Final Cut (The Kate & Jay series Book 4)

by Lynn Ames

  As Fenton opened his mouth to speak, Ellersby held up a hand. “What Mr. Fenton is saying, Ms. Parker, is that, per section G, paragraph three of Black Quill’s agreement with you, the publisher has the right to nullify the contract if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the contracted work exposes the publisher to legal action. Legally speaking, and invoking the cited section, it is not in Black Quill’s best interest to proceed with your title at this time.”

  Jay stood up. “At ‘this time,’ Mr. Ellersby? Or ever?” She balled her hands into fists at her side. Don’t burn your bridges. Don’t burn your bridges. Stay calm. Take the high road. Remember, this isn’t personal. She could practically hear Kate’s voice in her head.

  Ellersby did not answer, nor did anyone else at the table.

  Jay looked at each of them in turn. “I will have my own attorneys review the terms of my contract, but it is my understanding that, legally speaking”—she made air quotes with her fingers—“all rights to this title, including print, e-book, movie, and audio book rights, now revert back to me. In addition, I am no longer bound by your right-of-first-refusal clause, because, in essence, you have voided and/or rescinded the contract, thus nullifying that stipulation.”

  No one said a word in answer to Jay. Even now, no one made eye contact with her; this further infuriated her. She put her hands on the table, palms down, to hide the fact that she was shaking with emotion, and leaned forward in the direction of the publisher.

  “Mr. Fenton, I have given Black Quill seven international best-sellers, including five books that hit number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List and remained atop that list for ten consecutive weeks.”

  She took satisfaction in noting the redness creeping up Fenton’s neck under his starched shirt collar. “Black Quill has profited quite nicely from my writing. I am extremely disappointed that the company no longer thinks I am a good risk. Writing, as you know, is a very solitary venture. But publishing is a collaborative process. I am exceedingly proud that I upheld my end of the bargain. I submitted a compelling, well-written thriller that I would like to think would have furthered Black Quill’s reputation as a publisher of quality works. I’m sorry that you didn’t see fit to hold up your end of the bargain.”

  Jay pushed her chair out of the way and stormed toward the conference room doors. “My attorneys will be in touch to iron out whatever details remain to be handled with regard to the contract.” Jay put her hand on the door handle.

  “Ms. Parker?” Ellersby called after her. Jay looked back. “A reminder that you are enjoined from publicly disclosing any details pertaining to your contract or anything related thereto.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Jay said. As she opened the door, a thought occurred to her. “By the way, where is Jeremy? I mean, the man and I have worked together on the last six books, and his initial comments on the manuscript were quite complimentary. I would have thought my editor would have been here.”

  Again, Ellersby held up a hand to forestall the publisher from speaking. “Mr. Taunton has been separated from the company.”

  Jay knew her face registered shock. “Why? Jeremy has been with Black Quill since its inception.”

  “We are not at liberty to discuss personnel matters.”

  “Of course you’re not.” Jay shoved open the door. “I wish you well, Mr. Fenton. Good luck, Ms. Maclin. Mr. Ellersby, Mr. Digorio, have a nice day.”

  Jay made sure to hold her head up as she strode down the hallway, past the reception desk, and out the entrance doors to the elevator. She was gratified to see that the elevator was only one flight up, and even more relieved when the doors opened to reveal that, again, the elevator was empty.

  “God, Lorraine, this is fantastic.” Kate wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Marrying you was the best decision Peter ever made.”

  “If you and Jay hadn’t nudged him along, I doubt he ever would’ve gotten up the gumption to ask me out, let alone propose.”

  Kate blew on another spoonful of Lorraine’s homemade French onion soup and put it in her mouth. When she’d swallowed, she said, “He would’ve gotten around to it eventually. I think he was a little intimidated by the fact that you were a better marksman than he was.”

  “She was not.” Peter came around the corner from the mud room. He wrapped his arms around Lorraine, who was washing dishes in the sink, and nuzzled her neck. “She was, however, a better undercover operative than anybody I ever knew, and the best cook.”

  “Flattery will get you nowhere,” Lorraine said, shooing Peter away. “Go sit down. Your soup is getting cold.”

  Peter did as he was told and picked up his spoon. “This smells great.”

  “Wait until you try it,” Kate said. “Heaven in a bowl.” She took another spoonful.

  “Have you heard anything yet from Jay? What time was her meeting?”

  Kate checked the clock on the wall. “She’s in the meeting now.”

  “What’s your sense?” Lorraine asked.

  “I don’t know. I would say it doesn’t bode well that Black Quill moved the meeting up by a day, but I imagine they’re also paying attention to the news cycles and want to keep ahead of the curve, so this could be about plotting a joint strategy.”

  “She didn’t want you to come with?” Lorraine set her own bowl of soup on the table and sat down.

  Kate flashed back to the argument they’d had in bed their last night in LA. “This is Jay’s to do. I respect that. She’s tough as they come, and she’s a very smart businesswoman. She can handle whatever they throw at her.”

  “Of course she can,” Lorraine agreed.

  “So how about if we focus on the bigger picture?” Kate looked pointedly at Peter. “What the hell’s going on? Where is Sabastien and what has he been able to find out?”

  “Last I talked to him, which was about twenty minutes ago, Sabastien was holed up in one of his off-the-books safe houses in an unnamed location that has no extradition agreement with the United States.”

  “He didn’t even tell you where he is?”

  “No, and frankly, I wasn’t all that keen to know unless it becomes mission-critical. The less we know, the better.”

  “For now, you mean,” Kate clarified.

  “For now.”

  “Okay. I can accept that. So, you and he believe he’s safe for the moment?”

  “He believes he is, and that’s going to have to be good enough.”

  “What does he know?”

  “Not as much as he’d like to know. He’s certain that the accessed data was specifically targeted, and that whoever stole it knew exactly what they would find.”

  “All of the files were related to the Hyland incident?” Kate asked.

  “They were.”

  “Why now, Peter?”

  “Good question.”

  “You know there are no coincidences. Jay and I discussed that the other day. The proximity to new publicity about the upcoming book and the choice of reporters are too convenient to ignore.”

  “Peter and I agree with you,” Lorraine said.

  “So, somebody went to a lot of trouble to access supposedly super-secure information within one of the presumably most technologically well-protected government agencies.”

  “And to point the finger at Sabastien as the source of the leak. He’s positive it was deliberate,” Peter added.

  “To me, that’s the most puzzling aspect to all this. First, how many people even know who Sabastien is? Second, why target him?” Kate asked.

  “First,” Peter replied, “probably fewer than two dozen people know his true identity. And second, Sabastien tells me whoever did this must’ve been watching his techniques for quite some time. The approach was identical to the method he was using as a white hat working for the president to assess potential breaches in sensitive agencies.”

  “In other words, this had to be someone with some serious skills. Otherwise, Sabastien would’ve known he was being cyber-shadowed
.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll ask again,” Kate said, “why target Sabastien?”

  “I wondered about that too,” Lorraine said. “Our best guess is that they needed him out of the way. They wanted to sideline him because they were after something else, and he would’ve detected them and stopped them. So they pointed a finger at him to bring the weight of the government down on his head.”

  Kate thought about that. “But they already got in undetected by Sabastien. Why would they be worried about that?”

  “True.”

  “Let’s suppose for a second that you were right that the goal was to get Sabastien out of the way. Why pick that particular classified case? They would’ve had literally hundreds to choose from. Sabastien said the hacker purposely went after the Hyland case materials.”

  Kate got up and took her bowl to the sink to wash it. “I really, really don’t want to mention this”—she finished rinsing off the soap and put the bowl in the dish drainer—“but what if Sabastien was chosen because of his friendship with Jay? Maybe it wasn’t so much about him as it was a way to get to her?”

  “Hardly anybody is aware that Jay and Sabastien even know each other, let alone that they’re friends,” Lorraine said.

  “That’s why I hate to mention it.” Kate turned around to face her friends and leaned her hips heavily against the granite countertop.

  “That would complicate things significantly,” Peter said.

  “This is complicated any way we look at it.” Kate’s cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out to look at the display. “That was fast.”

  “Jay?” Lorraine asked.

  Kate nodded as she answered the phone. “Hey, babe. You okay?” She walked out of the kitchen and into the family room for privacy.

  “Not really, no.”

  “What happened?”

  “They washed their hands of it, and me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It was horrible. Fenton was there, and he brought his legal henchmen. They wouldn’t even let him say anything. The lead counsel did all the talking.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That the book was a risk they weren’t willing to take. That under the terms of my contract they had a right to back out.”

  Kate closed her eyes. The hurt and pain in Jay’s voice broke her heart. “I’m so sorry, honey. Didn’t they give you a chance to talk them through it?”

  Jay laughed mirthlessly. “They didn’t give me a chance to say anything. Although, I might’ve left them with a parting shot or two.”

  Kate groaned. She could just imagine what Jay might’ve said.

  “I heard that groan. I tried to take the high road, Kate. I really did. All things considered, I was admirably restrained. I simply reminded Fenton of all I’ve done for Black Quill and expressed my extreme disappointment at his decision.”

  “Fair enough.” Kate peered out the sliding glass doors that led to a large wooden deck. Weak sunshine filtered through clouds. If Jay caught the next train, she would be home in time for supper. “Are you on your way home?”

  “I was going to come straight back, but I’ve decided to make one more stop first.”

  “Oh? Where’s that?”

  “I’m meeting Jeremy for coffee.”

  “Jeremy Taunton? Your editor? He agreed to meet with you after that? Doesn’t that put him in an awkward position? I’m surprised the attorneys would let him talk to you.”

  “He’s got nothing to lose. They fired him a few days ago.”

  “Fired him? Why on earth would they do that? He’s been with them forever, right?”

  “From the very beginning,” Jay agreed. “He didn’t sound too sure about wanting to see me. But after I told him Black Quill was voiding my contract and wouldn’t publish the book, his whole demeanor changed. He said he’d be happy to meet me.”

  Kate could hear the sounds of car horns honking in the background. “Are you on the street?”

  “Yeah. I’m almost to the diner.”

  “What happened with Jeremy?”

  “I don’t know yet. That’s what I’m going to find out. When I asked Fenton why he wasn’t at the meeting, the attorney stopped him from answering me. He just said Jeremy had been, and I quote, ‘separated from the company.’ They had some new woman editor-in-chief. She didn’t say a word the entire meeting.”

  “Interesting timing.”

  “My thoughts exactly. Listen, I’m here, so I’m going to go inside. I’ll call you when I know what train I’m going to catch.”

  “Okay. Be safe, please.”

  “Always.”

  Kate sighed. “Jay?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m really, really sorry. We’ll get through this. Together.”

  “We always do. Talk to you later.”

  “I love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  Jay loosened her scarf and sat down in the booth across from her former editor. He looked haunted.

  “Hi, Jay. I would’ve ordered you something, but I didn’t know what you wanted.”

  “No problem, Jeremy. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice.”

  “It isn’t like I have anyplace else to be right now.”

  So much for small talk. Jay couldn’t think of any way to avoid the awkwardness. She took a deep breath. “About that… What happened? I mean, you practically helped found the company.”

  Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “They didn’t tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “Why I was fired.”

  “When I asked why you weren’t in the meeting, Fenton started to answer, but his attorney intervened. All he would say is that you’d been ‘separated’ from the company. He wouldn’t even tell me when it happened.”

  “Figures.”

  At that moment, the waitress appeared at Jay’s elbow. “What can I get you?”

  “I’ll just take a cup of coffee with cream and a plain bagel with cream cheese, please.”

  “You got it.”

  When the waitress had gone, Jay asked, “What’s going on, Jeremy?”

  He leaned forward conspiratorially. “Horace called me in Monday morning. When I got to his office, there were three guys in suits standing around. They were from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

  “The FBI? What did they want?”

  Jeremy glanced nervously around the diner. He waited as the waitress set a cup of coffee down in front of Jay. When they were alone again, he said, “They wanted to talk about my relationship with you. They wanted to know what you’d told me about the origins of the book, where you got the idea for the plot, any background or resource materials you may have provided.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “I told them the truth—that you e-mailed me the manuscript, I read it, I e-mailed you back and told you it was a winner, and that I’d send you suggestions soon.”

  “And that got you fired?”

  “No. They wanted me to provide them with a copy of the manuscript, which I refused to supply. And they essentially wanted me to spy on you, to ask you a series of questions, and to forward your answers on to them.”

  Jay’s nostrils flared and she struggled to keep her temper under control. “They wanted you to coerce me into incriminating myself!”

  Jeremy nodded. “I’m sorry, Jay.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “As you can imagine, I refused to do what they wanted. I told them I’d worked with you on the last half dozen books and that I’d only ever known you to be professional and meticulous in your research and that I had no reason to believe that this novel was any different.”

  “Fenton fired you for standing up for me?”

  “No. The FBI guys left. Horace wasn’t happy with me, but he just sent me back to my office.”

  Jeremy took a sip of his coffee as the waitress set down Jay’s bagel. When she’d gone, he said, “About three hours later, Horace
called me back into his office. This time, there were two guys in suits. They were smaller, and a little more rumpled, but there was no mistaking that they worked for the government too.”

  Jay spread the cream cheese on her bagel, although she no longer had an appetite. “Homeland Security?”

  “What?” Jeremy shook his head. “No. They were IRS.”

  “IRS?” Jay realized she’d spoken louder than was prudent, and lowered her voice. “What in the world did they want?”

  “The implication was that unless I cooperated with them, they were going to make life very difficult for Black Quill, for Horace, and for me. They talked about investigating our profit-sharing program, my declared expenses, my tax returns for the last seven years, Horace’s tax returns, the company’s tax returns…”

  Jay couldn’t listen anymore. Her stomach was churning. She put her head in her hands. How could they do that? What country did they live in? “I’m so, so sorry, Jeremy.”

  “It’s not your fault. I began to wonder if I’d fallen into a rabbit hole and ended up in Russia.”

  “Funny, I was just wondering the same thing.”

  The waitress came back and refilled their coffee cups.

  “So Fenton fired you because the IRS showed up and made threats?”

  Jeremy shifted uncomfortably in his seat and his cheeks turned pink. “Horace fired me because I called him a chicken shit who obviously had forgotten that one of the founding principles of our company was to give brave voices a home. Whatever happened to the first amendment?”

  “Good question.” Jay reached out and briefly touched Jeremy on the hand. “And thank you for standing up for me. You’re a courageous guy.”

  “It was the right thing to do.”

  “Maybe so, but not everyone faced with IRS intimidation would react the same way.”

  “Horace ordered me to meet with you and tell you to withdraw the book. I refused. That’s when he fired me.”

  “Which is why he brought in his henchmen to do the job while he sat there and said nothing.” Jay allowed the disgust she felt to creep into her voice.

  “Afraid so.”

  “I’m sorry you lost your job.”

  Jeremy sighed. “I’m not. I’ve known Horace Fenton for a very long time. I was appalled at his behavior. I believed he was a better man than that. I don’t want to work for a man, or a company, for that matter, that would cave to pressure from the government when you had every right to write the book you wrote.”