Tish nudges my elbow gently. “What do you want to do first?”
“Talk to Frederick.”
Her eyes search mine. “Want backup?”
I shake my head. “No. I think I need to do this alone.”
“I’ll wait at your desk,” she says, squeezing my hand once before slipping into the sea of cubicles.
I square my shoulders and walk the long path to Frederick’s office, every step echoing louder than the last. He’sbehind his desk, sipping from a generic coffee cup like he doesn’t have a single regret in the world.
I knock once, sharp and deliberate.
“Hey, Frederick. Do you have a moment?”
He looks up, startled. His eyebrows lift, his mouth twitching like he’s trying to remember which version of my name he should use.
“Char… Charlotte,” he recovers. “Didn’t expect to see you today.”
I step in and sit without waiting for an invitation. “I got back into town yesterday.”
“Well,” he says, setting his cup down, “what can I do for you?”
My palms are flat against my thighs, grounding me. I meet his gaze head-on.
“I’d like to address something one of your employees did while I was away. Something that was both unethical and unprofessional.”
He shifts, suddenly wary. “Okay.”
“Kurt showed up on private property, Frederick. Not just private. Isolated. He trespassed while claiming to be affiliated with this station. And he told someone I was working on a story I never agreed to write, especially since you fired me.”
Frederick's face tightens, but he doesn’t speak.
I lean forward, voice even but sharp as glass. “That wasn’t just a breach of ethics. It was dangerous. It could’ve gotten someone hurt. It got me hurt.”
He opens his mouth, but I don’t let him speak.
“I trusted this place for four years. I gave everything I had, and in the end, it didn’t matter. I was just a name you couldn’t remember, and a byline Kurt could steal.”
His jaw works, but no words come.
“So now I’m asking you one question,” I say quietly. “Did you send him?”
Frederick flinches slightly but it’s enough to tell me everything I need to know.
I let out a bitter laugh. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Frederick leans forward; palms spread like he’s suddenly the reasonable one in the room. “Now, hear me out. You left without a word, and we were worried.”
“Left without a word?” I repeat, my voice sharper than I intend. “I told you I was chasing a lead. That I’d keep you updated if it went anywhere. And when it didn’t, I did let you know. But instead of respecting that, you sent Kurt in like some bottom-feeding bloodhound after firing me.”
“You never mentioned that the lead was about Sam Stone.”
I freeze. My entire body goes still.
“No,” I say slowly, voice dangerously soft, “you don’t get to say his name.”
Frederick lifts his hands. “Charlotte?—”
