Page 57 of Never Forget

“But what?”

“Fireworks? Like, commercial fireworks?”

“Yeah. Or at least that’s what was in the debris left at the house. We’re still waiting for more information about what the drone from the yacht attack was carrying.”

“If it was the same fireworks, that seems like an odd choice after a bomb threat, don’t you think? Comparatively, it feels more like a prank than a threat.”

There’s a slight throbbing behind my eyes that’s becoming worse the harder I think about any of this. “I’m not sure. I guess because of what happened on the boat, I didn’t really consider it to be less dangerous.”

“I’m not saying fireworks can’t be dangerous, obviously they are and a lot can go wrong. But why wouldn’t the drones drop another bomb, or something guaranteed to cause more damage? Wouldn’t someone who is presumably escalating a threat against you do something bigger or more dangerous, especially considering their first attempt wasn’t successful?”

Now that he’s pointed it out, it does feel like a strange deescalation. I can’t decide if it matters. If the pattern of attacks isn’t typical, what are we dealing with? “So does that mean we’re dealing with two different people or groups, or something else?”

“The news said the bomb didn’t detonate, right?”

“Yeah. It was missing a component or something.”

Simon’s dark green eyes narrow, his lips pursed in contemplation. “Have the police given y’all any more information about it? What component was missing, or if it seemed well made?”

“All I know is what the lead detective told us after the initial findings, which was that the bomb was suspected to be homemade and botched.”

“What if the bomb was never meant to go off?”

“What?”

“Obviously, this is just speculation. I have little to no background knowledge of the situation, nor am I any kind of professional, but I do listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, and this is tickling that same part of my brain.” I gesture for him to go ahead, because now I’m curious. “Assuming you’re dealing with the same person and/or people, the stunt with the fireworks actually makes a lot more sense if the bomb was never meant to go off. It would suggest that the attacks are meant to scare or intimidate rather than be a true threat to your lives.”

“Honestly, that would make a lot more sense,” I say thoughtfully. “And it could mean we aren’t dealing with someone or something new.”

Until now, I’d been working under the assumption that the bomb threat and the drones were separate issues from the coordinated attack on our careers and credibility. Aside from Luc’s sister getting run off the road on her bike by stupid, over-eager paparazzi, none of the threats or attacks we’ve been dealing with over the last year have been to our lives or person. From the beginning of this whole mess, the aim has been to discredit us or provoke us into making ourselves look bad.

I blink over at Simon. “You might be a genius,” I tell him, pushing away from the kitchen island. “I need to go talk to Scott and Cory, our security lead. Are you okay here? I know I just kind of dumped all of that on you, and we completely glossed over the fact that you’re going to be in a houseful of people you don’t know and whom my grandparents very much dislike. A houseful of people that , again, are targets whether we know the severity of the threat or not…” I trail off, giving him the chance to speak up if he has any concerns.

Simon waves me off. “I trust that you wouldn’t bring your grandparents here if you thought it would put them at risk. And I’m sure your friends are fine. Between you and me, I was told you’re the surly one of the group, and I think we’re getting along just fine.”

My lips twitch into an involuntary smile. “Did Scott tell you that?”

“Maybe.”

My head shakes as I start down the hall. “Thanks again. We’ll talk more later, if that’s okay?”

Simon’s nonchalance about the whole situation reminds me a bit of Scott. He comes off like he doesn’t have a care in the world, even when things get serious or scary. But I have a feeling that, like Scott, he’s probably observant, hypervigilant, and quick to action when necessary. Those types of personalities that don’t sweat the small stuff and are good in an emergency are well-suited to their jobs.

Reminder to self—Add a bonus for hazard pay to Simon’s check.

FIFTEEN

SCOTT

“I really am sorry,” I tell Cory after a long, tense silence. “Please know that I didn’t intend to keep anything from you or anyone else. I won’t make excuses. I know I should have alerted you right away.”

Cory’s voice is flat, completely professional, and void of any emotion to key me into his thoughts or what he might do. “How long ago did the texts start?”

“Before the Super Bowl,” I admit. “I can’t be sure if all of them were from the same person. The more recent texts, the ones that started during the resistance tour, are different. They’re personal and threatening.”

“And these messages were to your personal phone, not your work phone?”

“Correct. I thought they were just spam at first, so I blocked and deleted them. I didn’t take it seriously until I received the photo of Naz from the airfield.”