you that in a few weeks this will be over and you will be safe. I promise you will all that I am.

"Please be careful, Christian. Please be safe. Please don't do anything crazy that will put you behind bars. Promise me."