Page 15 of Embrace Me Forever

“Thanks for your time, guys,” Rob concludes the meeting. “Rocky, put together a case study for both our old and new fleets so Thomas can start testing the prototype. Clayton and I need to have a word with Blake.”

“On it, boss,” Thomas says. “I’ll set up an isolated test environment to check for viruses or malicious code.”

Rocky and Thomas head out without a fuss.

As the door clicks shut, Rob turns to me. “I gave her the check.”

“You did?” I gape, but there’s a spark of joy knowing she succeeded.

“No biases,” the oldest Hartley says lightly, but his gaze on me is intense. “But as Clay told me, you couldn’t resist playing Sherlock, could you?”

I give a half-shrug, acknowledging he’s right.

He then adds, “I can tell you, Blake. If it’s bad news, I’ll be in denial.”

Clayton nudges me, grinning. “Come on, spill it.”

I’ve been in this business long enough to spot a red flag, and Georgia-May is waving a whole parade of them. Yet, I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, searching for some kind of explanation that suggests she doesn’t have malevolent intentions.

But my loyalty rests unequivocally with Rob and Clayton. They are my family. My role is clear: to safeguard them without any ambiguity. Whatever conflicting emotions may be stirring within me, they must take a back seat. I have to present them with the facts.

“She’s not who she says she is,” I begin. “No social media, nothing about her on the net except for the address she gaveus in her proposal and her part-time position at the University of Colorado. She lives alone, and she works remotely as a contractor for a gaming company.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Clay says.

“No, you’re right,” I reply.

“But?”

I exhale. “She doesn’t own a credit card, maintains a single checking account where her university salary is deposited, and only withdraws cash, never making direct transactions from her account. And here’s the first major red flag. There’s no evidence that Obsidian Moon has ever paid her.”

“But you spoke to her manager there, right?” Clayton says.

“Yes, a British chap named Christian Cartwright. He confirmed her work for the company.”

“Bitcoins at play here?” Clayton says.

“Dammit,” says Rob.

“She has a passport and a driver’s license, but I ran a background check using government and non-government databases. No other details. And take a look at who’s registered as her birth parents.” I display photos of Tony and Eva Williams. “Both deceased, and notably, they bear no resemblance to her.”

“Could she have been adopted then?” Clayton interjects.

“Possibly, but again, there are no records to confirm that,” I assert. “These are red flags number two, three, and four.”

“Damn. I’m in denial!” Rob slumps into the chair behind him. “Her work is amazing, and she seems down to Earth, easy to work with. I bet she’s pulled plenty of all-nighters to get this far.”

“Probably living off pizzas, just like we did building the Peregrine,” Clayton quips, mentioning the hyper-speed boat that got Rob the water speed world record. The two brothers worked on it relentlessly, like college students cramming for finals.

My head bows a little when I reveal, “She has a child, but the father is unknown, and what’s more concerning is that the child isn’t listed as living with her.”

Rob frowns, searching for an explanation. “She lives in an apartment. Some landlords aren’t keen on tenants with children. Maybe she’s keeping it quiet because of that.”

I appreciate his tendency to see the best in people, as he did with me. But something more sinister is going on. “I can look into it further, but let me tell you what else I found about the child. There’s a record of her giving birth to a baby girl in a Texas hospital. After that, there’s no trace of the child.”

Clayton shakes his head. “She’s been moving around, then.”

I continue, “Her history doesn’t go back more than six years. The only verifiable details are her connections with the University of Colorado, proven by her published academic papers, and her work with Obsidian Moon Interactive. At least, that’s what her manager, Christian Cartwright, told me.”

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