Unconscionable, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 3

by William Manchee

  Chapter 16

  Release

  Amanda was ecstatic when she received five advance copies of The Pact in the mail. She immediately sat down and inspected one of them carefully from beginning to end. Delighted with how it had turned out, she called Rich.

  “I’ve got it!” Amanda said gleefully.

  “How does it look?” Rich asked.

  “It’s beautiful. I love the cover, and the layout is very professional yet a bit unique. They did a good job.”

  “So, when can I see it?”

  “How about I drop a couple of copies over to you during the lunch hour?”

  “That will be fine. Do you want to have lunch?”

  “No, but we should get on the line with Robert Todd to talk about your promotional tour and TV appearance.”

  “Sure. That sounds good. I’ll see you at noon.”

  Amanda hung up and immediately called Sheila Samson at Thorn.

  “The book looks fabulous,” Amanda said excitedly.

  “Yes, doesn’t it?” Sheila replied. “We’re getting good feedback from our sales reps. They say the book buyers like the look of the book, and the story line, but they’re not sure if the public will be interested in a twenty-five-year-old murder.”

  “Well, we know that will change, don’t we?”

  “Indeed we do,” Sheila agreed. “How is that aspect of your marketing plan coming along?”

  “Well, after I see Rich I’m going to see my contact at the Inquisitor. I’ll give her a copy of the book and let her read it first, then I’ll visit her again with the real story.”

  “Sounds good. Just be sure the timing of the story is right.”

  “Oh, I will. Don’t worry. It will be in everybody’s best interest to get it right.”

  “I told the people at Leno to expect a lot of buzz on the day of Rich and Erica’s appearance.”

  “What did they say?”

  “They wanted more specifics, but I just said there would likely be a lot of controversy about the book and that Jay should be ready for it.”

  “Good. I’m going over to Rich’s office right now to give him a couple of copies of the book. I’ll get him on the phone with Bob to coordinate his book tour. Do you have a date for Leno yet?”

  “Check with Bob to be sure.”

  “I will. Talk to you later.”

  “Bye.”

  Amanda stuffed three copies of The Pact into her backpack and headed off to Rich’s office. It was a cool fall day, but the trees hadn’t begun to turn yet. In Dallas they didn’t turn until late November, as it was often eighty-five to ninety degrees during October. She parked in the visitor parking in front of the building and took the elevator to the seventh floor. Rich had nice offices, and the view from his office of downtown Dallas was breathtaking. Suzie showed her into his office but didn’t leave.

  Amanda gave her a look. “Hey, I’ve been waiting twenty years to see this book. Come on, let’s see it,” Suzie said.

  Amanda laughed and dug out two copies from her backpack. She handed one to Suzie and one to Rich.

  “Wow! This is impressive. Aren’t you glad you finally dug that manuscript out of your attic?”

  Rich shrugged. “You can thank Amanda for that. It would still be there had she and Ryan not conspired against me.”

  “Ah, come on,” Suzie said. “You’ve been dying to get this published since the day you wrote it. Admit it.”

  Rich cracked a smile. “Well, you may be right.”

  They all laughed.

  “All right, I’ll leave you two to your business,” Suzie said and left the room.

  “So, what do you think?” Amanda asked.

  Rich held the book up and opened it. “It’s incredible. I can’t believe I’m a published author.”

  “Soon to be a best-selling author,” Amanda added.

  “Well, that remains to be seen.”

  “I don’t know. I talked to Sheila and she says the book buyers are pretty excited about the book hitting the shelves.”

  “Really? That’s good to hear.”

  “Well, let’s get Bob on the phone. I’ve got meetings all afternoon with media people about your book.”

  Rich raised his eyebrows. “What kind of media people?”

  “A couple of book reviewers and a magazine editor. I’m trying to make sure there are plenty of people reviewing it.”

  Rich nodded and sat down at his desk. “Okay, I’ll get Mr. Todd on speakerphone.”

  Amanda sat down and took a notepad out of her backpack while Rich dialed the number. The operator at Thorn came on the line, and Rich asked for Robert Todd.

  “Hello, this is Robert Todd.”

  “Mr. Todd. This is Rich Coleman and I’ve got Amanda here. You’re on speakerphone.”

  “Hi, Rich . . . Amanda.”

  “Hello, Bob,” Amanda said. “So, what do you think of the book?”

  “It looks great, and everybody I’ve sent it to is excited about its release.”

  “Good,” Amanda said. “Well, Sheila said when the advance copies came out to get in touch with you to work out a promotional campaign.”

  “It’s all worked out. I just need to get your approval on the dates.”

  “I’m at your disposal,” Rich said. “That’s the advantage of having two sons in the practice—they can cover for me if something comes up.”

  “Well, good. I’ve got a six-stop tour lined up the last week of the month. We’re going to start you at the New England Independent Bookseller’s Association Trade Show in Boston on Friday. It will be an informal meeting with independent bookstore owners and then a signing.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  “Then a couple of book signings, one at the Manhattan Barnes & Noble in New York City on Saturday, and another one at Borders in Philadelphia on Sunday.”

  “Okay.”

  “Then we’ll go to Chicago, then Dallas, then on to LA for The Tonight Show to wrap up the tour.”

  “Wow. That sounds like a lot of traveling,” Rich noted.

  “It won’t be so bad. You’ll be traveling first class,” Amanda said.

  “We put Dallas just before LA so you could pick up Erica for The Tonight Show,” Bob said.

  “Oh, that wasn’t necessary. She’s going to travel with me; she just won’t be going to the signings.”

  “What will she do while you’re tied up? You may be gone for four or five hours at each appearance.”

  “She said she’d catch up on her shopping.”

  Bob laughed. “Well, you’d better sell a lot of books, then.”

  Rich smiled at Amanda. “You got that right.”

  “So, do I have your approval, then?” Bob asked.

  “Yes. Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Okay, then I’ll email your itinerary to Amanda and we’ll have someone pick you up at the airport at each city. That way you won’t have to worry about cabs or navigating in unfamiliar cities.”

  “I appreciate that. I hate having to mess with rental cars, and cabs are so expensive you’ve got to carry a fortune with you to make sure you have what you need.”

  “I hear you,” Bob agreed.

  They ended the call, and Amanda excused herself and walked to her car. Her next stop was Sylvia Sams at the Inquisitor. A wave of guilt washed over her as she drove. She worried that her scheme would backfire and Rich and Erica would find out what she had done, but it was too late to back out now. She’d made promises to Sylvia, and her career as a literary agent would take a nosedive if she didn’t deliver what she’d promised to Thorn. She’d called ahead, so Sylvia was waiting for her in the reception area.

  “Hey, Amanda. Come on back to my office,” Sylvia said.

  Amanda nodded and followed her down a long hallway to her office. They took a seat across from each other at a round table.

  “So, let me see it.”

  Amanda grinned and pulled the book out of her backpack. She handed it to Sy
lvia, who took it and rotated it around to take a good look.

  “Impressive,” she noted.

  “Right, except it’s a lie.”

  “So you say. When do I get the revisions?”

  “The night before Rich and Erica go on Leno.”

  “Not until then?” Sylvia complained. “I’ll have to pull an all-nighter to have a story ready for the afternoon edition.”

  “Sorry, but timing is critical. If Erica gets wind of the leak, she won’t show up for The Tonight Show.”

  “Oh, all right. I guess it will be worth it.”

  Amanda smiled. “I promise you it will.”

  Amanda left the book with Sylvia and then headed to Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Park, across from Northpark. This was the site of Rich’s Dallas book signing, and she had an appointment with the store manager and a columnist for the Dallas Morning News, Steve Sawyer, who was going to cover the story. Amanda went to the information counter and told them why she was there. A few moments later two people walked up.

  “You must be Amanda. I’m Jill,” the bookstore’s community relations manager said.

  “Yes, Jill . . . nice to meet you.”

  “This is Steve Sawyer.”

  “Nice to meet you, Steve,” Amanda said. “Thank you for agreeing to cover this event.”

  “It’s my pleasure. I covered the Martha Collins murder trial way back when it happened, so I was the natural choice for the assignment.”

  “Well, I’ve been told the wholesalers will have books by the end of the week, so you should be getting yours shortly thereafter.”

  “Good. I’ve got the display all ready,” Jill said.

  “So, will there be any surprises in the book?” Steve asked.

  “Well, I don’t know about surprises, but for the first time the public will get the inside story of what happened. Although the press covered the store pretty well, neither Erica nor Rich ever gave the press an interview.”

  “So, when do I get a copy?” Steve asked.

  “I think the plan is to send out advance copies to the media about a week before the book’s release. I’ll make sure you get one.”

  “Can you tell me why it’s taken so long for Rich to publish his story?”

  “Well, the whole thing was embarrassing for Erica, so she made Rich promise not to publish it.”

  “Until now.”

  “Right. As you know, Rich and Erica’s son Ryan and I are dating. So, since I was just starting out as a literary agent, I asked them if I could represent Rich and as a favor they both agreed.”

  “Wow. So you’re the one to thank for the story finally being published.”

  “Yes. I guess you could say that.”

  “So, when can I interview Rich?”

  “I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk to you before or after his signing.”

  “Before would be better. No telling how long the signing will last and I’ll want to get the story out.”

  “That’s probably wise. He’ll be tired after the signing, too, and may not have much time before he has to head for the airport.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you soon,” Steve said.

  Steve and Amanda said good-bye to Jill and walked together out of the store. They talked a few minutes outside and then went their separate ways. Amanda wasn’t sure about her next errand. She needed someone to break into the Coleman house while they were away, so there would be an explanation how the Inquisitor got a copy of Erica’s version of Aunt Martha’s murder. She’d given this problem a lot of thought. One option, she thought, would be go to a bar where thugs were known to hang out, pretend to get drunk, and let the word out that the Coleman house would be empty for a week. The only problem with that was she didn’t particularly want to go into a sleazy bar.

  Another idea would be to hire a homeless person or some teenagers to break in, but then the break-in could be tracked back to her if the burglars were caught and decided to implicate her in order to reduce their sentence. Finally, she remembered Rich telling her about a ring of thugs who routinely watched the obituaries so they would know when a decedent’s home would be unattended while everyone was at the funeral. She wasn’t sure that would work, but it was the best idea she could come up with, so she went with it.

  She went to the public library, logged on to one of their computers, and found the Dallas Morning News website. There she placed an order for an obituary, making up a name but giving Rich’s address and giving the time of the funeral at two p.m. with a reception following from three to six o’clock. This she thought would give the burglars at least five or six hours to do their business. She didn’t want to use a credit card, so she wrote a note that she would pay by check and it would be put in the mail the following day. She planned to use a money order so it couldn’t be traced back to her if anyone saw it and recognized the Colemans’ address.

  Amanda wasn’t entirely confident that the obituary ad would work, so she made a point to tell everybody she came in contact with that Rich and Erica would be away from their house for at least a week. She felt bad about what she was doing but felt she had no other choice. If someone didn’t break into their house, it would be hard for her to disavow leaking the alternate version of the story. She reasoned that the Colemans had insurance so whatever was taken would be replaced.

  Amanda and Ryan took Rich and Erica to the airport to fly to Boston for the first book signing. Amanda was nervous and distracted knowing that her carefully worked out plans were starting to play out. She avoided eye contact with Rich and Erica for fear her face would betray the emotional turmoil she was feeling. She was glad that security protocol would not allow them to accompany them to the gate. After they’d let them off and driven away she let out a sigh of relief.

  “What’s wrong?” Ryan asked.

  Amanda shook off a little nervous tremor. “Oh, nothing. I’m just worried about how the book will do and how Erica will handle being on Jay Leno.”

  “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. The book looks great and I think Mom is getting used to the idea of being on TV. She’s never been the shy type.”

  Amanda took a deep breath, trying to relax. “I know. There’s just so much at stake—not only the success of the book but my career. If the book bombs, my career may be over before it ever got off the ground.”

  Amanda began to sob. Ryan grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Come on. It will be okay.”

  Tears began streaming down Amanda’s face. She wiped them away with her hand. She wished she could tell Ryan why she was really crying, but she knew that would blow her plans if she did. Could she get away with this? Was she insane to even try it? The urge to confess to Ryan was so strong she could hardly stand it. But everything she had worked so hard for would all be over in an instant if she did. Ryan would dump her, Rich would find a way out of his contract, and she’d lose her job at the Colson Agency. It was too late. She had to go through with it and learn to live with the pain she suffered for her betrayal.