Page 75

“Fair enough.” I chuckle. “Come on. I told Donna we would meet her at the café once we were done here.”

Charlee groans. “Do we have to? Can’t I just say that—I don’t know? I have an emergency surgery?”

“Nice try. Let’s go, little liar.”

With another grunt, Charlee finally follows me. And I hope like hell that I didn’t cost us both our jobs.

“Can someone tell me what the hell happened?” Donna asks from where she’s seated, a steaming cup of coffee next to her. “Here I was, working on promotional material for the docuseries, and the next thing I know, I have Trevor on the phone yelling at me that you guys bailed on them and that he would unleash, and I quote, ‘an army of lawyers on us.’” She looks at me from behind her glasses like she’s ready to strangle the living shit out of me. “Talk. Now.”

Beside me, Charlee sits oddly still. I wish I could read what’s going on inside her head. I wonder if she blames me for the situation we’re in.

Fuck, I hope not.

I lean my elbows on the table. “I’m sure you saw Charlee’s ankle when we walked in. Before we even started our fifth day, I told everybody we needed to stay at the lodge because I could tell a storm was rolling in. Trevor didn’t listen, despite my many warnings. He deliberately put the whole team in danger, and sure enough, Charlee hurt herself pretty badly. You think she could continue like this?”

Donna’s gaze slides to the crutches lying on the floor.

“Did anyone else witness this?” Donna asks.

“Yes,” Charlee rushes to say. “Everyone was there.”

Donna arches one eyebrow, so I add, “Trevor threatened to sue us for not fulfilling our contracts when I said I was bringing Charlee back. I just countered with the fact that he willingly put the team in danger when he dismissed my warning. As the assigned first responder responsible for the safety of the crew, I made it glaringly clear that we should not have left the camp that day, and he stated in front of everyone that if anything happened, he’d accept full responsibility. Seems to me like a bigger case can be built against him for endangering the lives of five people despite my professional recommendations than against us for not fulfilling our end of the contract.”

Donna presses her lips into a thin line. “I knew that man was bad news from the day I met him. I was hoping he wouldn’t be in charge of the project when MNL approached us,” she says, shaking her head. “When I saw him in my office the day you did the briefing, I wanted to throw him out.” She turns her attention to Charlee, offering her a tight smile. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

Charlee shrugs. “Part of the job.”

“I guess so,” Donna chuckles. She places her linked hands on the table. “Look. I won’t lie to you. This is a big mess. Production is stalled for now, and the crew is on their way back without enough material to make more than a few episodes. We already got a few calls from the MNL lawyers, and we might be entangled in legal drama for a while. Not ideal, but Wild Planet will not stand idly by while an entitled fuck endangers our reporters.” Her gaze drifts to me. “Is there anybody on their team who can back your story?”

I nod. “Emma. She took our side quickly and offered to corroborate our version of the events as we were packing to leave.” That shut Trevor up pretty fast, although I won’t soon forget the look he shot Emma and me.

“Good, good. That’ll come in handy.” Donna rubs her temples like she’s fighting an imminent headache. “Now for the other side of this mess. Because the project is on the rocks for now, so is your payment, and it’ll be so until we settle the issue. I’m sorry, Oliver.”

She really does look sorry, and so am I.

I swallow my disappointment. “It’s okay, I understand.”

I can already see the exasperated look Rob will give me when I tell him I need to push the deadline. Again.

I lower my head, fighting against the sting in my eyes. I let them down.

I was so close to making them proud, to getting my legacy back, and I failed just short of the finish line. Now Jerry’s will become part of an all-inclusive resort for rich white folks, the polar opposite of what my grandparents worked for all their lives: a place of welcome and found family.

“Ben called me,” Donna tells Charlee. “I told him I’d let him know as soon as we were done and I made sure you were both okay.”

“Thanks,” Charlee whispers.

Donna waves to the waiter and opens her laptop. “You two get going. I have another meeting in ten minutes with our lawyers to see how we can avoid dragging this whole thing out. I’ll be in touch when I need you.”

“Thanks, Donna.” I get up and grab Charlee’s crutches.

Slowly, we make our way to the car, neither of us brave enough to say a word.

After I slip behind the wheel, I turn the heat on while Charlee throws her crutches in the back seat.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

She opens her mouth, but her phone rings, cutting her off. A groan escapes her lips when she sees the name on the screen. “Hi, Ben.”