Into the Light (The Light #1)(43)
Oh my God!
My neck stiffened. “I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended. Let me tell you that yes, you’ve overstepped your bounds, but not just once. You’ve overstepped your bounds on two counts: First, Dylan and I do not talk work while we’re together. We recognize the conflict of interest. So no, I won’t ask him for information that could substantiate the rumors that something big is happening on the drug front. Second, my personal relationship is none of your business. While I appreciate your concern, I hope you know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t be with a man who didn’t take no for an answer. I’m not wired that way.” I tilted my head to the side and took a drink of my coffee. When he didn’t respond, I added, “After all, I love this job, and I’m damn good at it. But if I can tell my boss, the great Bernard Cooper, to mind his own damn business and take his suggestion to spy on my boyfriend and shove it up his ass, I think I can handle Dylan Richards. And since you’ve admitted to not taking no for an answer, should I be concerned about your wife?”
By the look on Bernard’s face and the color of his neck and cheeks, I might have gone a little too far. Unfortunately, speaking my mind had never been something I was good at monitoring. In business I was usually pretty good at filtering, but not when it came to my personal life. My mouth would take on a mind of its own.
This was both business and personal. I should have filtered. I’d blame the fact that I hadn’t on lack of sleep or worry over my friend. No matter the cause, I’d look for another job before I let Bernard Cooper or anyone else think that he or she could tell me what to do when it wasn’t something I was comfortable doing.
The longer Bernard remained silent, the clearer my future became. Finally I nodded and threw my phone in my purse. As I began to scoot from the booth, Bernard said, “So you’re walking away from this job you love because I’m concerned about you?”
I sat back down. “I assumed by your silence I was done.”
His lips curled upward. “I like your fortitude. I really do. I don’t know if Mindy would’ve reacted that determined. I just hope that you’ll remember that inner strength as you keep doing your research and if and when you’re called down to the ME’s office, if it’s not a false alarm.” He lowered his voice. “I know I’m a hard-ass. It’s who I am. At the same time, I like your determination. I have since I hired you. Keep it. Don’t compromise it for anyone. In this business and many others it’ll take you far.” He grinned. “Hell, maybe I should fire you.”
My eyes widened.
“Not because you’re not good at your job, but because you’re too good. If I keep you here, one day you’ll probably have my job.”
Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.
“You’ve got a good gut,” Bernard continued. “It’s just that I’ve seen this kind of thing too many times.” He lowered his eyes to the table, avoiding eye contact for the second time in recent memory. “Even with my own sister. It’s not something I talk about, but it might be part of the reason I want to expose as many injustices as I can.”
Who is this man?
“Remember,” he went on. “You’re stronger than you even know. Keep that gut instinct alive and stay true to yourself. Don’t let Dylan Richards or anyone else stop your dream.” He took a deep breath. “I wish I’d said that to my sister, or that someone else would have. You’ve got a bright future. Your reaction tells me that you believe that. You know you’re talented. That’s not conceit. It’s believing in yourself.
“After you called to tell me it wasn’t Mindy, I thought about Detective Richards’s call, his determination to find you, and about Mindy’s disappearance and how it was affecting everyone, especially you.
“Years ago my boss sat me down and gave me some great advice. He said that when the shit hits the fan, it’s not time to turn away. It means the source of the manure is close and that means one thing: something is growing. Though it may stink, it’s going to be big. Remember that, especially in our business, it means we’re close. So put on your shitkickers and plow through. Believe in yourself”—he smiled as he looked deep into my moist eyes—“even if it means telling off your boss.
“And in case you didn’t get it from that story, my wife’s the one person who can emphatically tell me no.”
I was suddenly rethinking every negative thought I’d ever had about Bernard. Maybe he could be a pompous ass, but perhaps that was his veneer and possibly underneath there was a real person. At nearly twenty years my senior he’d seen more than I had. He’d also been in this business for two-thirds of my life. Taking his advice suddenly seemed like a good idea.
“Thank you. I’ll stay true. It’s who I am, who my parents raised me to be. That’s why I won’t stop my search for Mindy. That doesn’t mean I’ll let my work for you or WCJB slip.”
“I know you won’t.”
I sat taller. “I also won’t use my personal relationship with Dylan to get a story, any more than he’d use my research to break a case.”
Bernard nodded once, his expression undecipherable. “Then get your believing, true ass out there. I have the next three weeks of stories ready, and Foster has a few follow-ups I can always air. But I want more. I want to find out what’s happening with the border patrol and if there’s any connection between the drugs and the increase in missing persons.”