Page 89 of Nefarious
“Show me.”
“Read this.” He scrolled until he found what he wanted.
He held out the device and she read the email Noelle had sent him before chasing him to New York. It was perfect. “Oh my. She’s practically begging to be fired. What else do you have?”
“One second.” He messed with the phone and then hit play.
Noelle’s voice filled the room. “I could lose my job, and I don’t even care. I had to be with you.”
He held up a finger. “And—”
He loaded the second recording. “This is from this morning.”
Noelle said, “Is it lunchtime?”
Dane hit Pause. “I’d come back to the room and started packing.”
He hit play, and Noelle’s voice sounded concerned. “What’s going on? Is everything all right?”
“I’m going back home. Stay here. We have the room until tomorrow.”
“You’re making me worry. What happened?”
“I’m leaving.”
The recording ended. Dane loaded up another. “I had to call the front desk to arrange a cab to the airport. Here’s the rest.”
Noelle’s voice pitched higher. “Will you wait five minutes for me to pack?”
“You can keep the room.”
“Please, Dane. Give me a minute.”
“I don’t think you understand. I’m not even going back to work. I’m bored, and I’m leaving.”
“If you walk away, you’ll lose your job. You’ll never work in this industry again.” It sounded like a threat. Val could definitely use this. She’d want to cut all this drama out.
She smiled as Dane added the emphasis. “You think that threat will induce me to change my mind? I’m not some low-level employee. I’m leaving it all.”
“What about us? Don’t you want me?”
“Goodbye, Noelle.”
A door clicked shut.
Val grinned. “Write the letter. Then I’m yours.” Her voice gave out, and her breathing increased. She was so close to winning everything.
Dane pulled his laptop from the bag and carried it to her sitting room. He sat on her sofa and typed as Val dictated the words of the email to the board.
“Write this exactly: ‘I’d like to file a formal complaint of sexual harassment against my boss, Noelle Constance. I have evidence in the form of audio recordings and written documents to prove that she’s used her position of authority to demand sexual favors of me.’”
Val paced the floor as she spoke. She’d written and rewritten those words in her head for days. It was a pleasure to finally light the fuse. She asked to read the email before he sent it. She dropped into a chair, sighing. “Include the attachments. All the evidence.”
He nodded and unlocked his phone. “Give me a second to upload the files to my drive so I can zip them.”
“And edit out the part before she threatened you.”
He nodded. She waited for him to put all the pieces together into a single attachment.
