50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

More Life: Chapter Seventy-Two

    Jordan was offered a deal. In exchange for his witness testimony during the trial of Harry Palmer, he would receive immunity. 

    Aubrey was ready to kill someone, once he found out that information. 

    It was Darius who had to sit him down and get him to see reason. He pressed a hand to Aubrey's chest. "Relax."

    "He almost killed her," Aubrey ground out between clenched teeth. "And did you hear him afterwards? No remorse. No regret. He dangled the fact that he almost killed her in front of my face and said that I was next. You want to let a psychopath like that go free?"

    "You're forgetting who hired him to kill you both," Darius reminded him. "You're forgetting the entire reason why we're here. We're here for the trial of Harold Palmer. That is the mastermind."

    "He deserves to fucking fry for this," Aubrey said, visibly shaking.

    "You can't see it right now, because of how close you are to this thing," Darius told him, his voice lowering so the other FBI personnel milling about couldn't hear him, "but Palmer hiring Jordan is the best favor they could have ever given us."

    Aubrey's glare was lethal.

    Darius held up a hand begging pardon. "Because of Jordan, we have a direct tie. We have someone willing to confess under oath that Harold Palmer hired him and conspired to kill two people. I wanted to keep the hope alive for you and Destiny that this trial was going to go off without a hitch, but the truth? I've seen a lot of these high profile trials, Aubrey. Many have come and went, and I can count on one hand how many of the guys are sentenced more than a fancy ankle bracelet for home monitoring or a nice stay at Club Med. We don't want that for him, do we?"

    Stubbornly, Aubrey refused to meet his gaze. He didn't want to be coerced into agreeing to this. He still wanted Jordan to burn. All he could picture in his mind was how close he was standing to Destiny by the time Aubrey had found his way into the hall...that meant Jordan had been even closer to her. He'd almost gotten her. That was what he'd said, wasn't it? What if the FBI agents hadn't escorted her? What if they'd both had their backs turned for even a few seconds longer? We still don't even know what was in the fucking syringe, Aubrey thought miserably. All we know from what Jordan's already told Darius is that what's in there was meant to kill us. 

    "I know that this isn't the perfect scenario," Darius told him. "Our odds of getting perfect in this? Getting Palmer and Jordan? Slim to none. But a witness testimony like this? Corroborating just how evil Palmer is? Not only does that give us the slam dunk, but it could save you and Destiny months, if not years of being tied up in a trial. Think about that for a minute. Seriously. Is there anything you've wanted to do with her that this could free you up to do, sooner rather than later?"

    Tears filled his eyes as he pictured Destiny dressed all in white, beaming up at him through a sheer, thin fabric. He blinked past the tears and finally met Darius's persistent eyes. "He doesn't stay with us," he said firmly. "He has to be placed in some other safe house."

    "Agreed. We considered leaving him in a jail cell, but considering the fact that the police department is most likely compromised..." Darius shook his head. "They'd probably let him walk on some technicality so Palmer can take him out."

    Aubrey blocked the thought that Palmer taking out Jordan would be a favor. Focus on the fact that this could save you months...that would free you up to return to your bubble with the love of your life. Closing his eyes, he reinforced the thought, Just focus on that. Real freedom from all of this. "There's no way to trick him with a deal like this? Once Palmer is arrested, we can't... I don't know...throw Jordan in the looney bin for what he shouted to me?"