I sat there staring at the handwritten letter as my blood boiled in my veins. Slate. I should’ve fucking known this bullshit was from Slate. My eyes scanned the letter over and over again as I took in the words on the page.

I was being tracked.

Followed, like a fucking animal.

Boulder,

The debts from your youth have come due, my friend. And payments on the streets are always met. I know you have the time for me. If you have time to have lunch at Gramercy Tavern or take in the opera, then you definitely have time for me. If you don’t want to find me, it’s very easy for me to find you.

Don’t keep me waiting.

Slate

Slamming the letter down, I stood from my chair. That rat bastard had been following me for weeks. I felt the blood rushing through my veins as the letter crumpled in my hand.

I had to get rid of this threat.

I had to settle this once and for all.

“Robert?”

I whipped my head up at the sound of James’ voice. His brow was furrowed with confusion as he shoved his hands into his pockets. I sighed and fell back into my chair, knowing I could no longer keep this from him. It wasn’t a threat to the company any longer, but it was a threat to him. If Slate was tracking me, then he was tracking those that interacted with me.

Which meant associating with me put his pregnant wife in danger.

“So, I’m going to go ahead and ask knowing you won’t answer but… what the hell has you so riled up lately?”

“A problem I’ve been trying to solve and can’t,” I said.

“Something going on with the company?” he asked.

“It’s a bit more personal than that.”

“You have a personal life?” he asked with a grin. “Who’s the letter from?”

“Slate.”

“Interesting name. This someone I should know about?”

With a roll of my eyes, I ripped my desk open and pulled out the three other letters I’d been sent. Then I turned to my computer, pulled up my email, and pulled up the four emails that had been sent my way. Eight pieces of correspondence over the past three months, each of them escalating in nature.

“What is all this?” James asked.

“For the past three months, I’ve been getting letters from an anonymous author,” I said. “It wasn’t until the letter came today that I knew who was sending everything.”

I watched James pick a letter up from the desk as his eyes widened.

“Rob, this letter’s threatening your life.”

“I know it is,” I said.

“And this one is threatening the company’s life.”

“I’m well aware of that,” I said.

“And this one-”

I watched him read the latest letter as his eyes grew with anger.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” James asked.

“It’s… been an interesting past few months.”

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me about these?”

“Because they were anonymous and there was no real threat.”

“No real threat? Rob, someone’s threatening to kill you in these letters. What the hell do the emails say?”

“Much of the same,” I said.

“Why in the world are you acting like this isn’t an issue?”

“Because it isn’t. Or it wasn’t, until the one that came today.”

“How the hell are these getting past the mailroom?”

“That’s something I’ve been trying to figure out. But I’ve had security talk to the people in the mailroom. I’ve even switched out a couple of people’s shifts to see if it makes any difference and it doesn’t. The only thing I can think is that these are being hand-delivered somehow. And with this last letter…”

“This asshole was at the fucking opera that night?” he asked.

“Apparently so.”

“Am I being watched?”

“No matter what this asshole wants, nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“That wasn’t what I asked, Robert. Are my wife and I being watched?”

I bit down on my tongue as he scoffed and shook his head.

“Who the fuck is Slate?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“We’re past what you can and can’t tell. This directly correlates to me now. Fill me the fuck in or I’m taking a vacation with my wife.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” I said.

“Why is that not a bad idea?” he asked. “So we are being watched. Shit, I have to call my wife.”

“Slate doesn’t want your wife,” I said.

“I don’t know that! You won’t reassure me of that! What the fuck is wrong with you, hiding something like this?”

“I’ve dealt with worse in my life.”

“The hell does that mean?” he asked. “You never should have kept this to yourself. This is serious, Rob.”

“Do you know how many death threats I get on a daily basis? How many people call for my resignation from this company or tell me Horizon Technologies is somehow responsible for the earthquake that happened in South America or some shit? Death threats aren’t an issue. But this last letter is a little…”

“A little nothing. This guy knows where you’ve been. He’s watching you, Robert. Do you get what that means?”

“Believe it or not, I didn’t build Horizon Technologies from the ground out without getting a little smart in the process,” I said.

“Who is this man?” James asked. “I’m assuming ‘Boulder’ is you. Hell of a nickname if you ask me.”

“The less you know, the better at this point.”

“Do we need to call the police? We need to call the police.”

“No. No police are involved. I hire private security for reasons exactly like this. Death threats that rattle me are checked out by them, and this is no different. All the police are liable to do is leak this to the media, and the last thing we need is a stock plummet because people don’t trust us any longer.”

“So what the hell are we supposed to do? Keep looking over our shoulder and carry a damn gun on us?”

“Can you even shoot a gun?” I asked.

“Not the damn point, Rob.”

“Look. James. When I built this company, I wanted to get away from the life I had lived up until that point. And even though I had to claw my way out of the hole I’d dug for myself, I made it happen. I always make things happen. And this is no different. This needs to go away, and I’ll make it happen.”

“What is this debt this guy thinks you owe him?” he asked.

“I owe no one nothing,” I said.

“The look on your face says otherwise. Do you own him money?”

“No.”

“Time?”

“No.”

“Did you kill his damn dog? What did you do, Robert? Talk to me. The more you tell me, the more I can relay to the security team.”

“I’m doing all of that myself. The only thing I want you to do is progress forward with things,” I said.

“Yeah, with someone conveniently watching my every move.”

“He’s not watching you, he’s watching me. And if that’s the case, then all I have to do is get out of New York.”

“Oh, so you’re going to jet off to some private island and wait him out? What if he comes for you?” he asked.

“Then me and the personal security team will be ready. It’s what I pay them for.”

“Give me something, Rob. This is serious.”

“I know this is serious!”

I felt the blood rushing through my ears as I drew in a deep breath.

“I’m aware of the severity of the situation. And I already have a plan,” I said.

“You need to tell me how you know Slate.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because I’ve been with you through thick and thin with this company and I think you’re an idiot. I think you're trying to compartmentalize this situation and act like this isn’t affecting the company. You know this man from your past, so you think you can keep it there. But you can’t. If something happens to you, I need to have something to tell the police. Because if something happens to you, I am involving the police. With or without your consent.”

I raked my hand through my hair as I turned to look out the window. He was right. I had been trying to compartmentalize two parts of my life for far too long, and now they were merging. Coming together because of one stupid, idiotic night. A night that never should’ve happened and a night that never should’ve escalated to what it became.

“You’re right,” I said.

“Well, I don’t hear that often coming from you,” James said. “How is he, Rob?”

“Slate is a guy I grew up with in the orphanage,” I said. “You know, after my family…”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it. Were you two close?”

“Very,” I said. “He lost his family, too. In a car accident. Him and his younger brother were in the same orphanage as me.”

“Is that who gave you the nickname ‘Boulder’?”

“Yeah. Though that came later on in my teenage years,” I said. “I made some bad decisions and fell in with some of the wrong people. My decision to leave wasn’t enjoyed by all involved, and it was pretty messy getting out of there.”

“Define ‘messy’,” he said.

“No thanks,” I said flatly.

The silence that filled the room was tense. Filled with questions I knew James wanted to ask. But I wasn’t ready to answer them. I was ready to end this part of my life so I could get on with my destiny. It took me years to build what I had. It took my years to earn the skyline view from my office. It took me years of sleepless nights and failed business ventures and angry clients and shifting social and political tensions to climb to where I was.

And Slate wasn’t going to fucking take that from me.

None of them were.

“I’m concerned these people aren’t to be messed with,” James said. “I’m concerned our security team won’t be enough to track them down.”

“They aren’t to be messed with,” I said. “And what I do about it from here on out isn’t your concern. You said it yourself, if something happens to me you’re involving the police. You stick with that.”

“And what are you going to do? Disappear?” he asked. “That’s not going to work.”

“I’m not going to disappear, James. I’m not a pussy. I don’t back down from a fight, especially with Slate. I didn’t before and I won’t now. But you have to trust that I know what I’m doing. That I know how to handle people like this.”

“How do you know that? How do you know how to deal with something like this? You’re a tech guy, Rob. Not a gang member.”

I clenched my jaw as I bit down on the inside of my cheek.

“Right?” James asked.

“Go to the main security office and notify them of this newest letter. Then send Deckerson up here. I want to talk to him about something,” I said.

I heard James sigh as my eyes locked onto his reflection in the window.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Go home. Be with your wife,” I said.

“What about you? Here? Alone?”

I shook my head as I pinched the bridge of my nose. James was one of my most trusted allies, but sometimes he didn’t know when enough was enough.

“Why the hell do you think I’m sending you for Deckerson?” I asked. “Tell them about the note, get his ass upstairs, then go home.”

“But-”

“Now, James.”

I watched my friend and business partner retreat from my office before I turned my eyes back to the horizon. The skyline of New York City always calmed me in moments of stress. It reminded me of all I had accomplished despite my past. Despite the mistakes I had made and the people I had lost and the women I used to dull the anger that swelled in my chest.

But today was different.

Today, the skyline didn’t do shit.