50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Sixty-Eight

    There was a lot of noise upstairs. Yelling. What sounded like gunshots. Aubrey sat up and scooted back against the wall. He desperately looked around the basement, looked around for something that could be used as a weapon. Pulling himself up to a standing position, he weakly hobbled over to the stack of boxes near the tiny window.

    The door upstairs was yanked open. "Come!" someone shouted. It sounded like the Jamaican.

    Aubrey turned towards the staircase.

    The Jamaican grumbled and stormed downstairs. He stood at the foot of the stairs, wearing a bullet proof vest. A gold badge was secured to his belt. Gesturing wildly at Aubrey, he repeated, "Come!"

    Filled with hope, Aubrey started to move towards him. His legs, in their weakened state, failed him. He toppled to the ground, stretching out his arms to break his fall at the last possible moment.

    Royce ran over to him and helped him up. "It is a battle zone upstairs, so you have to be careful. I'm keeping an eye out for you, but watch your back."

    "Are you...are you a cop?" Aubrey asked, vaguely remembering the flash of gold he'd mistaken for a belt buckle. It wasn't a buckle...it was a badge.

    "Undercover," Royce explained. "We've had our eye on Palmer for a while, but we've been looking for something that can stick on him."

    "Kidnapping wasn't good enough?" Aubrey asked, covering a cough with his hand.

    "We needed something stronger than that." Royce seemed to think about his words, then added as an afterthought, "No offense."

    Aubrey's brows furrowed. "None taken."

    Royce helped him up the stairs, but paused at the top of the stairs. He craned his neck around the corner. Holding up an index finger to his lips, he assisted Aubrey down the hall and towards the front door.

    Palmer lurched at them, grabbing for Aubrey's shirt.

    Mustering up all of the strength he had, Aubrey swiftly stepped out of reach.

    Palmer fell face-first on the floor. A pool of blood swelled around his body.

    Another bulletproof-vest wearing man holding a semi-automatic pistol tipped his hat to Royce.

    "Did you call it in?" Royce demanded.

    The man nodded. "Reinforcements are in transit."

    "I'm going to take the hostage in to the nearest hospital for treatment," Royce explained. "Make sure to scope out the scene, check to see if anyone else is hiding. I would stay and help, but if the hostage doesn't get help soon..."

    "Understood." The blonde man turned and spoke into a small handheld radio.

    Royce helped Aubrey outside.

    Aubrey tilted his head back, welcoming the warmth sun's rays.

    "When you mentioned Palmer killing his wife, I had my team look into the details of the case," Royce explained as he helped Aubrey down the walkway leading to the driveway. "It turns out that someone recently started digging up information, an investigator that I'm sure you hired. That made it easier for us to gather the information, since all of the sources we checked with already had the files there and waiting for us. A case is being built against Palmer as we speak."

    "But..." Aubrey couldn't believe that it was this easy. He thought that he'd have to go toe-to-toe with Palmer himself - not that he was physically capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone at this point. He was so weak he could barely stand. It was hard to believe that a member of law enforcement had been a part of this all along, hiding on the inside just waiting for the right bit of information. "This feels too easy. Way too easy."

    "Says the man who hasn't eaten in days, has barely had any water to drink, and hasn't seen the light of day in weeks?" Royce queried, opening the passenger side door of a black, unmarked police car.

    Aubrey shook his head. "Palmer said that he wasn't the only one. That some of the other politicians I named..."

    "We're looking into them as well," Royce advised. "You can relax, Mr. Graham. It's over."

    Lowering himself into the passenger seat of the car, Aubrey didn't know what to think. He was on the verge of tears at the thought that all of this craziness could possibly be resolved.

    "This is Garner," Royce said into his cell phone as he opened the driver side door. "Transporting the hostage to receive medical treatment. Wesley, Roberts, and O'Hara are still casing out the residence, checking for any other perpetrators. Palmer was last seen severely injured. Ambulances have already been contacted. I will provide a status update once we reach the hospital."

    "Standing by for update, Agent Garner," a female voice responded.

    Royce glanced at Aubrey. "You hanging in there?"

    Aubrey nodded weakly.

    "How about some tunes?" Royce started the car and leaned forward to increase the volume on the radio. "0 to 100/The Catch Up" was playing. Laughing, Royce nudged Aubrey. "Perfect song for the moment, huh? Your own song. An old one, too. What are the odds they'd be playing this right now, right at this exact moment?"

    Yeah, what are the odds? Aubrey thought, turning his head to look out of the window. He couldn't help but wonder if this was another one of his hallucinations. But in the back of his mind, he knew that this was real life. I can't believe this is actually over. But Destiny...I'm on my way back to you, baby. Just hold on. I'm coming home.