“I’m not trying to do anything,” he insisted.
“So you don’t think your former assistant has something to do with this?”
It grated him that she was still all business. He understood why, but he much preferred when they could speak freely. Be themselves with each other.
“I think Xander is much more concerned with getting out of trouble,” Simon said. “He’d be a special kind of reckless to keep breaking the law after he’d been caught.”
“I guess you’re right.” She sighed. “I guess I’m back at square one.”
“Not entirely,” he said. “I think knowing that the electricians who showed up at my place also did work for VLA is enough for me to start questioning them. Plus, I can pay a little more attention to Xander. We might not have anything concrete yet, but it’s a solid start. You’re doing pretty well on this investigation so far.”
“Honestly, the credit should go to Linda,” Heather said. “She’s the one who got that client list.”
He averted his gaze at the mention of Linda.
“You asked her to help me, didn’t you?” Heather asked.
He hesitated a moment. “Yes.”
“I told you to back off, Simon,” she said icily.
“And I did back off,” he said. “I’m giving you space like you wanted. But Dover has the right to conduct its own investigation into this, which is exactly what Linda is helping with.”
“You expect me to believe that?” She stared daggers at him. “It’s obvious you don’t like losing control. You can’t stand being shot down. Look, I’m grateful you put in a good word with the board, but I don’t need you.”
“You do,” he countered. Damn, she could be so frustrating sometimes. So full of... fire. “You’re so in over your head you don’t even realize it.”
Her mouth fell open. “The arrogance. I can’t believe I actually thought you might listen to what I wanted.”
“If you’re so hell-bent on refusing my help, why are you here, Heather?”
She took a step back, her eyes flashing with anger. “I knew you were going to do this. I knew you were going to rub this in my face. You just love me crawling back to you because it means you haven’t lost control.”
“I’m not trying to control you,” he said firmly. How come every time they were together it was fire or ice? He wasn’t gloating. He was trying to help. Dammit! “I don’t want you to get hurt. If you can’t prove your innocence, your career is over. You’ll end up in jail and your kid will get taken away from you.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t lie awake at night, too anxious to sleep? Too anxious to do anything but cry over what might happen to my son?” Her breathing hitched and she turned away from him. The way she always did when she didn’t want him to see her crying.
Knowing she was in so much pain made something sharp and cold twist in his stomach. “Heather, I swear I haven’t been trying to control you. I know I screwed up, but please don’t think the worst of me.”
“Thank you for your help,” she said coldly.
As she walked away from him, the flash of a police lights momentarily grabbed his attention. Right there on the other end of the parking lot was a cop car. The doors swung open and two police officers walked out and headed right towards them.
“WAIT,” SIMON CALLED out to her. He rushed over to her and wrapped his fingers around her arm.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Don’t turn around, but there are a couple of police detectives behind us,” he said in a low voice.
“Are they here to arrest me?” she asked, desperation cracking her voice.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I want you to get back inside and hide in your old office while I stall them.”
“If I hide it will look like I have something to hide,” she said.
“Go now,” he commanded, and nudged her towards the building.
He didn’t wait to see if she did as she told him as he sauntered up to the detectives who were making their way across the parking lot.