Liz pocketed her phone again and backtracked down the hallway. She peeked into some of the rooms. Most were empty. Few people used a production company on a Sunday afternoon. Where was Calleigh?
She heard the door opening behind her and swiveled. Calleigh stormed through the front entrance, all flowing red hair and tight black clothing. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Liz.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Calleigh demanded.
A smile spread on Liz’s face. “We need to talk.”
Calleigh glanced uneasily down the hallway to the production studio. “How the hell did you know I would be here? Are you stalking me?”
“No. I just came here to talk to you. Can we have a minute or do you have to be in production?” Liz asked casually.
“What do you know about the production?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Perhaps that’s something we could talk about.” Liz gestured to a few of the empty rooms.
Calleigh seemed to be deciding whether or not it was worth it to ignore her. “Fine,” she muttered, and walked into the nearest room. She plopped down into a chair and Liz took the one opposite her. “So, what is all this about?”
“I could ask you the same thing. You do realize what you’re getting yourself involved in, right?” Liz asked.
“I’m not getting involved in anything,” Calleigh said, crossing her arms.
“Sure. You know, when this blows up, it’s blowing up in your face. You’re going to take the fall. Your name is on that door.” Liz pointed back out to the hallway.
Calleigh threw her chair back as she stood. “And what do you think, you’re some saint coming to warn me?”
“I’m trying to make you see reason. I know you don’t care about me or Brady. I know that you’d like nothing more than to see us crash and burn. But I thought maybe by appealing to your sense of self-preservation, you would reconsider your schemes for one moment. Because I assure you that if you go through with what you’re planning . . . you’ll crash and burn just as we will.”
“At least we’ll go down together,” Calleigh said mercilessly.
Liz shook her head in disgust. What kind of life was it to live with such desperation for revenge that Liz didn’t even deserve? “You want Brady to lose the election.”
“Obviously,” Calleigh said, rolling her eyes. “He doesn’t deserve to be in Congress and you don’t deserve to be at his side.”
“Don’t you think that’s up to the people to decide?” Liz asked.
It was Calleigh’s turn to crinkle her nose in disgust. “No.”
And then Liz remembered the conversation she’d had with Calleigh over two years ago. They had been discussing whether Brady would win, and when Liz had said that she just wanted people to vote, Calleigh had said she would prefer only the educated be allowed, a high school diploma at the minimum, a college degree preferred. She really didn’t believe that the people should decide. She was an elitist who thought that the highly educated should be making decisions. Liz thought it was very shortsighted.
“So, you think that by releasing this fabricated ad spot, you’re doing the people a favor? All because Hayden wanted me and not you?” Liz asked in shock.
“Don’t even bring him into this,” Calleigh growled.
“That’s what it is. Isn’t it? Hayden left you, he and I dated, and then even after we broke up he still doesn’t want you. So, you’re taking it out on me. You should be happy. I’m the one who got you that promotion!” Liz said, laying into her.
“Oh yeah, thanks for being a whore and letting me write about it,” Calleigh said cruelly. She walked across the room and got up into Liz’s face. “I love how you think everything just revolves around you! You think you’re so special. You’re not the only one Brady hid. And once I tell the rest of the world, I hope your perfect little world really does come crashing down. Then maybe you’ll remember who you’re messing with.”
Liz took a step back, astonished. “That’s who those girls are in the production room? Brady’s old . . . conquests?”
Calleigh looked hesitant for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it, as if she had realized that Liz had baited her into telling her what the ad was about.
“You’re getting women to say that he slept with them like me. You’re going to make a joke out of our relationship, tarnish his entire reputation, have him lose the election all because of some stupid vendetta. You’re sick,” Liz whispered.
“He did sleep with these women. The world deserves to know what kind of family man he really is. Do you know how many he has been with since you’ve been together?” Calleigh asked.
“Yes,” Liz answered without a doubt.
“Well, soon the world will too.”
“The answer is zero.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“You’re going to put up an ad with a bunch of women who are going to lie about sleeping with Brady in the last nine months? Because you and I both know that none of those women were with Brady.”
Calleigh pushed past Liz to the door. She turned back once more to look at her. “Sometimes the truth doesn’t matter,” she said, and then exited.
As soon as she was out of the door, Liz palmed her voice recorder and switched it off. “Sometimes the truth will set you free.”
Chapter 31
CHANGE
Cease and desist.
Those had never been words that Liz thought she would be happy to hear. But after she had brought the voice recorder and pictures of the production studio back to Brady, Heather, and Elliott, coupled with the emails and Hayden’s testimony, they had a pretty solid case. Heather had been pissed to hear what Liz had done, but after listening to the voice recording even she had reluctantly agreed that she was glad that Liz had gone.
The paperwork went out to Calleigh and the Charlotte Times. They’d had plausible reason to believe that CT on the door had stood for the paper, and since Calleigh was an employee of the paper, a recognizable name, and she represented them, the campaign wanted to cover their bases. As an unbiased news source, who relied on advertisement money from both sides of the aisle, Liz was sure they weren’t going to be happy to hear what had happened.
“Well, I suppose you did the right thing,” Brady begrudgingly admitted.
“You seriously doubted me.”