Deep Blue Forever (Deep Blue Series) (8 page)

             
Maybe it was a dream.
Maybe you're going crazy, Aubrey
.  After about a minute of scanning the room, my eyes adjust and see nothing. I lie my head back down and drift off again. 

              The next morning we are sitting around the table eating breakfast. "I think we should start making wedding plans, so you can get married without a baby bump," Miry says to distract me from the boy's conversation.  Ethan is eating with us so he can take notes of what I need him to do.  My memory seems shot this past week with everything going on. I have a hard time remembering just what needs done in the multimillion dollar company I run.  Ethan has been a miracle, though. He hired an assistant, Charlie Thorpe, who happened to have a masters in business. Charlie is doing most of the business stuff, and Ethan is more like his assistant, but they both make good money so neither is complaining yet.

             
"I'm game for a fast, small wedding, but I want to get married in North Carolina on the beach.  So not till I'm cleared to leave," I tell Miry, which gets Ian's attention.

             
"You want to get married on the beach in North Carolina?" He beams at me looking a little shocked.

             
"Yes, baby." I tell him giving him a look of where did you think I wanted to get married.  "Not like your Uncle Troy's wedding, of course. I want small, like just Mags, Sam and Miry, Rex, and my aunt and uncle.  And whoever you want, also," I add at the end, realizing he might want a big wedding. 
God I hope not
.

             
"Sounds perfect, and the sooner the better," Ian says flashing me his dimples. 

             
"I agree, this house is starting to give me the creeps.  I would love to be back on the beach."

             
All eyes are on me as if I just told them I saw a ghost or something.

             
"What do you mean you're getting the creeps?" Ian questions immediately. 

             
"I don't know, just like last night I woke up and I felt like someone was watching me.  Then this morning in the shower, I could have sworn someone else was in the bathroom with me.  I looked out expecting so see you," I motion toward Ian, "but no one was there. I think I'm paranoid with Michelle and all." Ian and Sam turn to one another with a look that says maybe I wasn't imagining the whole thing.

             
"Why didn't you wake me last night?"  Ian asks. I can't tell if he is pissed or just worried.

             
"Because no one was there, I looked.  No one was there." I defend myself from his peering deep blues.  "It was just my imagination running wild, right?  How could she be in the house? It's locked up like a fortress."

             
Sam and Ian get up. I hear Ian on the phone calling for people to come in to do a sweep of the house.  I look at Miry and Ethan, who both have the same confused look on their faces.

             
"You guys stay in here!" Ian barks out his order.

             
"Do you really think she is in here?" I ask before he is out of the room.

             
"Probably not, sweetie, just want to make sure," he says kissing the top of my head before he is out of the room.

Chapter 12

Ian

             
When I saw Sam's face after Aubrey told us her feeling of being watched, I knew that he thought the same thing as me. 

             
"Just a precaution, mate. We will search the place from top to bottom, and if she was here..." Sam stops looking at me knowing full well that if Michelle was in this house, and she didn't want to be found, we would find no trace of her. 

             
"Yeah, I know," is all I say to Sam's worried face.  Michelle is in attack mode. She is on the run.  She has one enemy right now, and that is my girl.  Nothing is scarier than a woman on a mission, especially a woman with the skills Michelle has.

             
"I wish I could get her the hell out of here."  I am so out of my element in this huge house, in a city I am not very familiar with.
And I'm scared to death for Aubrey and our unborn child
.

             
"Dan said it could be a few more days before he can get the DA to let her leave the state." We found out this morning that Tandi confessed to selling the gun.  She said she didn't know who it was and that the lady was wearing a blonde wig. That at least took the heat off Aubrey, but she still hadn't been cleared to leave New York. 
And if Tandi wasn't such a brain dead bimbo, she might have actually given us something more to go on then a blonde wig and sun glasses
. 

             
"Right now you need to focus on Aubrey and keeping her calm.  Hopefully we will find Michelle soon," Sam says to me as we are searching every corner of the upstairs.  There is empty room after room the place is so huge.               

             
"I think we should board up the empty rooms in case she is getting in one of the windows somehow," Sam suggests.  I don't know how the hell she could do that since none of the security seals have been broken.  Not even Michelle is that good getting in and out.  I have no doubt she could get in, but out and still have the security system in place?  No one is that good unless they have help. Knowing Michelle as well as I do, I know that there is no one that she knows and trusts that could do this. 
At least I hope to God there isn't
. 

             
We search the entire house from the attic to the basement and find nothing.  No evidence of anyone hiding out or of breaking in.  Although it is not like my girl to be paranoid, a lot of things with the pregnancy have changed her, and maybe that is one of them.

              Later that night Sam, Miry, Aubrey and I are sitting around the table playing a game of cards to pass the time.  Aubrey is starting to get cabin fever after being stuck inside for the last few days, and I can tell she is getting anxious.  Dan had told us to keep Aubrey inside. That he was trying like hell to keep the story out of the press.  We could see the headline, "Millionaire Questioned About Murder of Former Boyfriend's Rex Olsen Father After Finding There Was a Sex Tape".  None of us wanted that, not just for Aubrey, but for the company, and of course for Rex.

             
She has been doing a good job of staying out of the press since she had inherited her father's business. 

             
Not only did she not want to be known as Rex Olsen's ex girlfriend, she didn't want Jim Olsen to see anything about her.  Even though she kept all her secrets buried, she still knew that he could pose trouble for her one day, which he did, but only because of Michelle.

             
The press knew very little about Aubrey Jackson, and it was going to stay that way.  That's why their first board meeting was held in Las Vegas, to keep the press away.  I never knew this until Aubrey told me later, but she moved it at the last minute to throw them off.  It was starting to be rumored that there was no one to take William Jackson place. That he left everything within the company. 

             
Even though Tandi tried to sell her story, Aubrey's PR team was on it and had paid off the right people to keep the story out of the papers.  Now more than anything, Aubrey was more than ready to go back to North Carolina.  She was even ready to sell the castle and be done with it all. 

             
"This place really is too big, it's not homey enough."  Aubrey told us all as she started looking around the huge dining room.  "I mean, I can't even imagine raising children in this place."

             
"Children, do you have more than one in there?" Miry says almost choking on her wine.  She was not shy about the fact that she did not want children.  Sam did, but it wasn't a deal breaker. Obviously, because he knew it before they got married.

             
"Well child, but you never know. We might have another one someday," she says looking at me apprehensively. 

             
"I'll take as many little Aubrey's as you want to pop out, baby."  I just smile at her and it makes her laugh. 
I've said it before, and I will say it again, I do love the sound of my girls' laugh
.

             
"Or little Ian's, shit! Please don't have a bunch of those, pleeeease for all our sakes!" Sam says making us all laugh. 

Chapter 13

Aubrey

             
I excused myself early telling everyone I was going to bed.  Ian walked up with me doing a quick check of the upstairs after I was tucked into bed and had been thoroughly kissed goodnight. He was satisfied that everything was safe and told me he would come to bed in a bit, that he just wanted to take care of a few things first. It didn't take long for me to fall to sleep.

             
I was awaken again by that same eerie feeling, the feeling that I wasn't alone.  Ian hadn't come to bed yet, and the light in the hall was still on.  I sit up in bed and look around the room. 

             
That's when I see the black shadow in the corner.  It moves.  It comes toward me, and before I can make a sound there's a cold hand over my mouth. 

             
I'm looking into the cold, hate filled eyes of Michelle.  She has her hand over my mouth, and before I can even blink she is tying a gag over my mouth.  I whimper in pain as she works to tie my hands behind my back. 

             
"You know, you should be in jail right now for murder," she spews at me cinching the ties around my wrist tight as I try to fight against her, "but little rich bitch has all the money in the world to keep her out of jail." She grates pulling me off the bed, letting me fall to the floor.  I am now laying on my side in pain from the very awkward position my body is in. 

             
I curl my legs up in instinct to protect my belly.  The night Jim Olsen attacked me comes rushing back. The tears are flowing, and I am trying like hell to scream for Ian, but all that comes out is a meek whimper. 

             
"Now because of those stupid idiots, Tandi and Matt, they know you didn't have the gun.  She had to go and tell the cops that she sold the gun.  Did she think I wouldn't find out?" She is down on her knees in front of me asking me like I can answer her. 

             
"I have to say, though, if it wasn't for those numb skulls I never would have been able to get it in here.  They told me about the secret entrance in the basement."  She's inches from my face telling me her secret.  "Not even Ian found it, it was that hidden." She seems proud of herself as she sits back up.

             
"He was mine, he was all mine.  In Egypt we were happy.  Even though it was an act, I know he was happy.  We've had some pretty intense moments the two of us." She is looking straight ahead as she reveals her memories to me, and she is smiling like it is all still true.

             
"I was waiting patiently for him.  I knew we would be together one day.  You don't share what we shared and not mean something to someone."  She stands now and reaches behind her pulling a gun from her waist band. I try again to scream with no effect. 

             
"I watched as he had one meaningless affair after another.  They meant nothing to him, none of them.  I was supposed to go to Vegas with him and help him with the presentation.  I had a plan. I had told him I had met someone, and that we were going to spend some time together," she says holding the gun pointed at the floor by my head.  I listen to her and all her crazy delusions while trying like hell to come up with a way out of this. 

             
"He was jealous. I saw it in his eyes when he left.  No doubt that is why he felt he needed to move on with you." I'm searching the room for something, anything I can do to get Ian's attention.  She has me away from anything I can knock over, and even if I did I would probably be dead before Ian ever got to me.

             
"I actually think it was to make me jealous.  I mean, it was a game we were playing.  I wish to God I had gotten my hands on that tape before he found out it was me that drew Jim Olsen out of his cubby hole. I think if he saw it he would never want to touch you again."  She continues ranting and I feel the anger flow through me like fire.

             
"But then you had to go and get pregnant.  You think I don't know that was always your little plan? You know that you had to do something to trap him."  She is pointing the gun at my belly now, and I let out a whimper.  "Please No," is what I'm trying to say, but all that comes out is a pathetic moan.

             
"Stop your moaning, you little bitch." She's even more pissed now.  She leans down pulling up her pant leg.  Grabbing another gun, she points one at me and the other toward the door. 

             
"Seems as though we have a visitor.  Ian come join the party," she says staring at the door.

Chapter 14

Ian

             
Fuck, fuck, fuck
. I was coming up the stairs to bed when I heard her voice.  I knew exactly who it was.  Then I heard my girl whimper.  Instantly, I turned to the hallway table feeling underneath for one of the guns I had hidden, but it was gone. 
Fuck, fuck, fuck
.

             
I hear commotion coming up the stairs.  I turn to Sam and Miry as they're coming up to bed.  Sam sees me, and I signal that there's an intruder.  He whispers to Miry, and she runs down the stairs. I see her pulling her phone out as she goes. 
Please be calling 911 right now
. 

             
Then she hears me, she knows I'm out here.  There is only one thing I can do and that is to go in.  Stepping through the door, I put my hands up so that she knows I'm unarmed.  I'm hoping to God that I can talk her down. 

             
I see Aubrey on the floor tied up and gagged, but she is in a position where I can't see her face.  I hear her though, small whimpers like she is trying to talk, trying to plead for me to help her. 
I love you baby
,
I'm here
.

             
"Michelle, this isn't you. You're not a cold blooded killer." I try to reason with the wild eyed maniac that is standing with a gun trained on the two most important things in my life. 
My girl and my child
.

             
"See, Aubrey, he knows me," Michelle hisses. "He also knows that I will do anything to protect him.  Right now, I'm trying to protect him from the little whore who's trying to trap him. She already made me a killer, Ian. Because of her I had to kill Jim Olsen.  Granted, he was a disgusting slime ball, but still."  She is shaking her hand with the gun that is pointed at Aubrey. 
I have to get her attention off Aubrey and onto me
.  She's going to see through it, she knows every trick in my book.  I just hope that she is not thinking clearly right now.

             
"Michelle, let's go talk this out."  I tell her softly, hoping that if I play into her fantasy that I can get her away from Aubrey. "Come with me so we can talk in private."  I motion with my hands for her to come to me. 

             
"Ian, Ian, Ian.  Do you really think I'm going to fall for that?"  She says shaking her head, but at least she has taken her eyes off of Aubrey. 
Now if she would just lower the fucking gun that is aimed at my girl
.

             
"Fall for what?" I ask trying to sound wounded at her mistrust in me.

             
"I know she has you under a spell, and I also know that as long as she is alive you will never truly be mine," Michelle says and I can see in her eyes she is starting to break down.  Tears are welling in her eyes, and she is fighting. 

             
What happened next I didn't expect.  It happened so fast that I couldn't have changed it if I tried.  Michelle had taken a step toward Aubrey.  I yelled "NOOOOOO" as soon as I realized what was happening.  Aubrey swept her legs out, and with all her might she hit Michelle at the ankles making her stumble.

             
BANG, BANG, BANG. Three deafening shots rung through my ears as I watched it all happen in slow motion.  I didn't feel the pain at first, but was on the floor with Sam rushing past me.  Michelle hit the floor and Sam was on his knees next to me.  I felt the pain next as Sam was pushing on my stomach.