Page 105 of Empty Net
"Do not contact the reporter," legal says.
"I know."
"Do not contact anyone outside this room about the inquiry."
My hand tightens around my phone. "Nolan needs to know."
There is a pause. Not long. Long enough.
Maribel says, "Yes. But we need to coordinate the notification. If you call him directly before we know what the outlet has, you may unintentionally create discoverable communications or escalate a matter we can still contain."
I understand every word in that sentence.
I hate every word in that sentence.
"He cannot find out from a reporter," I say.
Alderman looks at me. "He won't."
"Then I should tell him."
"Not yet."
There it is. The correct answer. The impossible answer.
Seth's voice comes through the speaker. "The inquiry references confidential recusal information. That suggests either internal disclosure or secondhand knowledge from someone aware of the process. The photograph is external, but the personnel detail is not."
"The recusal file is confidential," Maribel says. "Access was limited."
"Limited is not none," legal says.
The conversation becomes a room full of adults saying careful things while the floor opens under my chair. They discuss response windows, source contamination, whether the photo identifies Nolan clearly, whether the outlet has enough to publish without confirmation, whether the words "inappropriate relationship" create defamation risk if the documented recusal preceded the relationship. They discuss whether any employee accessed the file after the disclosure. They discuss me in the third person once, then correct themselves.
I listen.
I answer when asked.
No, I have not discussed the recusal outside approved channels.
No, I did not disclose the relationship to media, staff, players, or external contacts.
Yes, Nolan knows about the formal disclosure.
Yes, the team knows as of yesterday. That part is new. That part changes the circle of knowledge. That part makes the timing worse.
"The room knew yesterday?" legal asks.
"The team knew yesterday," Alderman says. "Locker room. No media."
"Twenty-three players and staff."
"Yes."
Twenty-three players and staff. A phrase that takes a safe room and turns it into an exposure risk.
"No," I say.
Everyone stops.
