“I was thinking of adding a bit more to the speech,” he said. “Instead of just talking about the product, I’d like to add more about the people who have helped me along the way. Show how cooperation and teamwork have made Dover a better place.”
“I’m sure it would be great,” she said.
“I’m glad you think so, because I was thinking of including an anecdote about my old high school friend, Heather Monroe,” he said. “The girl you remind me of.”
Her face fell. Went ashen. “I...”
Simon gave her a hard stare, suddenly suspicious about her reaction. “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head forcefully. “No. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that maybe that might be a little too personal.”
“You’re the one who wanted me to be less mysterious,” he reminded her.
“I did say that,” she conceded. “But I did also suggest the mysterious billionaire angle would be good.”
“As I recall, you said it would work as a fallback and nothing more.” Simon narrowed his eyes, still not satisfied with her response.
Heather chewed her bottom lip and averted her gaze.
Simon might not spend much time around people in a social capacity, but he knew evasion when he saw it. The same way he had known that his former assistant, Xander, had been lying to him.
And, just like his former assistant, his new assistant was hiding something. He could sense it.
“I’ll add more to the speech,” he said finally. “I’m going to need you to make some confirmations with the reporters—”
“On it.” She rushed to her feet. “I’ll start sending follow-up emails to members of the press who will be sitting attending the speech.”
She practically flew out of his office, leaving him behind in stunned silence.
The background check he had ordered was still being processed, but patience had never been his strong suit. Simon crossed the room to sit at his desk and started doing some searches online for his assistant. Nothing out of the ordinary. A couple of social media profiles that hadn’t been updated very often. Mostly photos of his assistant with her son.
Seeing the photos of her smiling with her kid made his guilt suddenly hit home. He had promised to keep the background check professional. Digging through her personal life was totally unlike him. But he had to know. Had to know why he had this nagging feeling that his assistant was lying to him. Maybe the fallout from finding out his former assistant had been a liar was getting to him.
Simon pushed the guilt aside and looked through some more photos. Nothing seemed strange until he stumbled upon some older photos. Of his assistant as a teenager. The resemblance between his assistant and the Heather of his childhood was remarkable. In fact, the photo looked so familiar to him he was sure he had seen it before: A photo of Heather making goofy faces for the camera.
Could the Heather of his past and the Heather of his present actually be the same person?
“That’s crazy,” he muttered under his breath.
He started doing more searches, looking for evidence of what Heather’s maiden name was. Nothing. Asking his assistant for that kind of information now would just make things even more awkward. Plus, the background check would get all that easily.
Getting to his feet, Simon headed out of his office. He couldn’t imagine his assistant telling such a bold-faced lie, but if it was down to his assistant simply not remembering him why would she react so strangely? Heather Hall and Heather Monroe being the same person would explain her reaction.
He stepped into his assistant’s office, but it was empty. As he headed back out he spotted one of the engineers. “Have you seen my new assistant? Heather Hall?”
The engineer shook her head. “Sorry, Simon. Can’t say that I have.”
Suddenly, he spotted a familiar slender figure walking out of the elevator at the far end of the hall.
Should he confront her? No. At least not yet. He only had one shot at this, and if he wasn’t completely certain that she had lied to him making accusations could backfire. The last thing he wanted to do was embarrass himself or his new assistant.
Still, it couldn’t hurt to ask some subtle questions about her background. As Heather approached him, he noticed that she was holding an enormous bouquet of flowers.