Chapter Eleven #3
“Along with the news that you are out of the hospital and happily remarried. Going wide with that video will make it extremely difficult if not impossible for Kelbrook and Twitchell to try for a quiet little murder-and-kidnapping approach to the problem. All eyes will be on them. If I turn up dead and you disappear, there will be a lot of questions. The story is guaranteed to land on the front pages of the papers in all four city-states and the rez-net. Kelbrook will be under immediate suspicion. There will be a serious investigation. That’s the last thing he’ll want. ”
“We can’t actually prove the video is real,” she pointed out. “Not beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
“And Kelbrook won’t be able to prove that it’s a fake.
The real beauty of this is that we don’t have to prove anything.
Once that video hits the all-day-all-night news cycle, the talking heads and influencers and conspiracy theorists will go wild.
Kelbrook is a powerful strategy talent, but even he won’t be able to undo the damage.
The family business will take a big hit.
More crucially, so will the family’s reputation.
Dunstan Kelbrook cares a lot about the family name. ”
She thought about that, trying to identify all the weak points in the plan. The first one was glaringly obvious.
“If we’re relying on our fake marriage to keep Kelbrook at bay, what does the end game look like for you?” she said. “Eventually you’ll want to be free to marry for real.”
He watched her with unreadable eyes. “And so will you.”
“No.” She shuddered. “I’ll never take that risk again.
But that’s not the point. I appreciate your very generous offer, and what you’re suggesting might work for a while, but we can’t maintain a Marriage of Convenience indefinitely.
Furthermore, we can’t be certain that Kelbrook won’t find a way to take you out of the picture.
Maybe not next week or next month, but six months from now, when the story is old news, he might decide that no one will notice if you have a fatal accident. ”
“Which is why it’s time to get ready for step two. That starts with finding out exactly why you are so important to Kelbrook. Once the news of our marriage is all over the media, I don’t think it will be long before we get the answer to that question.”
“What makes you so sure of that?”
“Every journalist, talk show host, influencer, and gossip columnist will tear into the story. Sooner or later someone will talk. There will be leaks. Rumors. Kelbrook is accustomed to controlling everything in his world. But he is not all-powerful. What’s more, you are now a wild card.
That will make him and Twitchell extremely nervous.
When people are nervous, they make mistakes. ”
“We’re back in calculated-risk territory, aren’t we?”
“Yes, and we’re going to be here for a while—which is why the first thing we do is buy some serious insurance.”
He took out his phone and did a quick search. She watched him key in the number and hit speaker so that she could hear what was being said on the other end.
“This is Curtain Media,” a crisp voice announced. “ ‘Get the Truth Behind the Curtain.’ How may I direct your call?”
“I want to speak to the editor of the newsroom,” Owen said. “I’ve got a front-page story for the afternoon edition.”
“One moment please,” the receptionist said smoothly. “I’ll transfer you to the editor’s assistant.”
“No,” Owen said. “I want the editor, not the assistant. Does the name Dunstan Kelbrook mean anything to you?”
There was a short, stark silence. “Are we talking about Dunstan Kelbrook of Kelbrook Industries?”
“Yes,” Owen said. “We are. You can tell the editor that the Deranged Bride who was committed to an asylum for the criminally insane after her groom jumped off the roof of the Hotel of Dreams ten months ago was released from Serenity Gardens hospital. She has video proof that she did not go mad and murder her husband on their wedding night.”
“Please hold while I transfer you to the newsroom editor.”
Alice realized she was shivering. Not with panic—with excitement. They were doing this. After three months of being locked up at Serenity Gardens and seven months of hiding in the shadows, she was about to go public in a very big way.
Owen looked up while he waited for the call to be transferred. “We’re going to grab a few hours’ sleep here and then we’ll get some breakfast and do some shopping. We both need fresh clothes. Later today we’ll check in to another hotel.”
She glanced around at the well-worn furnishings of the Honeymoon Hideaway Motel room. There was only one bed.
“Don’t worry,” Owen said. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”
She looked at the grubby carpet. “You are not going to sleep on the floor. I don’t think anyone has run a vacuum in this room for a very long time. We can share the bed. We’re adults.”
“And we’ve got Sebastian for a chaperone,” Owen pointed out.
“Yep.” Alice managed a smile. “Looks like it’s going to be another weird wedding night.”