“Look,” Kim said. “I like Melanie Joan’s books.”
“You do?”
“A lot. And yes, she can be a nightmare. But I think that comes from perfectionism. She’s probably harder on herself than she is on anybody else, Natalie included.”
I thought for a moment. “That’s interesting.”
“You should have seen her on set. She’d spend all night rewriting her own pages, bring them in early, when nobody was there but the crew, try the new lines out herself in front of the camera…”
“I didn’t know she did that,” I said. “But it doesn’t surprise me.”
Kim took another long drag off her cigarette. I could practically smell the smoke in my car. “I’ve worked with a lot of authors turned executive producers and I’ve never seen anyone as committed as Melanie Joan,” she said. “So even though I like Natalie and I felt bad for Natalie, I understoodwhere the lady was coming from. She doesn’t want anybody messing with all that hard work.”
I stopped at a red light. I looked out the window. It was nearly eight p.m. and the sky was a lush violet, shot through with vestiges of the sunset, porch lights glowing. I thought about the young couple I’d seen earlier on the beach. Maybe I’d paint them on this street instead. It would be a good way to escape this case—which was turning out to be so much more frustrating than I’d imagined it would be. “So, obviously, you understand Melanie Joan,” I said.
“Maybe not completely,” Kim said. “But I do respect her. And I’d never trash her work.”
I swallowed hard. “I believe you.” It was the truth, unfortunately.
“We had some good times on that set, man,” Kim was saying. “Best wrap party I’ve ever been to. Kobe steaks, caviar bar, top-shelf tequila…Her publisher sprung for it. She even came.”
“Gloria Scepter.”
“Lovely woman. She said nothing was too good for Melanie Joan.”
“She passed away.”
“I heard. I also heard her son took over.”
“Yeah,” I said. “He doesn’t share his mother’s enthusiasm.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He just dumped Melanie Joan over this mess. We’re trying to get him to change his mind.”
“Hey, I don’t know how hard it is on an anonymous site,”she said. “But maybe you should find someone who can hack Book Babe’s account.”
I started to explain my ethical issues, but cut myself off mid-sentence. With Melanie Joan in danger of losing both her livelihood and Tony’s, I didn’t feel quite the same conviction that I’d had at lunchtime.
“You said it yourself,” Kim said. “The apology could be done in private. If Book Babe wants to stay anonymous, you guys could honor that.”
I didn’t say anything. But I did find myself nodding.
“Just something to think about,” Kim said.
“I will.” We said goodbye and I ended the call. I thought about it. The light turned green. I pressed the gas pedal, still thinking about what Kim had said. Then I remembered what Richie had told me about his dad, how Desmond was branching out into tech.
I spotted my parents’ house. Elizabeth’s rose-gold Mercedes was parked out front like a high school graduation present. I wondered whether she’d brought her latest boyfriend—a twenty-eight-year-old content creator named Cody—and if her Spotify was still permanently set to the soundtrack fromWicked. When we were kids, Elizabeth had been fourteen going on forty—serious and judgmental beyond her years. But these days, she seemed to be aging in reverse. She was still judgmental as hell, though. I had to give her that.
I pulled up to the curb behind Elizabeth’s midlife-crisis coupe. I grabbed my bag and the wine for my mom, but I wasn’t ready to get out of the car. I kept thinking about the case. AboutMelanie Joan and what might happen to her if I wasn’t able to find Book Babe quickly. I started to call Richie, but I decided not to. He was at work and understaffed on a night that promised to be crushingly busy.
I called his father instead.
Twenty-two
“Tell Sonya about your pod, Cody,” Elizabeth said.
My sister’s content creator boyfriend didn’t reply. He was completely absorbed in his phone. He had been all evening. We were nearly done with dinner, and he’d maybe said three sentences, all of which started with “Pass the…”
