50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

More Life: Chapter Fifty-Four

    As the hours passed, Mr. Richards visibly relaxed. His back had been ramrod straight for the vast majority of the visit, but eventually he did lean back in his armchair. It's possible that the sight of the stoic federal agents put him at ease, or maybe it was the close proximity Aubrey kept to Destiny. He was serious about not leaving her side. Even when she had to use the bathroom, he walked her there and remained outside of the bathroom as she used it. Then, he walked her back to the family room and gathered her in his arms again. 

    Mr. and Mrs. Richards watched all of this, hung onto every word spoken in the room. While Mr. Richards was still visibly stressed, Mrs. Richards seemed to focus on the silver lining. Her little girl was home and [relatively] safe.  For that reason, the excitement and relief never seemed to leave her eyes.

    Conversation eased into surface conversation and Destiny asking about the rest of the family. That seemed to remind Mrs. Richards that there were a lot of calls she needed to make.

    "Thank you," Destiny told her mother appreciatively. "For safety reasons, I still won't be able to make many calls. There are concerns about Aubrey's phone lines being monitored."

    For the first time since seeing her daughter, Mrs. Richards frowned. "That's possible?"

    "His men found us in Turks and in Grand Cayman," Destiny reminded her. "And he was able to infiltrate the FBI. This man has crazy connections and we don't want to underestimate him."

    Mrs. Richards started fidgeting immediately after that revelation. "They won't let you stay here? We're just going to have to worry about you while you're out there with that...that monster?"

    "I'll be worried about you guys, too," Destiny said. "The FBI isn't just going to stay posted here to watch over you. They have a whole system in place that will help to keep you safe. I know that and I'm still going to worry about you, because I love you guys to the moon and back."

    "Time to bring out the shotgun and the Desert Eagle," her father muttered with a roll of his eyes. "All because some evil, no good son of a bitch can't leave my little girl alone."

    Aubrey hid a laugh behind one hand. He loved the way Mr. Richards thought. "I'm also armed," he informed Destiny's parents. "Security is also stationed on my property. You're both welcome to stay at my property, if you'd like. I know Destiny would probably feel better, and some of my friends will be staying with us along with their families."

    Mr. and Mrs. Richards exchanged glanced, and Mr. Richards finally nodded.

    Carlos squeezed his eyes shut and pursed his lips, probably to prevent himself from making jokes and references about the Richards's last visit to Aubrey's residence.

~~~~~~

    "Hey man, how are you holding up?"

    "Holding up?" Jordan echoed. "What do you mean?"

    His friend stared at him blankly. "Oh man, you haven't heard."

    Jordan laughed. "Heard what?"

    "About Destiny. She's not dead. She's very much alive. It's all over the news. She's standing there with Drake, talking about how someone tried to kill her. More than once."

    It felt like the ground was falling away from Jordan's feet. He struggled to understand what his friend was even telling him. Destiny? Alive? How the fuck...? He blinked rapidly and gave a brief shake of his head. "Show me," he instructed his friend while his heart hammered beneath his chest.

~~~~~~

    Throughout most of his career, Harry was told that federal minimal security prison was a walk in the park compared to actual jail. Granted, he didn't have to worry about random fights breaking out. Most of his fellow prisoners were guilty of white collar crimes, such as money laundering. Extortion. Embezzlement. Crimes involving money instead of violence. Harry had committed a smorgasbord of crimes and immediately, he could tell that the District Attorney hadn't known what to do with him. Because he was still on trial awaiting a verdict on his crimes, it was decided to throw him into federal prison, for his safety. 

    Gotta love our government...I'm suspected of murdering, orchestrating murder, racketeering and a bunch of other financial crimes, along with RICO charges, and they're still concerned with my well-being. Ain't this country great. 

    That didn't mean his time spent in prison wasn't without its struggles. The food was still borderline slop. He was still bored out of his mind. Other prisoners attempted to befriend each other, but he wasn't here to make friends. He was allowed phone calls, but those phone calls were monitored. For this reason, he chose his words very carefully. 

    During his time in prison, his businesses were suffering, along with his political career. One crime is mentioned and suddenly everyone pops out of the woodworks, trying to stick shit to you. It was only a matter of time before classmates he owed twenty bucks to started speaking up to the press. 

    I had been his intention to spend as little time as possible in prison. That intention relied heavily on Aubrey Graham and Destiny Richards having a very limited shelf life. So far, all attempts at ending the two of them had failed. The incompetency he was surrounded by was increasingly irritating. How hard was it to take someone out these days? There were so many different methods, so many different opportunities. But Macally was soft and I knew he was soft. Technically, his failure is my fault. He should've never been given this task. He was just an easy pick because he has so much to lose. Loves his family. Easily threatened. I thought that with threats to his family, he would suddenly turn into someone capable of murder overnight. Stupid on my part. But nearly everyone on my team has been picked off one by one by this Darius Garner character at the FBI. He keeps getting in the way at every turn.

    Seated on the edge of a narrow bed mounted to a stark white wall, Harry leaned forward and folded his beefy hands together. I've been maneuvering around Agent Garner when he should've been the first person I took out, he realized. Not all agents are as determined as this man is. If someone else replaces him, someone with less of a personal stake in this, then I'll have another shot at preventing Aubrey or Destiny from getting up on that witness stand once trial starts.

    A hard glint shone in his eyes as he smoothed hands along his prison uniform pants. I've got less than three weeks to take these annoying bitches out. It's time to stop thinking small.