Deep Blue Hold (Deep Blue Series) (9 page)

"They found the package.
It's supposed to be there tomorrow morning."  I tell her leaning down to kiss the top of her head.

"Oh
," is all she says.

"Aubrey, it's going to be okay.  You know we will always be ok
ay."  I tell her as she snuggles into me closer and I hug her tighter. 
I can't wait to get my hands on Jim Olsen. He will suffer first before he dies, that I swear to
. 

"I guess I was enjoying playing house this p
ast week. I almost forgot about it," she whispers.

"Do you like it here?"

"Yeah, I love it. But you know I'm going to have to go back to New York soon.  I do have a business to run. I just can't imagine being away from you for too long," she says and I am taken aback.

"Baby, we are it.  Where I go
, you go. Where you go, I go."  I sternly tell her. 

"But how is that going to work?
I mean yeah, we can do our jobs somewhat mobile, but not entirely.  I have a full inbox right now proving that."

"I don't know and I don't care
, but it's going to work," I say letting her know that there is no argument on the matter.  "Besides, you're a freaking billionaire. Hire more people to do your grunt work."

"Speaking of t
hat, Ethan says the remodel is almost done, and the only room left is the den. So we need to figure out what we are going to do with the vault," she says.  She had talked to a realtor about selling her penthouse, and there was a waiting list of people wanting it.  She took the highest offer and sold it.  Maggie had returned from London just in time to help the movers get everything to the Scarsdale castle, which I was glad for because that meant Aubrey didn't need to go back.

"Well then
, next week we hop the jet back to New York and take care of business there.  We can live in two houses. I mean it's only a couple hour flight, and you can set up side office here.  The first floor of my building is empty.  It would be perfect for you." She really can't argue with me on this because I'm not going to give her a choice.  “Aren’t you just a little excited to see what’s in that vault?  Something very precious is in there for the time and money he spent hiding it.”

“Yeah, I am and I’m not.
I mean, what in the world could be so important to him that he would have something like that?”  She sounds apprehensive about it, and I guess I could see that.  He had safety deposit boxes that had jewels and bonds in them, and the paintings and everything else valuable have all been accounted for.  Not even William Jackson’s lawyer knew what was in there.  All he knew was that he had the vault built twenty years ago, and back then, it was state of the art new technology. The cost was more than two of his luxury hotels.

“Well
, whatever is in there we will find out together.”  I comfort her.  She relaxes into me and I kiss her temple.

The next morning we drive into the office.  It's about an hour drive to Plymouth, NC where our head office is located.  Aubrey is sitting next to me anxious and fidgety.  She had a very restless night, she tossed and turned. At some point she even whimpered in her sleep. It broke my heart, and the only time she would relax was when I would hold her tight. 

It made me happy that I could make her relax, that she felt safe with me
, but I hated that I couldn’t take away the nightmare that was facing her.

She’s staring out the window as we drive
, and looked a million miles away.  She barely spoke all morning and it was killing me.  When we arrive at my building, I run around to open her door.  Before we walk into the building, I take her hands and intertwine them with mine. Pinning our hands behind her back I press my chest to hers. 

“Eyes, please
,” I whisper looking down at her far away face.  She obeys and focuses on me.  “I love you.” I lean down kissing her nose, and then gently brush her lips with mine. 

“I love you too,” s
he says and I can see the wetness in her eyes that she is trying to fight. 

I introduce her to my receptionist and personal assistant, Tae, who greets her politely.  I wanted the forensic team in place to see if we could get anything off of the package that might lead us to Jim Olsen.  “Is everyone here?” I ask Tae.

“Yes
, Mr. Brady, Sam and the team are waiting for you in the conference room.” Tae answers, she is a short mousey brown haired girl who is a whiz with the computer. She’s around my age and has been with me since the beginning. I trust her completely.  Besides Sam, she knows how to run my company in my absence, and I have no idea how I could do it without her. She had been headhunted a few times, and I would raise her salary to beat the offers without a blink of an eye.  She now has stock options and a great retirement planned set up, so she has no interest in leaving.  Not that she ever really did, but sometimes money talks. 

“The team?”
Aubrey stares up at me as I take her to my office before we go to the conference room.

“Yes, I have a team who I trust completely and nothing will ever leave that room.”
I tell her, but she still seems unsure.

“If you don’t want anyone else to see it
, then I will respect your decision, but I want you to know that if I think I can get anything from the package that will help me track him down then my team is the one that can do it.”

“I trust you
, Ian, whatever you think is best,” she says and gives me those gorgeous green eyes.  She does trust me, and I can see it.  It makes getting this bastard all that more important because the one thing in the world I can’t do is let my girl down.

“You sure
?” I ask and she nods yes.  I lead her into the conference room where Sam, Kyle, Dean, and Michelle are waiting.  On the table is the package.

Chapter 11

Aubrey

Ian’s team is sitting around the large conference room table all looking at me, and I instantly look down.  How much do they know already, and are they judging me?  Ian puts his arm around my waist and introduces me to Kyle first.  He is tall and skinny with dirty blonde hair.  I would describe him as a lab geek, and I am right.  He is the head of the lab that does DNA and other analyses. I didn’t know that Ian’s firm did this kind of stuff also, but find out that they do a lot of consulting on special cases for the FBI. 

Dean is next and his build is closer to Ian and Sam’s, but with a
full beard and older.  He has reddish blonde hair and his skin tone is similar to mine. 
A fellow ginger
.  He is a private detective and handles a lot of the recon and surveillance.  He manages the team of eight people that specialize in this very thing. 

Then is Michelle, sh
e looks my age and is also tall. At least a foot taller than me with black hair and legs that go on forever.  She is in a black pencil skirt with a white silk top and Black blazer.  She is dressed the most professionally out of the three. Ian introduces her as also ex Special Forces and is now the head of his forensic team. 

Ian and Sam are in their expensive suits and I am dressed down in a jean skirt and tight tee.  I feel very inadequate when I see Michelle come over and g
reet Ian.  They look like they should be together on a cover of a magazine. Not knowing what to do with myself as Michelle briefs Ian, I sit on one of the large leather office chairs.  I don’t know why I feel this way. I’ve had a few board meetings now where I've commanded the room, and felt very comfortable doing so. 

But something about how Michelle is with Ian, like they have their own language
, it just makes me cringe.  I suppose with both of them having very extensive military training it is only natural, but it is a side of Ian I can’t relate to.  There’s no flirting or laughing and joking.  It's all business right now, and as Michelle leans over the table to point out something to Ian on a map Ian leans in and listens carefully. He's watching her mouth as she speaks.  All of his attention on every word she is saying, and as I watch them interact I grow more and more uneasy.  I can't hear what they're saying they are talking so low, but they are in tune with one another, and hardly seem like they need to speak to know what the other is thinking.

Was there something between them at one time, I would say
so by the way they are together. I don’t see a wedding ring on Michelle’s finger, and that doesn’t make the situation any better. 

“Ok
ay, so let’s just get this over with,” Ian says and turns to his side where I was standing and then looks down the table to where I had moved away from them.  He hadn’t even noticed I had left his side.  Okay, so he has a lot on his mind. It’s not like at home when I am the only thing he focuses on, but I have come accustomed to this, and right now I feel like I am the second most important woman in the room. And man, I don't like it.

I don’t meet his eyes when he looks at me, and after a second he comes to my side.  “Are you ready?”
He leans down to whisper to me, and he places his hand on my back. I pull out the contents of the envelope. As soon as I do this Michelle calls him over to look at something, and he leaves me to talk to her.

I'm annoyed and hurt at the way Ian just left my side. 
We'll do this together
. I remember him saying only twenty minutes ago.  I look up at Sam, and I can see on his face that he knows what I'm feeling.  He sits in the chair next to me and motions for me to look at the envelopes contents.  Chancing a look up at Ian, he is still in deep conversation with Michelle.  It's like I don't even exist. 

Now becoming mad, I ignore them and look at the papers I pulled from the envelope.

There are two pages, the first being a picture. Tears immediately fall when I see what the picture is of.  It is two gravestones, one being my mothers and the one right next to it reads:

Nathan Rex Olsen

We Never Knew You, But Will Always Love You

Forever In Our Hearts, Mommy and Daddy
 

It is my son’s gravestone.
I buried him the only place I could think of to keep him safe and that was by my mother’s grave in Portland. 

The next page is a letter.
The tears falling freely now, I look up at Ian still standing next to Michelle. They are watching me now. He is standing professional and unaffected. This is not the man I have spent the last month with.  He doesn't give me his deep blues or a reassuring nod.  In fact, he turns to Michelle and tells her something.  I read the letter wanting to get the hell out of this room and fast.  The letter read:

Found my grandson bitch, good thing my beating took care of him.
Rex should be thanking me. Because if you had that bastard kid he wouldn’t be the star he is today.  I made a video of us, mainly for my pleasure.  I jack off to it all the time, me watching myself fuck your sweet cunt. Now I think it is time for me to get what is mine.  I’m selling it and to the highest bidder.  So tell my ungrateful son to fork over 5 million to me and I will destroy it.  That is if he even gives a shit about you anymore.  If not, well you have money now so then I guess you know what to do. 

I’ll be in touch soon!!!!!!!!

I just sit there and stare at the horrible words of an evil monster. Tears streaming down my face, but I’m not crying I don’t think.  I look up at the faces staring at me and the first face I see is Michelle, who doesn’t seem to really care about what the letter says because she’s too busy watching Ian. 

I drop the picture and the letter o
n the table. I back up in the office chair and stand.  Ian starts walking toward me and motions for the team to get to work.  He doesn’t look at me. He looks at Michelle and starts telling her what he wants her to do first. It's all just a job right now. 
I'm just a damn job right now
.

Sam comes to me giving me a hug
and asks if I’m alright. 
No I’m not all right! I need to be in Ian’s arms right now not yours, and he is in a deep conversation with Michelle
. I assure Sam that I am fine and he joins the conversation about what needs done. 

Not
knowing if it is the hormones, the letter, or both, but right now I feel like I'm nothing to Ian.  Then he touches the small of Michelle's back, and she laughs at something he says.  They are fucking laughing right now, and I feel like my heart was ripped in two.  He touches her gently and they are talking low to each other.  All I can do it back out of the room quietly.  I have to get out of here. I have to get away from this.  I know Ian is all business when it is necessary and I know I’m being irrational.  He is doing this all for me, but how can he touch another woman in such an intimate way when I am in the room distraught over what I just saw and read. 

I walk out of the conference room
passing an empty reception desk, which I am grateful for.  When I’m outside, I take a deep breath of the salty North Carolina air.  Now what? I don’t know this town and I have no car.  I start to walk, and I start to walk fast. Before I know it, I'm jogging. I kick off my sandals and am pounding the sidewalk in my bare feet.