“I disagree. You’re just lost.”
“Then I like being lost.” This time I crossed my arms, mirroring his stance. “And maybe I don’t want to be found again.” I stood. “Look, I’ve gotta go.”
“Are you going to leak this?”
I shrugged. “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. It’s a solid strategic move, and God knows who else he’s been threatening. We could be helping people with this info.”
“Is that your primary objective? To help people?”
“I’m helping myself right now, and considering the time and effort I gave to Keith, I’m feeling pretty damn good about it.”
His nostrils flared. He clenched his jaw and hardened his eyes. “Don’t go down this path, Sienna. When you adopt a shark mentality, everything that once seemed black and white, and right and wrong, gets mixed together in shades of gray.”
“I’ve got to go.”
“Promise me you’ll think about what I said.”
“Fine.”
“And that you’ll give me the courtesy of a call before you do anything.”
“Yes, Chris. You’re my campaign manager, I haven’t all of a sudden lost my sense of professionalism,” I said between gritted teeth and pivoted toward the door.
“No, just your moral compass.”
* * *
The debate was tonight, and although I was prepared, I was still at work. I’d planned to take a half day, relax, and review the talking points in my head, practice controlling my gestures in the mirror.
I’d called Chris a few days ago. He asked if I made a decision, I said no. He said he didn’t want to be associated with my campaign until he knew for certain I wouldn’t leak the information.
I told him Bye, Felicia and promptly hung up the phone.
My phone rang at the desk. Rubbing my tired eyes from the hours of discovery I’d been reviewing, I picked up the phone. “Sienna Njeri.”
“Girl, you are inspired.”
I instantly recognized the voice, my reporter friend from high school. “Hannah Montana,” I said. Though her name was Hannah Corver, she was a dead ringer for Miley Cyrus’s famous Disney character. “As much as I enjoy random compliments, I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“I just read the exposé on Keith. I’m guessing you slipped the info to Chuck Archer?”
“No . . . that . . . that wasn’t me.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No.”
“You sure?” Hannah’s voice was suspicious, the cadence of her question slow and exaggerated.
“I wouldn’t lie, Hannah.” I clicked on my computer and searched for Keith and the reporter’s name.
City Councilman Keith Davenport threatens county worker for campaign funding.
“Oh. My. God.” I smiled. “I wonder who leaked this.”
“I dunno. But I’m not surprised that Keith has enemies.”
“Well, it wasn’t me,” I said again.
“I believe you. You would’ve admitted it by now. I’m surprised you didn’t see this earlier.”
“When was it published?” I looked at the time of the article to answer my own question. Seven a.m.
“It was in the papers this morning, and they released it on their blog at the same time. Crazy, huh?”
“Very.” I shook my head.
“Well, looks like the election is yours. You should celebrate.”
“I’ll think of something,” I airily replied. “Anyway, I’ve got to wrap up this case, switch gears, and then prepare for this debate.”
Hannah snorted. “If the snake shows up. If I were him, I’d gracefully bow out.”
“Right. But Keith is a special kind of evil. Never say die.”
“We’ll see,” Hannah said, but her voice reflected doubt. “Let’s connect soon. Maybe after the election, once things settle?”
“Sounds wonderful.”
Someone knocked on my door. A tall, skinny man in khaki pants and a polo shirt waved from outside the glass door. I motioned him to come inside.
I spotted a small white box in his hand.
“Delivery,” he said unnecessarily.
“I’ll let you go,” Hannah said in my ear. “Bye.”
“Can you sign, please?”
I glanced at his shirt. He worked for a local courier service. “Sure.”
“Thanks.” He placed the box on my desk. “Have a good one.”
“You too,” I said to his back. Curiosity piqued, I lifted the lid. Inside was a broken cigarette on top of a folded piece of paper. A letter maybe?
Unfolding the paper, I recognized Chris’s handwriting, and under the paper the clipping of Keith’s article.
My heart tripled. No. He can’t believe I did this. I told him I would give him a heads-up.
You’re wrong. People do change. I can no longer work on this campaign, though. You don’t need my help. Congratulations and best of luck.
—Chris
“Congratulations? Best of luck?” Red-hot lava surged through my veins. “Oh, heck no!” I tossed the broken cigarette back into the box and then shut down my computer. “He doesn’t get to break up all symbolic-like while I’m at work,” I muttered to myself.
After grabbing my personal belongings, I hurried out of the office building, dashed across the street to the parking lot. I dialed Chris while my heels clacked across the paved lot.
“Hey, you,” I whispered breathlessly into the receiver. “Got your care package. Just wanted you to know that it wasn’t me. I did not leak that stuff about Keith. Now, I can’t say that I’m not happy and I wasn’t tempted, but still . . .” I took a deep sigh. The phone beeped and the connection died. No matter. After twisting the ignition, I sped through the bumpy parking lot, straight to Chris’s condo.
I jogged up the stairs as fast as I could in my four-inch heels, took the elevator, and then banged on the door like the police doing a drug raid. “Open up, Christopher!” I knocked again. “I know you’re in there. Open up.”
Chris swung open the door. “I do have neighbors.” He didn’t step back to let me in but instead, leaned against the doorjamb. “What is it that you want, Sienna?”
“What happened to ‘sunshine’?”
He crossed his arms over his chest.
“I didn’t do it!” I blurted. “I didn’t set Keith up.”
“Look, I know that you and Keith have history, but I’m not interested in being in the middle of your war. I chose to work with you because I thought you cared about the people.”
“I do.”
He shrugged. “Then why are you at war with him? Is your revenge that important?”
“It’s not about revenge!”
“Did you or did you not say that you wanted to drag him through the dirt? That you wanted him to hurt like he hurt you?”
“Okay, so maybe it started off that way. But I’ve always wanted to run for public office. I’ve always wanted to serve.”
“You expect me to believe that just this weekend, you gave me the very same information that someone else leaked to the papers?”