I hadn’t even realized that I’d been doing it, but I’d been looming over him, emphasizing his lack of stature compared to mine. I personally didn’t equate height or size with expertise and ability, even though my husband was a big, strapping man who also happened to be intelligent, caring, and a fine human being.
And suddenly the sound of ducks filled the room again. What was he, daft?
I pulled the phone out, flipped it open, closed it without answering it, and then turned the ringer to vibrate.
“I thought you said it was off.”
“My finger must have slipped,” I lied. “What is this about?”
“It’s the day of reckoning,” he said with the wisp of a smile dancing on his thin and cracked lips.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why the melodrama? If you’ve got something to say, just say it.”
He tapped a stack of papers on the desk in front of him. “Fine, have it your way. Consider this the official notice required in the contract we signed. You’ve been sold, as of noon tomorrow.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The second I sign these deal sheets, your column becomes the property of Harrison Enterprises. I have a feeling you won’t like it one bit. They won’t put up with the garbage I’ve had to take from you over the years.”
“You can’t do that,” I said. “I have a say in who I work for.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said, his smile becoming broader by the minute. “I can buy and sell you as though you were nothing more than a box of laundry detergent.”
“Is that what you told the others, too?”
He frowned. “No, I had different news for each of them. They’re being dropped altogether, and with the noncompete agreements I put in their contracts, they can’t work for anyone else for five years.”
“Derrick, sometimes you can be a real jerk,” I said.
“Keep talking and I’ll show just what a jerk I can be. Your husband’s not around to protect you now, Savannah. This is the real world.”
I stood. “You’re not going to get away with this.”
“I already have, and if you had any sense at all, you’d shut that trap of yours and be a good little girl before I have to spank you and put you in your place. You think you’re something special, but in truth, you’re just a plain, ordinary hack with no real talent at all.”
Normally I’m not a woman of violence. I’m not foolish enough to think that it resolves much of anything, but there are times when the only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to him. I wish my motives were that pure as I struck out and slapped Derrick’s face, but honestly, I did it because of the way he’d been goading me since I’d signed that syndication contract with him years ago.
I didn’t even regret it as my hand started stinging from the impact of the blow. I looked at Derrick’s face and saw the crisp white outline of my hand on his cheek, and tried to keep the blossoming smile from my lips.
“That’s it. You’re fired,” he said with a hard edge in his voice that I didn’t recognize.
“You can’t fire me,” I said. “We have a contract, at least until tomorrow. Remember?”
“I can do whatever I want, Savannah. Now get out.”
I walked out of the room, not even glancing at Kelsey as I did. In all honesty, I’d forgotten she was there, watching us the entire time.
What had I done?
And more important, what was I going to do now?
Chapter 3
I HAD TO CALL ZACH AND TELL HIM WHAT HAD JUST HAPpened. When I flipped open my phone, I saw that he’d left a message when I’d hung up on him so abruptly before. I nearly cried as I heard him say, “Sorry about that. I’ve got a meeting with the prosecutor, so I can’t talk. Hope everything goes well with you. Call me tonight. Bye.” Almost as an afterthought, he added, “Love you.”
I wanted to talk to him—I needed to—but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. He was smart enough to turn his own phone off when he was in a meeting.
I had to think. If either one of my uncles were around, I would call them, but they were currently near the Arctic Circle, and I’d been warned that they’d be out of cell phone reach until further notice. It had surprised me when their voices had sounded so close when they’d last called from Anchorage, but Chena Hot Springs was a lot farther north than that. They were taking in the natural springs, the ice sculpture museum, and a plane ride to the Arctic Circle itself, using the trip as an excuse to get reacquainted.
At least for the moment, I was on my own. I thought briefly about going straight to Jenny’s place, but I didn’t want to burden her with my troubles. Besides, I needed some time alone to think.
I got into my car and started driving around Raleigh, no destination in mind, just a chance to clear my head. I found myself near the capitol building, and by some miracle I found a parking space in front of the promenade across the street. The grounds around the capitol were lovely, carefully manicured and dotted with statues, tributes, and cannons, but I needed a place to sit and think. On my side of the street, there was a tree-lined expanse of geometrically laid gray square pavers, with buildings on both sides, a museum in one direction, and an office building in the other. I walked over to a stone planter and sat down facing three bronze statues perched on the steps to the museum. One of them, a Native American woman, had her hands held up to the sky, as though she were pleading for help from above.
I knew the feeling.
I was in serious trouble, and I fully realized it. Could I fix this? Surely if Derrick had originally intended to transfer my contract to the other group he wouldn’t be able to fire me out of hand, not if my columns were part of the deal. Didn’t that give me some kind of leverage? I realized that maybe this change would be a blessing in disguise. I didn’t mind the idea of not working for Derrick a minute longer than I had to. I certainly wouldn’t miss his threats and complaints about my work. Would working for someone else really be that bad? Now that I had some time to think about it, I realized that the jerk might have actually done me a favor by selling my contract to someone else.
But I’d taken care of that with one swift slap.
I wouldn’t deny that it had felt good, but I wasn’t about to pay for my rash behavior for the next five years if I could help it.
There was only one thing I could do, no matter how distasteful it was going to be. I had to get down on my knees and grovel until Derrick forgave me and included me in the sale.
It wasn’t going to be pleasant, but I didn’t see that I had any real choice.
I walked back to my car, glanced at my dashboard clock, and saw that I’d been sitting there for nearly an hour and a half. Was he even still at the hotel? I drove there as fast as I could, pulled into the parking lot, and then slipped inside.
The door to the conference room was closed, but that didn’t mean anything. He could be in there firing someone else, for all I knew. I waited five minutes, and then I knew I couldn’t just stand around hoping that he would come out.
I opened the door and instantly saw that something was very wrong.
It looked like I was too late for my apology to matter anymore.
Derrick was slumped over the table, his face buried in prime rib, and even from the doorway, I could see that someone had stuck a steak knife into his back.
IRAN TOWARD HIM. MAYBE THERE WAS STILL A CHANCE TO save him.
“Derrick? Can you hear me?” I tried to find a pulse as I leaned over him, but there wasn’t any that I could find. That didn’t mean it wasn’t there, though. I flipped open my phone and dialed the first two digits of 911 when his assistant, Kelsey, walked into the room. As I pressed the last 1 she dropped the tray in her hands and started screaming.
I doubted the operator could hear me over her shrieks, but Hotel Security was right behind her, and it was only after they charged in that I realized how this must have looked to them all.
