The Merger (29 page)

His eyes narrowed as he read the note and directed his attention to Carson. “Where is your sister?”

Carson lifted his head. “She was in Nashville the last time I saw her,” he cowered from the man who was decades older, but obviously had control over him.

Spencer balled his fists ready to lean in on the attack against Carson. He stopped as his side as his cell phone buzzed in his pocket where he’d put it as he’d knelt down by Julie. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.

JULIE’S PHONE IS STILL ON. LIBBY GRAYSON IS IN CUSTODY FOR ARSON.

He smiled at the text message. Tiffany was a good friend and Julie was a genius.

He’d flown to Oregon
to, hopefully,
get some answers. Her house was empty and his leads stopped there. Only by chance had he gone to his office at PLL and Tiffany had called to tell him Julie had called, but all she could hear was people arguing. Spencer was sure that was exactly what she was supposed to hear.

Until the room was
clear,
he’d leave her phone connected without anyone knowing.

“Sir, I just received notice that your granddaughter is in custody for an arson fire on one of my build sites.”

Both sets of
Grayson
eyes turned to him, but the elder set turned sad. Mr. Grayson shook his head. “I wish I were surprised.”

“Grandfather, this isn’t Libby’s fault.”

Mr. Grayson’s head rose as he looked at his grandson. “I’m sure your explanation is better?”

He stood, but each security guard placed a hand on his shoulder pushing him back down in his seat. Carson’s head looked from side to side. “Grandfather, please.”

“I’m waiting to hear from you,” he said simply.

“It’s not Libby. It’s Julie. You have to believe me.”

“I haven’t believed much of anything you or your sister has said for the past fifteen years,” the old man’s voice shook with anger.

“Look at the pictures, Grandfather. She’s been having an affair with Benson.”

Mr. Grayson looked down at the pictures again. “These are very interesting,” he said. “You know what’s interesting? I was there the whole time.” He picked up one of the pictures and threw it at his grandson. “I’m old. I’m very old, but I’m not stupid.” He walked around the desk until he stood in front of his grandson.

“Do you think I’d sell my company to a man with no ethics?” His voice rose and
the large
man before him cowered into his seat. “I have known the Bensons and the Harts for years. I trust them, Carson.”

“Grandfather, they played you.”

“No, not him. Not Spencer Benson.”

“Julie and her husband,” Carson retorted quickly. “They’re the ones not to be trusted. You need to do something.”

Mr. Grayson leaned against the desk. “If the problem is with my law staff then why is your sister in custody for arson?” Again the old man’s voice rose.

Spencer moved toward the desk. “Sir, I need to get her to
a hospital
and have her looked at.”

The protest came from behind him. “Spencer, I’m fine.”

He turned to see Julie on her hands and knees pushing herself up.

Spencer hurried to her side and wrapped a protective arm around her waist. “You should sit.”

“I’ll be fine.”

He held Julie in place as she reached for the back of her head. “Sir, I have an account in my name with over sixty-thousand dollars in it.”

“Julie,” her name slipped from Spencer’s lips in nearly a disappointed sigh.

She looked at him and then back to the elder Grayson.

“I didn’t expect that,” Mr. Grayson said.

“I didn’t either,” she replied. “The paperwork was in my mailbox when I arrived back in Oregon. Sir,” she said making sure his attention was directed at her, “I didn’t open that account.”

“How do you open an account and fill it with money like that, Ms. Jacobson, and know nothing about it?”

“When it’s fraud, sir.”

Spencer watched Carson sink deeper into his chair and he was sure that Mr. Grayson noticed.

Silence had engulfed the room as Julie waited for Mr. Grayson to acknowledge her.

“I’d like to talk to Ms. Jacobson alone,” he said steely as the security guards each took an arm of his grandson. “Escort my grandson to my office.” He turned his gaze to Spencer. “You may wait in your office,” he told him.

Julie watched Spencer’s face contort as he tried to control himself.

She simply gave him a nod. Spencer’s lips pressed together in a thin line.

“Julie, I don’t…”

“Spencer, I’ve worked for Mr. Grayson for many years. I’ll be fine.”

He kept a cool eye on her before he leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Don’t turn off your phone.”

She agreed with a nod and he walked slowly out of the room.

As the door
closed,
Julie turned toward Mr. Grayson. Her head throbbed and it hurt to focus her eyes, but she was going be strong. She’d done nothing wrong and Mr. Grayson knew it.

“Ms. Jacobson, sit,” he commanded just as he had with his grandson.

Julie did as she was told.

“You’ve worked for me in
a capacity
of trust for a lot of years. There isn’t anyone in this organization that knows more about me and my family than you do.”

“With all due respect, sir. I don’t work for you anymore.”

He nodded slowly. “I guess none of us really do.”

“You fired me,” she quickly added.

His eyes widened. “I did what?”

Julie swallowed hard. “The day before the merger was finalized I was asked to leave the company. I was handed a signed letter by you and told to vacate the premises immediately. Security guards saw me out with nothing but my purse and my bag.”

That obviously had surprised him. He took
the seat
next to her and sat.

“Julie, dear Julie, why would I do that?”

“Sir, there were a lot of things going on. I just assumed I’d gotten in the way. I know it wouldn’t be the first time.”

He reached for her hand and held it in his. “You’ve never gotten in the way.”

“I know you gave me this job as a favor to my father. I’ll never forget that.”

“You proved to be worthy of that favor.”

She smiled as she fought off the tears caused by the pain of her throbbing head and the emotions over her father’s conversation with Mr. Grayson when he asked him to take care of his little girl.

“Sir, I would never steal from you, but I
do, in fact,
have an account with sixty-thousand dollars in it.”

“Why? Julie, I would have helped you if you were in trouble.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t put the money there.” Julie took a deep breath. “My husband has been having an affair with Libby.”

He let out a long slow breath. “Oh, Julie. I’m so sorry.”

“I didn’t want to tell you that. She’s your granddaughter and…”

“You can’t choose your relatives,” he reminded her and patted her hand. “I love Libby and Carson, but there is a reason I never put them on the
payroll
. I can’t say my son chose wisely in his first wife. She didn’t do right by those kids and even as adults I can’t control them.”

For whatever reasons, that seemed to comfort her. This was why she’d been so loyal to them. Since her parents had
died,
Mr. Grayson had always taken care of her and protected her as she assumed her father would have. He’d paid off her law school tuition, given her
the job
at PLL, and not just even a job behind a desk pushing papers. He’d let her negotiate deals and handle suits from disgruntled employees. She’d been in charge of the merger between PLL and BBH since Spencer and Mr. Grayson first met.

She’d drawn up Mr. Grayson’s will and changed it when it needed to be changed.

And at that moment of realization she knew why she’d been targeted.

“Julie, do you feel alright?” Mr. Grayson moved closer to her.

“Your will. I changed your will for you.”

“Yes, we did that last year,” he said and gripped her hand. “What does this have to do with that?”

She looked up into his aged eyes which always reminded her so much of her
father’s
. “You were very specific to not leave
anything
but the trust funds that had been established to your grandchildren. All of them.”

“Yes, but that was between you and me.”

“And Steven, my husband,” she said as if reminding him that he’d been part of that conversation.

Mr. Grayson sat back in the chair and folded his hands together. “I’d forgotten about that. And you just told me
he
and Libby…”

“Yes.”

He let out a deep groan.

“I’ll be honest, sir, I don’t think my ex-husband was in on the fraud, but I think he was a gateway. That’s how they got my information. And just a few days ago he too was let go from the company.”

He sat forward and rested his elbows on his legs. “I worked so hard to build something that would go on forever.”

“You’ve done that.”

“But I had to sell it away from my family. When you can’t trust your family who can you trust?”

Julie reached for the man’s hand. Some families were just different, she supposed. Her family was very small. She’d never truly understood the dynamics of family until she’d met Spencer’s.

Though the
Graysons
and Bensons were both built on
wealth,
she knew that Spencer’s family roots went deeper than
a financial
bottom line. Unfortunately, she didn’t think the Grayson
family’s
did.

“Mr. Grayson, I would never have stolen from you personally or from your company. I need to turn the account over to the authorities. They’ll have to investigate, but in the end they’re going to find that I wasn’t the person who opened that account. They’re going to have to prosecute Libby and perhaps Carson.”

He nodded slowly. “My wife would be devastated, rest her soul.”

She knew it was the right thing to do, to turn it over to the authorities. It broke her heart to think she’d have to put Mr. Grayson through that, but it had to be done. Libby had to pay for the fraud against Julie and PLL. The thought of the corporate house being destroyed
socked
into Julie’s gut.

How could Spencer ever trust her?

Mr. Grayson lifted his head. “I’m sorry my granddaughter moved in on your marriage and I’m sorry my grandson hurt you. I should let Mr. Benson take you to the hospital.”

Julie’s ears were still ringing and the throbbing continued. She nodded.

Mr. Grayson stood. “Perhaps it’s time for the Grayson family to turn all of PLL over to the Bensons. I don’t want to cause them, or you, any further grief.”

Julie stood and then sat back down when her head spun. “Thank you, sir, for everything you’ve done for me. You’ve taken good care of me.”

His eyes averted. “This doesn’t feel like taking care of someone.” He patted her shoulder. “I’m going to talk to Mr. Benson about getting your job back. He’d be a fool to not keep you on here. You’re the best lawyer I know.”

Julie watched the man walk out of her office broken. How could his own family have caused him so much pain?

She finally managed to stand, after a few tries, and walked around the desk. Wincing at the pain in her head, she bent over to pick up the phone. Blood rushed to her head and the ringing in her ears grew louder.

The room around her began to spin and grow dark.

Spencer
paced
behind the desk. The bank of windows, which looked out over the Willamette River made him miss his view in Nashville. When he looked
up,
Mr. Grayson stood in the doorway.

“Mr. Benson, I’ve come to let you know that the Grayson family will be stepping away gracefully from PLL. I think in light of what has happened it is time.”

“Mr. Grayson, I appreciate that.” He walked toward him and held out his hand.

As
the older
man shook
his,
he could feel the regret tingle through their hands, but Mr. Grayson didn’t let go.

“Julie Jacobson is innocent. I’m sure that’ll be proven, but I also know this in my heart. Look into it. She’s not the type of person to steal from anyone.” He took a breath. “And I’m sincerely sorry for the loss of your property back in Tennessee.”

“It was only a frame. It’ll be rebuilt.”

Mr. Grayson dropped Spencer’s hand. “I’ve learned that Julie was let go under my orders.” He frowned. “I would never have done that. I’d like to see her reinstated here. She’s an asset you can’t be without. She’s a fine lawyer. I think of her as a daughter.”

“Will you sit for a moment?” Spencer asked and walked back into his office. He motioned to the chair in front to the desk and he took the other.