chapter thirty-six

meghan

“Gather ‘round. Big news. Hurry up.”

I felt like I might throw up as Xander, Byron, Devonte, and I made our way to the front of the newsroom, where Graham stood at the head of the conference table rubbing his chin. But he was smiling, and that was a good sign.

He’d been downstairs for almost three hours, with no word from anyone about what was happening in that meeting. Jill told us they drew the shades in the conference room, leaving us all in the dark. All day, we fielded online comments and phone calls from people wanting to know what was going to happen to the news network, but we didn’t have any answers to give.

But maybe we would now. Graham watched us all take our seats, his raised eyebrows creating creases on his forehead like he was in a state of shock. “What did you find out, Graham?” I asked, pulling up my chair. “Is anyone losing their job?”

He held his palms together in front of his mouth and took a deep breath. With a slow exhale, he lowered his hands and said, “Silas Brown has been placed on administrative leave.”

My jaw dropped. Across from me Xander let out a low whistle, running a hand through his hair. “Holy shit.” I gripped the edge of the table, my heartbeat pulsing through my ears. My head spun with questions, but I was momentarily unable to speak. I decided to just let Graham explain.

“He’s being investigated by the board of directors.” Graham leaned onto the table, putting all of his weight on his hands, and looked into my eyes. “Meghan, you kicked the hornet’s nest with your exposé. Everything you wrote—it’s all just the tip of the iceberg.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a lot I can’t repeat, and even more that I don’t know. But I will say this—the board already had Silas under a magnifying glass. Some of them were willing to sweep his shady behavior under the rug, but your article forced them to address it.” He paused, clearing his throat, and stood up a little straighter. “What I can tell you is that when they looked deeper into Silas’s dealings with Weston, they uncovered some… misappropriation of funds.”

“Embezzlement?” Xander questioned.

Devonte clicked his tongue. “Sounds like textbook embezzlement to me.”

Graham looked down at the table. “I don’t want to use that term. But money has been shifted around in a way that doesn’t totally make sense. Some funds have disappeared altogether.”

“Are you saying this could lead to an arrest?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Too early to tell.”

Xander glanced from me back to Graham. “What do we do now?”

“The only thing we can do is wait for them to dig through the mess and decide if it’s enough to take Silas down. As far as our reporting on this goes, we will have to wait a few days until we know more. And in the meantime, do not take any calls from anyone associated with John Weston.”

“Does this mean I’m off the hook with my assignment?” Byron asked. “I was supposed to interview that Weston fellow this afternoon…”

“Yeah, cancel that,” Graham said, and everyone at the table could sense Byron’s relief as he exhaled. “Everyone can just carry on like they did before Silas was involved, as far as I’m concerned. But speaking of that…”

He stood up a little straighter and angled his body toward the chart on the chalkboard, where Xander was still clearly in the lead. Both of our names were on this Silas article, so despite its virality, neither of us got credit.

“Does anyone remember what today is?”

I looked at the date on the newspaper sitting at the center of the table. May 8th. Why did that ring a bell? Was it Graham’s birthday?

Finally, I realized our contest was over.

Xander had officially won, and in that moment, I didn’t even care. He was staring back at me like this realization hit him at the very same time, his eyes widening just slightly. “Have fun in New York, Xan.”

Graham scratched the side of his head with a nervous sigh. “I, uh… I actually did get a confetti cannon, just to annoy you guys, but it sort of doesn’t feel right. I left it in my car.”

“Thank you for that,” Xander said, staring down at the table.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Graham turned away from us with his hands in the back of his pockets and paced a little bit, like he was anxious about something. When he turned back around, he rubbed his nose and said, “Okay, don’t hate me for this, guys, but…”

Xander and I exchanged a glance. We were probably going to hate him for this, weren’t we? “Spill it, Graham,” I demanded. “What’d you do?”

“I… might have actually had tickets for the ECJ conference for the both of you this entire time.”

I blinked, struggling to process Graham’s words. “Tell me you’re joking.”

He held up both of his hands in defense. “Hear me out, okay? I thought it’d be the best way to push you two. Get a little fire going.”

“I interviewed a goddamn bird .” Xander crossed his arms with a scowl, and suddenly, this wasn’t as serious. I shook my head, but I couldn’t prevent myself from smiling.

“You sneaky, manipulative, little asshole.” Even as I insulted him, Graham smiled back with twinkling eyes, making me glad I had a boss I could say these things to without any repercussions whatsoever. “Tell me I don’t have to share a hotel room with you guys?”

“No, no, you’ll get your own room. We’ll discuss this all further when it gets closer. Anyway, guys,” Graham took a deep breath and shook his head in disbelief. “That’s all I have. Good work, Meghan. We all owe you a lot right now.”

He gave me a little congratulatory nod before leaving the newsroom. Byron and Devonte returned to their cubicles, but Xander and I stayed glued to our seats for a little longer. The newsroom felt oddly quiet. Too quiet.

“Are you upset I’m going to the conference with you?” I asked Xander.

He glanced up without moving his head. “No. You belong there.” And with that, he knocked on the table a couple of times and stood up. I could have hugged him right then, and truth be told, I really wanted to, but I knew he would just push me away. I sat there and smiled instead, with the knowledge that I’d earned two rare compliments from Xander Pierce in one week.

I stayed put just a little longer, letting that moment linger before grabbing my phone and heading outside. I had two pieces of important news to share with Chase, and I couldn’t wait a second longer.

Kendall had her class on the freshly mowed school lawn, playing a raucous game of Duck Duck Goose. She looked up and waved at me as I walked past. Just as I waved back, a girl with long, brown hair tagged Kendall with a triumphant, “Goose!” and she shot to her feet. Their giggles echoed off the side of the building as they ran around the circle.

I smiled at the sight but kept moving until I reached my car. Once inside, I sank into the driver’s seat, exhaling as I tapped Chase’s name. He answered on the second ring.

“Hey,” I said. “You sitting down?”

“Oh boy,” he replied, his voice wary. “Do I need to be?”

I cut right to the chase. “Silas is on administrative leave,” I told him. “He’s under investigation, and I think my reporting just scratched the surface of his corruption. He’s out.”

Chase clicked his tongue. “Damn. That’s a relief. Glad he won’t be looming around my desk anymore.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, even though I still felt uneasy. “At least he liked you.”

“I didn’t want that asshole to like me. And I definitely didn’t like what he was doing to everyone else. The way he talked to you and Jill… it was appalling.”

“I know.” I relaxed against my seat. “I just feel weird, you know? I’m relieved, but I’m also anxious about what comes next.”

Chase’s voice softened. “Whatever happens, you did what needed to be done. You should be proud of yourself.”

His words settled over me like a warm blanket, but before I could respond, he added something that stopped me in my tracks.

“And Meghan… you know your mom and dad are smiling down on you so hard right now.”

I sucked in a breath, the words hitting me square in the chest. I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear that until that very moment. A lump rose in my throat, making it impossible to speak for a moment. A memory flashed through my mind, a vision of myself running through the front door of my childhood home to tell my parents I made the fourth-grade spell bowl team. The night before, they each ran through the list of words with me, both of them assuring me I’d do just fine, despite my inability to remember how many Cs were in the word necessary.

“I think a celebration is necessary , don’t you?” my dad asked my mom after school that day. The three of us went to Applebee’s for supper, where they bragged about me to our server.

A burst of laughter from Kendall’s class over on the lawn made the memory dissolve, leaving a dull ache in my chest. Tears streamed down my face, and I couldn’t hold back my loud, shaky breaths. “Oh Meghan,” Chase said, his voice gentle but strained. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring you down.”

“No,” I managed, holding back another sob as I rubbed my pendant between my fingers. “I’m glad you mentioned them. I needed that reminder that they’re still with me—somehow.”

Chase cleared his throat. “They’re constantly cheering you on from the other side. You have so many people in your corner, Meg, both here and in the afterlife.” He paused for a moment, listening to me take another deep breath. “Hell, even Fannie and Evelyn are probably proud of you for taking Silas down, although perhaps a little disappointed you didn’t handle it with poison...”

I laughed through my tears. In just the span of a few minutes, Chase had given me exactly what I needed: he’d reminded me that my parents were still with me in spirit, with words I so desperately needed to hear. And then he put a smile back on my face just when I thought I might crumble from the weight of my grief.

With him, I knew I’d be okay.