Chapter 18 #3
“More specifically this time,” Martin replies.
Vivian turns toward us.
“Regulators have broadened the preservation scope. Assume any communication relating to company operations, acquisitions, market strategy, senior leadership, or the investigation itself may eventually be requested.”
“I understand preservation,” I say.
“This goes beyond not deleting emails,” Martin says.
“It includes messages you send now.”
I lean back in my chair.
“To employees?”
“To anyone, depending on content.”
Adrian frowns.
“That's absurdly broad.”
“It is broad,” Vivian says, “but it isn't unusual.”
Martin looks directly at me.
“If you discuss this investigation with someone outside the company, that communication can become relevant. If that person is a journalist, consultant, adviser, or anyone who recently had access to leadership, counsel may have to identify them, preserve the communication, and potentially explain why the conversation occurred.”
My jaw tightens.
“What if the conversation has nothing to do with Blackwell?”
“Then don't make it about Blackwell,” Martin says.
“But understand that context matters. Right now, people are already looking at recent access patterns.”
I know exactly what he means.
“Sophie.”
No one answers immediately, but the long silence is enough.
Vivian speaks first.
“Her name has come up because she was embedded with the company recently. That doesn't mean anyone is accusing her of wrongdoing.”
“Preston is.”
Vivian's expression hardens.
“Preston is asking questions because he knows questions create leverage.”
Adrian closes the memorandum.
“He's already requested her access logs.”
I look at him. “On whose authority?”
“The crisis committee's.”
Heat rises beneath my collar.
Vivian cuts in before I can respond.
“Julian, listen to me. If you contact her now and discuss anything even remotely connected to this investigation, Preston will use the communication to justify expanding the review.
He'll argue that she remained in contact with senior leadership while regulators were examining potential leaks or improper disclosures.”
“She didn't leak anything.”
“I didn't say she did.”
“Then stop treating her as if she did.”
Vivian's voice stays controlled.
“I'm trying to keep her from becoming collateral damage.”
That stops me.
Martin folds his hands on the table.
“If Ms. Callahan has done nothing wrong, the worst thing you can do right now is create a new communication trail that gives someone an excuse to drag her further into this.”
I look from him to Vivian.
“So I'm supposed to do nothing.”
“For now,” Vivian says.
“How long is ‘for now’?”
“I don't know.”
I laugh once, without humor.
“That seems to be everyone's favorite answer lately.”
Adrian watches me carefully.
“Julian, they're not telling you never to speak to her again.”
“No. They're telling me that calling her gives Preston ammunition.”
“Yes.”
“And not calling her makes it look like I disappeared.”
Adrian doesn't answer. He doesn't have to. That is exactly what it will look like.
I push away from the table and walk toward the windows. The city is already dark below us. Press lights still flash intermittently near the building entrance, even after a week of this. Somewhere beyond them is the rest of my life, continuing without asking whether I have time to participate in it.
Behind me, Vivian speaks more quietly.
“If anyone on that board wants to damage her credibility because it protects this company, I need as little material available to them as possible.”
I turn.
“You think they would.”
“I think scared institutions protect themselves,” Vivian says.
“Sometimes badly.”
I think about Sophie walking through the archives in New York, sitting across from me in Boston, laughing in Bellagio, looking at me across the dinner table when I finally told her I wanted something beyond the assignment.
Then I think about what happens if Preston decides the easiest defense is to paint her as an ambitious reporter who manipulated access to a vulnerable executive.
The idea makes my stomach turn.
My personal phone is in my jacket pocket. For the third time this week, I think about taking it out.
This time, I don't.
Not because I have decided Sophie is untrustworthy.
Not because what happened between us matters less than it did in Italy.
Because right now, reaching for her might be the exact thing that puts her in the path of people looking for someone else to sacrifice.
I return to the table.
“Keep her name out of anything that doesn't legally require it,” I tell Vivian.
“I will,” she says.
“And if Preston pushes further?”
Vivian holds my gaze.
“I'll deal with Preston.”
I nod once. The meeting continues. Another document request appears on the screen. Another jurisdiction. Another deadline. My phone stays in my pocket. By the time I leave the conference room, it is after 9:00, and there are already three more meetings scheduled for the morning.
I tell myself I will call Sophie when this settles enough that speaking to her cannot be turned against her. At that moment, I still believe that will be…soon.