Heather didn’t have any wealth at all. If they got to her, they probably wouldn’t hesitate to take her into custody. Which meant he had no choice but to let them into the building to avoid suspicion and then do whatever it took to keep them the hell away from Heather.
Chapter 6
He led the detectives into a conference room and took a seat in the large leather chair at the head of the table. Simon typically didn’t like playing mind games, but if he could intimidate the cops by reminding them that this place was his he’d be able to get the upper hand.
“Please be seated,” he said.
As they sat down, he reached for the phone on the table and dialed one of the executive assistants to request refreshments.
“What kind of questions did you have for me?” he asked as he hung up the phone.
Detective Bartlett glanced around the room. “Yeah. Why aren’t we in your office? This place seems awfully fancy for a talk with the likes of us.”
Simon forced a smile, silently hoping that it looked genuine. Making people feel comfortable and at ease was a skill that eluded him. Heather was much better at it, and right now it was just another on the long list of things he missed about her. “I like to entertain my clients in style. Besides, a conference room is much more private than my office. There are always people dropping by unannounced. I thought we’d get much more privacy in a conference room.”
He ignored the twinge of regret inside him at telling them the half-truth. They were in the conference room because his office was right beside Heather’s old office. If she was hiding in there like he had instructed her, the cops would be entirely too close to her if they talked in his office.
“First things first, we’re not here to arrest anybody,” Bartlett said.
Keeping his face placid, Simon said, “I didn’t think you were here for that.” Another lie. If he let on that he thought they were here to arrest Heather, they’d figure out he was protecting her. Which was suspicious in several ways. How could he explain to the police that he was protecting the number one suspect in the hacking case, when he’d unceremoniously fired his previous assistant for less?
His feelings for Heather were making him throw out every principle he’d ever had. He should have been ashamed of that fact, but he wasn’t. Wasn’t going to apologize for protecting her. Even if that meant his reputation and Dover’s went down the drain.
“Dover first called us about your previous assistant, Xander, and we’re still investigating that case,” Barlett said.
“Have you arrested him?” He was still angry with his former assistant for what he’d done, but there was a part of him that didn’t want Xander to end up rotting away in prison for years. Maybe the sentimental part of him was winning.
“We’re not at that stage yet,” Bartlett replied. “But it’s not looking good for him. Whoever lured him into doing this might end up getting away with it while Xander ends up doing time.”
“But that’s not fair,” Simon said. “Xander might have broken the law, but he didn’t do it on his own. Whoever put him up to it should pay.”
“Problem is, Xander refuses to give the person up,” Bartlett said. “We can pinpoint the company he helped, but not the individuals who paid him to break the law. If we don’t get that information, the only person on the hook for the insider trading is Xander.”
Simon made a mental note to reach out to his former assistant the minute he got the chance. He would never forgive Xander for his deceit, but he couldn’t stand to sit by while his former assistant took the fall for someone else. He hated that about wealth. Hated that the people at the top could use and discard people without any shame whatsoever. The injustice of the system had always given him pause when it came to taking pleasure in being rich.
One of the executive assistants entered the conference room, served coffee, and quickly headed back out.
“It sounds like he might be afraid of the person who put him up to the insider trading,” Simon replied. “Do you think he might be involved with the hacking that came after?”
Bartlett shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. “That’s unlikely. We’ve been surveilling Xander for some time and, so far, it looks like he’s had a hand in the insider trading but not in the subsequent spying and hacking.”