Victoria felt as though the room was spinning out of control. How had it come to this, from a completely typical workday to her home life falling down around her ears? It didn’t make any sense.
“We can hire security,” she decided. “There’s no need for you to leave. I’ll get the best. We can even employ hackers, just tell me where to find them.”
She looked into Holly’s sympathetic eyes, upset with herself for crying and causing her vision to become a blurred mess.
Holly gently shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m worried it won’t work, that we won’t be able to figure out who it is before they do something else. I want to know who this person is, Victoria. I want to know what their plan is.”
“Do we really care about this… this… madman?” Victoria asked.
“I do,” Holly admitted. “They are trying to separate us. They are trying to frame you. And what if…” She took a deep breath. “Long shot, but what if they know something about my accident? They know about the power of attorney, which so very few people know about. Maybe they know something else?”
Victoria’s swirling thoughts stopped dead in their tracks. She’d never been one to care about rumours directed at herself. If she’d worried about false newspaper reports, then she would have left Arrival years ago. Not a day went by when a new, often fictitious story about her was broadcast to the world.
But this wasn’t just her; this included Holly. Someone was targeting them both. Holly had a right to be involved in deciding what they did next, even if Victoria really hated the plan that Holly had apparently already chosen. She wished she hadn’t set her plan in stone before they even had a chance to discuss it.
“Can’t we discuss this?” Victoria asked.
Holly looked apologetic. “I know you want me to stay. I want to stay, believe me, I do. But I get the feeling that someone is watching us, waiting to see how we’ll react.”
Victoria threw up her hands in resignation and crossed the room. She leaned against her desk and stared down at her shoes. There didn’t seem to be a way out of whatever was happening to them.
They didn’t have any information on who was involved or what they wanted. There was a possibility that a demand for money would arrive, but it wasn’t assured. This didn’t seem to be the usual scam; it felt bigger than that.
Which was exactly why Holly was suggesting her plan.
“So, what—exactly—do you recommend we do?”
Victoria wasn’t agreeing to anything just yet. She wanted to hear what Holly had in mind. Not that she really thought she had any say in the matter. Holly was steadfast and determined when she had an idea.
“When I leave tonight, I’ll go to my hotel. Tomorrow, we’ll start telling people that we’ve had an argument and I’ve moved out. Well, I’ll tell people that. You need to act like you normally would,” Holly explained.
Victoria blinked. “And how do I normally act?” she questioned.
“Aloof,” Holly said without a hesitation. “It’s not like you hang out around the water cooler discussing your life. So, you just act as you normally would. Maybe spill the beans to Gideon, maybe loud enough for Louise and Claudia to overhear. Or drop a sarcastic comment somewhere public as you frequently do.”
“Aloof? Sarcastic comment?” Victoria asked petulantly. “Is that how you see me?”
Holly sighed. “No, that’s not how I see you. But it is how you act at work, and don’t you deny it.”
Victoria found herself trapped between knowing full well that was how she acted and being frustrated at being called out on it. She decided to remain silent.
“Then we need to see who starts acting strangely,” Holly said.
“And how, pray tell, do we do that?”
Holly walked over, took Victoria’s hands again, and looked her in the eye. “We see if someone is fishing for information, if someone seems to be acting out of the ordinary,” she explained. “And we’ll need a list.”
“A list?”
“Of suspects. Louise is definitely on that list,” Holly said.
“Louise?” Victoria frowned. Her first assistant hadn’t done anything to warrant being placed at the top of Holly’s list. Not to her knowledge. “Why Louise?”
“She’s snooty, rude, has always hated me, and often used to play pranks to ensure I got into trouble with you,” Holly explained.
Victoria blinked. “You never said anything.”
“It’s in the past,” Holly stated. “She either has a massive crush on you, or she hero-worships you. Either way she doesn’t like me, and I wouldn’t put anything past her.”
“Well then, I petition we put Samuel on the list. He’s scruffy. I never trust anyone scruffy,” Victoria said. She also didn’t like how the French reporter had stayed in contact with Holly, not that she’d said anything about it directly.
“Fine, Sam can be on the list if you insist. But for the record I think we can trust him,” Holly argued.
“His eyes are far too close together. It’s amazing he doesn’t constantly trip over.”
“Now you’re being ridiculous.” Holly let go of her hands, and Victoria immediately felt the loss. “Lucy from Arrival accounts hates you. And she’s very technically savvy.”
“If we’re going to add anyone who hates me to this list, then I fear we must add all Arrival staff,” Victoria suggested sarcastically.
“Actually, I think that’s true. In fact, I think we should work to eliminate people from our enquiries rather than the other way around.”
“So… all of Arrival goes on the list?” Victoria clarified.
“Yes.” Holly nodded. She scrunched up her face and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. Victoria watched, intrigued by this detective version of her girlfriend who stood before her.
Sweet Holly who didn’t have a bad word to say about anyone suddenly didn’t trust a single person. Except Victoria, despite the apparent evidence to the contrary. She felt her heart swell at that knowledge.
“Yes, we’ll consider everyone a suspect at the moment and then rank them or eliminate them based on their behaviour. At the moment, you, me, and the kids are the only people…”
Their eyes met in concern.
“The children,” Victoria whispered. She hadn’t even considered that aspect right up until that very moment.
“I’ll take the blame,” Holly immediately said. “I’ll tell them that I did something wrong. We don’t need to give too many details.”
“Absolutely not.” Victoria shook her head and pushed herself up from her desk to stand her ground. “No. They adore you. I won’t have you taking the fall for this.”
“They’re already quick enough to blame you for everything,” Holly replied.
It was true, but it was also warranted. Victoria had spent most of her children’s lives being the one who disappointed them, the one who came home late, the one who cancelled holidays and outings. Victoria was used to being the bad guy in the house. She wasn’t about to have Holly’s reputation sullied for no reason.
She shrugged. “They’ll assume it’s my fault anyway.”
“Well, I’ll convince them otherwise,” Holly said.
“What will you say?” Victoria asked. “What will we both say? To everyone?” She rubbed her forehead. The whole situation was exhausting her. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed with her girlfriend and forget the whole thing, but she knew that wasn’t in the cards. “And where are you going?”
“To a hotel,” Holly answered simply.
“Which one? Please tell me it’s not some horrible motel. Let me call Sebastian and get you a room at—”
“Victoria, you can’t be involved. It has to appear as if I’m leaving you, not that you called your travel agent and arranged a luxury midweek stay for me. I’m staying in a nice hotel, don’t worry.”
Victoria narrowed her eyes. “Which hotel?”
Holly pursed her lips and refused to make eye contact.
“You won’t tell me?” Victoria couldn’t believe it.
“I know you. You’ll worry and you’ll send food. Or clothes. Books. You’ll even turn up to inspect it,” Holly said. “We have to act as if I’ve… as if I’ve left.”
Victoria opened her mouth, willing herself to issue the denial, but she knew it was true. If she knew the hotel, then she would turn up unannounced. She’d ensure that the manager knew exactly what precious cargo they had slumbering in one of their rooms.
Damn Holly for knowing her so well and for always being one step ahead of her.
Holly crossed the room and pulled Victoria into a hug. She quickly wrapped her arms around the younger woman, wondering when they’d be able to do such a thing again.
“I will figure this out, I promise,” Holly said. “And I’ll be in touch. We’ll need to meet up to discuss what we have found out.”
“Why would anyone want us apart?” Victoria wondered aloud.
“Well, remember I’m a gold digger,” Holly joked, referencing Victoria’s sister’s comments.
“Oh, yes, and I’m a cradle robber,” Victoria replied, remembering Holly’s ex-girlfriend’s less than kind comments.
Holly adjusted her head to lay atop Victoria’s shoulder. “If it was just that, I’d ignore it, but this is much worse. This is creating authentic-looking images. Just think what else they could do. It… it scares me. And I can’t help but wonder why.”
Victoria bit her lip. The situation scared her, too. Not the emails, but the spiralling situation she found herself in as a result of them. Deep down, she knew Holly was right. They needed to work together to find the perpetrators, but that meant being apart.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too, more than anything.” Holly gently placed a hand on her cheek and moved her head into position in order to softly kiss her. Victoria didn’t know when she’d have Holly in her arms again, and she wasn’t going to be satisfied with some innocent peck.
She took Holly’s face in her hands and pressed their lips together in a fusion of adoration and determination. Whoever was attempting to destroy their relationship had just succeeded in making it stronger. Victoria relished the idea of bringing the person down. In fact, for however long this project took, she’d live off it.