Longing For The Beach Billionaire Daddy
Chapter 229

Michael

I stared at Shelby sitting across the table from me. She still looked white as a ghost, likely still unsettled by the dream she had during the night. To be honest, it had shaken me just as much as it had Shelby, but I was doing my best to seem like the brave one in the situation. I had to be strong for her and the babies.

“Do you want me to get you more coffee?” I asked, standing to refill my own cup.

Shelby shook her head. “No, that’s okay. I really should head to work. We have a lot of evidence to go over today.”

She got up silently, and the sound of her plate clanking in the sink echoed through our quiet home. Shelby gave me a peck on the lips before heading down the hall into the nursery. She had been even more attentive to the twins ever since her nightmare, insisting they spend the night in our room.

I hated seeing Shelby this nervous. I needed to do something, anything, to make her feel safe again. I peeked down the hallway to make sure she was still saying goodbye to the babies before pulling out my phone to message Delaney.

“I need an update. Any luck yet?” I typed out and hit send, quickly shoving the phone back in my pocket before Shelby returned.

“I’ll see you at five,” Shelby said, grabbing her bag off the kitchen counter.

“Sounds great, I’ll pick something up for dinner,” I said, forcing a smile. “What sounds good?”

Shelby smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Chinese sounds great.”

“Chinese it is,” I said, lifting her chin so I could look into her eyes. “Hey, I will take care of this. Don’t worry.” I looked into her eyes intently, hoping she saw how serious I was about this.

I wrapped Shelby into a tight hug, and it seemed as though she held on just a bit longer than normal before she pulled away, giving me a quick k**s.

“Thank you,” she said softly into my suit jacket.

The rest of the morning was spent in a flurry of bottles and diapers as I prepared the twins to be left with their nanny for the rest of the day. When I finally got myself out the front door, I felt as though I had already experienced an entire day’s worth of work.

I gave a quick nod to Bruce, who was parked outside the front of the house. He was there to monitor the neighborhood and make sure my children were safe while I was away.

As soon as I closed the door to the BMW, I pulled up Delaney’s contact number and dialed.

“Delaney, did you get my earlier message?” I asked as soon as I heard my hacker’s voice on the other end of the call.

“Of course I did. Everything is settled. I have new ID’s for you and your entire family. You all will have completely alternate identities until we make sure your family is safe from harm. I have arranged a place for you to stay too. It’s not quite as luxurious as you are likely used to, but it has maximum security, and even better, you will be completely anonymous there,” Delaney explained.

“Just tell me what I need to do,” I said, ready to move across oceans if it meant keeping my family safe.

“You just need to get packed. You will need clothes and any personal effects you can’t live without. The apartment is fully furnished, so you won’t want for much else,” Delaney continued.

“Got it,” I said, urging him to go on.

“I have the keys, and the place is ready for you to move into today. We can arrange a pick up at any time,” Delaney said.

“When and where?” I asked, heading down the packed roads toward the Express Air building.

“I need you to take the subway to the central station. There will be a man waiting there for you with everything you need,” Delaney said, clearing his throat before continuing. “He will be a homeless man wearing red sneakers and a dark orange jacket. He will have a shopping cart in front of him with a navy blue duffle bag sitting inside. Everything you need for your next step is in that duffle bag.”

“Thank you, Delaney,” I said, making a mental note of all of his instructions.

“Don’t thank me yet. We haven’t discussed a price,” Delaney reminded me, seriously.

“You know that money is no object.”

I parked the BMW a few blocks away from the subway and made my way to the underground. I had not ridden the subway in years. My father always made a big deal about how the subway was for poor people. When I went to college, the first time away from my strict parents, I rode the subway nearly every day just to defy them. However, all these years later, it took me a few moments to get my bearings.

I got on the subway after checking my route multiple times to make sure I got off at the right stop. I was surprised at just how crowded it was. It seemed I had gotten caught up in many people’s evening commutes which helped me disappear in the crowd. I stood silently, holding onto one of the poles as lights flashed across the subway windows.

The subway slowed to a stop, and the muffled voice of the intercom announced we had stopped at the central station. I joined the line of people exiting the subway. As soon as the doors closed behind me, and the subway took off with a loud rattling, I did my best to look through the crowd of people, trying to spot a homeless man.

The problem was there were many. I slowly made my way around the underground, trying not to look as if I were looking for anyone in particular. My stomach jumped as I finally picked out a man wearing red sneakers and an orange jacket. I walked up to him and immediately noticed the navy blue duffle bag in his shopping cart.

I reached into my suit jacket, ready to give the man the money I had promised Delaney, but his gruff voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Not here,” he grumbled so low I barely heard him. “The instructions are in the duffle bag. Don’t open it until you’re out of the station.”

I nodded noiselessly and nonchalantly picked up the duffle bag out of the cart, slinging it over my shoulder as if it had always been there. I slipped a twenty dollar bill in the fake homeless man’s cup, in case anyone was watching too closely.

I took the stairs out of the station two at a time and was nearly blinded by the sunlight when I reached the top. I walked a few blocks before entering a coffee shop, ordering a black coffee, and slipping into a deserted booth.

I looked around the cafe to make sure I wasn’t being watched, but everyone had their noses deep in a book or were completely absorbed in the work they were doing on their laptops. Feeling safe, I unzipped the duffle bag to find a lone silver key, no bigger than my thumb, with a white label.

‘P.O. BOX 38’ was the only thing written on the tag.

I downed my coffee as I searched for the closest post office. I was relieved to find it was only one more block over. I abandoned the duffle bag in the booth and slipped back onto the street.

Ten minutes later, I was unlocking the box that was conveniently placed the furthest spot away from the front counter. Inside, I found a set of apartment keys, the address to our hideout apartment, and freshly made passports and IDs for my entire family.

“The McFrinklemans?” I said under my breath. “Where the hell did you come up with that name, Delaney.”

I shoved the documents and key into my suit pocket and placed the envelope of cash in its place, locking it behind me. Hopefully, this would be the last time I had to be involved in a sketchy business transaction like this.

As soon as I was back in the BMW, my heart rate slowed to normal. I stopped for Chinese food and set it on the passenger seat, before I pulled out my phone and dialed Shelby’s number. I was so relieved to hear her voice.

“Michael?” she asked.

“Hey, sweetheart. I’m just headed home. I got you some extra egg rolls. I know how much you like them,” I said.

“That sounds great. I had no idea that I was getting home before you. I just sent the nanny home,” Shelby said.

“So you’re alone?” I asked cautiously.

“Yes? Why?” Shelby asked.

“Are you ready to go? I got everything ready so we can disappear for a while,” I responded.

“Is that what you’ve been doing all day?” Shelby asked, sounding surprised.

“Yes, I have everything taken care of. If you’re willing, we can leave tonight. We can make sure our family is safe,” I said.

“I’m ready. Let’s go tonight,” Shelby said with finality.

“I’m so relieved you agreed to that. I’ll be home soon to help you pack. We just need our clothes and anything we need for the babies,” I explained.

“I’ll start packing right now,” Shelby said, sounding slightly nervous.

“I have to ask you something,” I said. “Why is it that you’re so willing to go now? I thought for sure this would take a lot more convincing.”

“Well, after that dream last night, I realized just how much we have at stake. I’m not willing to put our children at risk because of my job for even one more day. If you’ve found a safe place for us, I want to get there as soon as possible,” Shelby answered.

“Nothing is more important than those two little babies,” I agreed.

“Also, while I was at work today, I found something big,” Shelby admitted.

“What do you mean? How big?” I asked.

“It’s enough evidence to put the entire company under. It’s the evidence we’ve been looking for this entire time. It’s big enough to put our entire family at risk,” Shelby finished.

“I’ll be home soon. Don’t open the door for anyone. I love you.”

“I love you too, Michael.”

We hung up, I was only five minutes away. I couldn’t wait to get to my family, I was surprised how much I had missed them after being away for so long today. Right now, I didn’t want any of them to leave my sight.

I was going to take them to safety.