50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Fourteen

    Carlos waited until the elevator ride to ask, "Why are we here?"

    "We are here because of a note that Bridgette left me," Aubrey replied cryptically with his eyes on the light indicators above the elevator doors.

"AG:

GE

PC"

    The "AG" had to stand for Aubrey Graham, to make sure he knew that the note was for him. "GE," he took to stand for Graham Enterprises. "PC," he was assuming stood for personal computer. If his assumptions were correct, she was telling him to look at the computer she used at Graham Enterprises. There was something on the computer that she wanted him to see.

    The elevator reached the thirty-fifth floor and the doors slid open. Aubrey didn't hesitate in stepping outside of the elevator. He didn't check to see if Carlos was following. Instead, he quickly strode to the office doors and unlocked them. Leaving them unlocked for Brian and Destiny, he proceeded to walk down the aisle.

    "I never noticed just how creepy offices could be at night," Carlos whispered.

    Aubrey had worked so many late nights that he was used to it, but after what they'd just seen, yeah. He could admit that the office seemed a little extra creepy. He fought off the visuals of Bridgette sitting in a tub with her neck slashed. Because of the fact that she'd been in the tub, he figured that Palmer would have attempted to make her death look like a suicide. Not for the first time today, Aubrey was wrong. People around him were dying, and he didn't know how to stop it.

    When he reached the end of the aisle, he rounded a corner and went to sit behind Bridgette's desk. There were pictures of her and her friends lined up on her desk, and he deliberately avoided looking at them. He logged in as an administrator using his own password, while trying not to feel unnerved by Carlos's pacing in the waiting area. Once the computer was booted up, he looked through Bridgette's folders. He started on the desktop. There were so many, but one stuck out: PalmerAcquisitions.

    He opened the folder. There were several Microsoft Word and Acrobat PDF files. He started with the Word document titled: AGReadFirst.

    "If you're reading this, Aubrey, it means that something happened to me. Lately I've gotten the feeling that someone is watching me. I have an idea who is watching me and for that reason, I am writing you this letter and including some files that I backed up.

    The night that I came to you, I didn't come home to a ransacked apartment. I was in my apartment when Palmer himself came to pay me a visit. He accused me of withholding information from him, and he attacked me. He told me that if I didn't find information about you that he could use against you, he would kill me. He didn't tell me to go to your condo and ask to stay. I made that decision on my own, because I couldn't stay in my apartment after that. After he just...burst in my door like that, I was scared to ever go back there again.

    There were so many times that I wanted to tell you everything that's going on, but I didn't know how you would react. Depending on your reaction, you could have further endangered yourself and the people closest to you. Because I couldn't predict your reaction, I told you some of the truth and kept the important details to myself. I thought I was helping. Keeping you safe. Keeping myself safe. I'm starting to think that I was wrong. I'm starting to think that I should have just broken down and told you. Maybe we would all be better off. If you're reading this letter, we'll never know.

    It all started early this year, a few months after your D.C. interview was published. I was contacted by someone on behalf of Harry Palmer, the United States politician. To be honest, I'd never even heard of him before that interview. But because of the interview, I had some vague idea of who he was. He wanted to meet with me, but the person wouldn't specify why. He was a politician, though. I figured maybe it was a job opportunity, or something like that. So I met with him.

    Let me tell you that Harry Palmer is the scariest man I've ever met in my life. He shut down an entire restaurant for the meeting, so it was just me and him sitting in the middle of an empty restaurant. When I walked in, he was calm and polite. I can't narrow down what it was, but something about him was off. I noticed it right away. Maybe the look in his eyes, because it was kind of cold. Unfeeling. I don't know. He opened up by saying that he had a job offer for me, and I got kind of excited. I shouldn't have, after having read your article, but I did. It was the world of politics, which was new for me.

    But then he explained what the job was. He wanted me to spy on you. He wanted me to alter sensitive company documents. I was supposed to report back to him on everything I knew about you. Immediately, I refused. I told him that I wouldn't do it, that I couldn't. What was crazy was, he already knew so much about me. Me and you. He knew your mom's name, Aubrey. Your mom's name. I guess that shouldn't surprise me. You're famous. But he also knew my parents' names. He knew my sister's name. He knew where I went to school. He even knew that I had a crush on you. He knew things that should have been impossible for him to know, which made me wonder why he even needed me. If he had access to the information he had, why couldn't he use that same source to get the information he needed?

    After having dealt with him for months now, my theory on that is because he likes to fuck with people. He likes turning people against each other. He likes the power it gives him. HE. IS. EVIL. Aubrey. HE. IS. A. SNAKE. I've never met anyone like him. Never. He threatened me. And he would catch me just on the right days, when I was pissed off at you for ignoring me. Or lately, whenever I was jealous of Destiny."

    Aubrey's heart clenched in his chest at the mention of Destiny, and the feeling of panic set in.

    "Don't worry...I didn't tell him about you and Destiny. There were a lot of things that I didn't tell him, because I never set out to ruin you. I was definitely jealous of her but I'd never want harm to come to her because of something I did or said. But I am the one who altered the accounting documents. At Harry's request, I took photographs of you and Destiny together, because he wanted to know the woman in your life that was important to you. I tried to make sure you couldn't clearly see Destiny's face in the photos. When I gave the photos to Harry, I told him that she was just some random girl, that I didn't recognize her. He did seem to recognize her, though. He had me listen in on the phone calls you had with your private investigator and report those details to him. He had me do these things, but I swear it seemed like he already had our phones bugged or something. He knew so much, things I never even told him. It's like he has eyes and ears everywhere. "For all I know, he has some spying program on our computers and he'll wipe mine before you get the chance to read this. I hope he doesn't, because I want you to know everything. I should have come to you a long time ago. I should have come to you as soon as he approached me, but I was angry with you, and hurt by you, because I had such deep feelings for you. To continue being ignored...only to see you prance around the office with...

    "I guess that's beside the point, now. Believe it or not, there is a silver lining in all of this. During my time working for him, I collected information about the events Palmer and his friends are trying to hide. I want to emphasize that you need to use this information wisely. If you're reading this, it means that he has done something to me. If you're not careful, he will do the same thing to you. He will not hesitate, Aubrey. The only reason he is hesitating now, is because he'd rather not kill you. You're a public figure and he knows that the police would work tirelessly to find your killer. And also, I think he'd rather punish you than kill you. He'd rather ruin you than kill you. With how twisted he is, he'll probably frame you for murder since a murder is exactly what he's trying to hide. He's that twisted, Aubrey. He's that sick. So while I'm going to give you the ammo it will take to bring him down, be careful with how you use it. He and his colleagues will stop at nothing, and I mean nothing, to hide the crimes they have committed. I don't want you to end up like me."