― Craig D. Lounsbrough
Carly Winters
I was sitting in my den with two RCMP detectives who were cordially talking and sipping coffee.
It could have been mistaken as a social visit except for two facts―my front window had been blown out and I received over 40 hate messages, some of them threatening death.
Not exactly the kind of coffee chat with which I was familiar.
Carly Winters, the female detective, had been aloof during the visit, allowing Tom Postum, her partner, to carry the conversation. But now she spoke up, addressing me and it was obvious who was in charge.
"This wasn't just a case of you receiving a barrage of criticism from on-line critics―these people were recruited on the dark net and paid to harass you."
She took off her sunglasses and gazed at me directly which I found intimidating because of the intensity of her stare and the fact she was incredibly beautiful.
I was temporarily caught off-guard, but quickly recovered enough to answer her back.
"I have no idea who these people were and I don't see how you can be so certain they're not regular viewers of my show."
"Very simple, Mr. Graham, we follow the breadcrumbs, the I.P. addresses, and trace every one back to the same Tor account where they were hired. They were paid in crypto currency with a promise of more if they did a good job."
I looked at her dumbfounded, "So, you're saying someone paid anonymous people on the dark web to threaten me?"
I must have stared at her a fraction of a second too long because she gave a slight smirk knowing I was distracted by her beauty.
She obviously concluded I was an easy target―a fallible man who could be easily distracted by an attractive woman, as I evidently was just now.
I coloured slightly, expecting her to state the obvious, but she refrained instead of embarrassing me before her partner, Tom.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't be upset you were targeted―it happens to media celebrities all the time, the only question I have is a possible motive. Do you have any idea why you may have been victimized?"
"Well, obviously it has nothing to do with politics or culture wars," I sighed morosely, "it may just come down to professional rivalry."
She nodded in agreement. "I see. Do you have any people you view as enemies or rivals?"
I coloured, afraid she might ask intimate details, but I had to be honest. "Actually, a colleague of mine, Zara Amir, came on to me and when I didn't respond to her advances, she may have set out to sabotage me."
"Let me get this straight―you think this Zara Amir might be taking revenge on you for having rebuffed her advances?"
"It could be personal, but also professional―she's very ambitious and is close to one of the show's technical producers and advisors. I was embarrassed during an interview I was taping because a technical glitch enabled a guest to make my reporting look biased and made me appear incompetent."
"You think she got one of the show's producers to deliberately create a technical failure that botched your interview?"
"It's possible. I was called into the Network manager's office afterwards and he told me the interview was a disaster and perhaps my angst over culture wars was throwing off my game. He even suggested I might need to take some time off."
She sat back and looked at me soberly. "If this is the case, then you're up against two wily and formidable opponents and being an inside job, it will be hard for us to prevent a future occurrence."
"That doesn't sound too hopeful," I croaked.
"I said it would be difficult, but not impossible. Each time they try to thwart you, they run the risk of being discovered themselves. What you have to do is lower the temperature so they're not fired up to go after you. You need to buy us some time so we can look into the background of this pair and track their activities."
"But how do I do that?" I moaned.
"You may not like my answer," she smiled cynically, "but you suck up to her―feign interest to assuage her hurt feelings and play her as she's been playing you. This is of course assuming she's really interested in you. I mean, the woman's beautiful, so she may have her choice of men―but we'll see. Perhaps, you're more charming than you think."
I have to admit her comment irked me.
I saw it as a challenge to put my money where my mouth was―I claimed Zara was offended by being snubbed by me and took revenge―well, now I had to prove it.
But I couldn't help feeling my manhood was on the line and I had to prove something to Carly as well.