Ellie Hunt.
Desmond’s footsteps followed me not a minute later, and Ellie’s gaze went up to him in the distance in some surprise.
“You’re in late today,” she mentioned briefly.
I felt nervous, but Desmond walked up to stand in front of the women.
“Ellie.” His voice was curt and brusque. His eyes flicked to the woman next to Ellie. “Who do we have here?”
Ellie smiled a liquid, stretchy smile and put her hand on his arm. “Desmond,” she said, “meet Bianca Rutherford. The reporter who’s going to interview Ms. Hale.”
I turned to Bianca. She was slim and tall, had her ash-blonde hair in loose waves, down to her back, and wore a blue pantsuit that accentuated her blue eyes. She had on bright magenta lipstick, and her smile was wide, but her eyes were sharp. She radiated a no-nonsense,do what it takesaura that seemed as powerful as a large tsunami approaching a tiny island.
She is going to rip me apart in this interview, I thought, feeling a weakness wash over me.
Bianca’s eyes widened with surprise when she saw Desmond before she turned to Ellie. “You’ve got quite the welcoming committee for me, Ellie.”
Desmond stepped forward and shook her hand. “Ms. Rutherford, nice to meet you finally, after you recently threatened to expose me and my shady practices.”
Bianca gave him a wink. “All a part of the job. Please, call me Bianca.”
She turned to me. “Ava Hale, is it not?” she asked, shaking my hand firmly. “Now, Ms. Hale, if you’d join me in this meeting room Ellie’s reserved for us?—”
But Desmond stopped her. “Since this involves my company and I’m trusting you with my employee, I’m going to ask you to send me a preliminary copy for review before you publish.”
Bianca looked astonished. “Ellie has always received the preliminary copy. That used to be enough before.”
“Ah, but your reporting has changed direction quite a bit from before, Bianca,” Desmond responded. “It’s been a lot more speculation and a lot less factual reporting lately, hasn’t it? So, I insist. A copy forwarded to me by the end of the week, please.”
Bianca looked like she wanted to challenge him on it but thought better of it. After a moment, she nodded reluctantly in agreement. “You never fail to surprise me, Mr. McKinley.”
She turned to me, having made her peace with the new order. “I’m thrilled to meet you, Ms. Hale. Now, are you ready for this?” She took a step closer.
I spoke after a moment, my voice sounding firm but shaky. “A month ago, I told myself that I’d find Kyle Whitby and make sure he paid for ruining my mother’s restaurant.” I hesitated. “And if you’re going to help me do it, then, yes, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
She nodded at me, a firm woman-to-woman nod, just as I saw Desmond relax beside me.
Without waiting for an answer, she gestured to the small meeting room on the first floor.
I turned around for one last look at Desmond before I followed her and saw his eyebrows draw together in concern as his eyes followed me.
30
AVA
Iwas fifty minutes into the interview, and things were going decently well. I held my head high and obliged Bianca when she asked her questions.
She was interviewing me for a piece that would get a few million views on their website. Kyle would definitely hear about this.
“Ava, can you provide a physical description of the individuals involved?” Bianca asked in a calm voice.
More details followed. How Kyle had installed spy devices around the restaurant to capture our business accounts and passwords. Details of how Kyle had gotten the keys to the restaurant during the nights he stayed over with me and gotten access to the safe and computers, which he shouldn’t have had access to.
The more I recounted the events, the more it became apparent to me what a filthy man Kyle had been. It also served as a good reminder to me of how chaotic the weeks after Mom’s death had been, that it took me a month and a breakup to realize that he’d just embezzled money from us.
When the interview was finally done, I felt tired but relieved. “That’s all I know,” I repeated when Bianca pressed me for more details.
“I don’t know anything else. I’ve told you all I know,” I said again when Bianca asked me another question.
