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That was the best way to describe the fog that ensued after the publication of the video. Four days of hell on Earth.
I crashed at my mom’s place for all of it, setting up shop in the large second bedroom and working remotely from the home office off the main hallway. Since the property was in my name, I’d tied it into my company intranet long ago, making it one of the main places I could work from if I needed to do so.
I never expected that day to come.
Now it had, though, and I was glad I’d had the foresight, since it made moving around much easier. And nobody had any clue I’d holed up in the beachfront skyscraper.
After four days, I was ragged and raw, angrier than I’d been before. I was also concerned I hadn’t heard anything from Rebecca despite my repeated texts, phone calls, and even emails to her newsletter website. She’d offered me nothing but radio silence, and I hated it, growing more frustrated with every rebuffed attempt I made. And that wasn’t okay with me.Not fucking okay at all.We’d only had a few days together, but I wanted at least a chance to talk to her, at least find out if she was okay, and how she was doing in this firestorm.
I ordered my team at the airport to ready the jet and had my assistant drop my schedule for the rest of the day. She also sent me a fresh copy of the file I’d had her prepare on Rebecca before she agreed to do the interview. The contents outlined her work history, address in Cincinnati, social media footprint, and more. There were old photos, articles she’d written, and a stack of information about the accident that killed Rebecca’s parents, something I was still surprised to realize I had missed. I memorized it all, vowing if she dared to give me another chance, I wouldn’t mess it up this time.
A few hours later, I found myself in front of the brick five-story building listed as her address in the city. I studied it from the backseat of the SUV I’d hired from Luken Airport when I arrived. The place was a nondescript affair, a brown brick structure from a bygone era a developer had obviously rescued and rehabbed into what I figured counted as luxury condos. A coffee shop and wine bar occupied the storefront space on the first floor, a wooden sign hanging on the street and a chalkboard sign near the glass entrance advertising happy hour specials.
Rebecca probably had a nice life there. She’d probably enjoyed it, living atop what I suspected was a popular watering hole in what looked to be a thriving neighborhood. Boutiques, restaurants, and bars lined the blocks that fanned away from the property, and a quick glance at the map of the neighborhood confirmed this was a part of town where people wanted to be seen.
“Sir, do you want to park here?” the driver asked. He’d come with the car I hired, and while he’d told me his name, I’d been too distracted to commit it to memory. “If so, I need to pay the meter.”
“Yes.” I turned back to the view of the building, which was directly across the street from the car. “Wait here, if you don’t mind.”
The driver agreed and leapt out to feed the small metal meter next to the space. As he did, I contemplated my next move, weighing my options. Was she home? At the gym? Should I try to call her again? Shoot her a text? Knock on her front door?
“You’re lucky.” The driver slid back into his seat. “Twenty-four, forty-eight hours ago, this street was crazy. You could hardly make it to the next block, there were so many news trucks on this street. It was like a never-ending rush hour.”
My stomach dropped. “Was it?”
The driver grunted. “Sinceshelives here, they thought she’d come out and give them an interview, but she never did.”
He didn’t say whoshewas, and he didn’t have to. I surmised he also knew whoIwas—people like him always did, and it was part of the job description. Discretion was a portion of how they earned their money.
“They seem to have left,” I said instead.
“They did. Theyalwaysdo. Vultures.” The driver bowed his head. “I’m sorry, maybe I’m saying too much, but I’ve got some experience with people like this...from a previous life.”
“That’s quite all right.” I studied the building again, still unsure of what I wanted to do, and what my next steps would be. Having no plan wasn’t my style, and now I sensed that starting to catch up with me. “Hey, listen, do you have an extra jacket, or... anything else like that here in the car I could borrow for a few minutes?”
“Actually, yes, I do have something. Let me get it out of the back.”
He pulled the driver’s side door open and leapt out, then popped the trunk of the SUV and rooted around in it. When he returned to the driver’s seat, he held a navy all-weather jacket in his hand, one dusty and rumpled from storage in the trunk.
“It’s not much, but this might help.”
“Thanks.”
He slid the jacket into the backseat and I shook it out, brushing away dirt and crumbling leaves. The garment was far from my style, but that also made it right for that moment. I took off my suit jacket and slipped this on instead, then zipped the middle all the way to top, flipped up the collar, and buttoned all the flaps.
“What do you think?”
“Fits you right. I’m guessing you don’t want people to recognize you.”
“Nope.”
“Add these, then.” The driver took a tan ballcap from the glove box along with a spare pair of rusted but gold-trimmed aviators. “Nobody will know who you are now.”
“Perfect.”
I put them on and nodded at the building. “I’ll be back in a bit.”
Confident I didn’t look anything like the billionaire tech CEO I was, I alighted from the vehicle and crossed the street at the first opening between cars. When I arrived at the front door of Rebecca’s residence, I studied the intercom system and decided to check the coffee shop.Probably someone there knows her.
