Page 153 of Cougar

I’m grasping here, but I don’t have a lot to work with. It’s either plan A: bribery, or plan B: kick her ass.

“What are you talking about?” Cuntinger’s face twists up in confusion.

“I bet if I offered Faith three times her annual salary, she’d sing like a canary.” I bark out a laugh. “What do you say, Faith? You interested.”

“U-um,” she stutters.

“Hold on,” Cuntinger jumps in. “What do you want, Emerson?”

“It’s Mrs. King,” Bass corrects her.

“Fine,” she grits out through a forced smile. “What do you want from me, Mrs. King?”

Man, this is fun. I miss being in PR.

“I want to know who sold you the information on my daughter.”

“Mrs. King.” She exhales. “You know I can’t divulge my source.”

“I can,” Faith pipes up. “It was Nikki Fox.” She stands from her desk and begins tossing her personal things into her bag. “You can make the check out to Faith Marks in the amount of $57,000.”

I was never really good at math, so it takes a moment to register. I jerk my gaze back to Cuntinger. “You only pay this girl $19,000 a year?” I ask incredulously.

“She’s part-time.”

“Thirty-five hours,” Faith adds.

I look over at Bass, who’s shaking his head in disbelief.

“Let’s go, Faith.”

* * *

“Who’s this?” Andrew asks as we walk into the conference room.

“This is Faith.” I gesture to the men seated around the table. “Faith, this is Chandler Skye, Jack Reynolds, Andrew Wild, Chaz Vargas, Tommy Stone, and Alex Reyes. Faith here needs a job. Preferably one that pays more than $19K a year.”

The room is silent for a moment, and then Chandler speaks up. “We’ll find something for her.”

“Great.” I turn to Faith. “Would you mind waiting outside?”

“Sure. No problem,” she chirps, then turns and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

“Where’d you find her?” Chandler asks as Bass and I take a seat at the conference table.

“I stole her from that blogger bitch who’s been stalking Jay.” I turn my attention to Jack. “Do you have Nikki Fox’s contract.”

“What for?” Andrew asks.

“Because she’s the one feeding information to the blogger, and I want her the fuck out. What I don’t understand is how she knew about Alex.”

“My guess is she had to be standing close by and overheard us talking,” Andrew replies.

And then it hits me. “The Grammys.”

* * *

“Well that was a productive trip,” Bass says with a laugh as he settles beside me on the plane. He and I are heading back to Heritage Bay. Alex and Eva are on their way to St. Thomas to meet up with Jay and Zach.

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