Grey Clouds On The Horizon

Safe Keeping

Christian's POV

I tapped my pen on the report in front of me and tried to keep my cool. "Welch, let's go over this again. What am I looking at?"

The groggy man on the other end sighed. It was late. We'd been at this for hours. "That's Emilia Stewart's account balance as of two days ago when I found the hole in the system. It was everything I could pull in the thirty seconds I had access. So it's not complete but it's what matters."

"Forty-seven million dollars?" I gaped and pulled at the roots of my hair. "That' s not possible. I gave her ten million, what was it, three years ago? And it's not like she's an investor. The girl couldn't understand the stock I gifted her in GEH to save her life. That's why I cashed it in and gave her the lump sum."

"I understand, Mr Grey." Welch sighed. "But the numbers don't lie. It looks like she put the money in a trust and allowed it to be reinvested. Those investments did well. Whoever her broker is bought her shares in a lot of promising start up companies and they paid off. I don't know what else to tell you."

I flipped the page over to her current information and tried not to panic. "But it's in a trust. What kind of trust? Who is the beneficiary? She has no family and her only friend is Elliott..." My eyes hit the bottom of the page and a dagger twisted between my ribs. Either Emilia had lost her mind or she was going to great lengths to mess with my head.

The man cleared his throat. "It appears that, in the event of her death, the money is to be a memorial for Atticus Wyatt Grey and donated to Coping Together in his name. The only request being a cherub style fountain with a plaque to be displayed at the annual fundraiser. The notes say at least three local artists have the design in hand."

My heart thudded in my chest and the exhaustion made me wonder if I deserved this torment. "Miss Stewart is fucking with me..."

Welch groaned and clicked away, ignoring my revelation "If it helps, sir, this is a recent change. The beneficiary was someone else until about a week ago. Do we know who Atticus Wyatt Grey is? It's listed that he died in late 2008 but I'm not finding any photographs in the database or an obituary. There isn't even a birth or death record in that name."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. While I knew it was the name she must have given our son, it wasn't something my security adviser needed to be aware of. I preferred to keep the casualties to a minimum. "Not sure. Probably just a name that Miss Stewart came up with to cover her tracks. Is there any way to find out who it was before?"

"No, Sir. That has been wiped from the system. As far as the computer is concerned, it was never there to begin with."

I pounded my fist into the worn spot on my desk that belonged to Miss Stewart. "So what can you do for me? Why the hell do I pay you so much fucking money if you can't tell me anything?!"

"I'm sorry, Mr Grey." Welch cleared his throat. I'd kept the poor man working on this through the nights for almost a week. "Have you opened the yellow envelope that Jason Taylor delivered? It was the only thing we found in Miss Stewart's safety deposit box at Seattle's First."

With haste, I pulled open the best clasp and marveled at the elegant stationary I'd received twice before. Emilia did have her own signature flare. The scrolling script on the front said only my name and I utilized my engraved letter opener to tear apart the envelope. A single Polaroid photograph dropped onto my desk and I picked it up, reading the small letters jotted on the brim.

Be the man who took this picture. If you could make me think I was able to be loved then you can do anything.

I smiled to myself, ignoring Welch's questions from the other end of the line, and took in the hilarious photograph. It was from a day I remembered all too well.