by Raven Snow
Julia Martinez appeared at the door before the young man with the ear piece could head back inside. “What’s going on?” The staff member started to explain that it was under control, but she had already spotted Rowen. “How did you get in here?”
“I don’t suppose you have a moment to talk?” Rowen was willing to take a moment to talk with her when she could. She didn’t want to give her the opportunity to kick her out before she had that chance.
Julia frowned. “You can’t just make an appointment like a normal person?”
“I tried, but you never returned my calls.” Rowen put her hands on her hips, trying to project more confidence than she felt. It would be the easiest thing in the world for Julia to kick her out right now. She’d feel like absolute garbage if she managed to get Benji into trouble without actually accomplishing anything.
Julia shook her head in an exasperated manner. “Fine.” She turned to the guy with the ear piece. “Someone needs to go over the talking points with the Landises one more time before they go on anyway.”
The man nodded and quickly touched his ear piece, saying something to someone who wasn’t physically there. After that little outburst from Trevor, they probably wanted to make sure they even wanted him on the air. There were breakdowns that were good for ratings and there were outbursts that weren’t. Trevor seemed more than a little unpredictable at the moment.
“Come on.” Julia motioned Rowen down a hallway. “Let’s go to my office. I don’t have long, but I imagine you want some privacy.”
“That would be great, thanks.” Rowen looked back at the Landises as she followed Julia. She forced a smile. “It was good seeing you guys again.” That was sort of a stretch, but she felt obligated to say something before leaving and those were the first words that came to mind. Tommy just gave her a distracted nod in return. Poor guy.
They didn’t have to go far to get to Julia’s office. It was very near to the sound stage. It was a big office too. Rowen was surprised by the size of it, honestly. There was a big polished desk and leather chairs. There were bookshelves and pictures up on the walls. She even had room for a sofa. Like a personal office needed a sofa.
Julia went to sit behind her desk and nodded at Rowen to take a seat in front of it. “How can I help you?”
Rowen wasn’t going to play games. She knew that Julia was aware of why she was here. “Nice office,” she said instead. “And you’re just the lead correspondent. Do the news anchors have offices this big too?”
Julia’s lips twitched into a tight smile. “The office is new. I’m sort of the assistant news director now, so it came with the added responsibilities.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Julia folded her hands on her desk. “So, I take it this is about that segment we ran yesterday.”
“So glad you got it on your first guess.” Rowen didn’t mean to be aggressive, but it was difficult not to let her anger show at least a little.
Julia kept a straight face. “Look, it’s nothing personal. It was just a quick segment. It didn’t even get that much attention.”
“It got enough attention that we’re getting hate mail… again.” Rowen didn’t want to argue with her about how serious this was. “And since you’re basically the news director now and all, I get the sense you had a hand in conceptualizing the segment. So please don’t act like this was just something that got handed to you, like you had nothing to do with it.”
Julia’s professionalism wavered a bit as she rolled her eyes. “Look, it really isn’t personal here. This isn’t going to hurt you in the long run. If anything, it’s bringing attention to you. You’re a small publication. Any press is good press.”
“Unless the bad press stomps our publication since, like you said, we’re small.” Rowen was honestly shocked they had managed to stay in business as long as they had. Eric wasn’t as flush with cash as he used to be. The paper actually needed to make a profit to stay afloat. It did somehow, despite all the drama. Or maybe Julia was right. Maybe all the drama and the fact that it was something of a town oddity was actually good for it. Either way, she didn’t appreciate Julia trying to act like this wasn’t a big deal.
“Fine. If you want to know the truth, there was some heat on us for our interview tactics. I wanted to disperse that heat a bit.” Julia spread her hands as if to say, ‘There. Happy? That’s all there is to it.’
“Like bullying the Landises into being here today?”
“We didn’t make them come here. We can’t make them do anything.”
“Apparently, they thought it would be easier to just come in for an interview than have you camp out on their doorstep at all hours.” Rowen didn’t even see the point of them trying to improve their reputation by besmirching other news outlets if they weren’t even going to change. “That’s not them deciding to come in for an interview so much as it is them giving up.”
“Look, we’re trying to tone it down some,” Julia assured her, like that was any consolation. Rowen had a feeling it just meant that they were going to find subtler ways to hassle people into interviews. “I like you, Rowen. I know you don’t think that, but I do. I respect you and your paper. I respect the heck out of Rose for running it as well as she does. We’re all journalists here. We just have different methods.”
“Well, if that’s the case, bring us on for an interview.” Rowen had gotten so caught up in being angry with Julia that she had almost forgotten why she was even there.
Julia raised her eyebrows at that suggestion. Evidently, it hadn’t been what she was expecting to hear from Rowen. “An interview? Why would I interview you?”
“Well, people around here had suggested we work together before.” Rowen didn’t mention that this had come from Mr. Hawthorne, the news director currently away dealing with divorce proceedings she had helped to facilitate. “You shirking some of the blame onto us couldn’t have helped a whole lot with the reputation problem you’re having. So, let’s get on air together. We can do another segment on ethics. This time, the Lainswich Inquirer will actually be part of the conversation.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Julia didn’t even take a moment to mull that one over. “Like I said, it didn’t attract a whole lot of attention. Why would we waste air time on another segment? Why not just let the controversy die down on its own?”
Rowen had expected something like that. “Then let’s do a human-interest piece together. Make the news a little more personal and intimate. Make yourself look like a neighbor to these people instead of someone talking to them from inside a television.”
Julia glanced at her watch like she didn’t have a whole lot of time left to spare for Rowen. “And why do I need you for that?”
“Because you’re terrible at it.” Rowen said that bluntly so there was no mistaking her words. “You guys run this place like it’s a news station for a big city. That definitely isn’t a problem. People respond well to that. I’m sure people around here watch your show more than they watch world news. You guys really cover it all. Of course, you also sort of squash out all those personal little touches, too.”
Julia opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything at first. She seemed to actually be considering what Rowen had said. “I brought that up myself, actually.” Was Rowen mistaken or did Julia sound a little impressed that Rowen had come to the same conclusion she had. “My boss never went for it, but now that I’m more in charge… Well, we’re not going to change the whole thing, you understand. Just a few little personal touches here and there. Of course, it’ll take time. Change happens slowly in this industry.”
“Then let me help you speed it along. People around here know what we write. Even if they aren’t huge fans of us personally, they really like our local pieces. And we do a whole bunch of local pieces.”
Julia nodded. “I liked the one you did on the Landis family.”
Rowen felt a smirk creeping onto her face. “You read our stuff?”
“Of cour
se. Not every article, obviously. Just the ones that stand out to me. That was a good one. I like all the intimate details. It painted a very clear picture. They seem like a nice bunch.”
“They are. So, when you interview them later, give them a break, all right? Especially Trevor. He seems-” Rowen stopped talking. It hit her all at once.
“What?” Julia raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong? I’m not planning to tear them down during the interview or anything. I intend to try and keep things open to interpretation.”
“I need to talk to the Landis family.” Rowen stood and moved toward the door.
“You can’t do that,” Julia said quickly, rising from her seat as Rowen did. “They’re being prepped for the interview. They’re not even in the waiting room anymore if my people are doing their job.”
“Where are they then?” Rowen demanded. This was important.
“I’m not telling you that.” Julia’s expression grew guarded. She gave Rowen a suspicious look like she wasn’t sure what she was trying to do. “If you really need to, I guess we can go talk to them together.”
That wouldn’t do at all. If Rowen was right, this definitely wasn’t something she wanted Julia hearing about first. “It’s okay. It can wait. I… I need to go.”
“I thought we were going to schedule an interview?”
“Whenever is good for you is fine by me.” Rowen headed for the door again. “Just give Rose a call. Thanks for meeting with me.” Rowen could feel Julia’s eyes on her back as she headed quickly down the hallway. She glanced down at her watch. It wasn’t too late yet. If she hurried, she could make it to the prison before visiting hours ended. If she couldn’t speak with the Landis family privately, Jessica was the next best thing. Maybe this would even work out better.
Chapter Fifteen
Rowen gave Rose a call to let her know where she was going. Of course, the first thing she did was insist someone come with her. “Margo will meet you there,” she told her.
“What? It’s fine, Rose. I can do this on my own. I really don’t need someone –”
“It’s no trouble,” Rose said quickly, like she was doing Rowen a favor. In truth, she probably just didn’t trust her with people after the Billy Nielson incident. “Margo will come with you.” The way she said it this time didn’t leave a whole lot up for debate.
“Fine. I’ll wait for her in the parking lot.” Rowen drove to the prison, sort of hoping that Margo would just flake out. She didn’t want to share her theory with anyone before she confirmed whether or not it was true. Rose hadn’t pushed too much for an explanation, but Margo would.
As luck would have it, Margo showed up only a few minutes after Rowen parked. She managed to sneak up on her, tapping on the window and making her jump. “Sorry,” said Margo, her voice muffled coming in through the closed car window.
“It’s okay.” Rowen cut the engine and opened the car door. “I’m just jumpy today, apparently.”
“What’s up? What’s this about?” Margo sounded a little annoyed that she was even there. At least that was like the old days, which was a relief. Honestly, Rowen thought she would be creeped out if she was showing too much initiative.
“It’s a long story, and I don’t know all the details.” Rowen really didn’t want to explain this to anyone, but she didn’t think that would fly. Margo was certainly giving her a look like it wouldn’t. “Fine.” She spilled it all. All her suspicions, the details, everything. It didn’t take long. She didn’t have anything to base this on aside from a gut feeling after all. Still, Margo’s eyes had gone wide.
“Seriously?” Margo bit her lip. “Okay, yeah. This is gonna be awkward. I’m not sure I even want to be here for this.”
“You can wait in the car. I’ll tell you what happened if she even agrees to see me.”
“No way. Come on.” Margo led the charge, heading right through the doors and to the front desk.
The correctional officer on duty there looked up with a smile. “Your grandmother didn’t mention you coming today.”
“It was a spur of the moment thing,” said Margo. “And, actually, we were wondering if we could have a moment alone with Jessica Landis.”
The correctional officer raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask why. She must have assumed it was newspaper business. She picked up the phone and made a call. Margo and Rowen waited while she did. Someone was probably checking with Jessica now. “All right, thank you,” the correctional officer finally said before hanging up. “She said she would meet with you. You know the drill.” She motioned them to go wait for someone to lead them on back.
They didn’t have to wait for long, but Rowen’s nerves were shot by the time they were searched and led into the visiting area. Jessica Landis was already seated at the table they had met at last time. She looked about the same, though she also looked somewhat puzzled as to why she was there, fixing the Greensmith girls with an inquisitive look as they headed on over and sat down across from her.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” said Rowen. “I know this is short notice.”
Jessica shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Honestly, it gets pretty boring in here. It’s nice to have something to break up the day.”
Rowen could believe that. She just didn’t like thinking about it, what with Grammy being stuck in there and all. “Are you doing all right aside from that?”
“Oh, sure.” Jessica’s words dripped with sarcasm. “I’m doing just great. Look, you’re here for a reason, right? What is it? Did something happen?”
“Everything is fine,” Margo assured her.
Rowen made a face at that. She knew a detail Jessica was missing, after all. It felt wrong to keep it from her, but it also felt like it wasn’t her place to tell her.
Jessica seemed to sense that Rowen had something to say. “Just tell me.”
Well now she pretty much had to. “Your family is doing a television interview on Channel 2.”
Jessica swore. Margo looked at Rowen, surprised. This was the first she was hearing of this as well. “Are you kidding me?” She started to stand. “I need to get to a phone.”
“It’s too late for that,” Rowen said quickly, motioning for Jessica to sit down before she attracted the attention of a guard. “The interview is airing now if it’s not over already.”
Jessica sat down, though she did so reluctantly. “Did they say anything to you? Did they tell you why they were doing something like that?”
Rowen nodded. “Yeah, and try not to be too hard on them. They were getting a lot of unwanted attention. I think this was the only way Tommy could think of to get it to stop.”
Jessica’s expression mellowed a bit. Suddenly, she looked as if she felt more than a little guilty. “I hate that they get harassed on account of something I did. That’s not right.”
“About that…” Rowen glanced at her cousin before continuing. Margo gave her a nervous, encouraging little smile. “Trevor was really upset about the whole thing. He insisted that they should have told you.”
“He’s always been a sensitive boy. He’s thoughtful. And he’s right, though. They should have told me.”
“I don’t think it’s just that he’s thoughtful. He seemed genuinely upset, like there was something bigger than all of that bothering him.” Rowen took a deep breath, steeling herself for what came next. “I think Trevor was driving the car when Stephanie Nielson was killed.”
Rowen had spoken in a whisper, but Jessica still immediately shushed her. Her eyes had gone wide and angry, but Rowen didn’t miss the fear there. She was sure she was right now. Looking at her cousin, she could see that Margo knew it too. “That’s a bold accusation. That’s ridiculous,” said Jessica, glaring wildly at them both. “I was driving. I was convicted for it, wasn’t I? Why would I lie to the police?”
“Because you love him. Even though he wasn’t even your stepson back then, you thought of him like your own.” Rowen thought that was sweet, honestly. She couldn’t say with certainty that
her mother would do the same for her.
“I did no such thing.” It didn’t seem like Jessica was going to budge on this one. She was committed.
“Let’s not lie to each other.” Rowen held up her hands. “I don’t have a recorder with me. They take our purses when we come in here, so you would be able to see it if I did. They don’t have anything that records audio in here. They would have informed you of that. Even if I told someone, there’s no way I can prove it. I just need to know so I can figure out who’s trying to kill you and keep anyone else from getting hurt."
“And how would that help, even if it was true?”
“I have a theory I’m piecing together. It’s shaky. I’m not sure there’s any truth to it, but if there is…” Rowen took a deep breath. “Look, I want to help. To do that, I need to know the facts. There’s someone I suspect might know the truth about Trevor. If that’s the case, his life is in danger too.”
Jessica flinched at that. She looked from Rowen to Margo and back at the correctional officer. “Fine,” she said at last. She lowered her voice. “If you ever repeat this, I’ll deny it but… It was Trevor driving.”
Despite everything, Rowen felt vindicated. At least she had something to go with now. She felt terrible for Jessica and Trevor, but that was in the past. “Does the rest of your family know?”
Jessica shook her head. Her eyes looked wet, like she was having trouble keeping it together. “I almost told them so many times, but I was afraid they would look at Trevor differently or make him confess. I didn’t want that for him. He was so afraid when it happened.”
“You should have told them,” Rowen said with a sigh.
“I understand why you didn’t,” Margo added quickly. “But Trevor is probably dealing with a whole host of issues right now. The only person who knows being locked up in here? That’s got to take a toll.”
Tears began to drip down Jessica’s cheeks now. “I’ve thought about that. I think about that every day, but what can I do? I can’t change my story now. I can’t tell him to give up his freedom, his entire reputation. This would follow him. It would follow him worse than it is now.”
