A True Chase is Hardly Ever Easily Won
As Dan drove them down the drive that led to the highway Amber watched the lake, her beautiful Blue Serene, disappear. They made it to the highway and four SUVs met them and they all easily fell into a caravan with them as the middle car.
Her phone buzzed and she looked down at it, numbly; it was a text from her father.
"Be careful. I sent a security team to stay with you until we get Shaw."
She read it with a nod but she did not respond. Everything was happening too fast – and she was even talking about the nonsense of her own sister putting an actual hit on her.
She looked to Dan, his face serious, his shoulders set with determination, and all outward appearances of calm. Her heart fluttered but she pursed her lips. She never thought she would ever return to her house – not like this.
And their house was her house. Just like all the other Lance children**,** Damon Sr. had given her a home as well and that was where she had lived with Dan for their five years of marriage.
A part of her was infuriated, as if she were going backwards and giving up on her dreams. But part of her was happy to be back.
The SUV caravan hit the city limits and quickly moved through the streets of Carson City. The closer they got to the mansion the stronger Amber Ann became.
She was a Lance. She was not going to allow anyone to destroy her dreams. Not even her sister. She flipped her phone over in her hands and sent a text to her sibling group message.
"Hey guys. I am going to need your help. It seems Jessica hired an Anthony Shaw to kill me. Do any of you know him? Can I pay him and stop this?"
The replies were instantaneous.
Virginia: "He did what?! I don't know him. Where are you? For goodness sakes don't stay in that vulnerable lake house. Get those windows reinforced."
Samuel: "I know him. If he has taken it he can't be paid off. Don't worry I will call dad."
Amber: "Dad knows. Dan called him and told him as soon as his PI told him."
Damon Jr: "Good. Everyone meet at the estate. We will work this out."
Virginia: "I am going to find Jessica. Has she lost her mind**?"
Amber: "She may have. She was at the estate trying to lie and Daddy called me for my side. I told him what the PIs found. I don't think things went well."
Her siblings paused so Amber switched gears and began making arrangements to have the lake house fortified. Dan nodded in approval as he heard her speaking to the builders and telling them the lake house keys would be at the main gate of the mansion for them.
The texting reignited almost as soon as she was done with the builder.
Virginia: "I still want to find her. Maybe she can stop him."**
Paul: "I'll go with Virginia."
Damon Jr: "Okay you two. Keep us in the loop. Where are you going Amber?"
Amber: "To my house. Daddy sent a security detail and the mansion has a full security team. We can probably double them."
She continued texting her siblings and taking their advice to heart. She sighed with mental exhaustion as they reached the turn-off. They drove several feet and the vehicle tripped a red beam of light that instantly alerted security in the mansion and at the first guard house.
They were at the huge white wrought-iron gate. A pole, like a periscope, rose from the ground and moved to the car. Dan used his thumb and pointer for prints and then did a retinal scan.
The gate swung inward.
Amber left her lake house keys at the guard house just inside the gate. As they drove to the mansion Amber noticed that there were more people than usual on security detail.
"I already called ahead and had security doubled. They understand the threat and know that you will be here until this is over."
"I appreciate you Dan. I would love to stay in my house but I need to keep BonBons Sereins running, and construction going. I can't hide away here."
Two of the four SUVs from the security team had stayed at the main gate as a first line of defense. Their SUV and the second two pulled into the main driveway.
Dan put their vehicle into park and closed his eyes. Neither got out of the car. Security swarmed the area and waited patiently for them to exit the vehicle.
"Amber. I know I still need to prove myself to you but please. I need you to be safe over all else." He looked into her eyes.
"If I lose you I will have to eventually accept that but I need you to always be safe. Always."
They stared at each other for a long moment, finally Amber nodded. They had come to an unspoken agreement.
Amber was swept into the house by their security – the head of security refreshing her memory about the three panic rooms in the huge mansion and the hidden passages and safe spots in the mansion and on the property.
She was finally sitting on her old bed holding two alert devices in her hands, and suddenly feeling so very confined. She looked about the room she once cherished, the soft downy duvet scarily comforting even as the bracelet and the pen seemed to weigh so much.
They didn't seem like items to ensure her safety – they seemed intent on confining her. She sighed – feeling the walls close in – put the bracelet and pen down and stood. She needed space, she needed things to feel normal again.
She didn't want to think about pressing the top of a pen or the clasp of a bracelet to secure her safety. She was staring blankly out the reinforced double thick windows when she heard Dan enter the room.
"Dan. I can't let Jessica win. I can't be a prisoner."
Dan was instantly at her side.
"She hasn't won anything – and you will never be a prisoner. I heard you setting up the renovation for your lake house. Your dad has cars he can loan you. Until then both David and Cristina have said they will help. Nothing is going to slow down things at Blue Serene. I am not going to allow anything to destroy what you have started."
Amber smiled with a nod. "Thank you so much Dan." She sighed again.
He would never understand. How could he? He never understood her when they were married. He said he wanted to try, he wanted to do better, but sometimes things are easy to say and impossible to do.
She looked at her two new chains sitting on the bed and sighed.
Without a word she picked up her alert devices – her new bracelet and pen - and went to sleep in one of the other bedrooms.
He said he wanted her back, but could he really want someone he still did not fully understand?