Courage (Billionaire Secrets 3)

As Heather lowered the temperature with the remote, Linda poked her head inside.

“You’re back.” Linda stepped inside, her brow suddenly furrowed in concern. “Are you feeling okay? You look flushed.”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. There was no use in telling her that she had started sweating the moment she spotted Simon. Her heart was still racing from their brief encounter. If this was how she was going to react to him after a handful of exchanged words, she couldn’t imagine the strain she would be under if she still worked for him. How had she managed to get any work done while she had worked for him?

“I see you got the mockups,” Linda said.

Heather reached for the small stack of magazine mockups and handed them over to Linda. “I got a chance to look through some of it. It looks great.”

“Wonderful. You hang on to this copy for yourself. Let me know if you notice any errors.” Linda glanced at one of the covers and handed back one of the magazines. “By the way, while I’m here, I’ve got something that might help with your investigation.”

Hope gripped her. Linda had promised to help, but after this past week had gone by without much of anything Heather had chalked it up to Linda just being nice. In the meantime, she had met with her lawyer to sort through her legal woes. Not only did she have to deal with the custody battle with her ex-husband, but she also had to protect herself from the professional accusations as well.

The last week had been so emotionally taxing she had no idea how she had managed to get through it without falling apart. She suspected Finn had something to do with it. Her son always gave her hope, even in the worst of times. “Really?” she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

“Yep. You sit tight while I go get some of the paperwork.”

Linda returned minutes later with a folder in her hand. “I found something that might be useful,” she said as she handed it over to Heather.

Heather opened the folder and skimmed over the document inside. “It’s a client list for the work electricians did last year. Maybe they did work at VLA’s offices?”

“Yep. They’re the same electricians who did work in Simon’s apartment building,” Linda confirmed. “I remembered the name when Simon explained the situation to me. Maybe someone from VLA sent them to spy on Simon and take photos of the servers.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound too unusual,” Heather said. “It makes sense for them to have that kind of client list if they’re good at working with tech companies.”

“It might not be unusual, but it helps make a stronger case against them. If they have access to a rival company and Simon’s apartment, it means that they might not have spied on Simon on their own. Maybe they’ve been planning this since before you got hired.”

Heather’s eyes widened. “You think this shows that someone from VLA got them to take the photos of his servers?”

“It’s worth a look,” Linda said. “Before I found this, you were the one connection to VLA and Simon’s apartment building. Now we know there’s another connection. It’s not proof, but it’s a start.”

“Thank you, Linda,” she said, touched by the older woman’s generosity. “Can I photocopy or scan this to give to my lawyer?”

Linda nodded. “Sure you can. I’m only sorry that I haven’t found anything more. I won’t stop trying to find some proof, though. We’ve already got someone going through the web forum where the photos first went up.”

“Thank you. This is already so helpful.”

“You know, you might get more information if you ask Simon for help,” Linda pointed out.

Heather chewed her lower lip. “I don’t think that’s such a great idea.”

“Why not? Simon will be able to explain how he hired those electricians in the first place,” Linda said. “I know you two have your differences, but he really could shed some light on things.”

“I already told Simon that I was going to clear my name without his help,” Heather said. “We didn’t really end things on the best terms. Asking might just make things even more tense between us.”