50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Fifteen

    Aubrey briefly looked through the documents in the Palmer Acquisitions folder, then went into his office. When he returned to Bridgette's desk, he held two slim flash drives in his hands.

    Carlos walked around the desk and peered over his shoulder. "So she did have files saved for you on here?"

    "She was a smart girl," Aubrey said somberly, inserting a flash drive into one of the computer's USB ports. He proceeded to back up the files and made a steeple of his hands. With closed eyes, he leaned forward, resting his forehead against his joined hands. He'd been so suspicious of her. After reading her letter to him, he had every reason to be suspicious of her. But her intentions hadn't been malicious. Like Carlos, she'd been forced into doing something she hadn't wanted to do. And now she'd been killed for what? Because she'd gone to the police? Because she was another loose end? Or simply because she was close to him, simply for the purpose of framing him for murder? I had security guards watching over her room and she was still killed.

    "When we questioned your guards, they advised that they'd been keeping post over that room for the past few days," Detective Larrieu had advised. "At least one of them watched over the room at all times. Now...you tell me that the balcony window was open. Our theory is that whoever killed Bridgette entered through the balcony window."

    "Great. All we have to do is find Spiderman," Aubrey had mumbled even though it wasn't the time for jokes.

    "Is aaaaanybody home?"

    Aubrey lifted his eyes, snapping out of his thoughts. At the sound of Brian's voice, he stood out of the chair and walked around the desk. He moved to stand at the end of the aisle that ran through the thirty-fifth floor office.

    Destiny was walking towards him, with Brian not too far behind her. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, but all he saw when he looked at her was a vision of beauty.

    Aubrey didn't even think about it. In that moment, he didn't pause to consider any possible consequences of his actions. He ran down the aisle and gathered her up in his arms, burying his face in her neck.

    Stunned, she took a moment to return the affection. But her arms slid around him. "It's okay," she told him. "Whatever happened, it's okay."

    Aubrey knew that he was all but crushing her in the embrace, but knowing that didn't make him loosen his grip. He held onto her, overcome with emotion and the love he felt with her. When he finally pulled back from the embrace, he grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her. Then he kissed her cheeks and her forehead. Taking a deep, shaky breath, he looked over the top of her head at Brian. "Thank you, for bringing her."

    "No problem, man," Brian said, scratching his temple. "But you didn't explain anything. Why are we meeting here? You just felt the need to see her?"

    Aubrey shook his head. "No."

    Worry was etched in the lines of Destiny's face.

    He stroked her hair back from her face. "I mean...I needed to see you, yes, but it's much bigger than that."

    "That doesn't sound good," Brian said.

    Aubrey continued to stare at Destiny. "You don't know how much I've missed you."

    "I've missed you too, but...you're shaking. What's going on?"

    He ran a hand across his forehead. "Both of you, follow me." He turned and led them to Bridgette's desk.

    Carlos was still standing near it.

    At the sight of him, Destiny's eyes widened. Her mouth dropped open. "Carlos?"

    He grinned. "It takes more than some fat politician to kill me, honey."

    Destiny ran to him and hugged him. "Oh my God. Oh my God, I thought you were dead. Why didn't you get a message to me? Why didn't you-"

    "I couldn't come anywhere near Toronto," Carlos explained. "Because Harry did try to kill me. I managed to get away, but he's out for blood." He turned his gaze to Aubrey.

    Destiny wiped at the tears on her cheeks and turned to Aubrey. "You could have waited until Monday to let me know he was okay, but you had me meet you here to tell me that he was okay. Thank you, Aubrey."

    "That's not the only reason we're all meeting here," Aubrey said slowly. "Bridgette was killed last night."

    Brian's complexion paled, even more than normal. "What?"

    "I found her in her hotel room bathroom a few hours ago. She was dead. Someone killed her, and I think we all know who was behind that."

     "Hotel? But she lives like...fifteen minutes away," Brian pointed out. "Why the hell would she have been staying in a hotel?"

    "She was staying with me for awhile," Aubrey explained, resuming his spot behind the desk and seating himself. He checked the progress of the transferring files. "She came to my condo with a story that she'd been attacked in her apartment."

    "You never told me that," Destiny said, frowning.

    "I haven't said much to you recently," he said.

    Her frown deepened, but she didn't say anything.

    "From the get-go, I was suspicious of her. But just in case she was telling the truth, I let her stay. On a whim, I went to her apartment to check it out. She claimed that it was ransacked and I wanted to see if she was telling the truth about that. Everything was thrown all over the place, but she had this... shrine. It was dedicated to me."

    Destiny folded her arms across her chest.

    "After seeing that, I didn't feel comfortable letting her stay with me. So one day I told her that we should drive to work together, only I took her to the police station and forced her to tell them everything."

    "Smart man," Brian remarked.

    The files finished transferring. Aubrey removed the flash drive, inserted the second one, and repeated the process, copying the files over. "Carlos dropped by my condo today."

    Carlos raised a hand and waved it at Destiny and Brian.

    Destiny hugged him again. "I'm so glad you're okay."

    "I was running out of money, and I didn't know what else to do," Carlos said. "So I went to Aubrey. I wanted to ask him for help."

    "I mentioned that I was helping Bridgette, so I might as well help him too, and he recognized Bridgette's name," Aubrey said, standing from the chair. He handed one of the flash drives over to Brian. "Take this. Store it somewhere safe. Make sure someone you trust knows where to find it."

    Destiny looked between Brian and Aubrey. "You're freaking me out. Why are you giving that to Brian?"

    "Just in case something happens to me," Aubrey told her calmly.

    "Do you think Palmer is going to do something to you?" she demanded.

    "He already is," he said, a tinge ofsadness touching his voice. "He's framing me for Bridgette's murder."