I don’t feel anything. The entire flight from Newark to Hilton Head Airport I keep waiting for my emotions to take over, but they don’t. I sit in the seat of the tiny plane Christian was able to charter this morning feeling like a blank canvas. Not speaking. Registering nothing.
“Do you want to eat?” Luke asks from the seat across from me. I don’t even look at him as I shake my head. “Ana, you may not get a chance once we land. Have some pretzels.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Ana…”
“Just… bring me a bottle from the diaper bag. Calli should eat before we land.”
I hear his sharp intake of breath through his nose, but he doesn’t argue with me again. He gets up to do exactly as I ask and while I listen to him shaking the bottle of formula behind me I tighten my hold on my daughter, who is now sleeping in my arms. She screamed when the plane took off and continued to cry until long after we’d reached cruising altitude, but I almost prefered that. Now that she’s quiet and resting peacefully, there’s nothing to distract me from my thoughts. I know my mother is in critical condition, bad enough that Christian had been concerned about the time it would take me to fly from New York to Georgia, but I don’t know what happened to her or if anyone else I care for is among the injured. Or worse.
Carter. Taylor. Ryan. Bob.
They’re all question marks to me right now.
But they’re not the only questions keeping me silent. The thing making this the most difficult for me right now are the words that Luke said to me in the dressing room at the Today show, about Hyde.
“From what we know of this guy, he doesn’t seem to have a very forgiving nature when it comes to the people he has working for him not coming through…”
Hyun, Leila, Isaac. All people we know were working for him, and now they’re all dead because they didn’t accomplish what they were supposed to. When my mom did what she did after Calliope was born, I couldn’t understand it. I knew she’d been scared after what happened to me during spring break and, while I didn’t agree with it, I could even understand why she’d let that fear manifest into blame on Christian. But what I couldn’t understand was how she could, as a parent herself, let another parent believe their child was dead. How she could be selfish enough to try and steal a child away from her father when she believed that child had just lost her mother. How she could put the entire Grey family, who have been nothing but warm and welcoming from the day they met, through that much pain.
Unfortunately, the answer to those questions now seems obvious. She did what she did because he told her to. It was his plan. He wanted to hurt Christian, and he used someone I trusted to do it. That’s why she was so adamant about trying to break up Christian and I. That’s why she drug my dad into this and tried to poison him against Christian. Because of him. He wanted to take me away from Christian any way he could and my mother was going to help him. She didn’t though, and now she’s paid the price. But after everything Christian has given her, what could he have possibly promised her that would make her do this to him? To me?
I take a deep breath and tilt my head back, trying to fight back tears as I wonder what would have happened had I not made it through Calliope’s birth. She was in the hospital for 10 days. If they’d taken me off life support on day three, Christian and his family would have been gone long before she was discharged. Would she have been allowed to take her home? And if so, would she have tried to raise Calliope as her own, or would she have delivered her straight to him? Given him the ultimate leverage to use against Christian and take everything else he has away from him. Would he have ever gotten her back?
As I take the bottle from Luke and start to feed my daughter, my arms tighten around her tiny frame and I don’t relax my hold on her until after we’ve touched down in Savannah. A strange mix of nerves and dread course through me as we prepare to deboard because I’m not sure I even want to see my mother or know what her condition is. The betrayal I’ve felt so acutely since Calliope’s birth has been made even worse by my suspicion that she’s been involved in all of this and I can’t deal with that and the pain I still feel over the idea of losing her forever. Because, despite everything that’s happened over the last few months, she’s still my mother.
The choices she’s made don’t erase the twenty-two years of memories I have with her. They don’t negate all of the kisses on scraped needs, cuddles after nightmares, or the touch that was the only thing that felt good when I was sick. Hating what she’s done doesn’t make me forget about birthdays, or Christmases, or the one week every summer we spent on the beach playing in the surf and building sand castles. It doesn’t take back every I love you, even if it does make me question the sincerity behind it. It’s one thing to hate your mother when you know she’s safe. It’s an entirely different thing altogether when you know you’ll never speak to her or see her again. When you know that you’ll never have the chance to make things right.
I let out a long calming breath as I take the stairs from the plane down onto the tarmac, but the effects are wasted when I look up at the car waiting for us and see Christian step out. Not from the backseat, but the driver’s seat. Neither Taylor or Ryan are with him and after what happened last night, there’s only one explanation for why he would be alone out in public right now.
“Let’s get everything in the car as quickly as possible,” Christian says, looking past me to Luke. “We need to get back to the hospital.”
“What happened, Christian?” I ask.
He ignores me. “Get in the car, Ana.”
“No, where is everyone?” My voice is desperate as I seek answers to all the questions that have plagued me since I last spoke to him on the phone, but again, he doesn’t answer. Instead, his eyes flit nervously over the empty airfield around us and he pushes me towards the passenger seat of the black Cadillac.
“Just get in the fucking car.”
The bite in his tone momentarily extinguishes my need for answers as I too find myself looking over my shoulder before allowing him to take Calliope out of my arms and hurry me into the car. Luke buckles the carseat in behind me and once Calliope is secured inside the seat, Luke piles in next to her and Christian comes back around to the driver’s seat. Again, he looks warily around before he begins pulling off the tarmac and then speeds down the vaguely familiar highway in the direction of the hospital.
“What happened?” I ask again.
He takes a breath through his nose and when he speaks, his voice is tight. “They were ambushed.”
“How?” Luke asks.
“I don’t know… I don’t know the whole story. Everything happened very quickly. When they called me and I got on the plane, everything had gone according to plan. They had Isaac, they were bringing Carla back to Seattle… but when I landed, no one was there. None of them answered their phones, I had no idea what was going on. All I had was your mother’s address so I went there first and when I got there, the street was covered in glass and blood and everything was roped off by the police. They said it was a drive by.”
“As in… a shooting?” I ask. He nods.
“Your mother and Taylor are in critical condition, they were both in surgery when I got to the hospital.”
“Carter?” I check.
“He was wounded, but I think he’s going to be okay. I’m not really sure. He was admitted but he was also being questioned by the police so I haven’t had the chance to speak with him.”
“And, Ryan?” Luke asks. Christian presses his lips into a thin line and then slowly, shakes his head.
“Jesus Christ.” I look over my shoulder at Luke, who looks a little winded, and then reach back to take his hand. They were friends, and now he’s gone. Just like that. He squeezes my fingers with his, and then takes a few long deep breaths.
“Was there anyone apprehended at the scene?”
“No, the police are still looking for the car but Reed is the only witness who isn’t dead or unconscious. From what I’ve heard all he’s been able to tell them was that it was a black SUV with its lights off.”
I shake my head with disgust. “How did he coordinate something like this? Georgia, New York…”
“Washington,” Christian says, and the words send a tingle up my spine.
“Washington? What?”
“Kate and Elliot went to a concert in Tacoma last night and they stayed in a hotel, so my parents were watching her dog. Apparently he woke everyone up in the middle of the night barking his head off but when my dad got up to let him out, he didn’t see anything unusual. This morning though, after you called looking for me, Elliot brought Kate back to the house before going to Escala and when my dad told her that Champ had freaked out in the middle of the night, she asked Harrison to take a look around. The lock on the gate had been broken and the control panel on the alarm had been dismantled. It looks like someone tried to break in but got scared away when they came face to face with a 130 lb Bullmastiff.”
“Oh my god… everyone’s okay though?”
“Yeah.” He nods. “Thank god for Champ. I’m going to personally see to it that dog is never fed kibble for the rest of his life.”
“How did they get that close? Where was the security guard you hired to stay at your parent’s house?”
“You fired him last weekend. Remember?”
Right. Mia. Fuck, I forgot all about Mia. Should I tell Christian everything she said to me the morning of the wedding now? In the middle of all of this? I don’t know if he can handle much more.
“There’s more…” he says hesitantly. Shit.
“More?”
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, then presses his thumb into the news app on the screen before passing it across the console to me. There are a few stories spread across the home page, all Seattle news, so it takes me a second to realize what he’s showing me.
Women’s Correctional Facility Riot Leaves One Inmate Dead, Others Wounded.
I don’t have to read the article to figure out who it was. Besides, this brings up another issue. One I don’t want to face or admit is an issue at all, but because I love the man sitting next to me, I have to.
I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Christian.”
“No, you’re not,” he replies bluntly. “And it’s fine. There’s no reason to be.” He’s brushing me off but I catch him swallowing, as if he’s trying to force down a lump in his throat, and the muscle in his jaw ticks as he clenches his teeth.
“You can talk to me, I won’t be upset. Are you… Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay,” he says bluntly. “But that has nothing to do with Elena. I’ve done everything I know how to do and I can’t stop him. He’s always one step ahead of me.” His hand moves up and drags through the light stubble over his chin and when he reaches back down for the steering wheel, he squeezes it so hard that his knuckles turn white. “Did I make the wrong choice?”
“What do you mean?”
“When Elena offered me his name for her freedom. Did I make the wrong choice?”
“You mean when you refused to put a child molestor and a convicted sex criminal back on the streets in exchange for the vague promise of a name? No, Christian. You didn’t make the wrong choice.”
“It’s very easy to moralize the situation when you frame it in black and white like that but things turn gray real fast when you consider what we’ve lost trying take the high road. I sent them here, Ana. Ryan’s blood is on my hands, and if Taylor or your mother…” He stops and swallows again. “It would be different if he was coming for me, but he isn’t. He attacks the people I love and I can’t stop him.”
“You will,” I reply firmly. “We’ll find a way.” We have to. There is no other choice. He doesn’t seem as sure though.
“When? And who else am I going to lose before that happens? Mia? You? I can’t keep lying to myself and think I’m protecting you when Hyde was in your fucking dressing room. I can’t stop him and I can’t risk losing you, Ana.”
“You’re not taking risks, this is happening to you. To all of us. You’re doing everything you can to make sure we’re all safe.”
“Am I?”
“What are you saying, Christian?”
“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know what I’m saying, I don’t know what I’m thinking… I don’t what I want to do. Maybe your mom was right. Maybe the answer is that… I’m too dangerous for you.”
“No, that’s not true,” I snap, but he doesn’t look at me. He focuses only on the road as he turns into the parking lot of the hospital. I don’t know how to take what he’s said. I don’t know if he’s serious or if he’s just scared, but his thought process over this whole thing has obviously changed, and this new direction has taken the wind out of me. Suddenly, in a whole new way, it feels as though I may be fighting for my life.
Once we’re parked, he gets out of the car and comes around my side to open the door. I over examine everything, from the way holds my hand in his to the way he walks beside me. In this moment, I can’t even think about what’s waiting on the other side of the automatic doors, even after we step through them.
“Christian,” I whisper. “I love you.”
He stops, pulling gently against my hand to stop me with him, and then looks deep into my eyes. They gray of his irises seems darker than normal, concealing his thoughts and emotions from me. I can’t read him, so I’m surprised when he takes my face in his hands, leans down, and kisses me. Not politely. This kiss is entirely inappropriate for the number of strangers in the waiting room around us, and for my CPO standing only a few feet away, carrying my daughter. His tongue invades my mouth and tangles forcibly with mine. He groans passionately against my lips. When he pulls away, it’s only because we’re both breathless and he has to take a moment to rest his forehead against mine to catch his breath.
“I love you too,” he whispers, sounding pained. “So much.”
There’s resignation in his voice that is terrifying and when he reaches down for my hand again, my throat tightens and tears spring to my eyes.
“Christian…”
He cuts me off. “Come. Let’s get an update.”
Taylor and my mother are out of surgery, but it’s too early to tell anything real about their condition. They’ve been moved into the ICU, where they’ll remain under constant supervision for at least the next 24 hours. Carter is no longer being interviewed by the police though, so we go to his room first to get the story of what actually happened.
“Carter,” I gasp as we step into the room. He’s shirtless, sitting up in bed, and there’s a large white bandage wrapped around his left shoulder. When he turns to look at me, he winces.
“Ana, are you okay?” There’s genuine concern in his voice that makes me feel guilty.
“Me? What about you?”
“I’ll be alright, it’s just the shoulder. Hurts like a bitch but it should leave a pretty cool scar that I can use to impress some girl who’s way too hot for me when I get out of here.”
I laugh and then carefully ease myself down on the side of his bed. “I’m so sorry, Carter. This is all because of me. I shouldn’t have agreed to what you proposed. You should have said no.”
“I’m not sorry,” he says. “What happened would have happened whether I was there or not and if I had said no and your mom was taken or killed, I wouldn’t have been able to ever look you in the eye again. We gave your mom a chance when she had nothing before, and at the very least, he lost someone too. Someone important. The fewer people he has to use to get to you and Calli, the better we’ll all sleep at night. I don’t regret going, Ana. I’m proud of my decision.”
“And I’m forever grateful,” Christian says. “This didn’t work out the way we’d hoped, but I want you to know that what we talked about still stands. And, if you ever need anything, it’s yours. Just call me.”
“Thanks, Grey.”
“Christian,” he corrects him. “My friends call me Christian.”
Carter smiles but then winces again and takes a deep breath as he allows his body to relax back into the pillows.
“I don’t want to put you through more than you’ve already had to endure,” Christian says. “But Ryan is dead and the head of my security is unconscious. I’d really like to talk to you about what happened.”
He nods. “Of course. Um… Isaac pulled me out of bed just after midnight. There was no phone call or advanced warning, he just shook me awake in the middle of the night and told me we had to go. Ana wasn’t supposed to be in Atlanta until Friday so we all thought we had more time. I was worried that Taylor wasn’t ready. I knew he had me under surveillance but I also don’t really know what that means so I thought maybe he might not have been prepared to go right then. We snuck out of the house and drove off my block, but I had no idea if Taylor knew we were leaving or not and I had no way to contact him. I just had to sit.”
“It’s like three hours from my house to Savannah and Isaac didn’t say a single word to me the entire drive. I didn’t even know where we were going. We just pulled up alongside the street of this random neighborhood and he started walking me through the plan. How we were going to get into the house, where the target would be, how we were going to restrain her. He never told me an exit plan and I realize now, that should have been a red flag, but I don’t know enough about this stuff to ask. I just agreed and silently hoped Taylor was there.”
“We got out of the car and went down this alley and jumped a back fence. It was only 4:30 so it was still dark outside and we came up behind this strange house. He jimmied the lock on the external garage door.”
Suddenly, I can picture the scene he describes with perfect detail. I know exactly the door he’s talking about and I know that my mother doesn’t lock the door from the garage into the house. From there, it’s only a few short steps to her bedroom.
“We got into the house and he handed me a gun. I waited for him to move first and then followed him through a laundry room and then off the right to the bedroom. She was still asleep so she didn’t hear us come in. She didn’t know we were there. He was fast. He got to her and pulled her out of bed, and she was so disoriented he’d already had the duct tape out before she started to scream. He didn’t even ask me for help as he tied her up, he didn’t need it. The way he restrained her and tied the ropes around her wrists, it’s like he’d done it a thousand times before and watching him do it was almost sickening. I still didn’t know who she was, but I knew that he planned to kidnap her and would probably end up killing her, and because I didn’t know where Taylor was, it felt like I was just letting it happen. I almost had to try and stop him, but as she struggled to get away from him and he finally called me for help, I heard the click of a gun behind me and Taylor’s voice telling Isaac to put his hands in the air.”
“He did and once Ryan came into the room and we both lifted our guns and pointed them directly at him. He dropped his weapon and backed up against the wall. Taylor wanted to get him out of the house, to get him somewhere secure, so while he dealt with Isaac, Ryan called you, and I moved to help the woman. It was only after I’d freed her that I got an inkling who she was. She has Ana’s eyes. She started to cry and I hugged her and told her that Ana had sent us for her and that she was safe. Then Ryan came back into the room to help Taylor. They talked for a while, trying to decide where to take him that would be safe until you arrived. I don’t even know where they decided, I was too focused on trying to calm down Ana’s mom, but once a decision had been made, they each hooked an elbow through Isaac’s arms and started dragging him from the room. They had a big SUV outside to get us all out of there and Ryan got in first so that they could put Isaac in the back seat between him and me. Taylor got in the driver’s seat, and I helped Ana’s Mom into the front passenger seat. I’d just closed the door and moved to get in the backseat myself when another car without headlights on pulled beside the car and opened fire.”
“The whole thing happened so fast. It probably only lasted maybe ten seconds but they unloaded a full magazine from an automatic rifle into the side of the SUV. I got hit almost immediately so I fell to the ground and I think now they must have thought I was dead. I probably would have been had I been in the car because both Ryan and Isaac…” He shudders. “I could hear their tires screeching as they peeled out on the asphalt and then a few seconds later the neighbors started coming out into their lawns and someone called the police. The ambulance came and brought us here and once they took the bullet out of me and patched up my arm, the police came in to question me. I don’t know anything else. Are Taylor and Ana’s mom okay?”
“We don’t know,” Christian says. “They just got out of surgery. They’re alive though.”
“Good.” He nods and I reach out to rest my hand over his, but I’m distracted again by a worried voice from the hallway.
“Ana?” It’s Kate and when she passes the open doorway and sees us sitting inside, she first looks relieved. Then her eyes fall on Carter and the bandage around his shoulder and her mouth falls open with shock.
“Kate? What are you doing here?” I ask.
“We just landed,” she explains. “The whole family came. We went to see your mom and Taylor and they told us you were here. They asked me to…” Her words cut off and she almost seems to gasp, like she’s having a hard time catching her breath. “Carter?”
“Hey, Katie…” he croaks. Her eyes widen with disbelief as she comes into the room and starts to examine him.
“Oh my god. Why are you here? What happened to you?”
“Oh you know. Just casually taking a bullet on the side of the road, typical Monday night stuff.”
“He was trying to save my mom,” I add.
“What? Why? Jesus Christ, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s nothing really. Actually…” He hesitates. “Katie, I’ve meaning to call you…”
“Ana?” It’s Elliot this time, standing awkwardly in the doorway, and he shifts uncomfortably as his eyes move from Kate and Carter, to me. “The doctors said you need to come. It’s not looking good.”
“Who?” I check, but the answer is in his eyes. I scramble quickly off the bed, reaching for Christian’s hand as I scurry across the floor. “I’ll be back, Carter,” I call over my shoulder. “I promise.”
“Don’t worry about me, Annie,” he replies. Kate takes the place I’ve vacated on his bedside and Elliot lingers in the doorway for just a moment, but he doesn’t say anything. He turns and follows Christian and I back down the brightly lit sterile hallway towards the ICU.
There are too many people surrounding my mother’s bed. Kate was right, the entire family came, and I have to force my way between Mia and Grace before I can see her.
It’s a shock.
She’s paler than I’ve ever seen her look before and there’s dry blood matted in her hair. They have her covered from the neck down so I don’t really know where she’s injured, but her halted breathing, even with the help of an intubation tube, gives me a good idea. Her eyes are closed, but the blood and the tubes make it impossible for me to imagine she’s just sleeping.
Looking at her, I feel so small. The shock grips my lungs like a vice, making it hard to breathe, and I can feel by body shaking. I want to cry and scream and be sick all at once, but I can’t do anything. I can’t can’t move. I can’t hold myself up. As the shaking becomes more violent, my knees give out and I’m swept with a wave of vertigo.
“Annie!” my dad cries worriedly from the other side of the bed.
“I’ve got her,” Christian says. He holds all of my weight as he catches me and pulls me against him, then turns to Elliot. “Bring me that chair, please.”
With a nod, Elliot turns and drags the chair against the wall near the foot of the bed towards me, and slowly Christian lowers me into it. My dad comes around the bed and kneels down next to me, then reaches up and takes my mother’s pale hand in his. The touching gesture catches my eye and brings up another question that was nagging at me on the plane. There should be another man here, holding her hand.
“Where’s Bob?” I ask.
My dad glances up at Christian and then back to me. He looks nervous. “I’m sorry… I should have said something but you and your mom weren’t really, uh…” He takes a breath. “Bob left your mom, Annie. Right after your graduation. He’s been living in an apartment a few miles away from her since June.”
“Oh…” At first the news doesn’t seem to make much impact on me, I think because I’m still in so much shock over everything that’s happened, but then, without warning, the dam holding back all of my emotions bursts with unbelievable force and my body crumples in the chair as I’m overtaken by horribly painful sobs. My dad pulls me into his chest and wraps as much of me as he can in his arms. He doesn’t whisper words of comfort into my ear, he knows there’s nothing he can say. He just holds me and lets me cry.
“Umm… excuse me. Are you Anastasia Steele?” I look up and, through my tears, see a very somber man looking down on me.
“Grey,” I cough, the correction now automatic, but when I nod, he takes a breath and steps past Carrick. He gives me a rundown on the severity of my mother’s condition and her injuries, which include three gunshot wounds to the chest and one to the abdomen. From his explanation of the surgery and everything they’ve observed since she’s been brought into the ICU, I get my first taste of how grim the prognosis really is. She’s not going to wake. She’s gone, and as her next of kin, they’re looking to me to make a decision on what to do. Only there isn’t really a choice. There’s only one thing to do. I just have to be the one to say it.
“It’s crowded in here…” Grace chokes from behind me, trying to hide her own tears. “Why don’t we go back to the waiting room and give Ana and Ray a little space, huh?”
Mia nods, but reaches out and hugs me over the back of my chair. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I love you, Ana.”
“I love you too, Meems.”
She sniffs and then let’s her mother lead her from the room with Elliot dragging along behind. Carrick gives me a tortured but sympathetic look, then tells Christian they’ll be outside before he follows after his wife and children.
“Mrs. Grey?” The doctor presses me. I glance back down at my mom and blink away tears.
“Can I just have a moment alone with her, please?”
“Of course,” the doctor says. “We’ll come check on you again in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” He turns to leave and my dad stands and leans over my mother’s bed to kiss her on the forehead.
“Good-bye, Carla,” he says, unsuccessfully covering the crack in his voice. He turns back to me, reaches into his jacket, and pulls out a thick bunch of envelopes that are held together with a blue rubber band. “I met Elliot at Escala and he saw the letters piling up on the counter that your mom’s been sending to you. He thought you might like them now. If you want.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, reaching out and taking the letters from his shaking hands. His eyes are glassy and he takes a deep, wet breath before nodding, then kisses the top of my head and exits after the doctor.
“Do you want me to go?” Christian asks.
“Please,” I whisper. “But stay close. Okay? Don’t leave.”
“I won’t.” He too kisses me, on my forehead though. “I’m so sorry, Ana. If you need me for anything, I’ll be in the waiting room.”
“I’ll be out soon, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, baby.”
His words make me start to cry again but I shake off his attempts to comfort me and instead ask him to leave again so I can have one more moment alone with my mother. He does, and once I hear the door close behind him, I sink out my chair and onto my knees. I place the letters on the bed and then entwine my fingers with my mother’s
“It’s just you and me now, Mom. No one else. Please wake up.” I pause, gripping her hand tightly with mine as I wait, but she doesn’t stir. “Please,” I beg again. “Okay, we can talk. I shouldn’t have just ignored you, I’m sorry. But we can talk now. We can work out everything between us, we’ll figure out a way, but just wake up, okay? Please? Please, Mom.”
I wait, but there’s nothing. The room is silent except for the slow, steady beep of her heart on the monitor. A beep that won’t last forever.
“Please.”
The doctor doesn’t give me long. When he returns I ask him to explain everything to me one more time so I can be absolutely sure once this is over that I’ve made the right decision. After all, I was on life support once. But this isn’t like when I was in the hospital after Calliope. There isn’t a chance that she’s going to wake up and be fine. There isn’t even a chance that she’ll wake up with severe mental deficiencies or impaired motor function. This is about a machine that’s moving her lungs, and pumping her heart, and how long I want those machines to keep running.
He hands me a form to sign saying that he’s explained everything to me and that I understand what removing life support means. I scrawl a very shaky signature across the bottom and when he asks if I’d like another moment, I shake my head. There’s no sense in prolonging this. There’s no reason to hold on to something that isn’t there or to drawing out this pain. Hope is worse than defeat right now.
“I can’t watch you do it,” I tell him. He nods as his team comes into the room and then steps aside to let me pass.
I pause outside the room to let myself unravel. There’s no sound to whatever they’re doing inside so I don’t have to hear the final moments, which I’m grateful for. I slide slowly down the wall at my back until I’m sitting on the floor and while I try to regain control of my breathing, I reach out for the letters at my side, and slowly, open the one on top.
Anastasia,
I know you can’t understand what I did and I don’t expect you to. Hell, I think I was half out of my mind myself. I don’t intend to make excuses. I don’t expect you to forgive me. But at the very least, I do want you to know that what I did wasn’t purely out of selfishness. I was trying to protect you. I was trying to protect your daughter.
Before I came to Seattle for your baby shower in March, I’d gotten a phone call. It was a man who told me that your involvement with Christian was going to get you killed. He said that it was in my best interest to get you to leave Christian of your own volition, that that was the only way you’d be safe. I asked him who he was but he told me not to ask questions. Questions would get you killed. Words in general would get you killed. I was to convince you to leave, to break Christian’s heart, and if I could do that, you would be fine. He promised me that if you walked away, he wouldn’t harm you and he wouldn’t harm your baby. But if you didn’t, you would die. If I spoke of this conversation, you would die. If I called the police, you would die.
It’s not the first time I’ve gotten calls from crazies about you. Ever since your name started being printed in the news, people have called me. They always say vile things about what a slut you are or about raping you… I thought this was just the same in a long line of terribly unfunny prank calls.
But it wasn’t.
After your baby shower, you were attacked, and I knew it was real. And it was all because of me. Because I didn’t take it seriously. He called me again, and gave me one last chance. I took it. I knew you were too stubborn to listen to me, especially with a baby on the way, so I screamed at Christian on the phone and brought up everything he’s ever done and how it affected you. I blamed him for every hurt, for every tear, for every ounce of physical pain hoping that he might just give up and leave. But he wouldn’t. So then I tried Ray.
When he called you on your graduation, I thought that was the day. I thought I’d run out of time. I watched you laying in that hospital bed and I couldn’t stop all the horrible thoughts that some how, he’d done this to you. None of this was an accident, that you’d been poisoned or he’d found a way to hurt you, maybe while you were sleeping. It’s seems implausible now, but at the time, I was too blinded by fear and the reality that I was going to lose you for it not to all make sense.
I thought I’d lost you, Ana. I wasn’t going to lose Calliope too. That’s why I said what I said to Christian. I wanted to protect her from him. When I wrote my first letter to you, I still wasn’t sure I should tell you. I’m still so scared. Your father told me about the Leila girl and the boy from Thanksgiving, I don’t want that to be you.
But you won’t listen to me anymore, so I can’t protect you. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit to staying quiet if I can’t do what he’s asked me to do to keep you safe, so here it is. You’re in danger, Ana. Please, please, consider that. Consider the safety of your daughter. Run away. Please.
And don’t hate me forever.
I love you, darling baby girl. I’ll always love you. I’ll always be here for you. I’ll always be your mom.
Heartbroken. That’s the only way I can explain the way I feel right now and as I watch the doctors come out of my mother’s room while more hospital personnel go inside, I know I need to get out of here. Taylor is still here somewhere, and I don’t want to leave Carter alone, but I can’t be here right now. I need somewhere I can let myself fully absorb the gravity of what’s happening and then properly fall apart. Maybe in a hotel room, maybe just in the car, but either way, I need to leave this hospital.
I peel myself off the floor, and make my way down the hall to the waiting room, where I know my father and the Grey’s are waiting. It’s an extremely nice setup they have here, the opposite really of the waiting room in Seattle. There are wooden partitions up that create private spaces for family members to come together, probably because this floor has seen so much death. But it means, as I search for my family, that I hear them talking before they see me and when I hear Christian’s voice, I stop to listen.
“I don’t know what else to do, Elliot,” he groans. “You think this is really what I want? You think I could live a day without Anastasia? He’s coming after me and you’re all in danger because of it. Because of me. I can’t let him hurt her.”
“So get on your plane,” Elliot says. “Let Ros have GEH, get on your plane with Ana and Calliope and just go somewhere he can’t find you. I know that you’re scared but you can’t leave her, Christian. It would destroy the both of you and… you’re a father now. That little girl deserves to have you in her life.”
“There’s got to be a way we can stop him,” Carrick says. “Something we haven’t thought of yet.”
“Are you willing to lose people we care about while we try?” Christian counters. “He was at your house last night, Dad. Ana’s mother is going to die because of him.”
“Yeah, so… are we going to talk about what that means?” Elliot asks.
“What do you mean?” Grace asks.
“Well, this guy knows everything Ana and Christian does, so he would know that Ana was estranged from her mother. That doesn’t make her a very likely target if he was trying to get her just to hurt Ana. We all had questions after she tried to basically kidnap Calliope after she was born, maybe… Don’t hate me for saying this, but maybe she was working with him. He does go after his own people when they don’t live up to his expectations and Carla didn’t deliver a baby to him.”
“No,” Christian says. “Carla didn’t like me, but she loved Ana. She wouldn’t have helped the man who was trying to hurt her.”
“She would if she thought that is what she was trying to prevent,” I say, and the voices on the other side of the partition go silent. I take a breath and wipe away the moisture still clinging to my cheeks before I step into view. Every pair of eyes turn to look at me, so I hold up my mother’s letter. “He called her before my shower and told her that if she didn’t break Christian and I up, he was going to hurt me and Calliope. He promised her that if she could convince me to break Christian’s heart and that she never said anything about him, that he wouldn’t harm me. He used my life as leverage over her and she fell for it.”
“What?” my dad asks. I hand him the letter. It’s silent as we all watch his eyes scan through the pages, and when he’s finished, there’s almost a green tint to his completion. “Why would someone do this?”
“Because it’s how he gets what he wants,” Mia says, her voice breaking as she forces out the words. “People are surprisingly self-sacrificing, so he demands your silence by going after the people you love. He sends flowers to your private dressing room at your rehearsal space with a note reminding you to keep your mouth shut. He sends you pictures from the inside of your house of your mother doing laundry with a red dot on the back of her head. He calls you from an anonymous number to talk about how much work your dad’s golf swing needs when you know he’s out on the course. He leaves pictures of Ana or Elliot or Kate on the the windshield of your car at school. He does everything he can to show you that he can get to the people you love and reminds you over and over again that staying silent is the only way to keep them from getting hurt.” She starts crying and every person sitting inside the closed off vestibule goes stiff.
“Mia…” Christian breathes. She looks up at him with tear filled eyes and shakes her head with shame.
“Christian…. I know who it is.”
wishingmrgreywashere 
Good chapter
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Great chapter. Can’t wait for Mia’s explanation. She’s been giving the inside info??? What’s Carter be wanting to talk to Kate about??? Questions and questions, can’t wait, totally hooked. Loving it. Thank you.
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WTF?! How long has Mia known?! I knew she was acting strange but I thought it was all the stress of the trial and the things happening to Ana and Christian. I wonder how Ana and Christian are going to react?! I think my mind is baffled that she knows who Mr Conspiracy Head is and kept it to herself. I can’t wait to finally know who it is!
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OOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGG! I CAN’T!!!! JESUS CHRIST!!! CAN’T WAITTTTTTT!!!! I’M WITH SOOO MUCH ANXIETY FOR NEXT CHAPTER!!!!
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Oh now the stupid bitch talks. How will Ana ever forgive her for not speaking up soon, after loosing her mum and Ryan whilst Taylor’s in critical condition. Yes she was threatened and scared but at least if she had spoken up.. Christian and Taylor would have known who they were dealing with or what they were up against.
So sorry for Carla and Ryan. I hope Taylor pulls through. B.t.w. where is Gail?
I hope they catch gim and skin him alive..
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It now explains her (Mia) weird/ odd behavior. I think its someone from the club or Linc.
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The PROBLEM with it being someone from the club is that Mr. Conspiracy Head expected ANA to remember him. And Ana has never been inside the secret rooms of the club itself. So UNLESS the person is, say, an employee of SIP that utilized the club, then there would be NO REASON for Ana to recognize anyone that came to the club.
But Mr. Conspiracy Head IS interested in tormenting Ana AND Mia, BOTH of whom HE knows. So that DOES somewhat LIMIT THE LIST of possible contenders. Which is why I still say Andrew Lincoln, due to the fact that he was in the same room as Ana for the first Thanksgiving at the Grey home, in the ski cabin for the Aspen vacation and at the ballet where he overheard Ana confronting Elena (and Astor Harrington).
So Andrew Lincoln DID have an acquaintance with Ana, albeit brief. And he WOULD be motivated to torment Mia, since Mia CHOSE to go to work for Elena at her club, KNOWING what went on at the place AND knowing what Elena had done with Christian.
So I see Andrew Lincoln being MOTIVATED to make Mia pay for having seemingly chosen to rebuild a relationship with Elena, ALL because Elena had money—money that had come from ANDREW.
But the ONLY other link that Mia and Ana shared (as far as aquaintances) would have been an employee of GEH (most likely of the SIP division) that chose to utilize ELENA’S bar so that Mia would have known HIM.
STILL, I am curious as to WHY Mr. Conspiracy Head has chosen to risk so much JUST to TORMENT and traumatize Mia. I feel like I am still missing a piece of the puzzle. Mia’s confessions should help explain everything.
OF COURSE, we are all ASSUMING that Mia will get the chance to TELL us everything next chapter. Since Mia seemingly feels she has NOTHING left to lose, then MR.CONSPIRACY HEAD probably feels the same. So I expect HIM to be at the hospital now, and Carter and Kate have been left ALONE in a hospital room. . . .
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OH. MY. GOD! Mia’s is giving him inside information, isnt she? Cant wait for the next chapter!
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Does anybody else want to know what in the hell Christian promised Carter??
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There are multiple possibilities. I imagine that Christian promised Carter 1) a job—after all, Carter is a business major, 2) a recommendation letter for Harvard and/or Carter’s father, 3) paying off any student loans Carter has OR even paying for Harvard Law, at whatever point Carter gets in. And having a job at GEH would give Carter a chance to explore his options to decide if law is really the way he wants to go. Any way you look at it, though, Christian would make sure that Carter’s future career path was secure.
A recommendation letter from THE Christian Grey would go a long way, particularly as Christian would mention Carter’s loyalty in risking everything for his friends when his life, quite literally, was in jeopardy. That takes a LOT of faith and courage. AND Christian Grey would make sure Carter’s father knows just what kind of man his son is.
And Christian could give Carter a job at GEH. Such experience could either jump-start Carter’s career OR be the kind of career experience that would show Harvard Law that Carter was a worthwhile investment, if Carter decided that he did prefer the law.
And Carrick is an attorney—he could even give Carter a well-paying internship with him. Christian could even give Carter an internship with GEH’s legal division.
Any way you look at it, Christian would make sure Carter’s future was a promising one. AFTER ALL, Christian has learned to VALUE loyalty, especially someone willing to risk his own life to do the RIGHT thing. At this point, assuming Carter is a good guy AND survives this, that kind of CHARACTER is worth promoting.
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Good theory. However, I have always wondered that Carter’s Dad would prefer if achieved on his own merit as in he applied himself at school to prove he’s worthy. There is something that isn’t right about Carter. He lost Ana to Christian and then Kate back to Elliot which can’t be good for the ego? !? I just think he comes out of a massive drive by shooting where two trained military men were serverly injured and killed along with two people that could identify this bloke with basically a graze a nasty one at that, but one where he will walkout alive, unless he isn’t a baddy and somehow now needs to kill him for knowing to much but at the same time if Issac only approached him with a deal and Issac is dead Carter might not be considered a threat to Christian anymore but perhaps this another way back into the inner circle?
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And THAT is my worry as well, as is listed in another of my previous comments. There was an ALTERNATIVE CAR, as if Mr. Conspiracy Head KNEW that Christian’s people were coming. BUT he obviously knew it would only be a couple of people, so the drive-by car puts MULTIPLE bullets into Ryan, Taylor, Isaac and Carla, BUT only grazes Carter’s shoulder? If you are going to go to that much trouble to kill people, then you make sure there are multiple bullets in EVERYONE so that there is no possibility of anyone surviving.
Carter’s DAD is a big unknown here as well. Carter has a need to impress his father, yet it wasn’t enough of a need to forego partying at Harvard in exchange for studying more. So Carter is working for his father, who presumably would report Carter missing or would have flown or driven down to the hospital to see WHY his son was in a gun battle.
ANA was able to get to the hospital from New York supposedly quicker than Carter’s family could make it to the hospital? When Carter’s family is ALSO from Georgia? In fact, at this point, we don’t know if Carter has even TRIED to call his family, and GIVEN THE WAY Mr. Conspiracy Head is bent on punishing and killing people at this point, then Carter SHOULD be worried about his parents and have pleaded for protection for them.
So there are multiple holes here. Carter COULD be on the up and up. I WANT to believe he is, because the idea of Kate having been intimate with someone that would want her hurt or dead is too appalling to contemplate. AND Carter’s being injured would make someone THINK that he truly tried to HELP.
But the OTHER POSSIBILITY could be that Carter is trying to play this both ways. I FULLY admit that I don’t know at this point whether Carter is good or bad (or just being used and duped by Mr. Conspiracy Head. HOWEVER, if Carter had been with the Conspiracy from the beginning, then it would have been EASY to get Ana—after all, Luke did not stay overnight at the Cambridge home until later. So Carter could have tranquilized either or BOTH Kate and Ana and gotten either into the hands of Mr. Conspiracy Head.
At this point, given all that has happened, it is easy to basically be paranoid about everyone. But if Carter ever had any real feelings for Ana or Kate, he would NOT want them to be harmed in the manner planned by Mr. Conspiracy Head. So I WANT to believe in Carter’s innocence. But I’m wary at this point. AND as said above, the OTHER POSSIBILITY is that Mr. Conspiracy Head is playing Carter and using him to get Kate or Ana at the hospital.
We just have to wait and see. Have I mentioned lately how allergic I am to patiently waiting????
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First of all this this is an Excellent story!
If I remember correctly, there was a dinner at the Grey home where there was talk about a banker/business associate (I think) that had lunch with Gia. Elliot was questioning Christian about if he knew who this business associate was. When Elliot gave Christian his name, Mia had a reaction to this person’s name. I think this banker/business associate is the person that wanted Mia in the BDSM club. Possibly,this couls be Mr. Conspiracy Head…. just a theory.
But I do look forward to Monday’s now.
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I like your theory and am thinking along the same line. For some odd reason I have a bad vibe about Carter and I hope Im wrong. But can someone please go check on Carter and Kate… lol.
I just hope Mia’ silence is not the catalysts that draws a wedge between Ana/Christian or the Greys/Steeles. Poor Ana and Christian have been to hell and back and the family and security have suffered along with them even to the point of people loosing their lives and Taylor fighting for his. Perhaps these unfortunate incidents could have possibly been avoided if only Mia had confided in Christian or maybe Taylor… knowing Taylor would have handled it better than Christian would have….
Where is Calli. She was with Sawyer and I hope they’re safe with the family…
Will Mia get to tell them or will there be another interference.. I just hope she’s not wired.. because hell is about to freeze over…
Damn Tara… is it Monday already!..lol
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I think its Tuesday
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HERE is the only problem with the banker theory: Mr. Conspiracy Head EXPECTED ANA TO REMEMBER HIM, as per his phone call to her on Graduation Day. And to my knowledge, we have never had Ana meeting or working with Gresham (the banker guy).
Still, we know Mia got upset around that table at the family barbeque for Ray’s return. It could have been that she was sent a scary text by Mr. Conspiracy Head, who would have KNOWN that Mia would be tempted to speak up.
I just wonder WHEN MIA KNEW who Mr. Conspiracy Head was. OBVIOUSLY, Mr. Conspiracy Head felt a NEED to scare Mia into silence. So she had to have found out WHO HE WAS through some means.
Mr. Conspiracy Head has been careful to keep people from learning his actual NAME unless HE WAS SURE of them (such as Leila). And even with Leila, HE didn’t tell her WHO HE WAS during that first telephone contact back at the end of ASSOF.
So there has to be a REASON THAT MIA KNOWS HIS IDENTITY now. If MIA RECOGNIZED HIS VOICE, then HE would have a reason to try to frighten her into silence. So I’m wondering multiple things at this point: did Mr. Conspiracy Head put someone in Mia’s life that grew WORRIED for Mia’s safety and TOLD HER something? Did Mia stumble into something while working at the CLUB when she WITNESSED a GEH employee utilize Elena’s services? SOMEHOW, Mia realized JUST WHO HE WAS at some point, and HE KNEW IT. So the terror began sometime FOR A REASON.
But I am also worried about Mia being able to actually SAY who it is without being interrupted. SOMEONE is bound to realize that Kate has been gone too long OR would want Kate present for the REVEAL, only to realize that no one knows where Kate now is. (And Carter may or may not still be in his room as well.) So an EMERGENCY may intervene. BUT THAT IS ALL THE MORE REASON FOR MIA TO BLURT OUT HIS NAME, so that Christian knows WHO HE is dealing with.
(But if Mia is seemingly not concerned about people going in and out of Carter’s room, then she has no reason to suspect Carter’s involvement. Presumably. But that doesn’t mean that MR. Conspiracy Head didn’t intend this result all along, knowing that with people going back and forth between hospital rooms, HE could easily enough snag someone like KATE.)
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I am going crazy trying to find the chapter you’re talking about. do you happen to remember where about in the story it was? This is driving me nuts trying to figure out who Mr. Conspiracy is.. LOL if you do remember the chapter or if anyone does can you leave reply here? not via email since I have no clue what my password to email is anymore. 😉 thanks
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Chapter 30.
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OmG I can’t believe Mia knows who it is
I feel so sorry for Anna
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While Tara makes us suffer, I have one more theory to postulate. What if the Conspirator is Carter’s father? We know very little about him, don’t know his name, type of business, or anything else except that he went to Harvard and he pretty much considers Carter a failure.
Supposing Mr. Reed was on a business trip to Detroit years ago and met Ella and had a brief liaison that resulted in Christian, while at the same time he was married to Mrs. Reed, who happened to be pregnant with Carter. This makes Carter and Christian half-brothers.
Then suppose stewardess Elena was acquainted with Ella’s pimp and found out Ella had had a son. Later Mr. Reed happens to visit a BDSM club where he meets Elena and she somehow figures out that Mr. Reed is Christian’s real father. She files away this secret in her evil mind until she can no longer compete with Ana. Mr. Reed happens through Seattle and runs into Elena again, either at a BDSM club or her secret bar/club. She drops some hints, asks about his son, mentions Christian’s great successes, etc. and it dawns on Mr. Reed that Christian is likely his son.
Mr. Reed goes home, inquires from Carter how he’s doing and finds out about Christian bullying Carter at rowing, stealing Ana away from Carter, then leaving Harvard and starting his giant corporation. He seethes through four years of Carter’s schooling, and when Carter doesn’t get accepted into Harvard Law School, he can’t stand it any more and goes after Christian.
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Wow that’s a full on theory!
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The only problem with all of this is that HE (Mr. Conspiracy Head) expected Ana to RECOGNIZE him by his voice or appearance. So it HAS to be someone that Ana knows or has worked with previously. ANd she has never knowingly met Carter’s Dad. AND Carter’s dad was based in GEORGIA, not Seattle.
HOWEVER, with the right BACKSTORY, anything is still possible. I have found it interesting that Carter was never identified previously as a possible recruit. It may have been that HE was comfortable with Carter being with Kate for whatever reason and chose to see where the relationship might go. AFTER ALL, Carter being wtih Kate meant that Elliot had ANOTHER reason to remain with GIA, who was good for intel, at least at that point.
I have also given the same type of theory for STEPHEN MORTON as a reason behind WHY he would be so motivated to go after Christian AND Ana. HOWEVER, Carter ONLY learned of his failure to get into Harvard MONTHS after the Conspiracy had already been formed.
HOWEVER, it is interesting to note Mr. Conspiracy Head’s TIMETABLE in all of this. He didn’t go right to kidnapping Ana—he FIRST wanted to use ANA’S LAPTOP to get AND MAINTAIN a foothold in GEH and try to break up Christian’s company from the inside out. HOWEVER, even prior to obtaining Ana’s laptop, Mr. Conspiracy Head DID send Leila with a thug to NY to try to get Ana.
It was presumably Luke and LUke, ALONE, that kept Mr. Conspiracy Head from getting Ana. You would think that if only ONE person is standing in your way, that you would just use ALL your thugs at once to get that person. But ORIGINALLY, Mr. Conspiracy Head WANTED TO REMAIN IN THE SHADOWS in order to try and get everything WITHOUT gaining attention or notice.
But NOW, Mr. Conspiracy Head is unwilling to wait any longer, for WHATEVER reason. He is now OPENLY operating with as much force as he seemingly can muster, so we have people OPENLY being killed and gunned down in such a way that the police CANNOT ignore. (Although HE still arranged for a “riot” to eliminate Elena at the SAME time that he expected to kill off Isaac.)
So it is INTERESTING to observe how Mr. Conspiracy Head has changed the way HE operated over time. Leila’s defection and Isaac’s clearly following ELENA’S plan rather than Mr. Conspiracy Head’s instructions, as well as HYDE’s multiple failures obviously TRIGGERED more drastic action by Mr. Conspiracy Head to END THINGS NOW, one way or another.
So things have come to a head now. And with CARLA’s death, Mr. Conspiracy Head would have to KNOW that HE could no longer count on MIA’s silence, since MIa can obviously guess that the family has been potentially targeted for death ANYWAY.
But IT DOES BOTHER ME THAT MIA WAS PRESUMABLY OKAY WITH MAINTAINING HER SILENCE, KNOWING MR. CONSPIRACY HEAD HAD TRIED TO KIDNAP ANA MULTIPLE TIMES, in exchange for Mia thinking her parents MIGHT be safe. And maybe Christian left alive, though devastated by Ana and the baby’s loss. But Mia HAD to know the awful things intended for Ana, AND SHE KEPT SILENT.
So I know that Mia is still technically a child, but I still place A LOT of blame on her for seemingly being willing to sacrifice Ana to this man in order for HER and her family to stay safe. So I REALLY want to hear Mia’s confession now to find out JUST WHEN SHE KNEW his identity.
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Ahhh Where’s Kommer in all this? And I really don’t think that everyone in the greys SUV (especially Ryan and Taylor) could have been hit so strategically to cause life ending injuries unless the shooter was in their vehicle . He could have gotten out of their vehicle and into the other vehicle but who was the other driver ( where’s Kommer) ? I too am beginning to b a little bit suspicious of Carter ( if his own father thinks he is s screw up and is afraid for his sons future? What IS Carters plan for himself?) But I am also a little Dubious of Carter’s father. What if he is working with Hyde or (Kommer ). Anyway Jason trusted Kommer so it would have been easier for him to b the other driver working with an inside (the vehicle) man such as Carter. I know you all have dismissed Kommer as the head bad guy, I’m just not ready to give this one up yet. Just my gut reaction. Do you all really believe that at this point in the story Jason Taylor could go down so easily? It had to come from inside the vehicle to cause such precise damage and by someone Jason trusted from behind him .
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I don’t know I would say it was precise… literally every person was hit in a spray of bullets from an automatic rifle.
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Agreed, and I’ve made similar comments on how could Taylor possibly have been ambushed without it being an inside job? I haven’t mentioned Kommer because he seems kind of there but he’s around and knows their plans.
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And security has been so repeatedly and hopelessly compromised time and time again that it someone from GEH or security HAS to be involved someway. AGAIN, though, Elena knew the top people and KNEW where to tell Mr. Conspriacy Head to strike.
Kommer was one of the last hires and someone that had not previously worked with Taylor. So Kommer IS the unknown one without the same type of loyalty that the earlier guys had to Taylor. But Taylor is top of the line and has been looking into EVERYONE on the security team. And LEILA had indicated that TAYLOR was the next person that Mr. Conspriacy Head was going to try to compromise through “email evidence.”
But there seems to have been SOME type of security leak for Mr. Conspiracy Head to have the other car ready for a drive-by, UNLESS he always intended for Isaac to be gunned down in this way and just got lucky that the others were there. But at this point, it seems like HE KNEW to have that car ready to go. So EITHER he didn’t truly trust Carter and Isaac and wanted to have a back-up plan, OR HE KNEW ALREADY that Taylor and Ryan would be there.
It makes SENSE that Mr. Conspiracy Head would try to compromise security and put his own person in. AFTER ALL, he was basically trying to do the same at GEH by compromising various employers there. HOWEVER, Hyde basically chose to drink himself into ineffectiveness, and ISAAC was always Elena’s man over Mr. Conspiracy Head, WHICH IS TELLING.
ISAAC had to have realized that the MANUSCRIPT being put into Hyde’s hands would END ELENA’S usefulness to HIM. AND would get Elena further jail time as well. So Isaac and Elena hoped Christian would bale them out. BUT ELENA GOT GREEDY which allowed Mr. Conspiracy Head to regroup and formulate another PLAN.
AND for all we know, MR. Conspiracy Head didn’t just contact Carter —HE could have contacted Carter’s DAD as well. We know so little of Carter’s family that there may be a BACKSTORY there. We just have to wait and see.
I want to assume we know something Monday. Mia has REVEALED that she KNOWS HIS identity. So no matter WHAT happens next, ESPECIALLY if Kate has already been kidnapped, then Mia SHOULD provide HIS name. JUST that information gives Christian SOME indication of WHO he is dealing with. AND maybe with what properties HE owns or places HE would think secure enough to take hostages. So there is almost NO reason not to get a name in the next chapter.
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Unless Tara is some kind of cruel monster…
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Tara, oh possible cruel monster, AT LEAST give me SOMETHING, since I DO expect that something is going to interrupt Mia’s explanation next chapter. (I mean, we got Kate and Carter off by themselves. How soon before someone realizes they are gone?) HAS MR. CONSPIRACY HEAD been identified in the COMMENTS section OF THIS CHAPTER?
Let’s face it, you have obviously been dealing with TORTURE to too many of your fictional characters. It has taken its toll on you. You are in danger of tumbling into darkness and madness. You must RESIST the call of the wild. You NEED to clear your conscious of that HEAVY burden of HIS identity. You therefore NEED to give CLUES as to his identity. Especially since you have now driven virtually your whole fanbase into potential madness and potential violence. REMEMBER how those villagers took torches after the doctor that created Frankenstein—you REALLY don’t want to push such a lovely fandom into banding together to tie you to your basement desk. PARTICULARLY since 50 Shades Freed is on the point of being released to theaters. You would NOT want to be locked in a basement by angry fans at that time.
So ANSWER the question, which you KNOW will make you feel better. Go to your HAPPY PLACE and just picture that scrumptious moment in the 50 Shades Freed movie teaser where Christian comes out of the ocean during the honeymoon looking all yummy in the sunshine, dripping wet . . . . WHERE was I going? OH YEAH, TELL us if Mr. Conspiracy Head has AT LEAST BEEN IDENTIFIED BY SOMEONE in the comments section of this chapter.
After all, since there are over 100 comments anyway, that really gets us no closer really. Probably even ADDS to our torment after all. AND as stated above, it will just make you FEEL BETTER and hopefully keep you from tumbling into the darkness that comes from trying to think as Mr. Conspiracy HEad thinks. AND getting the rabble out after you, when we are mere months away from that wonderful movie premiere!
So TALK, you KNOW you want to. . . . (AND definitely find some excuse to incorporate that luscious image of Jamie from the teaser into a future post. Yeah, that would DEFINITELY work for many of us!!! ALMOST as much as ANSWERS will make us happy!)
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I decided to reread the visit to the prison chapter as lots of reviews have been that Elena was scared of Mr Conspiracy in my opinion Elena didn’t seem really scared scared if she was willing to help Christian out she must have known even if Christian were to help her Mr Conspiracy would know that Christian had helped Elena in exchange for information of his identity. In doing so this would have ended in her writing her own death sentence anyway since she knew the result of Leila, Hyan and a list of other casualties as a result of going against him. Elena is a psychopath obviously if she thought that she could as she put ’I want back in game’ so easily after everything that has happened thus far she obviously would know that Mr C had attempted to kidnap Ana and even though she was threatened to write the book she still had no remorse she was hoping to still live the high life she thought she deserved. She was crazy if she thought that Christian with Ana by his side and knowing that he’d become a father, he would ever help her given she had helped Mr C at all especially at this juncture that he had already tried to hurt Ana in the first place. Even if blood and gore weren’t her thing she knew what Mr C was capable of it. Even had Christian helped Elena she was a dead woman anyway, either Elena thought that she could con her way into a new life. I think if we are to believe that after three pronged attack and Elena is dead. It would make sense why Issac was also a target because the manuscript was meant to go to Hyde not Ana. Anyone that veers from Mr C plan is as good as dead this is why I am suspicious of Carter. I’ve said it before I don’t think Carter is the mastermind but I don’t trust him either.
I am trying to work through a process of elimation and look at what other people’s thoughts are. The one reason why I still don’t think it was Andrew Lincoln is because of this visit to the prison, Elena almost talks of him as someone who had been an annoyances in her life and had little love for him even if she ever had. Plus she mentions the conjugal visits and says not that he’d come anymore which she would only would want for sex. Though Andrew has motive but since with Elena’s help Christian had pretty much made him broke. Even though in Christian’s eyes it wasn’t anything personal it was because he was running his company into the ground and if anything Christian has always conducted business with some modicum of saving jobs. Though of course if I were Andrew Lincoln I may not see it that way.
At this stage it could be anyone, Elena mentions it’s someone close and in Christian’s inner circle this is where I am baffled. I’ve even wondered about Elliot I’m not kidding! Every time I think perhaps I’ve worked it out something and it’s happened it still hasn’t bought me to someone who I really think is behind all of this but who is capable wit the resources it takes to do what Mr C is doing. Even if Elena had offered a name she says that this guy doesn’t care who is collateral damage because he wants to see Christian suffer and even if for example his relationship with Carla was strained by killing Carla it hurts Ana and therefore hurts Christian. I could see Mr C in this for the long haul if he so chooses as Elena points out there is nothing that would dissuade him from hurting Christian. Ana and Calliope and of course his family are Christian’s biggest weakness and it makes my blood boil that Mia knows who it is or has had information for sometime now that could of stopped a lot of what happened in the previous chapters. After all if it wasn’t for Champ I wonder if Carrick, Grace and Mia herself would be here right now. Though I have thought maybe Mia she think she knows who it is? There are so many people involved maybe whoever Mia thinks it is Is just another minion? Whomever rang Ana at graduation expected her to know him by voice and if it was Andrew Lincoln I think Christian would have recognised the voice as well in the recording. But I do think that three way attack was to either kill and abduct as many people in one foul swoop to bring Christian to his knees but even Mr C can’t predict that not everything wouldn’t go to his exact plan. I just don’t know what hMr C’s endgame is even it was to go his way, is it to ruin Christian mentally by taking everyone he loves, or was it originally to take his company from him and then hurt him by taking everyone he loves? If Christian died would that be enough? If Mr C is so fixated on hurting Christian maybe Elliot is right and that Christian, Ana and Calliope disappear indefinitely?
Throw us a friggen bone will ya!!!!!
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I’m betting the name is Charles Gresham! Idk why he has an issue with Christian but Mia’s reaction to his name back in chapter 30 seems pretty suspect!
I read the story over again looking for clues 😎
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But HOW would he expect ANA to know him, as he indicated at graduation. And since CHRISTIAN was also looking around, why wouldn’t HE recognize the guy? I AGREE that Mia paled at the table for SOME reason which would have obviously had to do with the Conspiracy. But that could be because she already KNEW of GIA’s involvement and just realized how DEEP the conspiracy could go.
But we NEED Mia’s story. And we DON’T necessarily have the time for it, since a doctor may interrupt about Carla’s or Taylor’s condition. OR someone realizes that KATE hasn’t come back yet. . . .
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TNJ,
Like you, I went back and re-read the Elena prison conversation. It is interesting to note that she DOES say that she BLAMES Andrew Lincoln for most everything. And like Ana, I found myself wondering what she could POSSIBLY blame Andrew for when she chose to have the affair and STILL managed to get Andrew’s assets through Christian’s lie AND got Christian to take Andrew’s company. So WHY would she BLAME Andrew for “most things” that went wrong in her life?
However, like you said, Elena commented that Christian has “no idea” of just how close to his inner circle the plan goes. (AND unfortunately, Tara made a typo with that very sentence, so it doesn’t read correctly. But I’m guessing that the intent WAS to say that Christian had no idea of how close to his inner circle that the person was.) That is the only typo that I wish Tara would go back and correct—I would like to know how that sentence is supposed to read EXACTLY. Like if it was meant to imply that the person WAS in the inner circle OR if she meant someone close to the inner circle. STILL, any way you look at it, Elena seems to say that Christian was compromised somehow within those closest to him.
I can’t imagine ANY of the Grey family plotting against Christian. CHristian gave Elliot a REALLY expensive car AND a company, and Elliot was always consumed with keeping his family together AND getting Ana back with Christian. Nor would anyone from Ana’s family, especially since Ray was abroad and in the military at the time.
AND we know Welch and Ros and Taylor aren’t a part of it, so WHO does that leave? One of the security officers could be a recruit, but I don’t see how HE could be one of them.
Elena admits that going after Welch and Ros was her idea. And we know from Leila that the next target was Taylor.
And prior to Ana coming back into his life, Christian didn’t have any friends other than the people he started GEH with. THAT was why he let Elena back into his life. So WHO does that leave in Christian’s inner circle that hasn’t been named?
I can’t imagine one of Christian’s security guys having the ability to pull all this off directly under Taylor’s nose. And ANA never knew Charles Gresham, at least not to my knowledge. And how would MIA know Charles, unless he came to the club and was a client of Elena’s.
And WHY would Gresham want to destroy one of his best client’s? Without an EXTENSIVE backstory, it doesn’t make sense.
I have said before that any thorough investigation SHOULD have gotten Mia to list all the club/bar list of client’s that she could remember. CHristian should have undoubtedly wanted to know WHO at GEH would frequent Elena’s club to ensure that none of his people could be compromised by her. And WHY would a former CLIENT go against CHRISTIAN? AND have enough power to do this? We DO know of ONE client that Elena did fear–the very man that wanted Mia. But WHO was he and how would he know Ana?
Astor Harrington is the only other enemy of CHristian’s still unaccounted for (UNLESS you count Jose, who Luke supposedly scared off in the early days after the Christian/Ana break-up. And Tara had basically forgotten about Jose, per her in one of her comments. So I can’t see her trying to deliberately mislead us if it was him all along). ASTOR did hate Christian and wanted EVERYTHING that Christian had. He even took money from Elena to break-up CHristian and Ana, which he would have tried to do for free, as he had previously tried to target Ros. And WHY NOW would Elena fear Astor? HOWEVER, Elena and Astor did previously work together, and we NEVER got an explanation of how exactly Elena arranged to meet Astor and why they decided to work together then.
And CHRISTIAN at least still felt bitter over what Astor tried to do back in the day. Enough that he sent Astor a wedding invitation. AND Mr. Conspiracy Head DID INCREASE his attempts to go after Christian AFTER the wedding. But Astor’s being able to complete Harvard Law makes it unlikely he is crazy AND has enough time and resources to pull this off.
So we can go around and around in circles. In the end, CHristian has made multiple enemies. But I don’t know of anyone that he did more to harm then Andrew, UNLESS there is a major backstory we don’t yet know about. Elena DID imply that Andrew probably had children out there, but WHY say that to Christian IF she was trying to avoid giving clues until Christian agreed to her deal? And WHY would people close to Christian work with such a son of Andrew? And HOW would this guy have MONEY?
Carter is an unknown factor in that we DON’T know who his family is. He was previously a friend of Astor’s, but we don’t know if they have any present ties. BUT THERE WAS NO REAL REASON for Mr. COnspiracy HEad to call Carter into the COnspiracy now, if he just planned to kill him, UNLESS Carter MIGHT know something. That whole thing just doesn’t sit right with me. WHY would Mr. Conspiracy Head be so sure Carter WOULD help him actually kill someone, based on just ONE phone call? What would be in it for Carter? It is not like Carter could enforce HIS promise to get him into Harvard Law.
So the Carter thing doesn’t sit right with me either. It just ensured that more of Christian’s people got taken out along with Carla. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Carter is a bad guy, but I still want to know WHY he was approached NOW? Especially if there were enough people to handle the Carla situation without him.
Sigh. At least we will get answers next chapter. But the ONLY person that was previously a member of Christian’s inner circle while he was a child is Andrew. And he certainly has a motive. BUT so could multiple OTHER people, depending on the circumstances. Christian has absorbed a lot of companies and even made enemies while still at Harvard.
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That sentence has been edited.
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ToriK
Yes, I agree with the gist of what your getting at too. I went back to see the typo correction but it doesn’t to me make a real difference again unless I’m loosing my edge. I hate Elena Lincoln as much as the next person she is a vile, self serving and diabolical piece of work, even at the end she was still trying to make a deal to give herself and out. I am not defending her but at the same time regardless of who the person she is today she did experience a lot of horrible things in her life i.e her sister dying without medicine, the poverty, her step dad and to get out of the hell hole that was her life and try to help her family particular her other sister also. But when her sister and monther were raped and killled it seems that Elena’s so called decency as a human being began to crumble rapidly and so to her own moral compass and when she went to University and made something of herself that also was taken from her by choices she made to have a better life. I.e her becoming a submissive for powerful man in Washington, who has always been at the back of mind but what would his link be to Christian? Remember after her step father had raped she said her first Dom was brutal but what she had injured as a young girl was a walk in the park as she had known what brutal was when Ana went to plea with her. However, Ellena didn’t take the high road she still went for more including ignoring what she did to Christian as a child as she more then anyone would know what it was like to o be raped even if in her own sick mind she thought she was helping him So I’ll never have sympathy for her but I do have empathy that from an early age all she saw was someone taking to get what they wanted. I do think that maybe Elena knew that her time was up either way she could continue to help Mr C and break Christian but somehow I think she still had this weird love for Christian or as close to love as somone like Elena Lincoln could have. But because she had become so evil she still wanted something for her troubles, I think she really did think Christian would either have some misguided loyalty to her like their original deal back when Christian lied for her but he did so with the specfic wish they have no contact, remember it was Christian that called Elena New Years after months of Ana’s rejection and once she was back she manipulated and inserted herself into his life again and she made she sure she was a wedge between Christian and his family by making sure Carrick and Grace saw them together. It seems pretty obvious the guard was in on it as a spy and while Elena didn’t give a name up she offered to help – basically ending her life because she was only loyal to the highest bidder. What I didn’t mention was and after I posted it was in my head for a bit was Elena said she was able to go up against him? Does this mean that potentially she may of had something on him? Was he a past submissive of hers who became obsessed perhaps with Christian knowing that Christian was Elena’s favourite and possibly love regardless of her love is for fools mantra? As much as I read from various stories I am no expert on BDSM but a lot of submissives are quite powerful in the real world and choose submission in the bedroom because they need a break from making decisions all the time? Who do we know that could fit this bill – rich, powerful and into the lifestyle? It just seems that Elena likes younger boys and besides Christian who would she have been able to mould?
This brings me to some people who I haven’t talked about much but are still loose ends. Astor, he hated Christian and helped Elena. His hate for Christian was because he was actually smarter at Harvard and had Christian decided to graduate he would have potentially taken away Astor’s legacy. It seems like after the while Elena incident Astor disappeared from this storyline but someone who had motive to see Christian suffer. Even though Astor was invited to the ‘fake wedding’ unfortunately that was Christian little jealousy issues coming through again and not to think he could be a suspect? But that’s where Astor involvement sort of tappers off for me as a real threat. To be able to study full time Harvard Law and pull of this kind of thing seems a little far fetched.
I don’t really think any of the Grey’s would help obviously knowingly to do this particularly Elliot I just mentioned that as a bit of playing devil’s advocatee. However, if I were playing it maybe Elliot was always jealous of all the help/attention Christian got as a child and then he tried to help Chrtoan for years and then for what Christian put their family through by helping Elena? It th divided his family. I don’t think it’s true but it’s the comment Elena makes of how close Mr C is to Christian’s inner circle. This is where it starts to get tricky because Christian has been so closed off for years and even within the short period of Ana and him getting back together again and having Calioppe he doesn’t really stray from Ana and his immediate family. I think Mia is obvious key as she has been scared into keeping silent because she thought she was doing the right thing because of seeing pictures of her family in real-time with literally a target on their back.
I doubt its Roz and even Welch because Christian sorted it out about the patents I’ve always had Barney on my radar but even then he too was placated too with retaining patents and anyone else in their R&D team. It goes back to the comment made by Elena of the best way to get to Christian isolate him. However, once Roz was back and then Welch everyone it seems who had something to loose because of Christian’s business model was restored. Though Carter mentions that Mr C said Christian’s business model was to take by dubious business practices by taking? Who could have possibly been left out we haven’t talked about that was someone Christian perhaps unknowingly to himself taken from or didn’t placate in that whole fiasco? Even though Welch was a little harder to get back on board it was to do with his pride more then anything the way Christian sacked him but given the facts at the time I don’t blame Christian.
In your last post ToriK you mention Andrew Lincoln but after he either left broke or with little funds do you think froma realistic point of view he could fund an operation like this? This has been my biggest concern because this story hasn’t been one with ridiculous plots. I always wondered if Andrew had wanted to bring Christian down he would have never let Christian get so far under his money. Even if Andrew had still had is company I still don’t think he had the influence. Remember Leila tells Ana that this guy is paying off police and people at the highest echelons of influence I can’t imagine Andrew at that level. I always assumed Andrew Lincoln was a mere millionaire and I mean that in the sense he was a successful business man in his own right but in America it would seem in terms of the circles the Grey’s lived in this was their normal. This person Mr C if he isn’t a Billionaire he has influence remember the police don’t seem to be taking any of the threats against them seriously even after what happened to Ana as they thought perhaps she pretended to kidnap herself for money? In the outtakes when Andrew discovers Elena and Christian he gives a monologue on Christian being so scared and hoping to have a relationship like he had with Elliot and Mia and when he found out about what Elena did to Christian he does say I will find way to protect this boy. I always thought that while Christian lied I think Andrew would always know it was Elena behind it all the time.
Also with the attacks Mr C got sloppy your room got it was four. I think Hyde became sloppy and I got the feeling he was either meant to attack or even kill Ana. I think the drinking etc was a coping mechanism for what Mr C had on him. We know Hyde was into young girls for rough sex but maybe they were of age but looked young but either way it doesn’t look good and who would want that information out there? Also at the New Years party Hyde was an arsehole to Ana but it was almost looking back that he thought if I tell her she will never be more then a dumb trophy wife she might leave Christian and then he wouldn’t have to hurt her because she was out of Christian’s life. I think most people underestimate Christian’s love for Ana and even had Ana left Christian would pine for and as Elena was in Mr C backpocket he would know this. Maybe Mr C is getting desperate and is looking to get this done sooner then later because maybe even though Taylor is currently in limbo perhaps he was getting close? Maybe whoever is giving Mr C info to where everyone will be at a certain point, Mr C is looking for the right moment but forgetting that while say someone like Hyde will do whatever it takes to keeep their own secrets when actually having to do it is a whole different kettle of fish remember Hyde was so apologetic at what he was meant to do he turned up so drunk probably the only way he could handle doing something so horri. It’s like who has ever made a statement if they come near me or my family I’ll kill them but given the opportunity I always wonder if push comes to shove if any of us could ever kill another human being?
I am little over all over the shop with this post as I am looking back at older post wondering if I’ve missed something without repeating my suspicions I’ve mentioend. I think the answers are here somewhere on all three stories. It’s been a long week with trying to reread and also work to find out who this mofo is!
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ToriK
Yes, I agree with the gist of what your getting at too. I went back to see the typo correction but it doesn’t to me make a real difference again unless I’m loosing my edge. I hate Elena Lincoln as much as the next person she is a vile, self serving and diabolical piece of work, even at the end she was still trying to make a deal to give herself and out. I am not defending her but at the same time regardless of who the person she is today she did experience a lot of horrible things in her life i.e her sister dying without medicine, the poverty, her step dad and to get out of the hell hole that was her life and try to help her family particular her other sister also. But when her sister and monther were raped and killled it seems that Elena’s so called decency as a human being began to crumble rapidly and so to her own moral compass and when she went to University and made something of herself that also was taken from her by choices she made to have a better life. I.e her becoming a submissive for powerful man in Washington, who has always been at the back of mind but what would his link be to Christian? Remember after her step father had raped she said her first Dom was brutal but what she had injured as a young girl was a walk in the park as she had known what brutal was when Ana went to plea with her. However, Ellena didn’t take the high road she still went for more including ignoring what she did to Christian as a child as she more then anyone would know what it was like to o be raped even if in her own sick mind she thought she was helping him So I’ll never have sympathy for her but I do have empathy that from an early age all she saw was someone taking to get what they wanted. I do think that maybe Elena knew that her time was up either way she could continue to help Mr C and break Christian but somehow I think she still had this weird love for Christian or as close to love as somone like Elena Lincoln could have. But because she had become so evil she still wanted something for her troubles, I think she really did think Christian would either have some misguided loyalty to her like their original deal back when Christian lied for her but he did so with the specfic wish they have no contact, remember it was Christian that called Elena New Years after months of Ana’s rejection and once she was back she manipulated and inserted herself into his life again and she made she sure she was a wedge between Christian and his family by making sure Carrick and Grace saw them together. It seems pretty obvious the guard was in on it as a spy and while Elena didn’t give a name up she offered to help – basically ending her life because she was only loyal to the highest bidder. What I didn’t mention was and after I posted it was in my head for a bit was Elena said she was able to go up against him? Does this mean that potentially she may of had something on him? Was he a past submissive of hers who became obsessed perhaps with Christian knowing that Christian was Elena’s favourite and possibly love regardless of her love is for fools mantra? As much as I read from various stories I am no expert on BDSM but a lot of submissives are quite powerful in the real world and choose submission in the bedroom because they need a break from making decisions all the time? Who do we know that could fit this bill – rich, powerful and into the lifestyle? It just seems that Elena likes younger boys and besides Christian who would she have been able to mould?
This brings me to some people who I haven’t talked about much but are still loose ends. Astor, he hated Christian and helped Elena. His hate for Christian was because he was actually smarter at Harvard and had Christian decided to graduate he would have potentially taken away Astor’s legacy. It seems like after the while Elena incident Astor disappeared from this storyline but someone who had motive to see Christian suffer. Even though Astor was invited to the ‘fake wedding’ unfortunately that was Christian’s little jealousy issues coming through again and not to think he could be a suspect? But that’s where Astor involvement sort of tappers off for me as a real threat. To be able to study full time Harvard Law and pull of this kind of thing seems a little far fetched.
I don’t really think any of the Grey’s would help obviously knowingly to do this particularly Elliot I just mentioned that as a bit of playing devil’s advocatee. However, if I were playing it maybe Elliot was always jealous of all the help/attention Christian got as a child and then he tried to help Chrtoan for years and then for what Christian put their family through by helping Elena? It th divided his family. I don’t think it’s true but it’s the comment Elena makes of how close Mr C is to Christian’s inner circle. This is where it starts to get tricky because Christian has been so closed off for years and even within the short period of Ana and him getting back together again and having Calioppe he doesn’t really stray from Ana and his immediate family. I think Mia is obvious key as she has been scared into keeping silent because she thought she was doing the right thing because of seeing pictures of her family in real-time with literally a target on their back.
I doubt its Roz and even Welch because Christian sorted it out about the patents I’ve always had Barney on my radar but even then he too was placated too with retaining patents and anyone else in their R&D team. It goes back to the comment made by Elena of the best way to get to Christian isolate him. However, once Roz was back and then Welch everyone it seems who had something to loose because of Christian’s business model was restored. Though Carter mentions that Mr C said Christian’s business model was to take by dubious business practices by taking? Who could have possibly been left out we haven’t talked about that was someone Christian perhaps unknowingly to himself taken from or didn’t placate in that whole fiasco? Even though Welch was a little harder to get back on board it was to do with his pride more then anything the way Christian sacked him but given the facts at the time I don’t blame Christian.
In your last post ToriK you mention Andrew Lincoln but after he either left broke or with little funds do you think froma realistic point of view he could fund an operation like this? This has been my biggest concern because this story hasn’t been one with ridiculous plots. I always wondered if Andrew had wanted to bring Christian down he would have never let Christian get so far under his money. Even if Andrew had still had is company I still don’t think he had the influence. Remember Leila tells Ana that this guy is paying off police and people at the highest echelons of influence I can’t imagine Andrew at that level. I always assumed Andrew Lincoln was a mere millionaire and I mean that in the sense he was a successful business man in his own right but in America it would seem in terms of the circles the Grey’s lived in this was their normal. This person Mr C if he isn’t a Billionaire he has influence remember the police don’t seem to be taking any of the threats against them seriously even after what happened to Ana as they thought perhaps she pretended to kidnap herself for money? In the outtakes when Andrew discovers Elena and Christian he gives a monologue on Christian being so scared and hoping to have a relationship like he had with Elliot and Mia and when he found out about what Elena did to Christian he does say I will find way to protect this boy. I always thought that while Christian lied I think Andrew would always know it was Elena behind it all the time.
Also with the attacks Mr C got sloppy your room got it was four. I think Hyde became sloppy and I got the feeling he was either meant to attack or even kill Ana. I think the drinking etc was a coping mechanism for what Mr C had on him. We know Hyde was into young girls for rough sex but maybe they were of age but looked young but either way it doesn’t look good and who would want that information out there? Also at the New Years party Hyde was an arsehole to Ana but it was almost looking back that he thought if I tell her she will never be more then a dumb trophy wife she might leave Christian and then he wouldn’t have to hurt her because she was out of Christian’s life. I think most people underestimate Christian’s love for Ana and even had Ana left Christian would pine for and as Elena was in Mr C backpocket he would know this. Maybe Mr C is getting desperate and is looking to get this done sooner then later because maybe even though Taylor is currently in limbo perhaps he was getting close? Maybe whoever is giving Mr C info to where everyone will be at a certain point, Mr C is looking for the right moment but forgetting that while say someone like Hyde will do whatever it takes to keeep their own secrets when actually having to do it is a whole different kettle of fish remember Hyde was so apologetic at what he was meant to do he turned up so drunk probably the only way he could handle doing something so horri. It’s like who has ever made a statement if they come near me or my family I’ll kill them but given the opportunity I always wonder if push comes to shove if any of us could ever kill another human being?
I am little over all over the shop with this post as I am looking back at older post wondering if I’ve missed something without repeating my suspicions I’ve mentioend. I think the answers are here somewhere on all three stories. It’s been a long week with trying to reread and also work to find out who this mofo is!
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Just another comment on your post. To me there has to be some spyware perhaps that still hasn’t been detected or someone either a security member who is reporting stuff back, I know this is obvious but why else would Carter be approached? I think if someone even gets close into Christian’s inner circle or company then they become someone useful. As much as I still think Carla could have found a better way to handle her fears I still think that she had something to hide but even if it was as simple as she was scared for Ana, Mr C was looking for anyone he could use. This is where Carter comes in maybe he got close to Kate as a way to get into their inner circle. This is why Carter is suspect in my mind it’s like if you could be close to Kate then your close to Ana and by default Christian as they are like a package deal. While Carter might like us all to think he was been given a hard time by his dad because he didn’t reach top of his class, law and Kate rejecting him maybe another way for Carter to stay relevant is to tell half a truth? We all know these things are true and let’s face it Kate must feel slightly guilty that she kind of fobbed him off because she never was over Elliot so when Ana went into labor she didn’t have to give an answer. Even though Mr C said (and how he knew any of this information) that it was Christian who went to the Dean to tell them Ana was innocent and don’t you just hate that her place could of gone to someone more deserving? Carter was a party animal who never applied himself and I think it was you who perhaps mentioned a while back that if he has married Kate he would be near to the Kavanagh fortune BUT this is what confuses me is that Carter is from money? Perhaps Carter’s trust fund depends on him making law or being top of the class? Perhaps Carter is playing both sides if he helps Mr C he gets Harvard Law but even then he still will need to actually finish it and do it himself and if he helps Christian he could be easy compensated by the same reward as I am sure now that Christian is a billionaire he can almost demand anything. Or a position in GEH?
Does anyone know where Astor Harrington was from? The only reason I ask is because to me Mr C is based in Seattle as Leila told Ana that it was easier to take her in Seattle as Mr C’s resources are there. I am more inclined to think we can elimate people who are not Seattle based as a result of this information. I just think it was fortitiious that Leila was based in Boston to give her a reason to be there and have a genuine cover story on the beginning. Part of me rules Carter out because he wasn’t Seattle based but I still don’t trust him yet but nube that was the intention to throw us of who it really is?
Has anyone ever thought about Dr Ralston? He completely sold Ana out! Just sayin!!!
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Charles Gresham.
I am only saying that the name is too similar with Christian’s.
CHristian/CHarles GREy/GREsham.
I don’t know if I am too paranoid that I am seeing things or if this is truly something relevant. What we know is that that name trigger something in Mia…
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Why do I feel like Ana could bitch slap Mia for keeping her silence? Before she gets herself under control. Ana is stressed. She gets almost kidnapped. Carla is dead. Ryan is dead. Taylor is in critical condition. Tormenting the whole family and Christian is full of guilt. Can’t wait for Monday! Need to know Mr. Conspiracy Heads name!
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3 more days to go for an update!!!!!! CAN’T WAIT
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In re-reading the chapter, you notice previously ignored little things. First, Mr. Conspiracy Head is focussed on absolutely tormenting Mia, and HE was willing to risk leaving her alive AND in possession of HIS identity to do so.
PLUS, Mr. Conspiracy Head had been all about the slow burn. He wasn’t leaving bodies where they could be easily found and doing that much OPENLY. Here, however, HE coordinated MULTIPLE attacks in MULTIPLE cities. I mean, when you think about it, HE went after FOUR targets SIMULTANEOUSLY — Ana, her mother, Elena, and Christian’s parents. AND there was no effort to hide or dispose of the bodies with the drive-by. AND Mr. Conspiracy Head decided to make sure Isaac was killed at or near the SAME time as Elena so that NEITHER of them would have a chance to make one final plea to Christian.
But HYDE was sent to attack Ana ALONE, which makes no sense. (Or it certainly didn’t make sense to attack Ana at a studio. I guess Hyde figured that SIP’s own client was there, so Hyde had a reason to be there, but HOW would he expect to get Ana out of the studio and past her own security person?) Was Hyde EXPECTED to KILL Ana in the attack or just apprehend her? And Hyde didn’t even know HIS identity!
Mr. Conspiracy Head NEEDED the attacks to go successfully OR AT LEAST to have a hostage. However, HE has now killed a family member of Ana’s, and HE can’t possibly hope to keep MIA quiet, at this point. So WHAT EXACTLY is his END GAME now?
And Christian’s plan to leave Ana would NOT guarantee anyone’s safety, in my opinion, at this point. All it does is divide up people further AND leave Christian unable to be directly on the scene, supervising his people. But that IS a concern—that Christian will LEAVE, thinking it would help everyone.
And WHERE and HOW is Mr. Conspiracy Head continuing to get new recruits? I would think that with the death of Isaac AND Elena, anyone knowing those two would suspect what could happen to OTHER recruits. So HOW is Mr. Conspiracy Head keeping his people?
But the last thing OF IMPORTANCE TO NOTE is that CARTER WAS ABLE TO TELL CARLA that Ana had sent him to keep her safe. So Carla would have died thinking that Ana HAD made peace with her, still loved and cared for her, and had TRIED to keep her safe.
But Mr. Conspiracy Head HAS left Christian untouched during this whole thing, choosing instead to go after everyone ELSE that he loves. AND to try to torment both Ana AND Mia especially by going after BOTH of their mothers.
At this point, Ray has NOT been a target, up to this point. While it would seem like Ray would be an easy target living alone, he is military, and for whatever reason, Mr. Conspiracy Head did NOT coordinate an attack on Ray’s home. JUST Carla’s.
Mr. Conspiracy Head is USED TO TORMENTING WOMEN. After all, he engaged in DIRECT intimidation tactics on Mia, Ana, Carla, Leila and Elena. And probably Gia as well. HE seemingly has NOT tried to intimidate Elliot or Carrick or Ray, and Elliot has been able to go to concerts and whatnot without being targeted or harassed. And Christian has not been targeted directly. ONLY females have been targeted for torture and death thus far (and the security guards that might try to protect them).
Sigh. Andrew Lincoln still makes the most sense, assuming he went crazy from all he lost. And Andrew requires little backstory. Anyone ELSE requires substantial backstory, and one would think, with this being Chapter 44, that we would be close to the end.
I’m hoping we get SOME answers next chapter. And Mia is only more stupid if she fails to reveal HIS name now. I just want to know WHEN AND HOW Mia got HIS identity.
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I am so ready for the next chapter!
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