Page 97 of Deck the Hauls

“I’m ready.”

Well, as ready as I could be.

Rebecca placed the phone on the desk in front of us and pressed a button.

“Okay, then, I’ve started recording. If you need to stop at any time, just let me know. And I’ll run all the quotes past you before we go to print to make sure you’re happy with them.”

I swallowed. “Okay, thank you.”

Rebecca put her pen to her notepad, and then looked up. “Would you mind taking me through what happened, from the very beginning?”

I blinked away tears, my voice shaking as I told her the whole story from start to finish in more detail than I’d told anyone before. At one point, Dana reached out and briefly patted my shoulder.

“Who did you tell after this happened?” Rebecca asked gently once I’d finished.

“Just Cat, who I understand you’ve spoken to, and my agent, Brittany Carroll. Given that Phillip had threatened me, I swore them to secrecy.”

Rebecca raised her brow. “Would it be okay if we reached out to Brittany just so we can corroborate your story?”

I frowned. “I don’t think she’ll want to be involved, but I can ask her.”

“Wonderful, thank you.” Rebecca scribbled on her pad.

I swallowed. “So what happens next?”

“The article is nearly done. We just need to weave in your story and run it through the editorial process. After that, we’ll reach out to Phillip, share all of the allegations and give him an opportunity to address them.”

“All of them?” I gripped the arm of my chair, a poor substitute for Dana’s hand.

“Yes. We’ll have to share your name and story and Cat’s name and story as well. He may deny it all, or make no comment, or acknowledge some or all of the claims and apologize. If he can prove that any of the allegations didn’t happen—for example, that he was playing golf in Florida on the night of the alleged event—then we’ll need to remove those claims. It’s important we do this so that he can’t turn around later and say we didn’t give him a fair opportunity to respond.”

“Okay.” My voice was small.

I glanced over at Dana, who pressed her lips together in a small, reassuring smile.

I knew Phillip would read the allegations eventually. I just hadn’t realized that he’d get to read them before everyone else. What if I’d remembered something wrong, and he used that to discredit my story? Shit.

Panic swelled up in me as my mind raced over my story again. It had been etched in my memory since that night, every unpleasant detail. But it was two years ago. There was a chance I’d misremembered something.

“If you receive any new threats from him or if he reaches out to try to convince you to withdraw your statement, write down what he says and let us know. It will provide further evidence of his intimidation tactics,” Rebecca said.

I shuddered at the thought of any further contact with Phillip. I never wanted to see or hear from that man again.

“He’s already called me twice, trying to threaten me into dropping the story,” Rebecca continued. “He doesn’t seem to realize that his bullying tactics completely backfire. He’s actually giving us direct evidence that he does engage in the types of behavior you and other women experienced. And, after those interactions, I’ve never been so passionate about getting a story out. I want to take that man down.”

Rebecca’s eyes flashed with anger, and some of my fears dissipated. Rebecca would do her best to ensure the article was infallible. I was also sure that I wouldn’t be answering calls from any numbers I didn’t recognize. The last thing I wanted was to be berated by Phillip.

“How much time will you give him before you go to publication?” I asked.

“Probably forty-eight hours. We need to give him a reasonable opportunity to respond.” Rebecca leaned forward. “You can expect some pretty intense scrutiny once the article is published. If there’s anything you want me to address in the article to preempt anything that might come out, let me know. If you have any worries, I recommend you talk to your agent as well.”

I needed to call Brittany anyway. I was not looking forward to that conversation. Would she try to convince me to withdraw my statement?

“I’ve got nothing to hide.” Except for Dana. My face heated.

“When do you think you’ll be able to check with your agent about whether she’d be willing to go on the record?” Rebecca asked.

“I could give her a call now, if that works for you?”