by Lily Webb
“So the short answer to your question is that the werewolves forced me out. I used to be in with them, but since the election cut me out of political power, they don’t think I serve any use for them anymore — which is honestly the only reason they let me open up shop here. They’ll still hang around for a beer, sure, but only because there’s nowhere better for them to go around this part of town.”
“I’m sure Olivia’s coverage of you didn’t help.”
Marissa chuckled and reached for a shot glass under the bar. She filled it with an amber liquid from an unmarked bottle and knocked the drink back in one go. She made a sour face and slammed the glass on the counter. “No, definitely not, but I can already see where you’re going with this. I didn’t go after Olivia or Beau.”
“Well, you can’t blame me for wondering after all the terrible things you told me Olivia has said about you on air.”
“No, I guess not. But I already live on the fringes, so why would I want to draw more attention to myself by cursing two of the most high profile people in town? It makes no sense.”
She had a point. I didn’t doubt for a second that more illegal activity occurred within the walls of her bar in one night than it did in most of Moon Grove in a year, so flying under the radar was always in Marissa’s best interests.
“Besides, I’ve got more than enough crap to deal with. As angry as Olivia’s lies make me, I don’t have the time or energy to get caught up in petty stuff like this. I’ve got a bar to run, and her talking about me all the time isn’t necessarily bad for business. If you ask me, that producer Katelyn has a lot more on the line than I do.”
“Why’s that?”
“Think about it: her entire world is falling apart right in front of her. Beau is moving on, and Olivia couldn’t fill his shoes no matter how hard she tried. Where does that leave Katelyn?”
“Between a rock and a hard place.”
“Exactly. Did you watch Moon Grove Tonight the last two nights? It was an absolute disaster both times. I don’t know if Olivia was exhausted or what, but she totally fell on her face on air. If I were Katelyn, I’d be furious with her. How the heck is Olivia supposed to carry the flame for Beau if she can’t even guest host his show?”
“Good point.” Katelyn wasn’t shy about the demands she placed on her anchors, so it wasn’t a stretch to imagine her lashing out in a fit of impatient rage at Olivia for failing.
“Besides, Beau has complained to me in the past about Katelyn’s unreasonably high standards.”
“He has?”
“Yeah, when we were dating it was all he talked about. She almost drove him to quit the business, but I guess Sam talked him out of it and promised to have a talk with Katelyn about it.”
And now that Sam and Beau were out of the picture, there wasn’t anything keeping Katelyn from unleashing her true self.
“Look, I know it’s easy to suspect an ex-girlfriend, especially when they look like me and have a sketchy reputation like I do, but I’m telling you, Zoe, I don’t care enough about either of them to do something like this. I’ve moved on. But Katelyn? She has everything to lose and nowhere to go. She’s a cornered animal.”
“And cornered animals lash out.”
Marissa nodded. “Exactly. You’ve been around the political block. You know how it goes.”
If Marissa was lying, she was doing a darn good job of it, but as I weighed her words, I couldn’t convince myself she was. She was a strong personality, no doubt about it, but she was also savvy. She didn’t seem like the type to commit a passive aggressive crime of passion against Beau or Olivia. If she’d wanted to get back at either of them, she would’ve been much more direct and vindictive, whereas Katelyn seemed like a tea pot simmering with suppressed rage, waiting to explode — and maybe Olivia’s dud of a performance had set her off again. I couldn’t write off the timing of the second attack as a coincidence.
I finished my water and slid the glass back to Marissa. “I’m sorry to have bothered you. Thanks for the drink and hospitality.”
“Anytime. You and Beau should come down for the grand opening, assuming he’s back to normal by then. I’d love to embarrass him in front of you.”
“I’ll keep it in mind,” I lied. I had zero intention of putting the two of them in a room together. “Good luck with the new location.”
“I’m moving a shifter bar to the Vampires’ Quarter. What could go wrong?”
“Probably everything,” I laughed. “Will I see you at the banquet Friday night?”
Marissa shrugged. “We’ll see how things go. I’m supposed to re-open at the new spot Saturday night, so I dunno if I’ll have the time.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for you,” I said, and left to track down Katelyn.
Chapter Eleven
When I walked through the front doors of the Channel 666 offices, the receptionist didn’t bother to stop me — she must’ve known better by now — but I needed her help, so I paused at the desk. She looked up, confused.
“Can I help you, Miss Clarke?”
“Yes. I’m here to speak to Katelyn Anderson. Do you know if she’s available?”
“I can call her office to save you the trip upstairs,” the receptionist offered.
“Perfect, thanks.”
“My pleasure,” she said as she reached for the desk phone, smashed a few numbers on the dial pad, and held the handset to her ear. After several rings, no one had answered. “I’m sorry, she’s either busy or not in her office. You’re welcome to go upstairs and check if you’d like.”
“I need to stop by Beau’s office to get some of his things, anyway. I’m sure Katelyn’s is on the way, right?”
“Yes, she’s on the twenty-second floor. You don’t need a key to go there in the elevator, but you’ll need one to get to Mr. Duncan’s office. Here, I’ll program it for you,” she said and plucked a plastic card out from a deck of them on the desk. She swiped it through a machine and held it to me. “This should get you all the way up, but let me know if it doesn’t work.”
“Thanks.” I took the card from her and made my way around to the elevator. One was already waiting, so I stepped inside and pressed the button for the twenty-second floor. The doors whooshed shut and I rocketed upward without stopping on any of the other floors along the way. When the elevator dinged and the doors re-opened, angry shouting flooded the space and I recognized the voice as Katelyn’s right away.
With a mixture of trepidation and curiosity swirling in the pit of my stomach, I stepped out of the elevator and followed the sound of her voice, which grew louder with each step. I couldn’t tell if it was because I was getting closer, if she was getting angrier, or both. Eventually, I turned a corner and found an open office door at the end of the hall. Katelyn sat inside at her desk, her face reddening as she screamed into the phone.
“I’m doing everything I can with what little talent we have! What more do you want from me?! Not even Lilith herself could keep a ship riddled with holes from sinking!” She paused as the person on the other end of the line said their piece, but let out a sound somewhere between a growl of frustration and a roar of anger.
“No, Randy, that’s not true and you know it! Don’t put this on me, I’m the only person keeping this broken-down train on the tracks, and if you and the rest of the board have a problem with the work I’m doing, then maybe you should think about helping me!” She slammed the phone down on the hook, brushed her tangled, wild hair out of her eyes, and jolted when she saw me standing outside her door.
“Oh, Zoe, I’m sorry. I had no idea you were—”
“It’s okay, I understand,” I interrupted. “Do you mind if I come in for a minute?”
She rocketed out of her chair and smoothed her ruffled shirt. “Sure, please.”
I stepped inside and gently closed the door. “That sounded heated.”
Katelyn rolled her eyes and let out a protracted sigh. “The board is losing it. Our ratings have tanked since Beau went o
ff the air, and they were only getting worse with Olivia. But now that she’s out of commission too we’re truly doomed. Please tell me you came with good news about at least one of them.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, no. I’m here to pick some things up for Beau from his office, but I thought I’d stop by to see how you were doing.”
She laughed and held her hands out at her sides. “Well, I think you can see how I’m doing. Not well. Not well at all.” She slumped back into her chair like a wilting flower, so I sat down in the only other chair in the office's corner.
“What’s been going on around here since Olivia’s incident?”
“A lot of mediocrity, and that’s about it,” she scoffed.
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve been rotating our B-team anchors on The Jump and Moon Grove Tonight, and not a single one has turned out to be worth the money we’re paying them. Earlier today, our newest hire quit on air! Can you believe that? She had a full-blown meltdown and just stormed off the set in the middle of a segment. Talk about cowardly.”
It sounded more heroic than cowardly to me. After witnessing Katelyn screaming at someone on the phone, I could only imagine the way she’d talked to the poor anchor — and I didn’t blame them for quitting. Working in broadcasting was a taxing job even in the best of times, so I couldn’t fathom doing it in the middle of all the chaos at Channel 666.
“Sounds like everyone is under a lot of pressure,” I said.
Katelyn chuckled. “Yeah, that’s putting it pretty mildly.”
“So maybe you have a shorter fuse than normal?”
She glared at me, and I could’ve sworn I saw a muscle in the corner of her eye twitching. I didn’t find it hard to believe she’d almost chased Beau out of the business — she seemed capable of frightening anyone.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I didn’t watch the show, but I heard from some people who did that Olivia had a hard time filling in for Beau.”
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it, Zoe. She was an absolute disaster.”
“That’s not a surprise. Who wouldn’t be nervous about filling in for a role as big as Beau’s?”
“I don’t blame her for being nervous; I blame her for being unprepared. She’s usually on top of everything, but when the cameras started rolling for Monday night’s show, it was like her brain turned to mush.”
That was probably because she had Katelyn literally screaming at her through a headset, but I kept that observation to myself. “So it’s safe to say you weren’t happy with her performance?”
Katelyn scowled. “Uh, no. Not even close.”
“Could you have been so unhappy that you went a little too far when the taping was over?”
The twitching in her eye muscle returned, faster and more spastic, and bright red splotches of anger spread across her face like leprosy. She raised a shaking hand and massaged the back of her neck, and for a moment I worried she might lunge across the desk and rip me apart. I didn’t know what kind of animal she could turn into, but I didn’t want to find out.
Finally, Katelyn breathed in a huge amount of air and pushed it all out in one go. She smiled as she continued to rub her neck. “No disrespect, but it’s absurd that I even have to make it clear I have no connection to what happened to Olivia. I know you used to be a reporter, Zoe, but if you’re looking for a story here, you won’t find one.”
“I can’t rule anyone out. I’m sure you understand.”
“I do, but really? Me of all people?” She seemed incredulous, which showed she had no awareness of how others perceived her explosive behavior. “I mean, what could I possibly stand to gain from cursing not one but two of my best anchors? I’ve told you this before, but I’ll say it again: our fates are tied. If Beau and Olivia fall, so do I. Besides, I was with you when we found Olivia, so what makes you think I could’ve had anything to do with what happened to her?”
That didn’t mean she hadn’t put something in Olivia’s coffee. I didn’t get the chance to say so, though, because her desk phone rang. She grimaced.
“Sorry, I should probably take this, as much as I don’t want to.”
“By all means. I’m not offended. I dropped by unexpectedly.”
“Thanks,” she said and picked up the phone. “Yeah, this is Katelyn.” I couldn’t make out the words from the other person, but the tone sounded furious. She reached for a pad of paper and a pen by her computer and scribbled “I love my job” repeatedly to soothe herself — but it wasn’t the words that made my heart lodge in my throat, it was her handwriting.
It was loopy and feminine, and there was a lot of space between the lines in her L’s and O’s. I stared down at the pad of paper in shock as she continued to write as fast as her hand could move. “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got it. It’s yet another fire to put out, but don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Okay, yeah, whatever, I’ve gotta go, I’ve got someone on the other line,” she said and dropped the phone on the receiver with a clatter, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the pad of paper.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, stirring me out of my haze.
“Uh, yeah, everything’s fine. I just noticed your handwriting. It’s nice. I wish I could write so cleanly,” I lied. Maybe it was the speed at which she wrote that made her letters look more like chicken scratch than English, but there was no mistaking that it was the same handwriting I’d seen in the letters sent to Beau and Olivia.
Katelyn dropped the pen on her desk, tore the piece of paper off the pad, crumpled it, and tossed it across the room toward the trash can. It bounced off the rim and rolled in front of the door. “Thanks. It’s not what it used to be, but I try. Anyway, where were we?”
“Right, uh, we were talking about Olivia. She looked like she’d been drinking coffee before, well, whatever happened to her.”
“Oh, yeah, you took the cup. Any news on that?”
“No, but that’s part of why I stopped by. Do you have any idea who might’ve brought the coffee to her?” The color drained from Katelyn’s face as a realization struck her. “What? What is it?”
“Rose!” she hissed. “It was Rose who brought her the coffee. Since she wasn’t doing anything meaningful with Beau gone, I re-assigned her to Olivia’s team, but Olivia’s never liked her so she sent Rose on a coffee run just to get her out of our hair. She brought back a cup for each of us.”
“But if she’d put something in the coffee, wouldn’t it have affected everyone who drank it?”
“Maybe she only put it in Olivia’s. They’ve never been fond of each other.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard.” Olivia had described Rose as weird and creepy, and though Rose definitely seemed eccentric and awkward, I couldn’t imagine her doing something like this — especially not to Beau. From the way she talked about him, he was almost sacred to her, but her bringing the coffee was too much of a lead to overlook. “Do you know where Rose is now?”
Katelyn shrugged. “I can barely keep track of where I’m supposed to be, much less everyone else. She’s probably down on the twentieth floor stewing. I don’t think she was happy about being re-assigned to work with Olivia, but we couldn’t keep paying her to sit up on the fortieth floor twiddling her thumbs when the rest of us are struggling to stay above water.”
I couldn’t blame Rose for being upset — I wasn’t a fan of Olivia’s either — but I also understood why Katelyn had moved her. Katelyn’s phone rang again.
“Ugh, I’m sorry,” she said and rolled her eyes.
“It’s fine. I should get up to Beau’s office. I’m sure you have a lot to do.”
“You have no idea,” she said as she picked up the phone. “Yeah, it’s Katelyn,” she said and waited as the other person spoke. “Oh, dear Lilith. Seriously, Randy?!”
I took it as my cue to show myself out of the office. I waved as I stood, but Katelyn didn’t notice.
While the phone call distracted her, I opened the door and kicked her crumpl
ed note outside. As soon as the door slammed shut, I scooped the letter off the ground and shoved it into my robe pocket — because something told me Raina, Mallory, and her contact on the Historical Society would want to see it.
But first, I needed to pay Rose a visit.
Chapter Twelve
Thankfully, the elevator was still empty and the key card the receptionist had given me to get to the fortieth floor worked flawlessly. I clutched the crumpled letter in my pocket all the way up and my mind buzzed with possibilities.
Despite the new evidence implicating Katelyn, I still couldn’t believe she attacked Beau and Olivia — but how else could I explain the similarities between her handwriting on the note I’d stolen and the handwriting in the “anonymous” letters? It couldn’t be a coincidence, but I’d have to wait for Mallory’s contact on the Historical Society to confirm the link — which meant the letters stuffed in Beau’s desk drawer were now infinitely more valuable.
Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t anyone else on the fortieth floor when the elevator doors opened. No one would have a reason to be there now that Beau wasn’t working and Rose had moved to Olivia’s team. What was surprising, however, was that Beau’s office door was unlocked. Based on everything that’d happened around the office lately, it seemed irresponsible to me, but I wasn’t the one in charge of office security.
Part of me expected the letters to have disappeared since the last time I’d been in the office, so I held my breath as I reached for the desk drawer and pulled. Happily, several unopened envelopes tumbled over the edge, so I grabbed handfuls of them and stuffed them into my bag and the pockets of my robes. Walking out of the building with envelopes spilling from my bag and robes would look suspicious, but I had a good excuse, so I tried not to worry about it.
There wasn’t enough room in my bag and pockets to carry all the letters, but I got most of them, so I left with a satisfied smirk on my face. The office door clicked shut, and I turned to find Rose coming out of the elevator.
