Her Hero Found

[zydrate]

"Yet?" Echoed Aubrey. She looked at James with panic in her eyes, "You mean you will be going some where without me?" She jumped, standing over him, she wanted to say something but didn't. Instead she turned away from James, her breathing rapid. She took a few minutes to calm down, letting everything he said sink in.

"So, what does it mean you and some men are going to take care of things?" She asked, but as soon as she asked she knew she wasn't going to like the answer.

 

[BeachBum25]

He saw that aubrey was starting to get upset. He did not want her to know what was going on, but she had a right to know the truth. He had to tell her what he planned.

"Bre, in about an hour, a couple of friends of mine will be meeting with your father. They are going to present him with a proposal for him to call off the auction. We will wait to see how he react."

 

[zydrate]

"And what if Daddy isn't agreeable...he'll be ready, you know that James.." Aubrey shuddered at the thought of not seeing James again...

"Can I go? I don't want to stay here alone James, I wouldn't know what to do if you didn't come back! What if you don't and Daddy does something?"

Just as quickly as she asked, Aubrey shut up. James wasn't a fool to go into a situation unprepared. But still..plans went wrong, it just took something small.

"I am going...aren't I?"

 

[BeachBum25]

Aubrey was making a lot of assumptions, and they were not necessarily accurate. James was not afraid of her father. No, he could be neutralized rather easily. The trick, however, was neutralizing him and eliminating those to whom he owed money. That was the trick.

"Bre, wherever I go, you go. You do not have to worry about me leaving you alone. I am not worried about your father. Your father is weak. He hides behind hired muscle. The muscle he employs is no match for what he is about to meet."

He watched to see her reaction. "No kiddo, I am not worried about him. I am concerned bout all of these people who thought they had a chance to buy you. When they find out that you are not, and never will be, available. They will be upset. The key is to make it so they are mad at your father. If your daddy doesn't cooperate..... well, things could get ugly... for him anyway."

 

[zydrate]

"I'm sorry, it just seems like I'm whining but really James, Daddy is not as dumb as a lot of people think...I'm just puzzled at where the hell he spent all his money..." She flopped on the bed, looking at the ceiling, "It just makes me curious as to where it all went...I sure didn't see anything he gotten over the past few years. I mean, even my schooling was paid for in full. I'm talking about all 4 years, paid up front."

"Kiddo?" Aubrey said with a face as she looked at James, "In case you didn't know, I'm only a few years younger than you...old man." She said in a haughty voice and tried not to giggle.

 

[BeachBum25]

He laughed at her as she laid on the bed. "Oh, so you are all grown up now, are you? Big time college girl. Big enough to be out on your own?"

"Listen Bre, I know your father better than you think I do. I have the advantage in that I know all about him and he knows nothing about what I have been doing since he fired me. Those things are not very nice, and I worked with people who have no idea what nice means. Your father is the least of my worries. My one and only worry is that your father won't cooperate. That means that some very wealth people will come looking for you. Not to worry though. I will be with you all the way."

"Ok KIDDO?"

 

[zydrate]

Aubrey stuck her tongue out at him before settling back onto the bed, "Why would they want me James? I mean, there's nothing special about me... obviously I'm not some beauty queen... I'm just average and really, I don't have any special skills..." She was really in the dark about why, not seeing what others saw in her...

"What makes me upset also is that I had plans James...I had plans to start being more independent... I mean, I thought that once I was out of the house and in college, I would finally be able to have a life...like maybe start dating, but nope, there was Daddy, always knowing about EVERYTHING and never letting it happen..."

 

[BeachBum25]

"Oh, you naive little girl. What they see is a young woman who comes from a privileged background. Someone wh got everything that she ever asked for... never had to work a day in her life. Hasn't been on the streets. What they want you for is a sex slave Bre. Don't you get it? Has daddy really sheltered you that much?"

"He has had no intentions of ever letting you have a life of your own. He has had this planned for years. You were his lottery ticket. well, you were until I got you out of there. You owe me everything, kiddo." He winked and smiled at her.

 

[zydrate]

Aubrey was shocked at what James had said. She sat up on the bed and stared at him in disbelief.

No...

He was joking...

Right?

She started to laugh and shook her head, "Oh damn, you almost had me there James... sex slave? Please! They only do that to girls in like...3rd world countries..."

It was then she looked at him again and he wasn't laughing.

 

[BeachBum25]

"Bre, I am not joking with you. Your father doesn't care about you. Once he found out that he wasn't your biological father, he started looking for ways to use you to get himself out of debt. He found a way. Well, he found it but will never hve an opportunity to put that plan in action."

Aubrey was shocked. She was relieved when she thought James was joking, but now was having a hard time catching her breath. "You need to relax. I am with you. I will be with you until this is over. I am not going to leave your side, and, the best news for you is that you don't have to marry me."

 

[zydrate]

"Oh please, I would marry you in a heartbeat whether in trouble or not..." she answered nonchalantly. It was true. Aubrey always had a secret crush on James from day one. It just seem to go deeper when everything happened and she was taken. He came for her but he didn't have to...

Maybe that's why she liked him so much.

Standing up, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head on his chest, "Ask me now and I'll marry you James, no hesitation what so ever.." she kissed his cheek and hugged him...it was suppose to be a friendly hug but Aubrey couldn't let go. James was the only one who ever cared for her.

 

[BeachBum25]

He looked at Aubrey with a smirk. "Yea, you marry me," he thought. He always had envisioned her marrying into money. Actually he thought she would marry into wealthy oil money. Until he laid eyes on her in the hotel bar, he still thought of her as a young teenger when his thoughts drifted to her. When he saw her there was the first time he realized she was a young woman.... and a beautiful one at that.

"Yea, right Bre. You are going to have all of that money to go out and find some rich guy to marry you when this is all over. Once we are finished with this crap you wan't need someone to protect you. You will just need someone to spoil you."

When she hugged him he becme very aware of her closeness to him. He had never been aware of her body... the body that she had grown into until that moment.... and it did things to him.

 

[zydrate]

"Yeah, I want to marry some pompus ass..." Aubrey said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she let go of James. She started to put all the things she took out of her purse back into it.

"Besides, if I remember correctly, you said you'd stay with me and protect me, I was hoping that would mean you would even protect me against those rich assholes..because believe it or not, not all of them are as handsome and nice as you..." she said absentmindedly as she tossed the purse aside.

"So...when do we leave?"

 

[BeachBum25]

"Oh! Does someone have a rush on me?" he teased her with an evil smirk on his face. James knew that when he was Aubrey's bodyguard that she had a crush on him, but she was just fourteen at the time, so, that was to be expected, since he had spent so much time with her.

"I am here to protect you from anyone you need protecting from Bre. Why are you so upset. Did I say something wrong?" He waited for her response. He could see her pouty face.. the face that she used to make anytime she didn't get what she wanted.

He didn't answer her question about when they were leaving. That really depended on her father's response when he was confronted by a couple of James' colleagues.

 

[zydrate]

Ignoring his comment about her 'crush', Aubrey rolled her eyes at him and just as she was about to say something, the phone rang and James went to answer it... Aubrey wanted to stay around and listen but he quickly shooed her out of the room and closed the bedroom door behind him, closing her out.

With a sigh, Aubrey turned to the bathroom and started to put on her make up... her thoughts still going to James. She knew he only saw her as a child still but really, come on, she was 18, she was a woman...

"Yeah, whatever, he probably has several women already chasing after him if not a girlfriend..." she said to herself as she finished up.

 

[BeachBum25]

The phone call did not bring the information that he hoped it would bring. Aubrey's father was not willing to cancel the auction. James' "friends" said that, although he seemed to be afraid of them, he seemed to be afraid of the people that he owed money even more. "I guess we will have to show him how wrong he is. I will be there. Don't let him go anywhere. In fact, do not let him out of that room."

James went back into the living room. "Okay, we are leaving now. I am going to go see your father. While I talk with him you are going to go to your room and pack a bag. Not a big back. Pack an overnight bag with just the essentials. We will be able to get anything else you need wherever we go."

James headed for the door. He did not look back to see if Aubrey was following him. He was pissed at her father and her father would regret that.... unless, of course, he had a change of mind.

 

[zydrate]

"Where ever we go?" Aubrey echoed as she did exactly what she was told. The 'joking' mode in James was gone. He seemed a little peeved..which was a light way to put it.

She rushed to the room and did as he said, grabbing the first thing she could and tossing it into her purse, which was big enough to also be her pack.

When she had it all together, she ran out of the room and toward James, "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing it in his face. He didn't answer her as he rushed out her...the only thing she could think was, 'here we go..'

 

[BeachBum25]

James looked up and down the sidewalk before they exited the hotel lobby. Then he hailed a cab. When it pulled up, he had Aubrey get in first and then he followed her in. The only words that he spoke the entire ride were, "He wouldn't cancel it."

When they pulled up to the gated mansion they both exited the cab. James paid him and sent him on his way. Aubrey entered the code for the gates and they walked up the driveway. At the front door were several guys working for James. Jmes walked past them and into the house. Inside was the man he had spoken to on the phone.

James walked toward the den. He stopped, turned to Aubrey, and said, "go pack a small bag. Ten come back down and wait for me here." He did not wait for Aubrey's reply. He walked into the den and closed the door behind him. The look on her father's face was priceless.

 

[zydrate]

What James said hit Aubrey hard, she was quiet for the whole ride. Once they arrived where she didn't want to come back to, she knew what she was going to do, she sure wasn't going to pack a bag with clothes... there was nothing she wanted from that place anyway.

Once upstairs, Aubrey didn't go to her, instead she walked directly to her father's suite. She quickly found a bag and went to the wall behind his dresser. She pushed it aside which revealed a wall safe. She entered the code and opened the safe.

Inside where several bundles of money, several deeds to businesses, some bonds and other things. She grabbed a bag from her father's closet and began to stuff it with everything in the safe. There wasn't too much in quantity but the quality was there.

 

[BeachBum25]

"I bet you are surprised to see me aren't you? Did you think that you were finished with me? It is unfortunate for your whole plan that Aubrey was determined to find me. That and the fact that a few of my so called friends were able to gather info on what you were planning to do with Aubrey."

James watched his face. "You are one of the most dispicable men I have ever known, or even heard about. It is one thing to disown someone when you find out she is not your daughter. It is another thing to attempt to sell her to the highest bidder in order to settle some of your debts."

"My friend tells me that you refuse to call off the auction. That is unfortunate..... for you anyway. I will give you one last chance to do the right thing. If you chose not to cooperate, well...... you will never have to worry about your debts again.

Aubrey's father forced a laugh. He told James that there was no way that James would hurt him... let alone kill him. He laughed at James, who pulled out his gun and fired a single shot into Aubrey's father's knee. "Not too funny now, is it?" James turned to his friends. "Make him suffer tremendously, then dispose of the body so that it is NEVER found."

James walked out of teh den and looked for Aubrey. "Where is she?" he asked the man at the base of the stairs.

 

[zydrate]

"I'm right here!" Aubrey called out as she rushed downstairs, the bag of 'goodies' slung on her shoulder.

"Did he call it off?" She asked hopefully but when she saw the look on his face, it was enough of an answer. As she reached James, she looked up at him, "What did he say? What happened?" She asked, bombarding him with questions.

There were no answers, just James taking Aubrey by the arm and leading her back outside. "James? What's wrong?"

 

[BeachBum25]

As they walked through the front door he said to her, "Say goodbye." He didn't make eye contact. He didn't explain. it was just a simple statment. He pulled her toward an SUV sitting in the driveway.

James nodded to one of the men before Aubrey and he entered the SUV. James drove off, leaving Aubrey with many questions. He said nothing to her. He tried to figure out where they would go. "Do you have your passport with you?" James asked Aubrey.

 

[zydrate]

"Of course I have it." She told him as she crawled into the SUV...she wanted to question James some more but with the look on his face, she decided not to.

They turned in the direction of the airport and sped off. Curiosity was getting the best of her when she finally had to ask, "James, if Daddy didn't call off the auction then what happened to him? Does that mean those people are going to come for me?"

 

[BeachBum25]

"Aubrey, your father is more concerned with paying his debts than he is about your well-being. He could care less about you. We are going to go someplace that we can settle into for a while. Nobody will find us. My friends will take care of daddy and the people who want you."

James drove to a shopping mall. He parked the SUV. He took Aubrey by the hand and led her to Macy's. "Find something nice to travel in. You know, something expensive. You are used to that." James waited while Aubrey looked around before telling her not to take all day.

While he waited James called for a taxi. When she finally finished, he paid for it, then told her to go back into the dressing room and put the outfit on.

 

[zydrate]

Choosing a purple dress, Aubrey chose the right accessories to match it, including a new purse. She had never shopped so fast for stuff in her life.

She was mildly surprised when James told her to put it all on... not that she was going to argue. As soon as Aubrey was dressed, she pulled back her hair into a quick, messy french twist, securing it with a barrett.