by Ivy Iverson
“You have work of your own to tend to, I'm sure,” Rae said, a shadow crossing her face for a brief second. “Besides, what happened to giving me my independence?”
“Believe me, Rae, it's all yours,” he said softly, as he kissed her temple. “I just don't like the thought of you alone.”
“I know. But I've been living on my own for a long time now, and I've turned out okay.”
“Okay,” he snorted. “As if you could ever be only okay.” He sighed and then kissed her again. “I'll let you go home,” he said. “Drive carefully, please.”
“I will. You too,” Rae said. She kissed him one more time before getting in her car. She waved once and then drove off. Valov watched her go before getting in his car and driving to his apartment.
Chapter Ten
Rae almost ran off the road twice on her way home. After the second time she had to tell herself to get a grip and stop thinking about last night with Valov. Or that morning, as good as both times were. She smiled and shook her head. “Get a grip, Rae,” she muttered. “You need to write an article about him, and you can't do that with your head in the clouds. Or in the bedroom.” She would have to buy some more personal care products to relax and focus again before writing the article. She was getting low on conditioners.
She knew something was off as soon as she entered her home. Nothing seemed out of place, and the door was locked, but something wasn't right. The more she looked, the more she noticed things. There was some mud on the carpet in the living room and the mail on her kitchen table looked out of place.
She usually just threw it on the table and it scattered everywhere, but the mail was now in a neat stack. Rae put her purse down at the door and went into the living room. The drawers of her writing desk were slightly open. She strode over to it and opened one up fully, gasping when she saw the usually organized drawer in complete disarray. Loose papers were crumpled and her pencils and pens had been crushed and broken with Ink and graphite dust everywhere.
She opened other drawers to find more papers out of place. She found her notebook with her notes from the interview behind the desk. Nausea churning in her stomach, she turned to her notes from the interview at The Hyde.
Her neat shorthand was now smudged slightly and she saw faint pencil marks that had mostly been erased, but she could make out a word or two. Someone had translated her shorthand and then erased it. “Shit,” she whispered. Her first call was to the police to report a break-in and ransacking. Then she called Chloe for moral support.
“I don't know what to do,” Rae said. “I mean, the police are coming, but as far as I can tell, there's no sign of a break-in, and there's nothing stolen. Well, not really. But I know someone broke in here, and I think they were looking for information on Val.”
“Wait, slow down,” Chloe said. “Why do you think they were looking for information on Val?”
“Well, it was my desk they really looked through, and my mail,” Rae said. “And I looked at my notebook, and there are marks on my notes about Val, as if someone was translating my shorthand. But they are only on those notes, not any of my others. I don't understand why someone would turn to me for info on him. Googling would probably be the more logical route, right? And it's not like my story is common knowledge.”
“Well, you guys were at The Hyde, which is a public place, and I'm assuming the two of you were seen together yesterday during the football game. Someone could do a Google search of you and find out your job and probably put two and two together,” Chloe said. “I mean, it's creepy and stalkerish, but possible. But the notes were written in shorthand. How many people do you know who could translate it?”
“I use the Pittman form of shorthand,” Rae said, sitting down on her couch. She looked down at her nails, which she had been absentmindedly biting on for the past few minutes. “It's one of most common forms of shorthand. Half of my college classmates used it during lectures.”
“Damn,” Chloe said. “Look, I'll be right there, okay? How are you doing?”
“Well, aside from bewildered and a little nervous, I'm okay,” Rae said. “See you soon.”
The police arrived before Chloe did. As Rae had thought, they couldn't do anything. The officer looked at her skeptically when she showed him the evidence. “Ma'am, are you sure you didn't just leave in a hurry and forget? Nothing has been stolen, you've said so yourself, and there's no sign of a break-in. Do you leave a spare key under the doormat?”
“No,” said Rae. “There's only one spare key and my friend Chloe has it. But I didn't leave my door unlocked. I never do. And see? My key's right here.” She held up her ring of keys. The officer looked at her skeptically.
“I'm sorry,” he said. “But there's nothing I can do. Nothing has been stolen, and if someone broke in, they broke in with a key.”
Rae sighed. “I had figured as much. I understand. Thank you for your time.”
“I hope you have a good day.” He gave her a sympathetic smile and then left just as Chloe arrived. She ran up the stairs and pulled Rae into a hug.
“I'm so sorry, Rae,” she said. “This really sucks.”
“Yeah. Maybe I'm just going crazy.”
“No. I know you're not crazy. Your mother had you tested, remember?”
Rae laughed. “Can you help me tidy up a little?” she asked.
“Of course. Come on.”
They talked as they rearranged Rae's desk. “I just don't understand. I know I didn't leave the door unlocked, and I never leave my desk like this,” Rae said.
“I know,” said Chloe. “I don't know either. I mean, I'm the only one with a key, but I wasn't here at all, I swear.”
“I know.” Rae cracked a smile as they finished with the drawer. “If you broke in here, you would have done a much better job at covering your tracks. You want some wine?”
“At three o'clock in the afternoon? Hell yeah. But just a little.”
Rae grabbed a ten-dollar bottle of wine from the fridge and got two wine glasses out from the cupboard. “I guess we'll never know what happened today, will we?” Rae asked.
Chloe shrugged. “Probably not,” she said as Rae handed her the glass of wine. “Let's just hope this is the end of it, and whoever it was did not find what they were looking for.”
Chapter Eleven
The next day, Rae woke up early, made herself a cup of coffee and pulled on her jacket. There were two missed calls on her phone, but she decided to look at them after getting ready for work. After fixing herself a bowl of instant oatmeal, Rae grabbed the paper off her front porch and tossed it on the table to read with her oatmeal.
She froze as soon as she saw the front page. Russian Mobster Hides Behind Charity Work and Bribes by Rae St. Germaine. She scanned the article, horrified by what she read. It had all of the facts from her interviews, but they were all twisted. This article made it seem as if Valov was a dirty politician who tried to influence people by doing charity work, but really, he was a selfish, conniving bastard.
“Shit,” she muttered. She flipped open her cell phone and called Gary. “What the fuck?” she said by way of greeting. “This isn't the article I turned in last night.”
On the other end, Gary yawned. “Good morning to you too,” he said. “Maybe you can tell me what you're talking about before you chew me out.”
“Front page. The Valov article. You changed it.”
“As in fix the grammatical errors in it, yes. You're welcome.”
“No, it's all wrong!” she shouted. She paused and took a deep breath, fighting tears. The more she looked at the article the more she wanted to cry. “Gary, Valov's a good guy and he's done a hell of a lot more for this community than most of the people born here. That was what my article was about not this tabloid bullshit.”
“Look, that's what you turned in yesterday, and that's what was printed,” Gary said. “Hold on a second. I don't want to wake Elaine.” Rae heard Gary's bedroom door shut and then he said. “I raised an eyebrow too when
I saw it. You're usually more diplomatic but I trusted your judgment and didn't say anything. Now you're saying that you didn't write this?”
“Of course not,” Rae said. Then she stopped and closed her eyes. No way. This couldn't be happening. “Gary, when did you get my article?”
“Yesterday morning,” he said.
“I sent mine in last night,” Rae said. “I was... a little busy yesterday morning.”
“It was from your email, Rae.”
“But not from me.”
“What are you trying to say?” Gary sighed. “I haven't had caffeine yet, I'm not exactly with it.”
“Someone hacked into my account and wrote a phony article under my name,” Rae said. “I'm sure of it. Yesterday there was a break-in at my house and my interview notes with Val-- Mr. Tonov-- were messed with.”
“Who would do something like that? Someone at the office?”
“Kevin,” Rae said. “Kevin did it, I know he did. He was at the charity event on Saturday and he's been after my job for a long time.”
“Are you sure?” Gary said.
“I'm positive,” Rae said. Her phone beeped harshly as someone tried to call her and Rae winced. “Well, as much as I can be. Look, can I call you back? Someone's trying to get through.” And she had a bad feeling about who it was.
Rae took a deep breath and then accepted the incoming call. “Hello?” she asked.
“I know I said that you could ruin me if I pressured you, but I honestly didn't think you were that insensitive,” Valov said, his accent even thicker with his anger. “Damn it, Rae, you knew I would have let you go if you asked. Why?”
“Val, I swear, I didn't write this article.”
“Your name is on the byline!” he shouted.
“I know, but you have to believe me,” Rae's voice broke. “I would never write this article.”
Valov muttered some curses in Russian and then he said. “I don't know what to believe anymore, Rae. For all I know, this was all you wanted. It would definitely explain a lot.”
“What would it explain?” she said. “I don't understand you.”
“Damn it, Rae, I actually cared for you,” he said, his voice shaking. “I should have known better than to get involved with a reporter. All you wanted... all you wanted was a good story.”
“That is not true,” Rae said.
“Yes it is. Stop lying, Rae. I should have listened to my brother about reporters. Don't ever contact me again.” Valov hung up. Rae put her phone down with shaking hands and collapsed into one of her kitchen chairs, crying.
Chapter Twelve
Valov tossed his phone across the room. It slammed against his bedroom wall and broke into pieces. He covered his face with his hands, trembling from the shock. She had used him. He should have known that Rae wouldn't have wanted him. How many women were there that didn't shudder at the sight of his scars?
“I am sorry, Valov. Really,” Nikolay said softly. He stood in the doorway, looking at his brother with a furrowed brow. “I wish she was different.”
“So do I,” Valov whispered. “I should have listened to you.”
Nikolay walked in and handed Valov a glass of Scotch. Valov took it and drank it without even tasting it. “What are we going to do?” Nik asked.
“We are going to maintain silence if the press contacts us,” Valov said. “For now. I... I need some time to get a statement ready. We'll need to do damage control if we want to stay in this state.”
“Wouldn't it be easier to move?” Nikolay asked.
Images of the football league flashed through Valov's mind, especially of Stephen and Victoria, and how happy they were at the game. “I'd rather stay here,” he said. “There's a lot of potential here and I don't want to start over.”
“I understand,” said Nikolay, even though Valov could tell he really didn't. “Dimitri will be calling, you know. He has a Google Alert on both of our names.”
“To hell with Dimitri,” said Valov. “As if he truly knows anything.”
Nikolay raised an eyebrow. “You sound a little too emotional for someone you officially met a week and a half ago.”
“Bite me.”
“I hate your habit of using crass American expressions,” he sighed. “I understand that you are hurt, but we have work to do. This isn't the time to wallow. There have been rumors of an uprising from some of the drug lords and if we do not put them in their place soon, then they will deem us too weak and try to destroy us.”
The last thing Valov wanted to do right then was put the fear of God into stupid junkie punks when he was already feeling like an asshole and an idiot but Nikolay was right. He had a job to do. If he did not do that job, someone much worse than he would gladly take over. He stood up and smoothed his suit down. “Let's go,” he said.
Chapter Thirteen
Rae paced around Gary's office while Kevin took his sweet time getting his ass in there. He tried to keep the smug smirk off his face as he walked in, but he failed and that made Rae even angrier. “You hacked into my account,” she hissed as soon as he closed the door.
“Good morning to you too,” he said, raising an eyebrow. He looked at Gary. “What's this about?”
“Have a seat,” Gary said, glaring at his employee.
“Not until Rae sits.”
“What, are we in the second grade? Sit down,” Gary said, practically snarling.
Kevin sat down and Rae stood behind her chair, too worked up to sit down. It took all of her willpower not to punch Kevin right then.
“Kevin,” Gary said patiently. “Rae didn't write that article on the front page of the newspaper today. Know anything about that?”
“Course not,” Kevin said. “It's Rae's byline. As far as I'm concerned, it's Rae's article.”
“However, she sent me her article late last night, after I had sent the paper to print because I received this phony article from her account yesterday morning. From her work computer.”
“So? I still don't know what this has to do with me,” Kevin replied.
Gary turned to his computer without acknowledging Kevin's comment. He pulled up a surveillance video and hit play so both Rae and Kevin could see it. On the video, Kevin was at Rae's desk in an otherwise empty office, typing on her computer. “This is the surveillance video from yesterday,” he said.
“That's not me. I was at home on Sunday like every other normal person.” He scowled at Rae. “Unlike you, who was fucking the subject of your article that morning.”
Rae raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know that if you were at home?”
He turned red and stayed silent, his eyes on the desk.
“How did you break into my house, Kevin?” she asked.
He smirked then, a little of his former smugness coming back.
“Tell me!” Rae shouted.
“I suggest you keep your voice down, Rae,” Gary admonished.
Kevin grinned.
“Tell her how, Kevin and wipe that idiotic look off your face,” Gary snapped.
“I stole your house key from your friend's apartment,” Kevin said. “You know. The morning after.”
Suddenly it all made sense to Rae. “You're the douche who was good in the sack,” she said. She crossed her arms and looked at him, trying to process it all. “I always knew you wanted my job, but I didn't think you would actually go that far,” she said.
He smirked. “It's not your job I want, Rae,” he said. “I wanted the security you have. You won't be gone with the next budget cut, now will you?”
“Well, I'm sure you'll have plenty of security in a nice heated cell with meals and dental provided,” Gary said. “You've made Rae and this newspaper a joke, Kevin, and, needless to say, you're fired. And both of us will be pressing charges. Pack your things and please join the police officers in the lobby.”
Swearing, Kevin stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Gary closed out the old security footage and shut his laptop. “I want a statement apologizi
ng for that article on the website before ten am,” he said. “Say that a low-level employee turned it in under your name, but don't say who. Also issue a personal apology to Mr. Tonov on the website and then both of us will apologize to him in person after business hours have closed today. Your real article will run tomorrow, but we'll be sending it and the events of today to the evening news tonight. The sooner we get this fixed, the better.”
Rae nodded. “Thank you, Gary.”
He inclined his head in response as she turned to leave. “Oh, and Rae?”
She turned back to him. “Yes?” she asked.
“I don't want to know what's going on in your personal life, but is there a chance that your relationship with Mr. Tonov has affected your article?”
Rae shook her head, knowing that it was only Valov himself that had affected the article's content. “Not a chance,” she said. “Everything is true, and there's no sugar-coating.”
“Good,” he said. “Now get to work.”
*****
After the workday was done, both Gary and Rae went to The Hyde. Rae talked to one of the waitresses and discovered that Valov was in a meeting in a private room. Gary requested an audience with him as soon as possible and they sat down in lounge chairs after buying bottled water from the bar. They waited, listening to the music instead of trying to shout over it. Fifteen minutes later, Valov appeared, smiling coolly at both of them. “Let's talk where it's quieter,” he said.
They went into a private room and sat down. Gary talked first. “I must apologize, Mr. Tonov, for the article this morning. It is my fault, not Rae's. Another reporter wrote that article in her name and submitted it to me, and I'm the one who sent it to print without questioning it first.”
“I saw the announcement on your website,” Valov said, his voice still cool. He looked at Rae, his expression revealing conflicted emotions for just a second before his gaze was as chilly as before.
“Rae is one of our best reporters,” Gary went on. “And she would never do anything that went against her own beliefs, and I already know that she holds you in the highest regard,” he said. Gary looked at Rae and then nodded at her. “I'm afraid I must get home, now, but I needed to apologize in person. It's a terrible thing, and we're doing everything we can to make sure the public knows that you are not guilty of what that article said.
