“What if she needs to put them in something?”
The old woman can barely see over the cash register, but she smiles and points to a wall with several dozen different styles of vases. Why so many? I stand frozen in place as I stare at the ridiculous selection. How the fuck should I know which one she would like best?
“Does she wear a lot of jewelry?”
I look down at the old woman, who has appeared next to me and is maybe five foot next to my six two, she feels half my size.Her long gray hair is in a braid, and her blue eyes are a little dull, but I can tell they were the color of the sky once. Her smile is sweet, and her head is tipped back to look at me.
The only jewelry I ever see Nora wear is a set of small diamond studs in her ears, a watch and the little ring on the middle finger of her right hand. She doesn’t even wear a necklace.
Staring down at her in confusion, I shake my head.
Maybe a vase isn’t important.
But there’s a cabinet full of different vases in the kitchen at the ranch. It must be important if we have a cabinet full of them. But it’s just a vase, for fuck’s sake. Wouldn’t one be plenty? The flowers are supposed to be the pretty part, not the vase. This shit doesn’t make any sense to me.
“Describe her.” The old woman says as she slips her bony hands into the front pockets of the smock she has on over a sweatshirt.
When I stare at her longer, wondering why I would do that, she says, “Go on then. You want help picking the right one or not?”
Lifting my eyes back to the vases, I easily think about her image in my mind. It’s there all the time. Feeling a little foolish sharing what I think is personal information, I do it so I can get what I think she might like.
“She has long red hair and green eyes. Her lips are full and almost the same copper color as her hair. She’s graceful and soft, and her face lights up when she smiles. She’s soft-spoken, but she’s one of the strongest people I know.” I look down at the little woman as I finish my thought. “She has freckles across her cheeks and nose, they kind of stand out because her skin is so white, except when she blushes. She does that a lot.”
The woman smiles as if I just told her an inside joke, softly crinkling the outside edges of her eyes. “She’s a lucky girl.” Sheturns to the vases and walks up to one of the shelves, picking up a square crystal vase that has lines etched into the surface. It’s modest and elegant - like Nora.
After paying for the vase, I set the boxed vase and the roses on the passenger seat of my truck. I’m about to put it in gear to back out when my phone buzzes in my pocket, and Callum’s number flashes on the display panel on my dash. I tap the picture of the little green phone on the screen.
“Harlow.”
“It took a little longer than I thought it would, but we got quite a bit of info on your guy. It’s pretty fucked up.”
The muscles across my back tighten. “Fucked up how?”
“I’ve got Spits on the line with us; he found all the info. Spits.”
Clicking keys on a keyboard travel over the line, and Spits starts talking. “So, Matthew Dean Simmons, twenty-eight, graduated from Columbia University seven years ago. Works with his father, Ellis Simmons, at the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Brother is Eugene Simmons, works at the DOJ.
“Matthew met Nora Kathline Abernathy, twenty-five, from Topeka, Kansas, at Columbia while in her senior year of a double major for English and Journalism. She graduated with a four point oh, and top honors three years ago. He moved her into his condo right after.”
It doesn’t surprise me that my girl is smart, but it pisses me off that the guy rattling off the information like he’s reading from a file knows more about her than I do. I didn’t even know her middle name.
“With Daddy’s money and influence, Matthew moved up the ladder quickly. It’s not clear whether this was the plan from the beginning or if it became a plan after they started dating, but Matthew created a shell corporation in Nora’s name after she moved in with him.”
He’s been using her. I roll my head from one shoulder to the other to loosen the muscles twisting across my shoulders.
“They have been facilitating stock market trading under her name and the name of the corporation she owns. From the surface, it all looks legit as long as Nora signs off on the quarterly reviews and asset distributions. All the money is transferred into multiple accounts in her name while Matthew is listed as her legal defense.”
“Wait.” I stop him. “How many accounts are we talking about? And how much money?”
As if I hadn’t interrupted him, Spits continues. “There are two offshore accounts that total thirty-five million, and three U.S. accounts with seven million combined.”
Holy fucking shit. He’s made himself a very rich man just by keeping her around.
“Why do you say ‘looks legit’? What kind of trading are we talking about?”
“He trades in stocks regularly, but after digging, I found some transactions that lead back to his brother in the DOJ and a woman in the SEC. They have been buying stocks on tips from clients and companies that Matthew and Eugene are counsel for. Eugene’s girlfriend at the SEC is keeping them off the radar. The brother and the girlfriend also have their own offshore accounts.”
Insider trading.
