Undeniably His(67)
Carl sneers.
“You knew there was another driver that rammed us. You made it sound like I caused the accident, and even worse, that I caused it while drinking.”
“That’s the info I got. Witnesses that spotted you out that evening said you were drinking.”
“We have the police report, the blood report, and the damage to the vehicle. Did you even bother to check on any of that information?”
Carl slouches. “We got the information from witnesses. The police confirmed that it was possible you were driving recklessly when the truck hit your vehicle.”
“There is nothing written in your article that would stand the light of day, much less survive a lawsuit. So I will give you two choices. I’m not making any deals, and I’m not giving you any more choices. This is it. Take it or leave it.”
Carl shifts his eyes to Kalin, and his brows knit for just a moment in a flash of confusion. “Why would I do that?”
“Tell me who told you to write the story, or I’m buying the paper and I’ll issue the correction myself.”
“A journalist never gives up his sources, Mr. Davis.”
“Sources?” Kalin chuckles. “You don’t have reliable sources, Mr. Atwell. You simply sell your services to the highest bidder. Unfortunately for you, I’m the highest bidder. Now tell me who paid you to write this story. Issue a full retraction on the front page that matches the actual evidence, or I’m buying the Gazette. When it’s revealed what a shameless, incompetent reporter you are, you won’t work again. And make no mistake, Mr. Atwell, it will be revealed. Those are your choices. Take it or leave it.”
“Mr. Davis, I don’t make these decisions. Even if I wrote a retraction, it would never be printed.”
“My company is one of your paper’s largest clients. Your team should have thought this through a bit better,” Kalin adds.
Carl’s face blanches. “I don’t understand. They’re the ones who paid us to write the story, Mr. Davis.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Of course. They thought I would be dead anyway with no questions asked. Problem solved,” Kalin snorts. “Even if Annabelle survived, no one would listen to her. The story would be too well ingrained into the public’s consciousness. In a careless night of driving recklessly, I died an unfortunate death. End of story.”
“The stories must pass our editing process, Mr. Davis. Even if I wrote something else, it would never see the light of day.” Carl casts his eyes downward.
“Standard MO,” Kalin snarls. “I want the names, Mr. Atwell.”
Carl shakes his head. “I don’t know their names. Even if I did, I couldn’t give them to you, or it’d be my death that they’d be writing about.”
“Yeah, a suicide.” Kalin’s tone is laced with sarcasm. “Someone met with them. Who?”
“My boss meets with them, and he instructs me what to write. If I don’t write the stories exactly as directed, as I said, it simply won’t pass the editing process.”
“Can you get into one of those meetings?”
“No way, sir. The paper tightly controls access to its sources. It’s highly compartmentalized.”
Kalin rubs his chin with his hand. “You tell your boss what I told you. Reveal the sources or I’m buying the company. Those are his choices.”
“Yes, sir.” He hunches his shoulders. “Please don’t tell him what I told you.”
“I won’t. It’s his decision now.”
“Thank you, Mr. Davis.”
I type in some notes on my MacBook and mentally note how much more confidently the reporter entered the room compared to how he slinked out. Kalin has an effect on people. If they confuse his kindness and generosity for naivety, they are gravely mistaken. Every day I spend with Kalin is a day I learn more about him. He would give his fortune away to the people he cares about and trusts in a heartbeat, and he would annihilate anyone who tries to steal from him even faster.
When Kalin was prepared to walk away from his company, it mattered very little to him that he would no longer be on the front cover of Forbes or Businessweek, or that he would no longer receive the accolades and admiration of the business community. But when Lia was injured, I could see a different shade of him. I knew then that they had crossed the line with him. He saw how much I loved Lia, and anyone that came near us again with harmful intentions was about to pay a heavy price.
The hospital staff requested that Kalin fill out a guest list since they had so many visitors requesting to see him, including the press.
Today, he has reserved the afternoon for Lia, and tomorrow his corporate managers will be coming to see him with Madison. On Friday, his old college buddies will be stopping by, in all likelihood to rib him about losing control of a high-performance sports vehicle. Since he knows his life is threatened, he has me stay with him the whole time. In the evenings I clean up and change at his place, and his parents fill me in on childhood memories all the way to his engagement with Rebecca.