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“Elissa, it’s Gemma Williams.”
“Oh, hey, Gemma,” I reply, sounding defeated, but suddenly I realize she could possibly be someone who can help with this. It’s the reason I contacted her in the first place.
“So, I haven’t had a story like this in, well, ever. Most of the time I’m hired by travel magazines and websites or to do a write up on a new restaurant—” I cut her off, feeling badly that I asked her to do something she’s not well-versed in. I was desperate for anyone or anything to help end this nightmare with Nick.
“I’m really sorry. I know it was a lot to ask, and it’s okay that you aren’t able to do it,” I quickly say, again my body feeling like it’s going to collapse with the heaviness of all the bad news.
“Oh no, that’s not at all what I’m saying,” Gemma corrects, her words loud and almost excited. “I have a story here that will put me on the map. I plan to shop it around to several media outlets, but I wanted to share with you what I’ve found first.”
“What?” I gasp out, not sure if I heard her correctly.
“There is some serious covering up going on with the US ski team and I’m about to expose it,” she clarifies. “Elissa, the amount of injured athletes I’ve come across who have trained under Nick’s coach and were under the care of the team doctor is out of control.”
“Can you hang on for just a second?” I ask, scrambling back into the kitchen where I quickly interrupt Nick and Gerry.
I switch my phone over to speakerphone and set it down on the table. My heart is racing, slamming hard in my chest and when I take in the look on Nick’s face, I know we need this. I hate the look of fear and disappointment that covers his face and if this can change it, I’m up for whatever needs to happen.
“Gemma,” I say, waiting for her to respond. “I have you on speakerphone with Nick and our lawyer Gerry.”
Gerry gives me a confused look, not aware of what I had going on in the background of this, not realizing I’d hired a journalist to look into it. I hope he isn’t upset, thinking I went over his head, but I really didn’t think Gemma would uncover a scandal.
“I hired Gemma Williams, a freelance journalist to possibly write a story about the US ski team. After visiting Nick and witnessing a pretty serious accident with one of his teammates, I thought there might be a story there,” I explain to Gerry. “It turns out she has some information that I think will be useful.”
“Okay,” Gerry says slowly. “Can we call you back, Ms. Williams?” he adds, and fuck, it doesn’t feel like he’s all that happy about me involving her in this.
We did hire him to help us and now I’m hiring a journalist and telling Nick to file complaints and Gerry knows nothing about this.
After Gemma agrees that we can call her back, I quickly end the call, my eyes wide as I look at Nick, hoping he doesn’t think I’ve fucked things up.
“I’m sorry, Gerry,” I apologize, swallowing hard and waiting for him to lay into me.
“No,” he insists, shaking his head. “It was a great idea, and it could be a huge break in all of this. I just want to talk with you and Nick first before we dive into everything she’s found.”
I let out a sigh of relief, falling into the chair next to Nick, and he slings an arm around the back of the chair.
“Lis, what do you think she found out?” Nick asks, a quiet confidence in his question, but behind that question is also concern.
If she found one person who was a victim of this coach and doctor, there has to be more, and Nick could have also been on that list.
“I have no idea, but I did tell her about what happened while I was visiting you,” I say, and Gerry sits up a little taller, waiting for us to fill him in.
“While Lis was there with me, I was taking her on a tour of the facility and we witnessed a jumper get hurt,” Nick clarifies. “But not just hurt, he was taken away in an ambulance and basically kept from contacting any of us. When I tried to ask how he was doing, the coach got angry.”
Gerry nods, pulling out a notepad, he begins taking notes as Nick speaks. “What happened after that?” he asks.
“Nothing really,” Nick says. “I didn’t ask again because I didn’t want to stand out or make the coach angry. I’m trying to get out of my contract and rocking the boat…” Nick doesn’t finish his thought, shrugging.
I pick up, trying to fill in some missing pieces. “When I got home, I was talking to Zoey, and she suggested I reach out to a journalist that did a story on the lodge renovations. I figured it was a longshot, and that she wouldn’t really be able to find anything out, but I guess she did.”
“What information did you share with her? Did you tell her Nick was trying to get out of his contract?”
I quickly shake my head. I didn’t ever mention anything specific about Nick because I didn’t want his name brought up in any of this. The last thing we need is to draw any more attention to Nick. I wanted Gemma to find a way to help Nick without bringing Nick into it, and from the little we talked, it seems like she has.
“I didn’t give Gemma any specifics about Nick not wanting to go back to the team and wanting to get out of his contract, but I did tell her that I thought there might be a story within the team regarding the coach and the team doctor. She knows Nick is my husband and that he was injured while on the team, but other than that, I’ve stayed quiet. I told her about Lucas getting hurt. I gave her Lucas’ name, but beyond that, I didn’t have much else for her.”
“Then she’s a damn good journalist,” Gerry says. “Let’s get her back on the phone and see if there’s anything we can use. It might be worth it to use her research as leverage to get Nick out of his contract.”
Gemma said this story could put her on the map, and I would hate to ruin that for her. I asked her for help, and now she has a story. While I want Nick home and out of this contract, I don’t want to take the story from Gemma.
