So much for taking things slow. A blush crept up her cheeks as she put her clothes back on and got freshened up in the bathroom. She’d give anything to stay over at Simon’s apartment, but she needed to head back home. Now that she was armed with way more information about the hacking, she needed to get in touch with her lawyer.
She stepped out of the bathroom and walked back into the living room. “I think I’m going to head home.”
He got up from the sofa and sauntered up to her. As he approached her, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. He had just given her one of the best orgasms of her life right there on the sofa and she still craved him so intensely it was like an addiction.
“Thanks for coming over today,” he said in a low voice. “I like having you over.”
His deep, gravelly voice sent a delightful shiver through her.
“I like it, too.”
“Let me walk you downstairs,” he said.
With a nod, she followed him out the front door and let him lead her downstairs.
She got home as the sun was starting to set and she called her lawyer the minute she walked into the kitchen. Once the call was over, she knew that she probably wouldn’t get more information about the hacking over the weekend. Her investigation, like whatever time she could spend with Simon, was going to have to wait until Monday morning.
~~*~~
SHE MADE SURE SHE CAME to work early on Monday, determined to work on her investigation before her formal responsibilities grabbed her attention for the day.
First, she needed to compare notes with Linda and see if she had learned anything since Friday.
“Come in,” Linda said after Heather knocked on her office door.
Heather walked in and quietly shut the door behind her. “Linda, do you have a few minutes to go over the investigation? I found out some new information over the weekend.”
“I heard some of the details about the electricians from Dover’s legal team. I have some other information for you, too.” Linda motioned for her to sit down. “I was just about to text you to request a meeting to discuss it. Why don’t you start?”
“Okay.” Heather took her seat across from Linda’s desk and quickly filled her in on what the electricians had revealed over the weekend.
“Well, the information I got is connected to that,” she said. “One of Dover’s accountants got in touch with me. He found a payment to the electrical company. It looked like a payment directly from Dover, Inc.”
“That doesn’t sound too unusual,” Heather said.
“At first glance it looked normal, but according to the accountant the payment was made for work done on Simon’s building.”
The hairs on her neck stood up at Linda’s words. “But Simon paid them personally. I know that because I was his assistant at the time and I got a copy of the invoice. He paid them for their work.”
“He did,” Linda said with a nod. “But someone at Dover used one of our executive accounts to pay them for the exact same job.”
“They got paid double?” Heather’s eyes widened. “What is that? Hush money?”
“The accountant thinks the second payment was made to make sure that the electricians did exactly what they were instructed to do.” Linda shook her head, as if in disbelief at the magnitude of what they were dealing with. “They were paid a second payment to make sure they sent the photos and that the system was down so it could be hacked.”
“But over the weekend, they never said anything to us about a second payment,” Heather said.
“Of course, they didn’t. They’re already in hot water. A second payment just looks like they were bribed to commit a crime.”
“Do you think they were bribed?” Heather asked.
“No. I think the electricians were in over their heads and probably got conned,” Linda replied. “They’re too afraid to reveal how badly they screwed up because that opens them up to lawsuits and worse.”
“They seemed afraid that the police were going to get involved,” Heather said.
Linda sighed heavily. “No wonder they kept the second payment to themselves.”
“This is really bad, isn’t it?” Heather bit her lip as she took in everything she had learned. Simon probably knew the person who had done this. He might not know who the hacker was, but he likely dealt with that person on a regular basis. Maybe even trusted them.
Unease settled into her stomach. After the meeting with the electricians, he had been so focused on her. He had even apologized to her again. Then they had fooled around in his living room like a couple of high school kids. He hadn’t given any hint that the revelation had unnerved him. It was so like him to exude confidence while hiding his concerns and anxieties.
Heather didn’t know how he did it. How did he manage to run a billion-dollar corporation every single day while projecting such a calm demeanor all the time? She had always admired him, but right now she admired him more than she ever had. The weight of all his responsibilities must have been absolutely crushing.
No wonder he had been so quick to accuse her. His accusations had stung, but he had been double-crossed before. She might not be betraying him, but someone at Dover definitely was. Simon’s faith in her and belief in her innocence wasn’t something she planned on taking for granted.
“It’s especially bad because, whoever the hacker is, they probably have a powerful position in the company.” Linda frowned. “I’m not going to lie to you, Heather, but even I’m a suspect.”
Her entire body tensed as the meaning of Linda’s words hit her. “What? You’re not saying—”
“I didn’t do it,” Linda interrupted sharply.
Heather swallowed hard, trying to compose herself in light of Linda’s revelation. She wasn’t naïve. The hacker could be anyone who worked at Dover, but she also knew what it was like to be wrongly accused. To be thought of as a traitor despite showing loyalty over and over. And Linda was by far Dover’s most loyal employee. Heather hadn’t worked at Dover long, but she knew what Linda meant to the company. She had been at Dover even longer than Simon had.
She blew out a breath and finally said, “Of course, you didn’t do it. But why are you a suspect?”
“As a department head I have access to that account,” Linda said. “Every department head has access. So do executives, board members, a handful of assistants, and the CEO.”
“Simon would never—”
“I’m not accusing Simon,” Linda said quickly. “You don’t need to worry about that.”
Heather chewed her lower lip. It was another piece of the puzzle, but instead of getting answers she felt like the news had only raised more questions for her. “Where do we go from here?”
“I’m going to give this information to Miranda on the legal team and tell her to keep it under wraps until we gather more evidence.”
“Shouldn’t we tell Simon?” Heather frowned. “Or the board? I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave them in the dark about this.”
“Heather, we can’t. If the hacker is a board member, we can’t have that kind of information getting out just yet. It could spook the hacker and make them cover their tracks.” Linda paused. “We can’t tell Simon, either.”
“But—”
“No.” Linda shook her head. “I don’t know the nature of your relationship with him, but you have to put your personal feelings aside if you want to get to the bottom of this.”
“But I trust Simon,” Heather insisted.
“So do I, but we have to keep this information as contained as possible,” Linda said. “Right now, only four people know and that’s because they have to. One of our accounts knows since he brought it to my attention, one of Dover’s lawyers knows to protect the company, and I’ve just told you because you were wrongly accused. I thought out of all the people at Dover who needed to know, you were the one who needed to know the most.”
Now she was torn. Linda had gone out on a limb to give her this information, and she was beyond grateful for that. But keeping a secret from Simon didn’t sit well with her at all. She had given him hell for not trusting her, yet here she was, about to treat him the same way.
Linda looked at her meaningfully, her eyes narrowing. “Well?”
Heather sighed. “Fine. I won’t tell Simon. I insist on helping you get to the bottom of this, though.”
“Okay.” Linda stood up and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Heather asked.
“Accounts department.” Linda threw her shoulders back like she was preparing for a battle. “We have to catch a hacker, and I know the one person who can help us do that.”
~~*~~
ONE ELEVATOR RIDE LATER, Heather followed Linda through the accounts department until they stopped at a cubicle.
“Good morning, Drew,” Linda said to the man who was seated in the cubicle.
Drew looked up from his work on the computer. “Good to see you, Linda.” His gaze fell on Heather and smiled. “You must be Heather. I’m Drew Cooper.”
“Lovely to meet you, Drew.” Heather shook his hand.
He grabbed a manila envelope from his desk, got to his feet, and motioned for them to follow him. “We can talk in the conference room.”
They followed after him, and he was so tall that Heather struggled to keep up with his stride.
Drew opened the door for them when they arrived at the conference room and they sat down at the conference table.
Heather studied him as he opened the envelope and took out several documents. He was very handsome, with rugged good looks, but she had to look beyond that if she wanted to figure out if he was trustworthy. His golden hair was slicked back, and his green eyes had a warmth to them that put her at ease. Hopefully that warmth wasn’t deceptive, because right now she needed all the allies she could get. Trusting Linda was one thing, but Drew was a total stranger to her. And even though he had brought the account discrepancy to Linda’s attention, Heather still worried about trusting a stranger with such a sensitive investigation.
He started reading over the documents, his square jaw clenching as he took everything in. “I have a print-out of the executive account records for you to look over. Ordinarily, I would have emailed these to you, but since we’re dealing with a suspected hacker we can’t be too careful. Physical copies seemed like the safest way to go.”
“Good thinking.” Linda took one of the documents from him. “During our phone call you offered to help with the investigation. I assume that offer is still on the table?”
“Yes, it is. As I said during the call, a payment was made from that executive account to the electrical company,” Drew said. “Which means suspects have been narrowed down to various department heads, executives, and a few assistants, but I’m going to need some time to go over any cards or phone apps that might have actually transferred the funds from the executive account to the electrical company.”
Heather shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “How long will that take?” The longer it took for Drew to figure things out, the longer she’d have to keep this information from Simon. And Simon had been so generous when he had invited her over to his apartment to question the electricians. The information she had gotten over the weekend had been so helpful that her lawyer was planning on using it for her custody battle.
Her gut tugged painfully at the thought of betraying Simon’s trust. Of repaying his kindness with secrets.
“Hard to say,” Drew replied. “Sometimes investigations like this take a handful of days, but sometimes it can stretch into weeks. It’s also more difficult because I’ll be investigating this on my own, in secret, without any help from the accounts department.”
“Are we putting you on the spot by having you do this?” Heather asked. “Will you get in trouble if you conduct a secret investigation?”
“I appreciate your concern.” He flashed her a reassuring smile. “Miranda Holder, the head of Dover’s legal team, has authorized me to conduct this investigation. It’s all perfectly above board, but we have to be discreet. This is totally confidential, which means the only person who can know about our discussion is Miranda Holder herself. You can’t tell Simon, because it puts him at risk. If he knows, he might do something that tips off the hacker, which could put Simon in danger. Remember, this hacker broke into Simon’s apartment. There’s no telling what they might do to hurt Simon if he knows the scope of the investigation before it’s concluded.”
“Simon said it was okay to tell my lawyer that the electricians were duped by someone at the company, but I’m guessing I can’t update my lawyer about the executive account,” Heather said.
“No, you can’t. We can’t share more of this information yet because we really can’t risk it getting out. Discretion is important right now. I know this has got to be tough on you, since you were a suspect, but I promise to do everything I can to clear your name once and for all.” He leaned towards her. “For the record, I always believed you were innocent.”
The tension that had been building in her shoulders started to dissipate. Having someone believe in her was such a relief. “Thank you,” she said, hoping he heard the gratitude in her voice.
Once they concluded their meeting Drew promised to stay in touch, and Heather followed Linda back to the media relations department.
Heather sat down at her small desk, looking over emails she might have missed. There was one from Simon. It wasn’t personal. Just a professional email asking for an update into the publication of Dover’s new magazine. Still, the sight of the message made her heart squeeze. The twinge in her chest served as a reminder to her. She had to make sure Simon didn’t find out about the accountant. The less he knew, the safer he would be until the criminal could be caught.
She just hoped that they could catch the hacker as soon as possible, because she didn’t know how long she could keep a secret from Simon.