She gasped, looking up from the document. “You hurt Rodney?”
He shrugged. “Hush money and a well-placed threat are much more effective than physical violence.”
Well, now she knew where Trey had gotten the money for that new Mercedes he was driving around. But apparently she wasn’t worth hush money. They were just getting rid of her. “So I’m just supposed to walk away?”
“If you don’t cause a fuss, we’ll just say you resigned. And believe me, Charli, you spill anything to anyone, you’re taking your life in your hands.” He rubbed a hand over his jawline, looking more weary than she ever remembered seeing him. “Their original plan was to get rid of you. They knew you didn’t really have any family around. It would take a few days for anyone to even notice you were gone. That accident on the road was just their first try.”
The cold wash of fear went all the way to her bones this time.
“If you hadn’t hightailed it to your boyfriend’s place, I’m not sure we’d be sitting here today.” His eyes shifted downward, some glimmer of guilt surfacing. “I convinced them to give me a chance to get some dirt on you, a way to get you out of this without them hurting you.”r: Roni Loren
She grabbed her purse, her skin crawling being this close to the man who’d scared her out of her house, run her off the fucking road. He could’ve killed her. She moved to scoot out of the booth.
“I wouldn’t leave so fast, Charli,” he said, the humor fading from his voice. “I have something you may want.”
He dropped a thumb drive onto the tabletop. She stared at it, the small thing seeming to loom between them. “What is it?”
He smiled, way too pleased with himself. “An audio file starring you.”
Her brow knitted.
“Maybe this will refresh your memory.” He pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and touched the screen.
Voices spilled from the small speaker. Very, very familiar voices.
I’m about halfway to coming, where are you, sweet Charlotte?
Wishing I was there. Touching you.
Charli gasped, reaching for Pete’s phone, but he held it out of her reach. “Turn it off.”
Are you wet for me?
Perhaps.
How much privacy does your office allow?
Charli looked around, mortified that anyone might hear, but luckily the restaurant was loud enough that they hadn’t drawn anyone’s attention yet.
Pete laughed and touched the screen, halting the embarrassing recording. “I have to admit, Beaumonde. Listening to you on that call was kind of hot. I didn’t think you had it in you. But I knew you were up to something on the phone when I saw you were all flushed and breathless when I stopped by your office.”
Anger rocketed through her, but she forced herself to stay calm, to not let him know how bad he’d gotten to her. “You’re a sick bastard, Pete. I’m sure the jail psychologist will have a fucking field day.”
“Oh, there will be no cops. You can’t prove I broke into your house.” He folded his hands on the tabletop, as if they were discussing next week’s meeting agenda instead of criminal acts. “This can all be resolved quite neatly actually. You give me your interview notes, the signed statement Rodney gave you, and let me take credit for breaking the story. And…you step out of the running for the anchor position. Do those two things, and you get your recording back. I’ll erase the copy on my phone and you can have the thumb drive.”
“No fucking way. This is my story and that anchor job is mine.”
He shrugged. “All right, well, I’m sure Trey and the board would love to hear what their reporter is doing at work on their dime. You won’t have to worry about not getting the anchor position anymore because you’ll be fired and have no references to find something else.”
She balled her fists, ready to throw more punches at him, but as his words sunk in she realized he had her in a goddamned corner. What she’d done at work had been completely unprofessional. If they doubted how seriously she took her job now, she’d blow any shot at being seen as a professional if this came out.
But if she turned over her notes, Pete would get the glory. And the job.
The only chance she had at someone believing her was Trey. He’d known she was chasing this particular story. Maybe she could explain to him what had happened. They had a friendship. Surely he could keep the information about the phone sex to himself.
Charli took a deep breath and grabbed the thumb drive. “I want to watch you delete it off your phone.”
Pete’s expression lit with smug triumph. He hit a few buttons and the file was gone. She shoved her notebook across the table and stood. “Only a fucking coward would stalk and blackmail someone to get a promotion. It’s really kind of pitiful. You know how much better I am than you are, and you don’t have the balls to compete on an even playing field.”