Preston Northcott III
CEO, Owner of NorthcottPharm
Dublin, OHio
“Turn it off.” Preston couldn’t take any more. His stomach balled into a tight knot of anguish and utter rage. Sophia’s quiet sobs weren’t helping. He looked away from the computer screen, wishing he could erase what he had seen from his mind.
“What would you like me to do, boss?”
Preston took in a deep, deliberate breath, trying to collect his emotions and thoughts. “You weren’t able to trace the email? Where it came from? Or who this Watcher is?”
“No, sir.” Kayson Gray shook his bald head. “There are too many firewalls. The Watcher—whoever he is—made sure there was no way it could be traced back.”
“And the link to the bank account?” Preston snapped. “Don’t tell me your men couldn’t figure out who’s going to get paid for this . . . this . . .” He swiped his hand at the frozen picture of his daughter’s face on the computer screen. “Who did this?”
Sophia, frightened, lifted her tear-stained face from her mother Erica’s shoulder. A tear slipped down his wife’s cheek as she clutched their daughter to her chest.
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
Preston’s chest squeezed. “I know, honey.” He gave Erica a look and she stood. “Take her home. I’ll take care of this.”
When Erica and Sophia had left the office, Kayson moved to the door and stood in a wide-leg stance, folding his arms over a barrel of a chest that proved whatever free time he had outside his job as Preston’s head of security was spent in the gym.
Preston turned his attention to the other man in the room, his lawyer. “Flynn, tell me we have recourse.”
Flynn’s pasty, arthritic hands tugged at his silk tie. “Like Mr. Gray said, we haven’t been able to verify who sent the video. And when we checked the account, my sources confirmed that the name on it is most likely an alias.”
Preston balled his fingers into a fist. “How did this happen?”
“I believe Sophia wasn’t aware she was being set up.”
Preston glared at Kayson. “You think I don’t know that? I want to know by who. How did they know who she was? Where she was?”
“Sophia said they met the boys at a nightclub in Panama City. The boys suggested they go to a private party in the penthouse of Hotel Del Mar.” Flynn opened a leather portfolio. “The name on the room was an alias, paid online with a credit card under the same name. Sophia and her friends went up to the room. She was too drunk to realize the pills had been slipped into her purse. Or that a camera had been set up.”
Preston rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Have you found the boys?”
“Not yet, sir,” Kayson spoke up. “I have a friend at the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office who’s looking into it, but given the fact that thousands of college kids converge on the area during Spring Break, it’s not going to be easy to find them.”
“It could be they just got lucky,” Flynn said. “Had the drugs there and then realized who Sophia was and decided to cash in.”
“No.” Preston shook his head. He pointed at the computer. “This was a setup. They knew to use drugs from my company and set up those cameras to make it look like Sophia was distributing them.”
“We can go to the police,” Flynn suggested quietly.
Preston stood and paced toward the window overlooking the Ohio River Valley. “And you think they’ll find the dirtbags behind this?”
Silence met his question. He spun around. Flynn shook his head. Preston looked to Kayson, who gave an imperceptible shake.
“So I just pay $250,000 and this will go away?”
“Considering the alternative, Preston, it’s a small price to pay.”
“A small price to pay?” Spit flew from his mouth. “There’s a video of my daughter snorting a medication my company is currently trying to get the FDA to approve.”
Flynn remained calm. “That’s why I think you should pay and let this disappear.”
“How do we know it’ll disappear?” Kayson voiced.
“Exactly. Who’s to say that once I pay, the video still won’t go viral?”
“We don’t.” Flynn lifted his shoulders. He removed a sheet of paper from his folder and set it on the desk. “The Watcher’s email states that when payment is received the video will be destroyed.”
“Hrmph.” Preston crumpled the piece of paper in his fist. “I’m supposed to trust his word?” He threw the balled paper at his lawyer.
“What would you like me to do?”
Preston stared at Flynn. The man was supposed to protect him. And Preston was supposed to protect his daughter. The image of his drugged-up daughter infuriated him, but more than that, it scared him. Facing the FDA, Preston had been questioned extensively on the role prescription drugs were playing in the opioid epidemic. He’d seen the photos and was heartbroken for the families affected, but his company was also on the cutting edge of developing medicine to treat diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This video being released would set not only his company back but also the progress his scientists had made.
“Fine.”
“Fine?”
“Make the payment.”
Flynn made a note and stood. “I’ll get confirmation as soon as the transfer’s complete.”
Preston grumbled his consent and waited until his lawyer was gone before fixing his gaze on Kayson.
“Reach out to your contacts and find him. I don’t care what it costs or how you do it. I want this Watcher in a grave before one cent of my money is spent.”