42. Adelaide
ADELAIDE
I had to face Laurel eventually and here I was sitting across from her and feeling fucking terrified.
She looked at me like I was the one who held back information about Tyson’s son.
I didn’t even know! “Adelaide, you keep saying that’s all, then more shit crops up.
Please tell me that you have told me everything you know. ”
I thought about Vance and Tyson. About how they were fucking each other, then fucking me.
“You know this is a confidential space. Just because you tell me doesn’t mean that I tell anyone else.
” She put away her iPad for the second time since I’ve known her and she moved back from her desk, propping her feet up.
“Tell me just how well Vance and Tyson know each other.”
She was also incredibly intelligent and didn’t miss much. “Off the books? You won’t put this information on any notepad or digital platform. It won’t go in an email or onto a server somewhere.”
Laurel tapped her temple. “It stays right here. I can’t prepare for something that I don’t know about.”
“Vance and Tyson are bi. They have a relationship and I have a relationship with both of them.”
“I thought so.” She didn’t even flinch. “Now what do we know, for sure.”
She waited for me to answer. Of course she fucking did.
“We know that Tyson is a retired MMA fighter, divorced, with one child. Vance is an established boxer and MMA fighter. He hasn’t been married and has no known children.
They are in a relationship with each other for an unknown amount of time and I’m fucking both of them.
” I sighed. That was a lot to unpack. “Becky, his ex, leaked information to the reporters about Tj. But we need to prove it.”
“I have the reporter coming in…” There was a knock at the office door. “Now.”
“Fun. Can I stay?”
“Of course. I planned on it.” Laurel smirked. “Come in!” She called out.
The door opened slowly and the meek looking reporter came in. “Good afternoon.” He said quietly.
“Good afternoon.” I replied, motioning to the seat next to me. “Have a seat.”
The man sat down, scooting away from me slightly. Fuck that. You dig into people’s lives and stalk a minor, you get to feel scared. “Do you know why you are here?”
“No.” He said quickly. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”
“The thing is, you stalked a minor, took pictures of said minor and posted them to a public online forum. Putting him in danger. That’s a crime.
If anything happens to him because of what you’ve done…
I’d hate to think what the infamous hot headed Tyson McNally would do to you.
” Laurel’s voice was level and never wavered, I was a confident person but she made me look as meek as this reporter.
“I didn’t dig into his past. The information was given to me by an…” Oh…there it was.
Laurel put her hand up, cutting him off. “Anonymous source. I was worried you’d say that.” She stood up and pulled out photos of the reporter with a woman. “This isn’t your wife, is it?”
The man’s eyes got big. “How? That’s blackmail?!” He started to get up, but I blocked the door, smiling. This was a good reminder to stay on Laurel’s good side for everyone.
“Does it matter? If you want to play dirty, then we can too. Who gave you the information about Tyson McNally’s son?” Laurel didn’t move. She remained seated and held the entire room at attention.
“His ex. She called me.” The reporter finally said.
“What. Is. Her. Name.” Laurel said through her teeth. Clearly getting impatient.
“Becky. She didn’t give me a last name.” There it was. The name we were looking for.
“Good.” She stood up and leaned on the desk in front of the man. “I want all of your notes, photos and prints of your articles. And I want them taken down.”
“I c-can’t do that.” He muttered. “My boss has them.”
“So there’s two of you out there who are creepy dirtbags?” Laurel cocked her head. “I thought you might say something like that, so I took some liberties.” She pulled up her phone and opened another photo. It was of another reporter snorting cocaine.
“Hey! You can’t pin that on me.” He snapped.
“Well, funny thing. I have other photos of you selling cocaine to her. That is your boss isn’t it?”
His eyes got even bigger. “Y-yes.”
“Then you could both go to jail for something completely unrelated to us or this business if an anonymous tip came in about drugs being sold and used.”
“Jesus.” He raked his hands down his face. “Fuck.” More muttering then he pulled out his phone and dialed what I assumed to be his boss. Within the hour we had all materials and all searches of Tj McNally were cleared. Nothing came up.
We sat in silence. The man, who I never bothered to get his name from, sat silently next to me. “Well now my career as a reporter is non-existent.” He muttered to himself.
“You're welcome. Go.” Laurel opened her iPad again. Dismissing him. “I hope you find some morals after this little lesson. Oh, and your wife will be waiting for you to explain where you were last Saturday when you were ‘out of town’ for work.” Laurel laughed.
“Bitch! I gave you what you wanted!” He only yelled, he didn’t make any physical attempt to defend himself.
“No woman deserves to be cheated on. Especially by a creep like you.” Laurel went back to her typing and the man walked out.
Laurel looked up at me and smirked. “That was fun.”
“It was.” I stood up and fixed my skirt. “Thank you.”
“It’s literally my job.” She looked back down. “Close the door on the way out.”
I ducked my head and did as she said. I was lucky to have someone like her on my payroll. She’d saved my ass more times than I could count.