Shadow of Secrets

by Kacie Clement

  Emma spent the day on Friday, shopping and lunching with Amelia and a few friends before catching her flight back to Flagstaff. Amelia walked with Emma into the airport. Hugging Emma goodbye, she said, "Emma, you need to stay silent and let this play out for a while. I want you to be safe. Avoid that Martin and his two knuckleheads till you can sit down Tuesday night with your dad." Emma taking Amelia's hand, replied, "I am so sorry I got you into this mess, Amelia, it puts you at risk." Smiling, Amelia said, "That's what best friends are for, now you better board that flight before you miss it, don't you have a date tomorrow with Grayson? I hope your pile of gifts arrive overnight. I never knew shopping for a baby could be so much fun!" Emma laughing responded, "Yea, well wait till Dad sees the bill!" Settling into her first-class seat, Emma was asleep before the flight lifted off the concourse.

  8

  Emma, deep in thought, stared at the several different outfits spread across the bed. I wonder what the appropriate attire is for a christening at a church. She thought. Choosing the organdy colored sundress, she hung it on the hook on the front of the closet door.

  In her closet, she found the perfect white satin heels to go with the dress. Pulling the towel from her freshly washed hair, she thought, I think I will wear my hair down. Smiling, she looked at the clock, eleven a.m., she better get moving, Grayson was picking her up in an hour.

  Emma searched her jewelry box, looking for the set of pearls that were her mothers. Attaching the pearl necklace around her neck, she heard a knock at the door, “Just a minute” she yelled slipping on her white satin heels. Taking a quick look in the full-length mirror on the inside of the closet door, she pushed the door shut and walked to the door opening it to see Grayson standing there in a Gray suit that fit his physique perfectly if she said so herself.

  Grayson’s jaw dropped at the sight of Emma, in her organdy colored sundress and long blonde hair flowing freely down her back. “You look beautiful,” Grayson stammered. Smiling, Emma held out her arm for Grayson to take, “You don’t look too bad yourself, shall we begin our date and go to church?” Laughing, Grayson took her arm, and when they got to Grayson’s truck; he opened the passenger door. “I don’t know if this is appropriate. It’s my work truck.” Emma, laughed, “Come on, I will drive; we will take Sgt Pepper.” Looking doubtful Grayson responded, “In the lime green beetle?” Slamming the truck door shut, Emma grabbed Grayson’s hand all most toppling him over. “Come on; it will be fun!” Arriving at her car in the garage, she looked at Grayson saying, “Hang on, it might be easier for you to get in if I lower the top."

  Jumping in the car, Emma lowered the top, looking at Grayson, she said, “Hop in!” Grayson getting settled in the passenger seat turned to make a smart-ass comment about the car, when he broke into a fit of laughter. Emma was placing her large white sunglasses on her face. She began to tie a matching organdy scarf neatly under her chin and wrapping the remaining lengths loosely around her neck. Smiling at Grayson wickedly, she said, “Ready?” Placing the car in gear, she was already at forty miles per hour as she pulled out of the parking garage of her apartment. Grayson couldn’t respond; he was holding on for dear life.

  Pulling up to the curb, Emma saw Jack standing outside the doors of the church. She gave her horn a honk and waved at Jack. Jack tilted his head to the side, wondering how Grayson was going to get out of that lime green contraption. With a brilliant smile, he waved back as he watched Emma breeze up the sidewalk removing her scarf. As Jack watched Grayson struggling to remove his tall frame from the Volkswagen Beetle, Emma said quietly, “We need to talk, do not say anything to Grayson, until we talk, understand?” Jack turned to look at Emma and replied: “Did something happen?” Emma, turning watched Grayson walk towards them, responding, “A lot, let’s talk later, till then nothing can be said, okay?” Jack took a last glance at her, saying worriedly, “Okay.”

  When Grayson approached, Jack shook his hand. Jack laughing said, “By the way, a truck was just here and unloaded a shit load of wrapped gifts. Any idea what that is all about?” Emma laughed, “Oh good, they arrived! Those gifts are from Grayson and me.” Grayson looking at Jack followed Emma through the doors of the Church. He turned back to ask Jack, “What is a shit load?” Jack laughed, saying, “Come see for yourself.”

  Walking into the fellowship room of the church, where the luncheon would be after the christening, Grayson came to a dead stop stunned. There was Emma, Jessie, and Jack’s wife fawning over a pile of gifts that took up the whole corner of the fellowship hall.

  Jack and Grayson walked over to Emma. Staring in disbelief at the number of lavishly gift-wrapped boxes, Grayson said, “Emma, you only needed one gift.” Laughing Emma rolled her eyes retorting back, “I just couldn’t decide on one gift, and there were so many things I couldn’t pass up, everything I saw reminded me of Jack Junior, so I just bought everything.” Grayson responded, “You do realize that it is going to take a week to open all this, don’t you?” Emma smiled, kissed Grayson’s cheek, and said, “That’s what makes it fun.”

  After the christening service, Emma stopped at the lady’s room to freshen her lipstick and to comb her hair. Emma thought about the christening and how beautiful it was. Someday maybe a child would be in her future to christen. Laughing to herself, she thought, not anytime soon, I hope the lunch is as good as the service, I’m famished. Emma walked out the door moving towards the fellowship hall, admiring the stained-glass windows on the way. Feeling someone grabbing her arm, she jumped, turning to find Wesley tightly pinching her arm. Emma grimacing from the pain while Wesley had hold of her arm, saw Frank Gallucci, Carmine's right-hand man quickly moving towards her. Emma gave him a look that stopped him in his tracks. A look that said Frank needed to back off, she could handle this.

  Wesley pinching Emma’s arm even harder, said, “You better stay in your lane, little girl. Bad things happen when you play with the big boys.” Leaving go of her arm, Wesley laughed and walked into the fellowship hall. Emma, steadying herself, watched Wesley walk away. Straightening her dress and smoothing her hair, Emma felt an intense feeling of fear and anger. Frank briskly walked over to Emma, saying, “You okay?” Emma looked at Frank and said, “Nothing I can’t handle. Now disappear, or you are going to blow this whole operation.”

  Rubbing her arm, Emma felt a wave of concern, “Stay strong,” she said to herself over and over as she walked into the fellowship hall, smiling.

  Finding Grayson, Emma sat down next to him and enjoyed her lunch while visiting with the others at the table. Looking around the room while she poured herself a cup of coffee, she saw Frank sitting next to Jesse, enjoying a piece of pie and what seemed to be a loud conversation. It was then she noticed that Westley, Steve, and Martin were standing to leave.

  Turning to Grayson, she said, “Be right back, I want to say goodbye to Martin.” Walking across the room, she approached the three men saying, “Martin, Steve, Wesley, so glad to see you here. The service was wonderful, wasn’t it?” Martin looking down at her, replied, “Yes, it was nice. Emma, will I see you on Monday at the office?” Emma smiling said, “Of course, say, Wesley, could I have a minute?”

  Martin and Steve headed for the exit, while Emma gently took Westley’s arm, she smiled and said, “Wesley, I just wanted to let you know I don’t take threats well. You misunderstand who I am and what I am capable of.” Looking him up and down slowly pointedly gazing at his shoes, she continued, “The next time you think you can pull off an Armani suit, I suggest you don’t purchase your shoes from a discount store.”

  Looking up to gaze in Westley's eyes, she said, “You cannot fake class Wesley, no matter how much you try.” Smiling brightly, she continued, “See you Monday?” Taking a step back from Emma, Westley glared at her, then turned and angrily walked out the door.

  Grayson watching the interaction, seeing the angry look on Wesley’s face asked when Emma came back to sit beside him, Sitting back beside Grayson, “What was that all about?” Smiling
, Emma replied, “Oh, I just wanted to tell Westley what a nice suit it was that he had on, not everyone can wear Armani.” She continued, “I like yours best though. Gray is your color for sure. I will shop for some ties for you if you would like.” Shaking his head, Grayson said, “I don’t wear ties. Tell you what, I have to help Jack get these gifts you bought back to the house, can you follow us? Then we can go back to your place and catch up for the week.”

  Emma, with a brilliant smile, replied, “That sounds fabulous, I will sit here while you load those gifts. Unless of course, you need me to supervise the loading.”

  Seeing Jack wave from across the room, Grayson stood up to help Jack load the boxes. Smiling slyly at Emma, he replied, “No, Ms. Graystone, I think we have this.” As Emma watched Grayson walk across the room, her thoughts turned to Wesley, hoping she did the right thing.

  Finding Jack alone arranging the last of the boxes to be loaded, Emma said, “My dad is flying in and wants you to take him out to the site to see the generators when no one else is there. I gave him your number to make the arrangements; then we will be meeting at the penthouse Tuesday night to talk with Grayson and tell him everything. But until then we can’t say anything. My father is involved, but not in the way I thought, and I think he can help us. There can be no mention of Carmine DeLuca Jack. Can you keep that between us?” Seeing Grayson entering the room, Jack quietly responded, “Okay Emma, but we can’t keep this from Grayson much longer, Grayson doesn’t like secrets, he gets ornery when he thinks he’s out of the loop.”

  Loading up the last of the boxes, Emma followed Jack’s truck back to his home. After the gifts were all unloaded and goodbyes said, Emma and Grayson, arrived back at her apartment. “How about a cold beer before I head home?” Grayson asked.

  Emma, smiling, said: “Can we do a raincheck, I caught the red-eye home last night and have not had any sleep.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for a kiss. Kissing her deeply, Grayson looked deep into Emma’s eyes, “Are you sure?” Emma weak at the knees thinking one moment, who needs sleep and the next moment that she needed to put space between them, so she didn’t tell him anything. Emma, with a gentle smile, replied, “I’m sure, thank you, Grayson, today was fun. Will I see you for lunch on Monday?” Grayson chuckling responded, “Lunch in the park? I will come to your office at noon.” With that, he gave her a soft kiss on the lips and said, “Goodnight Emma.”

  On Monday, Martin watched Emma and Grayson walk back into the office building after their lunch in the park. Approaching them, he sternly said, “Emma, I would like have you join me in my office, I have a file I would like to discuss with you. Grayson, have a good rest of the day.” Martin raised his arm towards the elevator and continued, “Emma, if you are ready.” Looking at Grayson, Emma smiled and said, “I will call you later?” Grayson, frowning looked at Martin answering, “Looking forward to it.”

  Taking a chair in Martin’s office, Emma said, “What file do you have a question on Martin?” From the other side of his desk, Martin smiled wryly at Emma saying, “ I understand you have been let’s say researching this project a little more than you should be and have a few questions?”

  Emma looked at Martin, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes flashing legendary shards of blue ice towards Martin responded, “Actually, I have no further questions, I had dinner with my father over the weekend, and he explained the role of Clean Energy Solutions. If you must know, I was questioning the percentages of the rate of return on the investments and thought there might be an error.”

  Martin offering Emma a cup of coffee, replied, “Good, then you should understand as your father is a shareholder in Clean Energy Solutions, that naturally implicates you as being his representative to the Navajo Project should anything go wrong. To be clear, should anything go wrong with this project, you will go down with the rest of us, so I advise you to do your job and leave the rest to us men. Including your father to handle all the let’s say the business of rate of returns from the project. I suggest your new so-called relationship with Grayson Blackfeather end as well. You don’t want him involved in our business with Clean Energy Solutions now do you? I don’t think he will appreciate your involvement in the project.”

  Emma stood, placing both hands flat on the edge of Martins desk, looked coldly at Martin, saying, “Attempting to blackmail the Graystone family is a popular pastime. Are you sure Martin you want to proceed in this direction?” Martin, with a look of pure evil, responded, “Strange how things turn out. Two birds, one stone and all that.” Martin chuckled at his impromptu joke then said. Now that we have had this impromptu conversation, we all now get to work together.” Martin’s smile spread across his face as easy as a politician's when lying.

  Emma started walking across the office to the door, turning back towards Martin with a look of pure arrogance, she stated, “I don’t take kindly to threats Martin, be sure you do not underestimate me, my abilities, the Graystone name and what comes with that. You do anything to hurt my father or Grayson; I will bury you.” Turning, she walked out of the office, quietly closing the door behind her. Martin chuckled, thinking, we will see Ms. Graystone who gets buried here.

  Grabbing her purse from her office, Emma left the office for the day, driving back to her apartment. Opening a new bottle of wine, she took her notebook from her purse and headed out to the Garden Patio to contemplate her conversation with Martin.

  Pouring herself a large glass of wine, Emma sat back, putting her feet up on the chair next to her. With an overwhelming feeling of fear overcoming her, she wondered, could she and her father be implicated in this fraudulent activity if everything about this project came into the open? Was he making a subtle threat towards Grayson? Sitting up, and drawing a line in her notebook, she jotted pros and cons across the heading. Should she tell her father about the blackmail? Should she tell Grayson? Reviewing the list carefully, Emma sat back in her chair drinking the last of her wine, deciding maybe it was best she kept this to herself, she didn’t know how far Martin would go if she shared his blackmail attempt. She wasn’t sure how her father would react, and she didn’t want to know how Grayson would respond. One thing she did know was that she loved Grayson, and nothing would get in the way of that. Not even Martin Stevenson.

  Hearing the phone ring she saw Grayson was calling, answering she said, “Hi Grayson, I was just going to call you.” Grayson said, “I went by your office, and you had left for the day, is everything okay? What did Martin want?” Chuckling Emma replied, “Oh, there was a sale at the mall I wanted to hit, so I took off early for a bit of shopping. Everything is fine; Martin just wanted me to talk about the filing and how much longer it was going to take. I am not scanning as quickly as he would like. Since I have you on the phone, my dad is coming in tomorrow and would like to meet you and Jack. He’s invited us all for dinner at the penthouse. We could leave right after work tomorrow, have a few drinks at the Pub and head over for dinner.”

  Hesitating for a moment, Grayson asked, “So it’s time to meet the father?” Emma laughed, “Yes, it is, Mr. Blackfeather. Are you up for the challenge?” Grayson laughed, “I feel like a school kid, but I guess it would work. Sure, should we discuss it over lunch in the park tomorrow?” Emma laughing responded, “No lunch for me tomorrow, I have to keep working on those files, but come by my office at five, and we will go get those drink’s.” Grayson asked, “What about Jack? “Emma, thinking quickly, said, “I will give him a call, I know he said something about being on the site all day tomorrow, I will give him the address to meet us.” Grayson thinking Jack hadn’t said anything about needing to be on-site all day, responded, “Okay, sounds like you have everything handled so I will see you at five.”

  Finishing their conversation, Grayson called Jack, leaving a voice mail when he didn’t answer. He asked Jack why he was going out to the site tomorrow; Grayson thought they had scheduled a time to go over the environmental soil tests he needed to do on Wednesday for the tribal governme
nt's updates.

  The next evening, Emma and Grayson arrived at the penthouse. Emma knocked at the door, looking at Grayson Emma asked, “Ready to meet my Dad?” Opening the door, Howard greeted Emma with a hug and shook Grayson’s hand. “Come in,” Howard stated, “Jack is already here at the bar.” Emma smiled breezing through the door heading over to the bar to say hello to Jack. Slapping Grayson on the back, Howard laughed, “How about a drink Grayson.” It was hard not to miss the wall of windows showing the mesas in all their glory with the sun sending rockets of color from their tops.

  Grayson looked around the room seeing the white leather furniture and the elegant staircase leading to an upper level. Grayson astounded at the surroundings walked over to the bar where Howard handed him a glass of Jim Beam Bourbon.

  Emma was raising her nose into the air sniffing the different aromas coming from the formal dining room. At that moment, the butler walked into the room and said, “Mr. Graystone dinner is ready, sir.” Seated at the table, Emma was happy to see her one of her favorite meals was on the menu, Manicotti with toasted cheesy garlic bread and salad.