Rosie strained at the leash. I pulled a non-rawhide bone out of my purse and gave it to her. I figured that would occupy her for about two minutes, which was all I needed to spend with Tony Gault. He was still catching his breath. I wasn’t winded at all, which I found strangely satisfying. He ran a hand across his forehead. His Rolex gleamed.
“Back at Melanie Joan’s place,” he said, “you asked me what I know about Natalie Blythe.”
Now he had my attention. “Yes? What is it?”
He took a step closer to me. Instinctively, I took a step back. “Promise me first,” he said, “that you won’t tell Melanie Joan.”
Thirteen
Tony and I went into my building and took the elevator up to my floor. I handed Rosie off to Blake, who gladly took her. Once we were in my office, I said, “Okay. Out with it. I don’t have a lot of time.” Tony took a breath. For at least fifteen seconds, I waited for him to speak.
“Tell me why you think Natalie Blythe might be Book Babe,” he said.
You’re so exasperating,I thought. But I didn’t say it. The fact was, Tony wasn’t trying to be exasperating. He was just being Tony—always striking a deal, engineering a quid pro quo, getting the other player to show her hand first. He couldn’t help himself. It was imprinted in his Hollywood agent DNA.
So I told Tony everything—from the “grounds for a lawsuit” line in the one-starStronger Alonereview, to the distinct lackof Melanie Joan Hall’s work among the romances she’d touted, to the timing of the pregnancy book reviews. My most recent search was still on my computer screen, so I turned my monitor to him and showed him Natalie Blythe’s Instagram profile pic. “Do you know about this kid?” I said.
Tony shook his head.
“If that’s her son,” I said, “she was expecting him at the same time Book Babe was reading up on pregnancy.”
We were both silent for a few moments. In the other room, I could hear Blake telling Rosie she was the best girl in the world. I knew he was feeding her treats, and I wanted to tell him to stop. At least half of Rosie’s recent weight gain could be blamed on my softie of an assistant. But I didn’t say anything. I could tell Tony was thinking about Natalie, and I didn’t want to break his concentration.
“You make a pretty convincing case,” he said.
“Right?” I said. “She’s at least worth investigating.”
“I guess I didn’t think she could be that stupid.”
“What do you mean?”
He exhaled. “After Natalie got fired, she signed an NDA. It included a clause that says she can’t say or do anything to harm MJ’s career, and in exchange it included a pretty massive payout,” he said.
“Oh…”
“I’d say that review would fall into the category of career-ruiner, wouldn’t you?”
I looked at him. “Melanie Joan never told me about a payout.”
“She doesn’t exactly know about it,” he said.
“What does ‘doesn’t exactly’ mean?”
“I told Melanie Joan that we took care of the problem, and it involves a small portion of her quarterly royalties,” he said. “She asked no further questions.”
“So you told no lies.”
He smiled. “One of the many things I like about you, Sunny,” he said, “is that you get things without my having to explain them.”
I smiled back. “That’s possibly the most patronizing compliment I’ve ever received.”
“Hey, it’s from the heart.”
“So,” I said, “where are you depositing these checks?”
“Meaning, where can you find Natalie Blythe?”
“One of the many things I like about you, Tony…”
