She and Finn lived all alone at her house, and he hated the thought of them so vulnerable in a place like that.
“Let’s talk to security before we make any hasty decisions,” she said.
If Heather thought giving him such an evasive answer was going to get him to back down she was dead wrong. He didn’t care if she and his father ended up at each other’s throats. All that mattered was their safety, and if he had to drag Heather, Finn, and his father to his apartment to keep them safe, he was ready to risk the fallout.
SHE WATCHED AS JAKE Perry, Dover’s head of security, scrolled through her phone.
As she watched him from her seat at the small table in the tenth-floor break room, she adjusted the glasses that were perched on her nose. It was easier to fidget than to sit still and wait while the head of security gave the social media accounts a once-over.
Simon sat across from her, his arms crossed while he waited. The expression on his face was hard as granite. His jaw clenched, the telltale sign that he was agitated. Probably worse than agitated based on how utterly demanding he had become once he had read through the death threats. After he’d read the threats he had gone from concerned into full-on protective mode.
That shouldn’t have surprised her since Simon had always had an ultra-protective streak when the situation called for it, but she still thought he was focusing his attention in the wrong place. Those trolls hadn’t made any comments about her. They had made scary comments against Dover, Simon, and his father.
“This is some ugly stuff, here, folks,” Jake finally said. “We’re gonna have to get the legal team up to speed on this.”
“Do you think it’s that serious?” she asked in surprise.
“Most of the time this stuff is just some bored jag-offs in their mom’s basement,” he said.
“What’s different about this time?” Simon asked.
“The private messages are graphic,” the security head replied. “It looks like a coordinated attack. And they’re still sending death threats, by the way. It’s almost like they’ve been given orders to do this. It might just be internet trolls, but crazy people use computers, too.”
“Who the hell would instruct people to do something like this?” Simon demanded with a growl.
“Hard to say at this point.” Jake started to scroll again, his dark eyes narrowing as he continued to search through her phone. “A couple of these comments mention some nonsense about justice for Everett Eastman. Could be Everett orchestrating this to try to save himself from going to prison for decades.”
“It’s underhanded, which is exactly the sort of thing he would do,” Heather said bitterly. Everett’s position on the board had given him the opportunity to frame her and steal ideas from Simon. Maybe he had figured out a way to orchestrate this line of attack while he awaited his legal fate in jail.
“Even if it has been set up by Everett, why include threats against my dad?” Simon asked. “Everett doesn’t even know him.”
“Everett doesn’t have to. If his lawyer has seen photos of you with your dad, he might have passed that information on to Everett,” Jake answered. “Besides, there’s been increased media attention around you, Simon. Don’t just think about the traditional media. Someone on social media got a photo of you and your dad. That kind of attention sets the nutjobs off.”
Simon frowned. “They got a shot of my dad the same day that documentary producer came down here for a meeting.”
Heather’s stomach clenched at his words. “You don’t really think Theo would do something like this, do you?”
“You heard what he said when we went to his office,” Simon reminded her. “He’s looking to advance his career and wants the documentary to be dramatic. What better way to do that than to set off a firestorm on social media?”
Jake scratched his chin and nodded. “Pretty cheap and effective way to get publicity.”
“So, what do we do?” A wave of panic crashed through her. Even if the documentary producers turned out to be innocent in all of this, Simon was already souring on them. The entire project was in jeopardy now because of it, and the board was counting on her. Next week’s dinner was proof of how much faith the board had in her. She couldn’t screw this up so early on. “We can’t accuse Theo or the other producers without proof.”
“We can just cancel the production,” Simon said. “Pull the rug out from under them without making accusations that could end up being a legal headache.”
“No, Simon,” she pleaded. “I know you’re angry, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. Think of how the board would react if you went back on your word so soon after agreeing to do the documentary.”
“Fine. We can’t back out. At least, not yet,” Simon muttered. “What can we do?”
Her phone started ringing and Jake frowned before handing it over to her. “I’m guessing you want to take this.”
She didn’t recognize the number, but that wasn’t so unusual now that she was dealing with the media. Quickly she answered it with a flustered, “Hello?”
The other end of the phone line crackled and the sound of heavy breathing sent a chill of fear through her.
“Who is this?” she demanded, her voice wavering.
“Heather.” A deep, metallic voice she had never heard before intoned. “Put your boss on the phone.”