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“You can’t do that.”
“Oh, but I can. You have nothing to worry about. After all, you said you spoke to Miss Graham. Good day, Hunter.”
He stares at me with trepidation. “A person called me and gave her name as Hailey Graham.”
“Did you see her face to face?”
He shakes his head. “She sent me the information and pictures in a letter.”
“I want to see it now.”
“But—”
“No buts, Hunter. You better get me what I need because you'll be lucky to get any job in this city by the time I’m done with you and your magazine.”
An hour later, Hunter sends me the file by courier, and I stare at it with utter shock. My fingers trail the pictures of Hailey, making me remember how much I miss her. Anger tightens my face when I see pictures of me entering and exiting her apartment building and at the airport on our way to Aspen. This doesn’t make sense. Why would Hailey have someone take pictures of her, too? And this doesn’t explain how Linda got wind of Hailey’s supposed pregnancy. Unless…
I close my eyes tightly at the terrible knowledge that I’ve been less than my stellar self. Someone must have bugged my office and Hailey’s. Probably her apartment as well. It’s the only way they would know everything about us. Linda must be working with someone in my office. But who?
Determined to get to the bottom of the matter, I call my head of security and hire a private investigator to trace who sent the information to Hunter. I keep the investigation under wraps in case the person is working directly with me. It’s hardly surprising when my security team finds bugs in my office, Hailey’s former office on my floor, and in the Cyber Security department.
I slam my hand on my table. I’ve been such a fool! Who the hell did Linda pay to place the bugs? Everyone in my office is now a suspect. However, when the private investigator sends me a name a few days later, I’m astounded.
Susan Hayes.
I ask him to double-check, and he says he’s sure of the information. The file sent to Hunter was traced back to Susan. I wonder what Linda has on Susan to make her do such a terrible thing to me and her supposed friend, Hailey.
“Susan, could you please come into my office?” I demand, after considering the best approach to get her to tell me the truth. Susan and I have worked together right from the inception of my company. I respect her dedication to work and vice versa, or so I thought.
“Yes, Gareth.”
I brace myself for the ugly interrogation ahead. I’m seething with barely restrained anger, but I want to give her the benefit of the doubt that Linda made her do it under duress. I won’t put anything past my devious ex-wife. And I want to stop giving in to my volatile temper and acting irrationally.
Susan enters the office after a brief knock. I stare at her for a moment before I nod at one of the chairs for her to take a seat. Frowning, she does and stares at me warily.
“How much did Linda pay you to ruin my relationship with Hailey?” I shoot straight from the hip.
She shrieks and jerks on the chair. “What?”
“How much did Linda pay you to make it look like Hailey spoke to Hunter, while you sent him the information?”
The color drains from her face, and she lowers her head. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I lean forward. “Listen to me and listen good, Susan. I would like to have you thrown into jail for impersonation and defamation of character. Only the fact that we’ve worked together for years keeps me from reaching for that phone.”
Her head jerks up, and she glares at me. “Are you only just realizing that we’ve worked together for years?”
A frown creases on my forehead. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She knocks her chair back and stands to glower at me with fire in her eyes. “I’ve been with you since you started this company, but you’ve never treated me as anything other than your employee!”
“You are my employee!”
“And what about Linda? What about Hailey?” she yells, utterly shocking me because I have never heard her raise her voice, not even when she was upset about something. “Am I only good for organizing your day, meetings, and flight schedules?”
I gawk at her because I sure as hell don’t understand what she’s raving about.
“That’s what you’re paid for.”
