Final Cut (The Kate & Jay series Book 4)

by Lynn Ames

  Vaughn glared at her, but Lorraine stood her ground. “We wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t pushed him to take on the contract. He said so himself in a recent conversation with me.”

  “If he said something to you, it was most likely in a moment of pique. Truthfully, it doesn’t seem to me that Sabastien has any regrets about his employment. On the other hand, he harbors deep concern for the state of your relationship with him.”

  Vaughn’s brow creased, but she said nothing. So Lorraine decided to push on. “What Sabastien really needs is your friendship and support. He’s trying his hardest to catch this guy who’s besmirched his name. It would be a lot easier for him to concentrate if he knew you had his back.”

  “Of course I have his back,” Vaughn hissed.

  “I know that. But he doesn’t.” Lorraine gestured back toward the house. “He thinks your problem is with him, and it’s tearing him up. You’re the only one who can fix that, Vaughn. And, for all of our sakes, especially Sabastien’s, I really, really hope you find it in your heart to do that.”

  Without another word, Lorraine turned on her heel and stalked back inside.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Dara and Rebecca sat side-by-side, their feet in the sand, as they enjoyed their morning coffee. Jay’s project was moving at lightning speed, and this was the first opportunity they’d had to enjoy a moment of downtime together.

  “I heard back from the casting director. They locked in Trevor Hanscome to play the president.”

  “Shh.” Rebecca’s head was tilted back and her eyes were closed. “Listen to the sound of the waves and take advantage of the peace and solitude while we have it. We can talk business later, can’t we?”

  Dara leaned over and kissed her wife lightly on the lips. “Mm-hmm. We sure can.” She drew back and gazed lovingly at Rebecca’s profile.

  “Why are you staring at me?”

  “How do you know I am?”

  Rebecca smiled. “I can feel it.”

  “Aren’t you the sensitive one.”

  “Sometimes.” Rebecca reached out and linked their hands together.

  When she opened her eyes, the depth of love reflected there made Dara want to weep with joy. “I love you.”

  “I love you too. Sometimes, in moments like these, I still can’t believe I’m here, with you, like this.” Rebecca indicated their joined hands.

  “I know. I hope we always feel this way.”

  “Me too.” Rebecca caressed Dara’s hand with her thumb. “Do you think Kate and Jay still have this kind of love, this sense of wonder about it?”

  Dara reviewed in her mind the times she spent with Kate and Jay, both together and individually. “I do. You can see it in the way they gaze at each other, in the respect they show for each other. It’s present in their body language and the way they talk about each other when they’re apart.”

  “I hope we have that thirty years from now.”

  “I hope we never have to deal with half of what they’ve been through, but I’d like to think whatever hardships and experiences we go through will bond us more closely too.”

  The shrill sound of a ringing phone pierced the peacefulness.

  “You brought your phone with you?” Rebecca asked.

  “Sorry. I know this is our time, but we’ve got a lot of balls in the air between the location scouting, the casting, the backers…” Dara glanced down at the display and her eyes widened in surprise.

  “Who is it?”

  “Carolyn. She never calls this early.”

  “Better answer it.”

  “Hello?”

  “I’m sorry to bug you. I know it’s early out there.”

  “Rebecca and I were enjoying a few moments of alone-time at the beach. What’s up?”

  “Now I feel even worse. But this is too important to wait. Variety posted a piece online about the film an hour ago.”

  “What? How could they know…”? Dara tried to gain her composure. Everyone involved in the project was required to sign a strict confidentiality agreement. “Can you read it to me?”

  “It’s just a brief teaser…

  The hottest, most hush-hush rumor in Hollywood has A-list star Dara Thomas snapping up a controversial property from New York Times best-selling author Jamison Parker. Parker, you might recall, has been embroiled in a real-life thriller over leaked classified government secrets. So far, book publishers have been unwilling to take a chance on Parker’s novel. It looks like Thomas has no such reservations. Stay tuned as this one unfolds.

  “That’s all it says, but my phone’s been ringing off the hook with calls from reporters looking to confirm the story.”

  “What are you telling them?”

  “I’m not.”

  “Good.”

  “I sent them over to your public relations reps to take care of it.”

  “Okay. I’m sure that means I’ll be getting a call from them shortly.”

  “Most likely. Who do you think talked?”

  Dara had been wondering the same thing. “It’d be easier to tell you who definitely didn’t talk. That would be me, Rebecca, you, Jay, Kate, and George. Beyond that…”

  “Okay. Well, I’m in crisis mode over here, so I’m going to run.”

  “Wait!”

  “What?”

  “Does Jay know? I don’t imagine she subscribes to Variety.”

  “She was my next call. I’m not looking forward to it. That poor woman has been through enough. I hate to give her one more thing to worry about.”

  Dara stared out at the horizon. Jay was Carolyn’s client now; it should fall to Carolyn to make the call. But Dara’s relationship with Jay went beyond professional collaboration.

  “Are you still there?”

  “Yes,” Dara said. “I’d really like to talk to her. I feel responsible for this. I’m the one who approached her with the idea.”

  “I understand that. But she’s a new client, sweetie, and having a discussion like this falls within my purview.”

  “I know. It’s just…”

  “How about this. I’ll make the initial call, and text you to let you know when we’re done. Then you can give her a buzz and follow up.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Later.”

  “Good luck.” Dara disconnected the call.

  “That didn’t sound like good news,” Rebecca said.

  Dara opened the web browser on her phone, navigated over to variety.com, and handed the phone to her wife.

  “Oh my.” Rebecca continued reading. When she finished, she handed the phone back to Dara. “I thought everyone involved in this signed the confidentiality agreement?”

  “They did.”

  “You don’t think it was anyone who signed on to the project.”

  It was a statement, not a question. Rebecca’s astuteness was one of the many qualities Dara most admired about her. “No.”

  Dara had a thought. “On the other hand, some of the initial potential investors we approached were under no such constraints.” The more she considered that scenario, the more likely it seemed to her that was what had occurred.

  “Makes sense,” Rebecca agreed. “In which case, it really was a stroke of inspiration to make them read the script in person. At least the script won’t be circulating anywhere.”

  “Thank God.” Dara stood up and reached out a hand to Rebecca. “We’d better get going.” First, she would talk to Jay. Then, Dara would have to have the lawyers draft up additional confidentiality agreements for everyone involved with the film to prevent them from sharing the contents of the script or any details of the screenplay or story with anyone.

  Jay sat down heavily on a stool at the kitchen island. It was only a fluke that Carolyn caught her on the phone. Usually at this hour, she was out running with Kate. But this morning, her hamstring was tight, and she’d decided to use the opportunity to write instead.

  Now she was waiting for Kate to return so she could share the news with her. T
he doorbell rang and Jay furrowed her brow as she jumped up to answer it. She could’ve sworn Kate took her key with her. Maybe she didn’t bother since she knew you’d be here.

  “What happened? Did you forget your…key?” Jay’s heart hammered and she stammered the last word, as she came face-to-face with the same two men who had been shadowing her in New York.

  “Jamison Parker?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m FBI Special Agent Timothy Alexander and this is my partner, Special Agent David Welch. We’d like to have a word with you.”

  Jay scrutinized the credentials the agent showed her. She kept the door halfway closed behind her and stood ramrod straight in the doorway. “What can I do for you?”

  Agent Alexander removed his sunglasses. “May we come in?”

  Jay willed her heart rate to slow. What should she say? She and Kate had talked about this scenario in the abstract, but… What would Kate say if she were here? “I don’t think so.”

  The agent seemed taken aback by that. “Fair enough. Ms. Parker. Can I call you Jamison?”

  She recognized the technique—he was trying to ingratiate himself with her. “Ms. Parker is fine.”

  “Okay, Ms. Parker. I don’t want to waste your time, so I’ll get right to the point. We are aware that you have written a book that you are trying to get published that appears to contain details specific to some top secret information vis-à-vis the Hyland Commission report.”

  Idly, Jay wondered if all FBI agents were trained to use poor sentence structure. The agent’s brow was raised, and Jay realized he must’ve thought he’d asked a question. She decided to wait him out.

  “We know that you have a connection to Niles Masterson. We also know you were the reporter who broke the story in the Hyland incident. We want you to know that we appreciate that you need to a make a living now. We’re sure cashing in on that experience could be quite lucrative.”

  Jay bristled at the insinuation, but said nothing.

  “We are also sympathetic to the lure of the spotlight. We have verified that you signed a contract selling the rights to this story to Hollywood.”

  Again, the agent paused, and Jay maintained her best poker face.

  “This could go very, very badly for you, Ms. Parker. If you, even accidentally, divulge top secret information, you will go to prison.” He emphasized the word, “will.”

  “Is there a point to all this, Agent Alexander?”

  “Look, Ms. Parker… Are you sure we can’t come inside and discuss this with you?”

  “Positive.” Jay leaned against the doorframe and crossed her legs at the ankle, trying for all the world to appear confident and at ease.

  The agent held his hands out to the side as if trying to gentle a skittish colt. “We’re not the bad guys here. We just don’t want to see you get mixed up in something that won’t end well for you. If your work compromises national security, we won’t be able to assist you.”

  Jay’s nostrils flared in anger. How dare you patronize me. She wanted to scream it at him. Instead, she prayed for calm and remained mum.

  “I’ve got an idea I think might help you out. How about if you share a copy of the manuscript with us? We could have our experts vet it, and if there’s anything that would be problematic for you, they could tweak it—”

  “No!” Jay said it louder than she intended, as she shoved off the frame. “I’m not giving you access to anything. If you want to have any further discussion, you can talk to my attorney.”

  Agent Alexander cleared his throat. “Now just slow down here a second, Ms. Parker. I’m not so sure it’s in your best interests to invoke an attorney. First, we’re not charging you with anything, yet. This is just a friendly visit…”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Second, any attorney you hire is just going to be trying to get a whole bunch of money from you. He might not have your best interests at heart. It’s his wallet he’ll be thinking about.”

  Jay stepped back so that she was fully inside the house. She wrapped her hand around the door and started to close it.

  “Ms. Parker, you might want to think twice about shutting that door in our faces. If you go forward with this, be aware that your significant other had full access in the Hyland administration to top secret-level information that absolutely would compromise national security. A strong case could be made that she is the one who gave you the information for this book. She herself could be in a lot of trouble. You don’t want that, now do you?”

  “That ‘significant other’ you reference is my wife. And to suggest that she would do anything to harm this country that she served so valiantly…” Jay balled her hands into fists. “Get out. Now. And don’t ever come back here. You can deal with my attorney.”

  At that moment, Kate came into view. She rounded the corner and sprinted toward them. “What’s going on here?” she asked, as she skidded to a stop inches from the agents.

  “Nothing. These gentlemen were just leaving.”

  “Here’s our card, Ms. Parker. In case you change your mind.”

  “I won’t.”

  “That would be very foolish on your part, but if that’s the case, please have your attorney contact us at his earliest convenience.”

  “Her,” Jay said pointedly. “I’ll have her contact you at her earliest convenience.” She reached out, tugged on Kate’s sleeve to get her to come inside, and closed the door in the agents’ faces.

  “What was that all about?”

  Jay threw herself into Kate’s arms.

  “Hey. Hey, sweetheart. You’re shaking.” Kate tightened her grip and pulled Jay closer. She brushed her lips over the top of Jay’s head. “I’ve got you.”

  “Those sanctimonious assholes!” All the pent up fear, anger, and rage Jay had been feeling poured out of her body and she yielded to the comfort of Kate’s embrace.

  “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?”

  Jay felt, rather than saw, Kate’s smile, and accepted the lightening of the mood. “Well, since you asked…”

  “Uh-huh.” Kate pulled back and swept an errant lock of hair off Jay’s forehead. “You okay?”

  “I am now.” Jay took Kate’s hand and led them into the kitchen.

  “Why did they approach you directly? That’s a change of tactics.”

  Jay scrunched up her face in puzzlement, and then she remembered—Kate didn’t know about the piece in Variety. So she explained about the story, the call from Carolyn, and then shared the gist of the conversation with the FBI agents.

  “I leave you alone for one hour and all hell breaks loose.”

  “That’s the last time I let a little hamstring strain hold me back.”

  Jay’s phone, which had been sitting on the kitchen counter, rang. “Now what?” She checked out the display. “It’s Dara,” she said to Kate. “What should I do?”

  “Take the call, sweetie. I’m going to grab a shower anyway.” Kate kissed her on the forehead.

  When she’d gone, Jay tried to settle her emotions and turned on her Bluetooth to take the call. “It’s awfully early in the morning for you to be working. I thought you Hollywood types slept in. At least, that’s what my wife keeps telling me.”

  “You spent almost two weeks here. Did you ever see me sleep late? Oh, and good morning to you too, Jay.” Dara’s voice was warm like honey, with an undercurrent of tension.

  “Touché. I take it you got a call from Carolyn too?”

  “I did. I’m so, so sorry, Jay. I know this is the last thing you need—”

  “Don’t, Dara. This isn’t on you. I’m positive you didn’t leak the story, and you certainly didn’t authorize the hack that started this whole mess, so you’re off the hook.” Jay tried to keep her voice light and playful.

  “All true, but I am the one who suggested going directly to film, which puts you in the crosshairs again.”

  “Again?” Jay questioned. “I wasn’t aware that I’d ever been out of the line of fire
.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn’t want to tell Dara about her encounter with the Feds, at least not yet. She still needed time to process everything.

  Something the agent said niggled at the back of Jay’s mind, working its way into her consciousness. “Dara?”

  “Mmm?”

  “Would the fact that I sold you the rights be recorded in any public document? You know, like the sale of a piece of property gets recorded at the county assessor’s office?”

  “No. What you and I signed is a private contract. In most cases, we’d want the public to know we’d purchased the rights to something this fabulous and we’d task our publicity departments with getting the word out. But because of the sensitive nature of this project, I never made that call. Nor did Carolyn.” Dara laughed mirthlessly. “You can bet I talked to my PR reps after the Variety tidbit hit, though. I instructed them to say nothing.”

  “Okay.”

  “Variety didn’t get its information from a public document, Jay. I suspect that one of the potential investors who didn’t come on board leaked it.”

  “Gotcha. I wasn’t asking for that reason.” After she’d said the words, Jay winced. Dara was too astute to let that slip by.

  “You weren’t?”

  And there it was. Jay bit her lip. She wished she and Kate had had time to talk through the ramifications more thoroughly. She wished she’d had more time to gather her thoughts.

  “Jay?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m here.” It was decision time. “I-I’m a little rattled this morning.”

  “What’s wrong? I mean, apart from the obvious.” Dara’s voice was filled with concern.

  “The FBI paid me a visit a little while ago.”

  “The…”

  “FBI. Yeah.”

  “What happened?”

  “Kate was out running. I should’ve been out there with her, but I had a tight hammie, so I stayed behind.” Get to the point, Parker. You’re rambling. “Anyway, I still need time to process it all, but mostly I think they were trying to rattle me. The reason I asked you the question was because the agent said that he was aware of the contract you and I signed. I wondered if he really did know, or if he was bluffing and had read the same Variety article the rest of the world can see.”