“Nowhere in that story did I state otherwise,” said Nadine. “I laid out the proof. If people take it to the logical conclusion, then I suggest again it’s a story worthy of another look.”
“I told you no,” said Daniel. “That should have ended it.”
Nadine swallowed down the fear to stand by her actions. “One of Dot Voline’s final wishes was to make his behavior known and to take it out of the shadows of fear where it’s thrived. She knew the injustice of the situation and wanted the truth public.”
Freddy snorted. “Sure. Daniel said she sent you on some wild-goose chase for clues.”
Despite herself, Nadine smiled. “That’s Dot.”
“She could have come forward herself at any time,” Freddy said. “Either she was lying or a coward.”
“She was neither,” said Nadine, louder than she expected.
Daniel spoke up. “I’ve talked to HR about your inability to handle the politics beat and your mismanagement of the obituary section.”
Nadine glared at him. “I handled the beat fine,” she snapped. “It was the death threat on top of all the other insulting, hostile, and derogatory messages and emails that Frank expected me to suck up. As for the obit, I accept responsibility for that. I was rushing to make sure we were first online with it. That’s on me.”
“What do you mean—” Olivia only got out half the sentence before Daniel started talking.
“You are—”
Olivia held up a hand.
Daniel ignored her and kept talking.
Olivia tapped the table. “Daniel, I was speaking.” Her voice was firm.
Daniel stopped and looked off to the side, lips in a thin line.
Olivia turned back to Nadine. “What threats?”
Nadine told her about her experience and what theHeraldhad done and how the other reporter had been doxed and had her life turned upside down when theHeraldrefused to take the threat seriously. Olivia said nothing as Nadine told her about the man coming to her door, but her eyes moved to Daniel for a moment before returning to Nadine.
“Well, whatever,” said Daniel dismissively. “That’s in the past.”
“Nor is it the reason we’re here,” said Freddy Majors.
“It’s time to look to the future,” Daniel said. “I see no option but termination.”
There was silence around the table. Nadine did her best to keep her face impassive. She wouldn’t give Daniel the pleasure of knowing how much that hurt to hear, but the moment she opened her mouth, her voice would betray her.
“I disagree,” said Olivia. “Nadine has made mistakes, but with coaching and support, that can be fixed.”
“What.” Daniel didn’t phrase it like a question.
“In the brief time the Dot Voline story was on the site, it generated more engagement than any other one this year to date,” said Olivia.
“Not from our core readership,” said Daniel.
“No. Our future readership. That’s the most important metric for me right now. How do we grow the company by bringing in readers from demographics theHeraldhas typically ignored? Andignoredis being generous.”
Freddy looked exasperated. “Olivia, we’ve discussed this.”
She smiled. “I won the debate then too. Data doesn’t lie.”
Freddy pursed his lips. “I believe John and told him we would take care of this.”
“Dad.” Olivia looked at him. “We can take that offline, but given our discussions about the future direction of theHerald, it’s in our best interest to let me make this decision.”