Run, Girl (If You Can)

The room became deadly silent as the implications of what Aiden said set in. Graydon Meyer, more likely than not, was the one who sent him the shares. The man who Aaron was fairly certain had worked with Lacy Knighton to kill his wife.

Why would he do this? And calling himself 'a friend'? This didn't make sense at all!

"Isn't he that tech guy?" Cameron asked, looking to his boss in confusion.

"He's an enemy," Aaron said icily. "He works with Lacy. This seems like a threat to me."

If Graydon Meyer knew about his marriage, did that mean Lacy did too? She was the last person on earth he wanted finding out. His heart flooded with panic. He hadn't talked to Keeley since this morning. Was she okay? Had they done something to her already?

He ordered Aiden to dig into this further before hanging up the phone. Ignoring the fact that Cameron was still in his office, he called his wife. He desperately needed to hear her voice right now.

"Aaron? What's going on? I'm walking to class right now."

There was a lot of background interference but he could still make it out. His heart heaved a sigh of relief.

"I just wanted to check on you. How are you feeling?" he asked tenderly.

"I'm alright. I didn't fall asleep in any of my lectures so far today so that's something."

"That's good."

"I've got to go now, there's no reception in the part of the building I'm about to enter. I'll see you at home, okay?"

"Okay. I love you."

She made a noise of affirmation before mumbling bye and hanging up the phone. He was too relieved she was actually fine to appreciate the irony that she signed off the call the same way he used to.

Cameron was looking at him a bit funny. "What was that about?"

Oh great. Aaron forgot he didn't know anything about the threats Keeley had faced in the past. He had acted a bit hastily.

"I thought she might be in danger because of this message," he confessed. "I lost my head for a minute."

"I didn't think that was even possible for a guy like you. Why would you think that?"

"Lacy Knighton is dangerous and Aiden has already linked the man we think did this to her. I can't think of anything this 'gift' could be but a warning to me."

A thoughtful expression appeared on Cameron's face.

"You might be thinking of this the wrong way. If this man could force Emilio to sell so easily, he could have infiltrated the company any time he wanted. So why didn't he? He probably has no intention of taking over Hale Investments. If anything, it seems like he wants you to do it for him.

"And if he truly posed a danger to Keeley…wouldn't he have acted already? If he was able to figure out you got married this weekend he's probably known about her for a while. This might sound crazy but I think this person has a problem with your father, not you."

What he said would have made sense if not for Aaron's belief that Graydon Meyer was the father of Lacy's baby. Her baby daddy most definitely had a problem with Aaron personally. But he had backed off after Keeley's death, which was still perplexing.

Aaron always assumed the mystery man had a vendetta against him but what if it was against the Hales in general? It could explain handing over the shares. Cameron could be right—Meyer might want him to overthrow his father. But that left the question of where he factored into this.

What he really needed was that information on Graydon Meyer's true identity but Aiden hadn't been able to find it yet. Whoever he had used to get his fake ID was truly skilled. The switch must have been done in person, not leaving an internet trail to follow.

He was sure that Meyer's original identity was the key to all of this. That it would prove what grudge he held against Aaron or any of the other Hales.

"Do you think I should accept the shares?"

Cameron shrugged. "I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm more concerned about what else he knows."

Aaron sighed. He had a point. They definitely needed to be on guard and look into all of this further but in the meantime there was no reason not to use those shares.

"I have been wanting an additional shareholder on my side anyway. Who should I give them to?"

"Why not give them to Jennica? She would have fun acting the part of a high profile businesswoman. The meetings are only once a month, she should be able to make it to most of them with her schedule," he suggested.

"It would be a bit suspicious if your wife suddenly had a bunch of shares."

"Your father already suspects we have a connection anyway. And she doesn't have to let people know she's my wife. She could use her maiden name at the meetings and nobody would be the wiser. It's not like any of these people know who I'm married to."

Aaron hated it when Cameron had multiple good points in a row. It was like admitting defeat, somehow. He replied a bit grumpily.

"Alright, give them to Jennica."

He rubbed his hands together in excitement. "This'll be great, you'll see! What does this bring you up to now anyway?"

"39%. I'm technically the largest shareholder but I can't show my cards just yet. I need more than 50% to do that," he said with a sigh.

12% away. He had never been so close but it still seemed so far away. If he stuck to his original plan of convincing Alexander to sell some of his shares next year and the child Keeley was carrying was a boy it would be possible.

That was too many 'ifs.' What he wanted was something foolproof that would turn the tide his way without such a heavy degree of uncertainty. Aaron had to get his father out of the way for good or Keeley would never be able to relax.