Chapter 46
Meet the Press
“Hey, sis. Surprise,” said Roderick.
Jamie glared at him, then turned to Ellen. “It’s just my brother. I’ll let you know when the reporter arrives.”
“Fine,” said Ellen. “Don’t forget to call the hospital.”
Jamie waited until Ellen had closed her office door, then punched Roderick’s arm.
“Ow!” he yelped.
“Why are you here?” Jamie asked. “I assumed you’d meet me at my apartment.”
“Listen, some reporter is supposed to show up any minute now. We have about a thousand balls in the air and we need to deal with all of them at once. You need to leave.” Jamie started pushing Roderick toward the door, then noticed that her brother, who invariably dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, was wearing a suit.
“Why are you dressed like this?” She gasped. “Oh my god. You’re in town for a job interview? Are you moving back to Portland? Why would you do that? You’re crazy.”
“You can’t move back here. I still haven’t had a chance to visit you in New York. I never get to go anywhere.” Feeling dejected, she sat back down at her desk and took another bite from her sandwich.
“I’m the reporter.”
Jamie almost choked. “No, you’re not. You’re just an intern.”
“Seriously. It’s me. The other reporter got pulled onto a bigger story and she asked me to cover for her. Free trip home, right? I figured what the hell.”
“Bigger story? Mayor Salder is going to be our next president.”
Roderick didn’t respond and just raised an eyebrow skeptically.
“Okay, maybe not next,” Jamie said with a shrug. “But the next, next president.”
“Yeah, right. Like any candidate from Oregon could ever make it to the Oval Office.”
“Wait till you meet her. She’s way impressive.”
“And I guess you’ll be her chief of staff?”
“Maybe I will,” she said boldly, then stuck out her tongue.
Ellen’s door swung open and she stood clutching the doorjamb for support. Her face was ashen. “Where did Patrick get that video?” she asked.
Before Jamie could speak, Roderick walked straight up to Ellen. He held out his hand and Jamie watched as Ellen shook it limply. “Mayor Salder, it’s such a pleasure to meet you. I’m Roderick Kim from the Times.”
Ellen kept her eyes on Jamie. “I don’t understand. And why show it to me now? Jamie? Is it a trick? Did Victor put him up to it?”
Roderick continued, completely oblivious to Ellen’s state of mind. He flipped open his bag, pulled out a voice recorder, and held it in front of her face.
Jamie stood and tugged on Roderick’s arm, realizing whatever was on that video had shocked Ellen to her core. She needed to get her brother out of here. “We can reschedule the interview for tomorrow.”
“I wish that were possible,” said Roderick. “The story is going online tonight and it’ll be in print nationwide tomorrow morning. I want to give Mayor Salder an opportunity to respond.”
“Respond? To what?” asked Jamie with irritation. “I’m sure a piece about an earthquake that hit months ago can wait.”
Roderick gave Jamie his most sparkling smile. She’d seen it before. It generally preceded his doing something truly awful. He turned back to Ellen. “Mayor Salder, you committed your daughter to the Lost Lake Academy, an unaccredited institution that staffed teachers and counselors who have since been accused of abusing students, both mentally and physically.”
Ellen’s eyebrows popped up in an uncharacteristic look of surprise.
Roderick continued. “I have it from a very reliable source—one of Portland’s most respected businessmen and a concerned citizen—that you had your daughter kidnapped and kept against her will at a facility that is currently facing dozens of lawsuits by former students. My source was kind enough to anonymously share his personal experience as a father who sent his own son to the Academy. He’s financed lawsuits by former students, many of whom I interviewed for this article. How can the city of Portland, the state of Oregon, or the nation itself have faith in a woman who would place her own daughter at such risk? Do you care to comment?”
Ellen stared at Roderick her face hardening. “There is no story.”
“I have three thousand words filled with quotes from students and former teachers ready to file that say otherwise. I have shocking video footage from the school that will immediately go viral. And, I have personal anecdotes from Lisa herself.”
“What?” exclaimed Jamie. “You can’t use any of her stories. Those were told in confidence.”
Roderick ignored Jamie’s outburst and said to Ellen, “I thought I’d at least give you the courtesy of a response. Mayor Salder, if you want to stay off the record, that’s fine. But your constituents are going to have a lot of questions.”
Jamie was horrified, thinking of the late nights she, Lisa, and Roderick had spent at her parent’s house after holiday dinners when Roderick was home from school. She and Lisa had talked freely of their Lost Lake horror stories over popcorn and endless games of poker. And that whole time, her brother had just been collecting potential material for a story.