by Anna Stone
It could even be from within her firm, which would make more sense considering that her office had been searched and her work laptop hacked. Thomas Jr. was the obvious choice. He openly despised her. Or, it could be someone else at work. An associate, jealous of Lillian’s success. Someone she’d treated badly.
Whoever it was, what was it they wanted? To get revenge? To hurt Lillian somehow? And what were they looking for? Information? Dirt on her? They wouldn’t find anything. Lillian always did everything by the book. She had nothing to hide.
Except for Emma.
Shit. Emma was her only secret. If someone found evidence of their relationship, they could use it to make Lillian lose her job. At least, if that was their goal.
But losing her job wasn’t what worried Lillian. Whoever this was had stalked Lillian. They’d broken into her laptop. They’d invaded her home. They’d proven they weren’t above breaking the law. And if they found out about Emma, they would know that she was Lillian’s one weakness.
Just how far were they willing to go to get to Lillian?
26
Lillian
Lillian picked up her phone and summoned Emma to her office. She walked over to the window and stared out at the city while she waited. She hadn’t had a moment to herself all morning, but things had calmed down now. There was no point delaying the inevitable.
As soon as Emma entered the room, her face fell. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?”
“Emma,” Lillian said. “I didn’t want to have this conversation at the office, but I didn’t think it was safe to meet you outside of work.”
“What are you talking about? You’re scaring me, Lillian.”
“Someone broke into my apartment over the weekend,” Lillian said.
“What?” Emma took Lillian’s hand. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Nothing was taken. But I could tell that someone had been in there. I think they were looking for something.” Lillian slipped her hand out of Emma’s and took a few steps back.
Emma didn’t notice. “Did you call the police?”
“And tell them what? That someone broke into my house and went through my drawers but didn’t take anything? And they left no sign that they’d even been there? The police couldn’t do anything with that information.”
“I suppose you’re right. But why would someone break into your house? What could they be looking for?”
“I don’t know,” Lillian said. “It’s complicated.”
“Then explain it to me.”
Lillian rubbed her temples. “Someone has been following me. Or, they have someone following me for them. It’s been going on for a while now. It’s the same someone who went through my office. And they hacked my laptop. I know it sounds crazy. At first, I thought I was being paranoid, but it’s impossible to ignore the facts. Someone is out to get me.”
“Who could be after you?” Emma asked.
“I don’t know. A stalker of some kind, maybe. A disgruntled ex-client, or someone a client of mine sued. I’ve been in this business long enough to have made my fair share of enemies. It could be someone here at the office.”
“Lillian, you have to go to the police.”
“I’m handling it,” Lillian said. “But that isn’t what I wanted to talk about. Whoever this person is, they’re determined enough to have me followed around the city and to break into my house. They’re more than willing to play dirty. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to get to me in other ways. Like though you.”
“What are you saying?” Emma’s voice quavered.
“I’m saying that I don’t want you to get caught up in this. That’s why you need to resign from AG&W now. And we need to stop seeing each other. It’s only temporary.”
“What?” Emma paled. “No. Absolutely not.”
“I’m sorry, Emma,” Lillian said. “But I’m not taking any chances. I need you out of harm’s way. Just until all this blows over.”
“And how long is that going to take? When is this going to end? You won’t even go to the police.”
“I said, I’m handling it.”
“And what, I’m just supposed to wait around, unable to contact you? Wondering if you’re okay, wondering how long it will be until I can see you again?” Emma asked.
“Dammit Emma, do you think this is what I want? I’m trying to protect you.”
“From what? You don’t even know what’s going on. And what about you, Lillian? You’re the one who this person is targeting. You need me right now more than ever. We can work this out together.”
Lillian let out an exasperated sigh. “You’re so naive! This is serious, Emma. You can’t just take my hand and say everything is going to be okay this time. Sometimes it’s like you don’t even live in the real world.”
“You think that I’m naive?” Emma asked, her voice rising. “You think that I don’t know anything about the real world?”
“Emma, I—”
“Have you forgotten everything that I told you about the past ten years of my life? About everything that I’ve sacrificed, everything that I’ve been through, everything that I’ve had to do?” Emma’s eyes filled with angry tears. “Sure, maybe sometimes I seem naive and idealistic. But just because I don’t go through life letting everything weigh me down doesn’t mean I don’t know what it’s like to face problems that make everything seem hopeless. So don’t tell me that I don’t know how the real world works.”
“You’re right,” Lillian said. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. It was unfair.”
Emma took Lillian’s hand again. “I know that you’re scared,” she said. “But pushing me away isn’t going to help.”
Lillian should have known Emma wasn’t going to just roll over and accept this. “Fine. But this doesn’t change the fact that there’s something going on. I need time to think, to figure out what my next move is. Can you give me that?”
“Okay,” Emma said. “But I’m not leaving AG&W. I’m not leaving you in the middle of this.”
“All right. But we need to be even more careful.”
Emma nodded. “I can do that.”
Lillian sat down at her desk. “I need a moment to myself.”
“Okay. I’ll be here if you need me.” Emma gave Lillian’s hand one final squeeze and left the room.
Lillian leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She didn’t feel good about this, but Emma wasn’t giving her much of a choice. Or perhaps Lillian was just selfish and wanted to keep Emma close, despite everything.
She needed a plan. But she didn’t have time to make one right now. Her paperwork was piling up, and she had deadlines looming. Regardless of what else was going on, she had a job to do.
The day wore on, and by late afternoon, Lillian’s mind was much clearer. Getting some work done definitely helped. Working on problems she could actually solve made her feel more focused, more in control.
Around 5 p.m., there was a knock on the door. It was Stuart from IT.
“Yes, Stuart?” Lillian desperately hoped he had good news.
“I’ve been examining your laptop some more,” he said. “I found something. Well, a couple of things. For starters, I was able to determine that the virus was installed locally, not remotely. Probably using a USB flash drive.”
“You mean, whoever did this must have accessed my laptop in person,” she said. It had to be here in the office. It was the only place she ever left her laptop unattended.
“Yes. But that’s not all. As I expected from this kind of virus, its purpose was to log your activities and look through your files. But I found something else.” Stuart paused, a solemn expression on his face. “The virus installed a script. It’s like a program that delivers a set of instructions to the computer. The script was designed so that it could be triggered remotely. It never was activated. But the point of the script was that when triggered, it would download several gigabytes of illegal files from the internet.”
“Why would it do someth
ing like that?” Lillian asked.
“Possessing these kinds of files is a felony,” Stuart said. “An anonymous tip to the police and…”
And Lillian would be looking at criminal charges. She cursed. “You said the program was never triggered, right?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Have you told anyone else about this?” Lillian asked.
“No,” Stuart replied. “I was the only one working on it. I’m supposed to write up a report and inform the security team, but I thought I’d tell you first.”
“Can you keep it to yourself for now?”
“I don’t know…” Stuart shifted awkwardly on the spot.
“You said yourself that it wasn’t a company-wide security risk,” Lillian said. “I’m the only one who’s affected by this.”
“But if there’s someone in the office doing this kind of thing, shouldn’t we do something about it?” Stuart asked.
“I will do something about it,” Lillian said. “But I need some time. Give me the weekend, at least.” It was Thursday. That would give her a few days to figure this out.
Stuart sighed. “Okay.”
“Thank you, Stuart. Really, I mean it.”
As Stuart left Lillian’s office, she began to feel the gravity of what he’d told her. There was someone out there, probably in this very office, who was willing to frame her in order to have her wrongfully imprisoned. This was much worse than she thought.
27
Emma
Emma made her way to work the next day, her stomach churning. Lillian was dealing with all this, but there was nothing Emma could do to help her. She couldn’t even try to comfort Lillian in any way. She felt so powerless.
Emma stopped at the coffee shop like she did every morning. She didn’t even notice when Bridget sidled up beside her until Bridget had said her name three times.
“Is everything okay?” Bridget asked.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Emma replied. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind right now.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
Emma wished she could tell Bridget what was going on. Instead, Emma gave her a small, reassuring smile. “I’m okay. But thanks.”
They picked up their coffee and walked the few blocks to the office. Bridget spent the entire time talking, so Emma didn’t have to make conversation. She couldn’t stop thinking about how withdrawn Lillian had seemed when she’d left work the previous day. She hoped Lillian was okay.
They arrived at the office, where Bridget took a seat behind the reception desk.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked.
Emma nodded. “I’m okay.”
“Well, I’m always around if you need to talk.”
“Thanks, Bridget.”
Emma made her way to Lillian’s office. When she entered the room, she was met with a stone-faced Lillian sitting behind her desk. Emma’s stomach dropped.
Lillian didn’t give her a chance to speak. “I need you to resign from AG&W today.”
“What? Why? Has something happened?” Emma asked. “Talk to me, Lillian.”
“It doesn’t matter what happened. What matters is that whoever is out to get me is serious about taking me down. They’re dangerous. You need to leave, and we need to cut contact entirely.”
“You’re in danger, and you’re asking me to abandon you?” Emma asked. “I can’t do that. We can work something out—”
“Just stop, Emma!” Lillian stood up and began pacing behind her desk. “We’re not having this conversation again. My mind is already made up.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?”
“No. Too much is at stake. I need you as far away from me as possible.”
“This is crazy,” Emma said. “I’m not leaving you, Lillian.”
“I’m not giving you a choice,” Lillian replied. “You’re fired.”
Lillian’s words were like a slap in the face. “What?”
“You heard me.” Lillian’s voice was devoid of emotion. “Now go.”
“How can you just…” Emma trailed off. What had happened? Why did Lillian want Emma gone this badly? A thought emerged from the depths of her mind. “Is this really about keeping me safe? Or is it about your job? Is that why you don’t want whoever is digging through your life to find out about us?”
Moments passed in silence. Lillian turned her head toward the window, her face half hidden from view. Emma’s heart sank. Why wasn’t Lillian saying anything? Why wasn’t she denying it?
“I warned you about this,” Lillian said. “I told you that my career will always come first. That’s never going to change. Not for anything. Not for anyone. I’m not going to risk my job over a silly affair.”
“You don’t mean that. Lillian, please.” Emma searched Lillian’s eyes for just a hint of something, anything that showed that Lillian still cared for her. That the Lillian she knew was still in there somewhere. But her eyes were cold and empty.
Tears spilled onto Emma’s cheeks. “You know, when I started working here, everyone warned me about you. They called you cold and heartless, and said that you don’t care about anyone. I didn’t believe them. Because you weren’t like that with me. You were different with me. I thought maybe you…”
“I told you who I was from the start, Emma,” Lillian said quietly.
Lillian’s words sucked all the air out of the room. Emma had to get out of there. Blinking away her tears, she stumbled to the door.
As she reached for the door handle, Emma paused, her back to Lillian. “Just so you know, the reason you’re so cynical, and bitter, and miserable? It’s your own fault! You’ve chosen this path in life that you hate, but you’re too afraid to do anything about it. You’re digging your own grave and you’re too stubborn to stop.”
With those parting words, Emma fled from Lillian’s office. She grabbed her things, desperately trying to hold back her tears. She heard Bridget calling to her as she dashed to the elevator. Bridget would want to know what was wrong. What would Emma tell her? That Ms. White had fired her, just like all her other assistants? Clearly, that was all she was to Emma. Another assistant. Emma had been so stupid to think that they could have a future together. Stupid to think Lillian could be her happy ending.
Emma managed to keep herself together for long enough to hail a cab. As soon as she got in, she burst into tears. The cab driver, a tiny old man, reached back and handed her a box of tissues. He didn’t say anything, but he gave her a slight smile. They drove along, the silence punctuated only by Emma’s sobs.
By the time Emma reached her apartment, her tears had stopped, and she was left with a hollow feeling in the base of her chest. The old cab driver gave her one last, sympathetic smile before driving off. She must have looked like a mess.
She made her way up to her apartment. All she wanted to do was curl up in bed and forget about everything. Forget about Lillian, forget about AG&W, forget about this stupid city. She should have never moved here in the first place. If she hadn’t, none of this would have happened.
Emma unlocked her door and entered her apartment. As she placed her things on the table, she heard a loud creak coming from her bedroom. She froze. Her building was old and sometimes made strange noises. That had to be all that it was, right?
She glanced toward her bedroom and couldn’t see anything unusual. But her hairs were standing up on her skin, and her heart was pounding. Slowly, she tiptoed to her room.
Emma froze in the doorway. A few feet away, a large man dressed in a dark jacket and jeans was bent over Emma’s dresser. His navy-blue baseball cap shrouded his face in shadow, and he was rooting through her top drawer, his hands covered in black gloves. He turned his head toward her.
Run, Emma’s instincts told her. But her body wouldn’t obey. As the man’s eyes met hers, time seemed to slow down. At first, he seemed as surprised to see Emma as she was to see him. Then he straightened up and charged for her. Emma tried to move, but she was still froz
en in place. All she could do was stand there as this hulk of a man came barreling toward her. He reached out, grabbed her shoulders, and shoved her, hard.
She fell backward uncontrollably, the back of her head striking the edge of the table in the hall behind her. Pain flared inside Emma’s skull and she fell into darkness.
28
Lillian
Lillian sat in the meeting room with Thomas and one of their clients, an oil magnate who was friends with Gordon Sr. Lillian and Thomas were working the case together. Of course, she had done most of the work, but since Thomas and the client were both part of the same exclusive country club, they were behaving as if Lillian wasn’t even in the room.
It didn’t bother her. She simply didn’t care anymore. She hated her job. She hated this place and everything that it stood for. She hated that she’d wasted her whole life getting here. What Emma had said to her was right. Lillian was making herself miserable.
Lillian held back a sigh. The only good thing in her life had been Emma. And now she was gone, forever. After what Lillian had done, she doubted that Emma would ever forgive her. But she had no choice. Things had escalated. She had to keep Emma safe.
The best way to do that was to get to the bottom of this once and for all. Lillian had been doing some thinking about who was behind everything and was close to figuring it out. But she needed to be sure.
Thomas and the client burst out laughing. Had one of them made yet another crude joke? Lillian hadn’t heard a word that either of them had said in the last ten minutes. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and glanced down at it under the table.
Emma? Why would Emma be calling Lillian now? A wave of dread came over her. Something was wrong.
Lillian stood up. “Excuse me for a moment.” Without waiting for a response, she left the meeting room and walked into the hall.