Page 52 of Song of Lorelei

“I just got a call from Director Phil Simmons, claiming he had a scoop. ‘That mermaids walk among us.’ He explicitly outed you. Of course, he didn’t know I already knew, but with all the ‘villain’ talk, it was obvious he was on a discredit and destroy mission. It’s a PR tactic I’ve seen before. He was trying to control the narrative by getting his version of the story out first.”

“Wasted no time,” Lorelei grumbled, burying her toes into the wet sand. She kicked a clod into the water. It landed with a satisfying plunk. She hadn’t exactly thought through all the ramifications outing herself to her boss would have. All that mattered at the time was keeping Lila and Will out of jail. She could’ve wiped his memory, and saved herself a lot of trouble, but she was decidedly trying not to do that, plus an optimistic part of her had hoped the blackmail would be enough. “What did you say to him?”

“I told him to go ‘fuck himself.’”

She sat up straight. “For real?”

“Hell yes. My exposé is mostly written thanks to Dr. Branson. Already sold it on spec, too, to a national paper with syndication across the country, so the coverage will be far and wide. Soon everyone will know about the sleazes running HCMRC. Got some update texts from Lila today, so I’m also including that you and Dr. Branson freed the mermaid Nireed from inhumane captivity and were fired for it—initially in the doc’s case, permanently in yours. That’ll undercut his credibility and make whatever he tries to say about you suspect. I don’t know if your secret will stay a secret when all is said and done—hopefully it will be nothing more than a local rumor—but if the worst happens, the news cycle is fast and intense, but it will blow over quickly.”

Drawing swirls in the sand, Lorelei digested Jackie’s words. “It’s my word against his,” she began. “He has no hard proof about what I am…” Except for ten deep gouges in his desk. Shit. “Oh wait, I fucked up his desk. I was too angry to think straight.” She puffed a strand of hair out of her face, waiting for the panic to hit. But nothing. Just…relief? Maybe it was denial, but now that her worst fears had come to pass, it was kind of freeing. “I don’t think I’m all that upset about it actually. I’ve worried for so long that people would find out, that I made myself sick over it, but now that the cat is out of the bag, I feel like I can just get on with my life. If I get calls, I’ll ignore them. If people start showing up at my house, our new fencing will keep them out.”

“It’s a big accusation. Most people aren’t as quick to believe such things as you’d think, and it flies in the face of what people think they know—shifter mermaids born and raised on land? They don’t know Shorewalkers exist, and they have no reason to. Sure, it might get some conspiracy theorists and cryptid-seekers speculating, but the masses aren’t going to be clamoring for you. And when you say fucked up his desk, are we talking Hulk smash or…?”

“I scratched it up.”

Jackie chuckled. “You’re probably not the first person to take a knife to their boss’s desk.”

Now why hadn’t she thought of that? She’d just listened to a song about this kind of vengeance. “That’s probably true.”

“Also, I’m real sorry you lost your job in this mess. But you did good sticking it to the man. And shit, that was a bang-up job with the museum! You’ve got talent; don’t let anyone tell you any different. If it’s any consolation, you can still count on my feature running in the Sunday paper as planned. Your professional profile, too.”

“Thanks, Jackie. That does make me feel better. I think I’ll frame them both.”

“You should.” Her affirmation was followed by a rhythmic staccato in the background—possibly the tapping of a pen or pencil against a desk. “Well, I’ll let you go. I just wanted to make sure you were aware of Phil’s schemes. Pour yourself a stiff one, all right?”

“That’s not a bad idea. And thanks for the warning. I really appreciate you looking out for me, yet again.”

“Sure thing, kiddo. Oh, and one more thing. If Phil is found half-eaten before this week is out, it was bears, okay?”

Unexpected laughter erupted from Lorelei’s chest. “Sounds about right,” she said before hanging up. Damn it was good to have Jackie on her side. With any other reporter, that phone call might’ve been a nightmare.

Tossing her phone to a dry patch of sand, safe from the waves, Lorelei stood, and shucked off her blouse. It was time to celebrate “sticking it to the man” with a long swim.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

LORELEI

Given the hot seat they’d all just recently sat in, Lorelei didn’t expect to see Lila and Will standing at the front desk, flanked by security, when she returned to HCMRC to clear out her office.

“Just in case things get sketchy,” Will said, explaining their presence. Her confusion must have been obvious. “Lila insisted we be here when she heard through the Carrie-grapevine that you were coming in.”

Tapping an empty cardboard box against her leg, trying not to cry, she nodded. The emotional support was needed. It wasn’t every day one got fired from their one-time dream job.

Taking quick stock of the lobby, she noticed that it was completely empty. Not even the regular receptionist sat at the front desk. Between visitors and staff, there was always someone here in the middle of daylight hours.

Lila hadn’t acknowledged her arrival yet, too busy glaring daggers at the guards.

Leaning over, Will whispered in his wife’s ear. Not that the security detail could hear anything he was saying—they were all wearing noise cancellation headsets. “Honey, take it easy on the scary eyes for the corporate minions and save them for the big, bad siren who made us do bad things. Remember we agreed on ‘supportive but pissed friends?’”

Lila rolled her eyes and turned her stare on Lorelei. “I can’t believe you used us like that,” she deadpanned, her falsetto dripping sarcasm. “And before you make excuses, you terrible, terrible friend you, I know what they were doing to Nireed was wrong. But you should have trusted us with your secret and let us help without forcing us to with your wicked cool siren powers. There was a better way to handle this, and it wasn’t going behind the backs of this facility’s corrupt leadership.” She arched her brow at Will. “How was that?”

He made a caricature of an angry face and shook a finger in Lorelei’s general direction. “Probably a good thing the cameras only get video. Lorelei, you are a bad, bad friend. Shame on you.”

Lorelei bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, but it kept her from laughing. “You’re both ridiculous,” she mumbled, hanging her head. “I’m sorry I’m a real asshole.”

Spinning on her heels with a fake huff, Lila gestured that Lorelei follow. “We need to work on your apologies, girl. But more on that later. Let’s just get this over with. And heads up, Carrie’s lurking in your office.”

“Are you frickin’ kidding me?” Typical Carrie. “She came to gloat?”

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