Self Destruct (27 page)

Rebecca

I fell sound asleep after Aiden promised we would find another place to live.  I felt pathetic asking him to leave his home, but my anxiety was too high to go back there.  Aiden must have carried me from the car, because I don't remember walking into the cabin, or getting in bed. 

I was a bit disoriented.  The shades were drawn, but I could see it was daytime.  I scanned the room for a clock, but I couldn't see one.  I had no idea what time it was.  I was in bed alone, so it wasn't too early.  There was a
n attached bathroom, and I went straight to it to freshen up.  Lord only knew how many people I would find in the rest of the house.

I stumbled out into the main rooms about fifteen minutes later, having done the bare minimum.  Aiden was sitting on a bar stool drinking coffee, and a few mercenary types were busy on laptops. 

"Hey sleeping beauty, it's about time you got up," Aiden teased.  "What time is it?" I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.  "A little after noon.  You've had too much stress, and needed to sleep," Aiden answered, his eyes drifting to my belly.  I rubbed it absent-mindedly.  "How is he?" Aiden asked concerned.  "Still fluttering around," I said smiling.

I noticed everyone in the room seemed a bit on edge.  "What have I missed?"
Several cell phones started ringing, interrupting my question.  Aiden came up behind me, and wrapped his arms around me.  "Aiden?" I asked.  "They arrested George Preston this morning," he spoke into my neck.

He t
ook a deep breath and continued. "Someone was able to get around the security team in Roslyn and burned the cabin to the ground.  That far out of town, no security services made it there until it was completely leveled.  If they hadn't checked my GPS when they did we would have burned to death last night."  His body shook from the fear of what could have happened. 

I turned around in his arms.  "But they did, and we are fine."  He brushed a
strand of hair out of my face, and wrapped his large hands on either side.  "What about next time?  How long can we run?"  He closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply through his nose.  He kissed me, in front of a room full of private security professionals. 

Reed
rushed in the room and began a hushed conversation with the security officers.  After what appeared to be a serious conversation he walked toward us.  He hit Aiden on the back.  "Seattle P.D. found incendiary devices hidden in the trunk of George Preston's car.  The computer in the family library had Google searches on how to build remote starters.  He claims no knowledge of the fire, but cell towers picked up calls from his cell phone in Roslyn.  He used his credit card at a gas station in North Bend, and his GPS shows his Mercedes made the trip."

"What now? Can we go back to Ellensburg or not?" Aiden asked.  "S.P.D. gave us the green light.  Where are you planning on staying?
" Reed asked, knowing I didn't want to go back to our house.  "I don't have a good feeling about going back," I admitted.  Aiden's forehead wrinkled, like it did when he was thinking seriously.  "I don't either.  Something feels off.  I need to meet with a few professors though."

"Why don't the two of you stay with me? At least for a few days, until we can be more certain about your safety,"
Reed offered.  "I'd say that we shouldn't.  We've already put you out enough, but you know I would do anything to make sure Becca and my son are safe," Aiden agreed.  "I consider you two friends, and I look after my friends," Reed responded.

Aiden put a plate together of sandwiches and raw vegetables and
pushed it towards me.  While I was sitting at the counter he motioned toward the door with his head.  I thought he was heading outside to sneak a cigarette, until two of the security team members followed him outside.  I narrowed my eyes, and stopped Reed before he managed to head outside with them.

"What is he up to?" I demanded. 
Reed gave me a smirk, which said he knew a secret.  "He's just covering his bases."  "Mmm hmm.  I'm sure I'll find out eventually.  Tell him I know about the smoking, so he can stop trying to be sneaky.  He sucks at hiding things," I said, letting him know I was on to them. 

Aiden

We settled into Reed's house.  Between Reed, his friends, and myself, Becca was never alone.  I thought she would fight with me about it, like she did when we found out she was pregnant and I tried to keep her home all the time.  Not this time.  I don't know if she was scared of being alone, or she realized how scared I was for her to be alone, either way she let me overprotect her.

We had been at Reed's for a week.  I originally planned to find us a place to rent quickly and only stay with Reed for a few days tops, but things continued to go wrong for us. 

Two days after we came back from hiding out, Stanley Jackson suffered a blood clot in his brain and was rushed into surgery.  He was still alive, but the police hadn't been able to corroborate George Preston's version of events.  Until it could be proven that George was solely responsible for hiring the Jacksons we couldn't be sure we were safe.

"Becca, I'm gonna run down the street to our house and pick up a few things.  I need to get my camera so I can finish that last project in photography and get rid of my incomplete.  Reed is in the garage if you need anything before I get back."  "I think I can manage myself long enough for you to go down the street.  Don't worry so much," Becca chastised.

The skin on the back of my neck prickled, and I felt watched.  I told myself it was just the unease of returning to my house since leaving to stay with Becca at the hospital.  I scanned the street, cataloguing every car, dog and pedestrian for possible threats.  Something felt off, but I couldn't discern what it could be.  Everything looked normal.  All of our neighbors appeared to be home. 

I walked inside, continuing to process the neighborhood.  A couple of the dogs started barking, and the unease started churning in my stomach.  I thought I heard a pop down the street.  I grabbed my phone and turned to head back.  I could ask Jeremy to grab my stuff.  I needed to go check on Becca right now. Something about the neighborhood seemed out of place, and it was really bothering me.

Suddenly I knew what it was.  I ran back to Reed's.  There it was, the thing tormenting my mind, a white Lexus parked across the street.  No one was supposed to be at the house.  The older woman that lived there had broken her hip and was receiving rehabilitation at a swanky hospital near her daughter in Portland.

The garage door was open, like it was a couple of minutes ago.  I walked in cautiously and found Reed lying in a pool of blood.  I ran to him, dialing 911 at the same time.  "I need an ambulance and police at the home of Officer Reed Martin.  He's been shot, and I think my wife might be in trouble too." 

The operator told me help was on the way.  She asked me to stay on the phone, but I couldn't sit and wait.  I handed Reed the phone, and grabbed the tire iron.  It worked for Becca.  I was hoping the third time would be charmed as well.

Rebecca

I almost didn't hear the pop over the neighbor's yappy dog.  It was hard to miss the sound of something big hitting the ground in the garage, followed by a clang of tools.  I started to run for the bedroom, where I planned to sneak out of a window, when a large man entered the back door.

I almost screamed, but he raised a finger to his lips and pointed to the room I was already headed toward.  I recognized him as one of the private security team Reed had hired for us in Oregon.  I nodded my head and ran in the direction he pointed.  I was greeted with another scare when the second member of the team pulled me inside the door and hid me in the bathroom.  He pulled a gun from a holster hidden under his shirt.  "Stay in here and stay quiet.  I'm going to go help my partner," the guard instructed. 

I could hear muffled sounds of a struggle.  I had to strain to hear anything, until the wail of sirens tore through the neighborhood.  A loud banging on the door followed seconds later.  I stayed where I was, not making a sound.

"Becca!  Steve said you were in here," Aiden shouted frantically.  Hmm, so the guard's name was Steve.  I felt fuzzy around the edges, like I had the few times I had fainted in the beginning of my pregnancy.  I braced my hand on the wall and forced myself to stand.  I was done being a victim.  My days of being a delicate flower were over, and I was most definitely done with fainting.

I turned the lock with shaking fingers, and opened to find Aiden searching for the hex key to open the door.  "Oh, thank God!" he shouted.  I was starting to shake violently.  I might be done with fainting, but apparently my body was going into shock whether I was in agreement or not.  A fine sheen of sweat had broken out on my face and neck. 

Aiden scooped me up into his arms. "Wh...Where are we going?" I asked, my voice shaking.  "The hospital.  Reed was shot, and you need to get checked out."  "Reed, oh no." I swallowed hard, but my mouth had gone dry.  "Shh, don't overload yourself. The EMT said he was going to be fine.  He was shot in the shoulder, but he hit his head when he went down and knocked himself out for a bit.  He will have to have surgery to repair his shoulder, but he is going to be fine."

Aiden carried me out the front door, and I saw a woman being guided into the back of a police cruiser.  "Aiden, who was it?"  "Vanessa," he growled.  "You are a lot to lose," I commented.  I thought she was nuts, but I could understand not being able to let him go.  He laughed humorlessly.  "She doesn't want me.  She wants my money."  I shook my head in disagreement.

"Seriously.  She doesn't give a shit about me.  It was always about my money.  When I went into the house looking for you the security team had her subdued with zip ties.  She started confessing everything.  I just wanted to find you, but Steve said you were ok."

Aiden laid his head back on the headrest.  The key was in the ignition, but he hadn't turned it yet.  "George and Marcy, her mom, spent lavishly.  They had a few bad investments, and the rest George lost in the casinos.  No one knew.  George started embezzling, but he couldn't take too much or Ted and my dad would notice."

"When my grandparents passed away George started a flirtation with my mother.  Apparently she was interested and entered a full-fledged affair with him. They planned on getting as much of the inheritance in a divorce settlement after the will was read."

"Wouldn't Marcy have a problem letting her husband have an affair to get money?" I asked shocked.  Aiden gave me a look that told me I really didn't understand the world he came from.  "No, Marcy has always had her own special friends.  As long as George doesn't keep her away from the new young tennis pro, or whatever flavor of the month she has lured in, she doesn't care."

"Ok, well, obviously that didn't work, because your dad wasn't the one that inherited the money," I pointed out.  "Exactly.  No one could see the exact terms of the trust my grandparents set up, but the Prestons began scheming anyway.  After the will was read George pushed Vanessa to pursue me the way he pursued my mom. 

Vanessa was already in a relationship with Nick.  It was the summer and everyone else was gone doing their own thing, so no one knew about them.  Her father pushed her to get pregnant, then dump Nick.  I don't know how she kept him from telling me about them, or why she didn't try to actually have my kid.  I wish Nick yelled at me, hit me, anything.  It would have saved us both a lot of heartache.

I wish so many things.  Mostly that I would have asked for a paternity test.  I was so busy punishing myself for not using a condom one time.  I didn't care that she said she was on the pill.  I guess I never trusted her.  Nick believed her completely.  Doesn't matter now."

"Why give the kid up if the plan was to trap you in a relationship with her?" I asked confused.  "George finally got a copy of the trust right before the baby was born.  He knew Vanessa's kid wasn't going to be proven to be mine, so he set up a private adoption.  Vanessa didn't really want to be with me, so she drug out going to college.  She planned to reunite after I turned twenty-five and collected my trust fund.  Unfortunately for her, I met you and broke up with her before she could gain access to my money."

"I'm so sorry Aiden.  You deserved to be treated so much better than you were," I consoled him.  "It was worth putting up with her garbage since I get to have you.  Anyway, I guess my mom has been involved the entire time.  She was pressuring me to be with Vanessa so she could share a cut of my inheritance."

"You definitely deserved to be treated with love by your own mother," I seethed.  I rubbed my belly in a silent promise not to carry on that family tradition.  Aiden's hand joined mine. 

"You are going to be a great mother.  Vanessa said she got tired of waiting for her dad and my mom to fix the situation.  She stole her dad's car and phone to set him up for killing us.  My mom was shacked up at a seedy motel with George, and neither of them noticed his car was missing."

"There is just one thing I don't understand.  Who set up my abduction?" "Vincent James did send his goons to scare you.  He didn't want to add assault to his rap sheet, but he thought they could intimidate you out of testifying.  During their digging for dirt on you they went to my parent's house to try and cause trouble between us.  I guess they thought if they pressed the right buttons I would give them access to you."

Aiden rolled his eyes.  He would have never let them near me by choice.  "Anyway, they caught my mom and George during one of their rendezvous and George offered to pay the Jacksons to remove you from the picture.  Since we were married they were concerned about you getting too much if they could manage to cause us to divorce.  Remember my mom's last ditch effort to stop our wedding, or at least get you to sign a prenup?  She initially refused to pay the Jacksons to do as George asked, but once I rejected her efforts she agreed."

"That is a lot to take in," I stated not wanting to believe all of it.  Aiden rubbed his head, messing up his blond hair.  He looked like a stressed surfer.  "The police finally located my mother, and they issued a warrant for her arrest.  Once she is picked up, everyone that was conspiring to hurt you will be behind bars.  I'm still buying us a house with a huge fence, and dogs.  Huge snarling dogs."

"Won't the dogs bite the baby?" I asked concerned.  I believed he would go out and buy a pack of viscous dogs.  "I'll have to look into it.  I've heard Dobermans are good with children.  Maybe we can get a bunch of those," he said with a ghost of a smile.  His sense of humor was returning.  Very slowly, but he'd come back to me eventually.  I returned his smile and said, "I've always thought they were pretty."