Chapter 14 #2
“I get the impression that Hugh wasn’t just asking me about Claire,” she said. “He was watching my reaction to his implication.”
“What you’re telling me is that Hugh didn’t come looking for her, he came to plant a seed in your head, all the while, Claire was trying to bait me.” Noah leaned back, hands still on his desk. “Why?”
“I wish I knew. Claire doesn’t miss meetings.
Not when there’s something in it for her and with Hugh believing he’s got the Salazar story, I’m not surprised she’s all over that.
” She brushed her fingers along the edge of the desk, thoughts piling into each other like a chain reaction on the freeway—too many, too fast, no way to sort through the wreckage.
“We’ve both always agreed that Claire’s ambitious.”
“Maybe,” Ziggy said softly, keeping her focus on her nails gliding across the dark wood of Noah’s desk.
“When she first got here, she didn’t push for anything.
The girl barely spoke. She stood in the back of the room, notebook and pen in hand, and took what she was assigned.
Didn’t matter if it was a crappy news story, she attacked it with everything she had.
” Ziggy dropped her hand to her side and lifted her gaze.
“Then one day, she had a voice. And she came knocking on my door and started asking for stories. And not just any stories, she had specific ones in mind.”
“That was about four months ago.”
“I’m surprised you noticed the timing.”
“It was impossible not to,” Noah said. “I was dating Monica. She pointed out the subtle comments.”
Ziggy tipped her head slightly. “What comments?”
“Nothing too specific, but things that always had an undertone,” he said. “Just enough that if I said something, I’d sound like I was reading into it and possibly being a jerk.”
Ziggy rubbed her temple as if to stop the thoughts in her brain from colliding.
“Hugh never carried himself with that much ego and arrogance. Even just two months ago, he would’ve never thought to just stroll to this floor, ease into my office, and drop a bomb like that.
I’m not sure he would’ve said anything about my personal life at all.
When we spoke, it was to share job-related information. ”
Noah shifted in his chair, one hand brushing along his jaw. “Everything with Claire seems to have pivoted when Hugh got that interview.”
Heart pulsing in her throat, Ziggy leaned back. Her thoughts lined up in a way she didn’t like. “I know for a fact that Claire worked four straight stories with Hugh. The first time she researched for Hugh, he told me she asked if she could join the project.”
“Interesting."
“Hugh also called me and asked me about her. What I thought about her work. I told him she was assigned to a team of researchers for a big story we worked on when she first started. I thought her work was good, but that I hadn’t given her another thought.
But then we needed someone quickly and she was just there, so I plucked her. It's how she got on my radar.”
“Or maybe she orchestrated that?” Noah swiveled back and forth in his big leather chair. “Did Hugh keep asking for her?”
“I don’t know. I just know she’s been working a lot with him, and this is all adding up to something calculated.”
Noah didn’t respond immediately. He picked up his phone, his thumb resting against the screen. “I think they’re both after the same thing.” Noah shifted, staring at his phone, “There’s something else that’s bothering me about all this.”
“What’s that?”
“I hadn’t really noticed it before because I try not to think too much about this shit,” he said, lifting his gaze over his cell, “but Claire fits my father’s profile. She’s got the same hair color. The same body type. She’s about the same age as all the girls he raped and killed.”
“That’s fucked up.” Ziggy didn’t swear often, but that was the only way to describe the thoughts she was having. “I’m not sure what to do with that.”
“I’m not either, but we need to have a conversation with her.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Nope. But as long as you stay in this room, I think I’m safe from her doing anything inappropriate or saying something I can’t take back.” Noah picked up his phone and typed out a message.
A moment later, his phone buzzed, and he snorted.
“She wants to meet in private,” he said.
“Of course she does.”
His thumbs flew across the screen and then he set the cell down. “I told her she had to come to my office,” he said. “That I also had something I needed to speak with her about.”
“This should be interesting and perhaps entertaining.”
“Now, there’s the Bowie sense of humor I love and adore.”
Ziggy chose not to retort. She didn’t have the same quick wit as the rest of her family, but if she kept going, she might land on something that wasn’t so funny and upset Noah. She’d done that before.
She stayed where she was, settling into the chair instead of moving. If Claire had something planned, she’d have to adjust it now. That was good. It put Claire on the defensive.
Christ. Ziggy hated games.
A knock sounded at the door, and Ziggy refused to glance over her shoulder.
“Come in,” Noah said, waving his hand. But he didn’t stand up, and Ziggy found that odd Noah was always a gentleman, even in situations where he didn’t have to be.
Claire stepped inside, glancing between Noah and Ziggy with narrowed eyes before recomposing herself with a half-smile.
“You wanted to speak with me,” Claire said.
“I do,” Noah said. “Have a seat.”
Claire crossed the room and sat with her ass barely on the chair. She smoothed her skirt once before letting her hands rest in her lap, with her ankles crossed, her back stiff, and her chest puffed out like she needed someone to notice.
A long, awkward silence filled the room, while Noah’s phone sat in the middle of the desk, screen up, though no one could see Claire’s texts. It was still a statement.
And yet, Claire said nothing.
Ziggy decided to play the game. “We’ve been pleased with your work.”
“Thank you.” Claire turned and smiled. “I do love doing research for Noah’s show.”
“That’s great,” Noah said. “Because Ziggy and I would like you to join the research team for the Davidson cover-up story.”
“Oh, really? That would be amazing,” Claire said.
Only, Ziggy didn’t think her response was all that enthusiastic, considering the size and scope of that story. “You’d have to put in some extra hours, and we’ll work to get it approved because we wouldn’t be able to have you working on other stories.”
Claire bit her lower lip. “I don’t want to pass up a great opportunity. However, I can’t walk away from the Salazar story with Hugh.”
“That’s understandable.” Noah tapped his fingers on his desk. “I think we can allow that overlap, but you’re going to be playing with the big boys now.”
“I can handle it.” Claire's big smile returned.
“I’m sure you can,” Ziggy said.
Claire stared at her, and Ziggy found it almost comical because the expression on Claire’s face was one of disbelief and confusion. It was as if she thought Ziggy was going to stand up and excuse herself.
Claire turned her attention back to Noah. “I was hoping I’d be able to have a moment of your time alone. I have something I need to discuss with you.”
“Whatever you need to say, I’m sure you can say it in front of Ziggy.” Noah leaned forward, hands clasped together on the desk. “We have no secrets here. We’re a team.”
“It’s a bit of a touchy subject.” Claire fiddled with her thumb.
“I’m used to touchy in this business,” Ziggy said. “You’re in a safe space.”
“Um, well, I…” Claire glanced toward the ceiling, and it was such an obvious act. “I just thought you should know something.”
“I’m listening,” Noah said.
Claire leaned forward slightly, shifting her body, as if to block Ziggy.
Interesting move.
“I overheard a couple of the girls in the bullpen. One of them said you harassed her. She was speaking pretty loudly, so it was impossible not to hear what she was saying. She was pretty detailed about what happened.”
The words didn’t shock Ziggy. They were more like a well-placed needle filled with a slow-working drug.
“The woman said she’s taking it to HR,” Claire continued, pushing more of that drug right into Ziggy’s veins before she’d had a chance to adjust to the first dose. “That she has proof of what happened. Videos. Texts. Pictures.”
Ziggy had loved history, but the one thing she didn’t like about it was its tendency to repeat itself, and that was exactly what was happening here. Someone had used Monica to lay the groundwork.
Now, Claire sat in Noah’s office, layering more bricks onto the foundation.
Ziggy shifted her weight slightly in the chair, her fingers curling against the armrest as she noted the way Claire held herself—too composed for someone passing along gossip, too steady for someone who believed she was having a serious conversation.
Noah pushed his chair back and stood.
The action caught Ziggy off guard. Not because he did it, but because it was abrupt.
“Thanks for letting me know.” He opened the door.
Claire twisted in her chair, but she didn’t get it up. “Don’t you want to know who it was?”
“If you want to keep working on my team,” Noah said, “stay away from gossip.”
Ziggy couldn’t see Claire’s face, so she had no idea how she’d reacted, other than the big heaving breath she’d taken.
Noah’s lips twitched like he was trying not to smile.
“I wasn’t gossiping,” Claire said firmly. “Gossip would be spreading it around the office as if I’d been there and had witnessed it firsthand.” She pushed her hand out when Noah opened his mouth. “All I did was bring what was being said to your attention so you could handle it.”
“Alright. I accept that clarification.” Noah continued to hold the door wide. “But I believe the truth always comes out. Since it’s not true, I’m not worried, regardless of who said what.”
Claire stood, smoothing her skirt again, the motion quicker now, less controlled than when she’d first come in. She paused for just a second, like she might say something else, but instead, walked out into the hallway and quickly disappeared.
“That was fun.” Noah closed the door. “Not.”
Ziggy leaned back as she replayed it.
“I wonder how this would have gone down if you had gone to your dressing room.”
Noah walked back toward his desk, slower this time, not rushed, not rattled. “I don’t even want to think about that. It seems like whatever she’s up to—it’s got a few different moving parts. Like it doesn’t matter how she gets me, as long as she does.”
Ziggy tapped her toe on the carpet. “And just like Hugh, it wasn’t about the information, it was about how you responded to it. I’m not sure you gave her what she was looking for, but I might have given Hugh a little bit of the jealousy flavor he seemed to want.”
Noah stopped near his desk, his hand resting briefly against the edge before he looked back at her.
“Now that I think about it, I get the feeling they were always going to tag team this. I mean, Hugh plants the idea,” he said.
“You come over here, a little hot under the collar. Maybe we were both supposed to go to my dressing room. Or maybe I was supposed to go there, and then you get more pictures of something hinky. Either way, Claire walks into my office with something that should rattle us both, but it didn’t. ”
“There’s no way any of this is random. It's too contrived, and there are so many what-ifs, it’s giving me a headache.”
“Not what if’s,” he said. “Contingency plans. The kind that have my father written all over them.”