CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Drug trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, extortion, and racketeering. Quite a list of charges.” Cameron scanned the document on his desk.
“I have a team ready to get to work on the accounting end.” Pushing the sheet of paper away, he leaned back in his chair and templed his fingers under his chin. “What exactly do you need from me?”
Usually, the details would be hashed out through email and fax, most of it handled by assistants and secretaries.
Cameron liked to know who he was working with, though, and he wanted to know exactly what the job entailed.
He’d built his company on the principles of honesty and integrity, and he wouldn’t risk his reputation for any amount of money.
“Ideally?” Ethan Nash unbuttoned the jacket of his expensive, tailored suit and rested his right ankle on his left knee. “We need the client list.”
Cameron didn’t laugh, but it was a close call. “No one would be stupid enough to keep that kind of information in a digital format.”
“Well, we’re not expecting names, addresses, and social security numbers.” Blaine Braxton grinned widely, his teeth extraordinarily white against his ebony skin. “ What you’re looking for won’t be obvious, but we need you to recover everything you can. We’ll sort through it once we have it.”
They weren’t asking for anything out of the ordinary for this type of case.
Cameron’s job was to find the evidence. It would be up to the attorneys and the police to decide what constituted useful information and what went into the trash folder.
He’d never really cared one way or another what happened to the evidence he found, but this case hit a little too close to home.
It reminded him too much of Asher and everything he’d been through with Mitchell Faraday—who was currently serving a lengthy sentence in prison for very similar charges.
“Tell me,” he began, moving to the edge of his chair and leaning his elbows on his desk, “do you think I’ll find anything? Do you think your client is as innocent as he says he is?”
“It’s our job to prove that he is,” Ethan said.
“That’s what we’re paid for,” Blaine added.
Cameron looked back and forth between them and shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t help you. I’d be happy to recommend another firm, though.”
For the first time since entering his office, their confidence seemed to falter. Ethan’s smile drooped a little, and Blaine became a statue in his seat. Clearly, they weren’t used to being denied. Cameron didn’t mind being the latest on what he imagined to be a short list.
“If you think your client is innocent and…” Trailing off, he leaned forward and scanned the document again.
“If you believe Mr. Cohen is setting your client up to take the fall, I’ll do what I can to help prove it.
If you’re contracting me to find you a loophole to set a walking pile of human excrement free, I’m not interested. ”
“Right now, it’s a case of he-said-he-said and finger pointing,” Ethan answered, and he appeared to be choosing each word carefully. “The paper trail leads back to our client, yes. It’s neat and tidy.”
Blaine cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. “As you proposed a minute ago, anyone smart enough to run this kind of organization doesn’t leave such a clear digital trail.”
Cameron hadn’t worked many criminal cases, but he knew enough to understand these things never fell into place that easily. “Sounds very convenient.”
“Very,” both attorneys agreed at the same time.
Silent communication passed between the three of them, things conveyed that couldn’t be spoken aloud. “Thank you, gentlemen,” Cameron said, rising to his feet. “I’ll be in touch.”
Both men stood and began straitening their suits.
“Thank you for your time,” Ethan said .
Rounding his desk, Cameron shook hands with each man in turn before walking them to the door. He didn’t necessarily like to play the game, but he certainly knew how to win at it.
~
When Asher had first started submitting to agents, email hadn’t been an option. Sure, it had existed, but no one accepted digital copies of manuscripts. As a broke kid, he hadn’t been able to afford the postage for multiple submission packages to agents all over the country.
Instead, he’d set his sights closer to home, and it had been either fate or dumb luck that Taggard and Associates had both loved his novel and were based right there in Dallas.
Becca Taggard had been with him from the first baby steps of his career, and he couldn’t imagine navigating the publishing world without her.
She was his biggest critic, his loudest cheerleader, and his fiercest champion. Yes, his talent had gotten his foot in the door, but it had been Becca to turn his aspirations into reality.
Showing up at her office with only a thirty-minute warning to dump a steaming pile of trouble into her lap had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done.
After a lot of stops and starts, a bit of rambling, and miles of pacing, he had finally managed to divulge the entire story.
Waiting for her reaction proved even more nerve-wrecking than spilling his guts.
“I remember that case.” Seated behind a contemporary, glass desk, Becca pushed her wire-framed glasses up her nose, then folded her hands together in her lap.
“I’m assuming you didn’t come here for sympathy, so let’s get to it.
” She motioned to the seat across from the desk with an elegant wave of her hand. “Sit.”
Asher did as he was told and sat. “I’m listening.”
Twisting her inky curls into a bun at her crown, she secured the strands with something that looked like an icepick, then unbutton the cuffs of her blouse to roll the sleeves back. She looked more like she was preparing for war than engaging in a conversation. Asher liked that about her.
“First, I can’t stop a book from being published. Unless Mr. Anders hands over a copy of the manuscript before it goes to print, our legal team has no basis to file a suit.”
“Understood.” Asher monitored his breathing while he listened, and began counting the freckles that dotted the caramel skin of her cheeks to keep himself calm. “It won’t do much good to have the book removed from distribution after it’s already published, though.”
Becca linked her hands together on her desk and considered him for a moment.
“True. That is a course of action, however. If the book contains false information, you certainly have a case for libel. Our legal team could also argue defamation of character, rights of publicity, and invasion of privacy.” She paused, pursed her lips, then shook her head.
“I won’t lie. It’s a long shot. As a celebrity, your story would be considered of public interest.”
“I’m not a celebrity.” People knew his name and read his books. He didn’t have paparazzi following him around or reporters hanging on his every word.
“You are,” Becca insisted. “In fact, you’re about to become really damn famous.”
“So, unless he flat-out lies, I’m screwed.”
“Not at all. We can file a lawsuit regardless.”
Asher shook his head. “Even if we get the book pulled and win some obscene amount of money, the damage will already be done. If he publishes the truth and I sue him, it looks like I’m trying to hide something. If he lies and I sue him, it still looks like I’m trying to hide something.”
Suing Kyle for monetary compensation had never crossed his mind.
He already had more money than he knew what to do with.
Even if the court ruled in his favor and had the book removed from publication, it wouldn’t change anything.
The popularity of eBooks and other forms of digital entertainment had also given rise to rampant pirating.
Pulling the book from a brick-and-mortar shelf wouldn’t stop people from searching it out—for free—on torrent sites.
As the saying went, the internet was forever .
“Okay, let’s table this for now.” Rocking back in her leather chair, she templed her index fingers under her chin. “However, with your permission, I would like to pass this on to the legal team, just so we know what our options are.”
Asher offered a non-committal jerk of his shoulders.
Apparently, Becca took it as acquiescence, because she smiled charmingly and continued. “Beyond legal recourse, it’s all about perspective, and we need to manage that perspective. You were a kid who was manipulated and abused, and that’s that story we sell.”
“Wait, wait.” Sitting up straighter, Asher waved a hand to stop her. “What do you mean ‘sell’ the story?”
She sighed and tilted her head as if disappointed in his lack of foresight. “His side can’t be the only one people know. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to offer a response.”
“Like a statement?”
Her expression turned almost pitying. “Like interviews. I’ll set up a meeting with an excellent PR firm here in Dallas, but Asher, they’re going to tell you the same thing.”
He took a few seconds to process that, then asked the question that had been on his mind since Kyle had first dropped the bomb on him. “What about my career?”
Becca flicked her fingers dismissively. “Not to be callous, but scandal sells. However disruptive to your life, it’s only going to help your book rankings. ”
The answer, while unexpected, did give him a measure of relief. Then, Becca opened her mouth again and shattered him.
“It getting out to the mainstream media that you’re gay is going to be the bigger hurdle to overcome. That blog was bad enough.”
Asher gritted his teeth and went back to counting her freckles.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t known that, but he’d deluded himself into thinking it wouldn’t matter.
Naively, he’d believed that his past would overshadow the fact that he preferred men, but Becca had neatly burst that bubble with a few well-chosen words.
Worse, she was right. Not everyone would want to read a gritty crime thriller written by a man who liked dick, as if his sexual orientation somehow negated his last dozen bestsellers.
The blog had been bad. However, it had only been a picture of him sleeping—alone—attached to a story written by a less-than-credible source.
The rumors had swirled for a few days, but without confirmation or more evidence, it had eventually died away.
Once news of his past surfaced, it wouldn’t just be rumors and hearsay anymore.
“Don’t worry. You’re not the first celebrity to endure a scandal, and you won’t be the last. We’ll get through this, Ash.
” Clasping her hands together again, she rested her forearms on the desk and leaned closer.
“Go home. Take a breath. Write .” She glared as she spoke the last command.
“ I need to get the ball rolling on this, but I’ll call you tomorrow with details. ”
“Yeah, okay.” He gripped the arms of the chair and used them to push to his feet. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, then.”
Becca didn’t stand. “Breathe, Asher. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, but it will get better.”