There's one really good area to find out all the gossip and spill all the tea about journalists. Just look at Twitter. I head over to the social media website and do a search for Heath.
He doesn't have an account, which would be odd for any other journalist by widely acceptable for him. There was a running them here. Heath was disappearing from the public sphere. He didn't want people to know about him. He didn't want people to see his information.
And apparently he had gone off the grid at some point.
But he knew about Minny, and he was somehow connected to the Kayleigh and Tiffany story. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure HOW connect he might to Kayleigh.
Tiffany had said that Heath knew about "her." And that he likely talked to "her" about all the problems.
But who was "her?" Was that Kayleigh, or Minny? Could it be both? I guess I just don't know his connection to this entire mess. And it is quite a mess.
My clicking and searching stops when I see a Twitter thread right before my eyes that mentions Heath of the Scribe. It's an open thread written by a report named Jack Porter, who is out of Salt Lake City. His name is somewhat familiar. I think he reports on national news.
Regardless, I begin to read the thread. I wonder what he might know about Heath, and whether or not information about Kayleigh or Minny will pop up.
I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.
Chapter 19: The Thread
JACK PORTER
THREAD: I just heard the news about Heath Goldsmith. I wanted to explain more about what happened from what I've heard. This is all from sources, so, don't blame me for any of this. I know media types will be interested in. Anyway. Here we go. 1/8
JACK PORTER
Sources told me that Heath was recently let go from the Scribe over a different in opinion about a new project that the Scribe is taking on. I don't know what the new project was, but apparently it was meant to help the company make some extra money in addition to typical ad rev. 2/8
JACK PORTER
Sources say it had to do with a new position within the company. So, according to my source, Porter was next in line to receive the position but it went to Minerva Swensen, who just broke the major story on match-fixing. When Heath learned about what happened, he quit. 3/8
JACK PORTER
But he didn't quit because he was mad or upset. He actually had another job offer from ... MAXIMUM INC! MAXIMUM INC! Have you heard of them? Probs not. But they are owned by New Surge, and they are an associate of Up Sync. They're all connected. Heath will begin writing soon. 4/8
JACK PORTER
Now, in an interesting turn of events, it turns out that Minny herself is leaving the Scribe for Maximum. My sources are a little weird about all of this. They don't understand how Maximum has scooped two of their biggest reports so soon 5/8
JACK PORTER
my sources tell me that there's another interesting tidbit with all of this too -- no one wants to touch New Surge or Up Sync in all of these reportings, you know? they own a lot of properties. crossing them could lead to the company shutting down websites and such. 6/8
JACK PORTER
there's no indication of what will happen next. but you should all be aware that yeah for now the two reporters are leaving the Scribe for the Maximum Inc. I'd look out for that news industry a little bit more. so they might make a big impact in the coming years. 7/8
JACK PORTER
keep your eyes and ears open. don't ignore all of these places. the media industry is changing. please be careful with the sites you read and what you're reading. 8/8
Chapter 20: Lazy Day 2
So it appears that Heath lost his job and decided to work for another company. Maximum Inc. The name seems oddly familiar. I probably read it somewhere in all of these documents. It would be difficult not to mention it among the court documents, the subpoenas, the articles and whatever else the Senate had been using to craft their case again New Surge.
I do another quick search and find the main page for Maximum Inc appear on my screen. The page shows a frowny face with a black background. The words underneath the emoticon read, "Sorry, we've taken a short break from our time in this world. Come back again soon."
I try clicking around. There's nothing to find. So I close down the window. I slump back in my chair and I think. What was the deal with this website? Why was it shutdown? I thought Heath had been writing for it not even a year ago. I know digital media isn't exactly in its best place right now. But this takes the cake.
Another dead end.
Trying to find any clues or semblance of Minny keeps bringing me down roads without side streets. Heath can't even be found.
What went so wrong in these people's lives that they elected to go into hiding instead of face their fears?
I could have done that same thing when serial killers chased me down. I could have sat back in witness protection, or found a house in the middle of nowhere and lived out my days alone. But when you hide, you're just letting the fear win. You're waiting for the fear to overcome you. You can't face it. You don't want to face it. But really, you're giving it the most strength it could ever ask for.
I spin my chair around, trying to get my brain thinking. It doesn't work. So I stand up, grab my hotel room key, and step out into the hall. Just hours ago there had been security officers lining the hallway. The senator had walked through these halls. All to convince me to stop what I was doing.
She knew I was onto something. That's the only reason anyone tries to stop you from an investigation. They know you're close to finding something. She knows I'm close. She knows that Minny will bring this all together and help me understand what's really going on with New Surge and the government.
But I can't ignore the sincere look she wore when she told me about the road I was talking down. She looked sincere. She appeared as someone who was genuinely worried for another person. She said as much, too. She didn't want me to find out the truth because, she said, it would devastate me in the same way it devastated her.
And now I wonder -- is that what happened to Heath and Minny? Did they find out whatever truth about the government and New Surge, which was so catastrophic that they went into hiding and disappeared from reality? I guess that's not the craziest thing in the world to have happen. I've seen a lot worse.
I need to jog my brain and get the blood flowing. So I ride the elevator down to the first floor. No one else joins me in the elevator. When the door opens up to the first floor, the lights are bright with hope for a pleasant stay. I walk through the small corridor between the elevators and the lobby. I walk past a small gym, some pay phones, and some old school computers connected to printers.
The breakfast bar is busy with guests. A dozen of them all wear lanyards with a big, square laminated sheet of paper hanging off and resting on their body. There must be some conference in town. What a day to head into Washington. So much snow and unplowed streets. Good look getting anywhere easily.
At least the city is seeing something of a life again. With the shutdown there was little to no semblance of D.C. Breathing. This will be good for the city to have a little more vibrancy added to it.
I walk over to the breakfast buffet. It's about ten seconds before I arrive at the plates. I pick my way through the snail-pace line. I snag a blueberry muffin. I use the tongs to pull an egg sandwich patty from a container and set it on my plate. I grab a bagel and a sausage patty and lay them all on top of each other. I'll build a sandwich later.
There's a table with two seats open on the far side of the room. So I speed over there and set my plate down. I head back toward the buffet and the coffee machine. I grab a styrofoam cup from the side of the machine and poor myself a nice warm cup of bean water. The steam rises from the cup like a ghost. The smell reminds me of the same coffee we used to drink in South Hills at a little Americana restaurant called Randy's Place. It must be Green Mountain or something similar.
I sit down at my table and begin to f
orm my sandwich. Bottom bagel, sausage, egg, top bagel. When it's ready, I bring it closer to my mouth and take a seriously large bite down the center of it. The top bagel is thicker than I thought so I really chomp down to make sure my teeth cut through the bread. It works. So I chew the rest of the bite. For a moment, I'm deliriously happy to be eating this sandwich. Nothing like a good breakfast sandwich to wake you up.
"Sorry, do you mind if I sit here?"
I look up and see a pretty woman with brown hair dressed in a gray suit and white-collared shirt. She looks pleasant enough. So I open my palm and gesture toward the chair. She smiles, says thanks, and places her plate down. She scurries off. Like me, she comes walking back with a cup of coffee in her hand.
"Crazy day in here," she says.
"Yeah a little but. You're all here for a conference?"
"Yep. Remind our bosses not to schedule it in the middle of January, will ya?"
"Bosses can be funny like that."
"Yeah, yeah. Well, whatever. Free paid trip on the company. You can't be picky with these things."
"True. So what's the conference for?"
She doesn't answer right away. She has also just built her own sandwich and she's working to put it together the right way. When she has it the way she likes, she looks up at me and smiles.
"It's for cloud-based data software companies, really boring stuff unless you're into technology."
I've never been too much into technology. But the recent story with New Surge has put me in that arena at least from a reporting aspect.
"That sounds boring, honestly."
"It can be, it can be. But some people do things the right way. I know there's a lot of hubbub about this New Surge company, but they own a few subsidiaries that don't manage to screw everything up."
"Really?" Now she's intriguing me. I grab my coffee and take a sip. I can't seem too eager.
"Yeah. Like there's this one company. Up Sync. Not a lot of people heard of them so don't feel bad if you don't know. Their CEO is absolutely fantastic. She and her boyfriend run the company and they have like totally tried to step away from government involvement in their projects."
"Wait, really?" My surprise goes noticed since she perks her head up when she hears the shock in my voice. "Sorry I've just heard about New Surge and all the craziness going on with that so I'm shocked to hear a company they own would act so nicely."
"Well, it happened only about a month ago, really. The company's CEO died in a house fire. But he left the company to a woman who worked there, and they've pledged to kind of distance themselves from the government and New Surge even."
"Can they do that?"
"Who knows how things will look a year from now. But I imagine they can stay out of that arena for a decent amount of time."
"Do you know how they used to work with the government?"
"Umm," she takes another bite of her sandwich. Part of me thinks she chose to pause and take a bite just because she's hungry and not because she needs time to think. When she's done chewing, she jumps right back into it. "I know they used to have a research and development contract. Like, Up Sync would build products for the government or lease them. Something like that."
"But all based in the cloud?"
"Yep."
"What a wild world."
"Yeah, something like that," she says. But the woman shrugs. "I don't know. These tech companies all seem to blend together. Even my own. Kayx. What kind of name is that?"
"What do you guys do?"
"We're an app that sends people cakes for free. Get it. Kayx."
"Clever."
"But hey, if you're really interested in Up Sync, the company's CEO, the woman I told you about, is speaking here in town today actually. At the conference."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah. I'm sure you could sang a ticket. I don't think there will be any problem with that. I know my friend Betty had to buy a ticket to one of the keynotes and it was only a little extra money."
"That'd be great."
The woman's eyes drift to her right. She sees someone and her eyes light up. She waves over to that side of the room.
"Sorry, my friends came down for breakfast. I'm going to head over there."
"Go right ahead."
She extends her hand. "I'm Lizzy."
"Annette."
"Annette. Nice to meet you. Maybe I'll see you later today."
"You bet."
Later, I'm back in my room looking through the internet again. I find the front page of the conference page again. Indeed. Up Sync CEO Mary Nowell. She took over the company just this past month with Bradley Cole and they'll both be speaking at the conference today about "Managing the Cloud's Future." That ought to be rich.
As I scroll through their bio page, it shows me that the session had originally been planned for the company's previous CEO, Trevor Hyde. But Trevor unfortunately passed away just before the Christmas holiday.
Now I have another road to follow. I do a quick search and find that Trevor died in a house fire while entertaining people from his company for a Christmas party. Several people died in the house fire.
The only two survivors were Mary and another woman named Alyssa. A report from the Scribe explains that Bradley showed up to save the two women right at the end of the day.
Apparently, the company had been forfeited to Mary and her boyfriend Bradley, who had also worked at the company. Critics suggested that the power couple had started the fire themselves in order to gain ownership of the company. I can see the dots linking them together. But you'd have to draw a pretty far line to prove that's the case. Bradley and Mary would have to get away with a lot to make it work.
I sit back in my cheer and sigh. I look out the window. The sun has started to filter out and melt the snow. So now I have another road to follow. I can continue to chase this story.
But is it worth it? What information could I glean from a conversation with either of these people? Would I learn anything valuable?
The government contracts sound important. If I can find out more about how those two sides worked together, then maybe it'll give me a clue as to how contracts work, and maybe that'll pinpoint something for me in the New Surge investigation.
I decide it's a good enough reason to go to the event. But unlike Lizzy's suggestion, I send a quick email to the event coordinator. I write that I'm a reporter looking to cover the speech from Mary. Just assigned today. Can I get a media pass? I know it's unethical for me to do this since I'm not working on a daily turnaround story on this.
But, then again, it would help my larger piece on New Surge and technology regulation. I guess I'm not too off.
It's about twenty minutes later when the coordinator emails me back.
We saved you a seat. We'll get you a pass.
I'm in.
Chapter 21: Up Sync
Getting to the event proved to be the hardest part of the plan. I slid on a pair of jeans over a pair of athletic pants. I buttoned my jacket as close to the body as possible. I threw on my winter hat and a pair of gloves. I sling my laptop bag over my shoulder. And then I dipped out into the snow.
The frosty winter wonderland was loosening its bite. The sun made a difference. But the air was still thick and cold. I thought of hailing an Uber, but I saw a trail of people from the conference walking like they were on a trail toward the event. So I bundled tightly and I walked with them through the streets of Washington. Thankfully the event was just a block or two away.
Now I am outside the event, staring up at the glassy building. People filter inside around me. Their hates are frosted over. Their gloves do little to protect their fingers. They all complain about the weather. "Global warming, am I right?" "Jeez. You see the snow out there?" "It never used to snow like this." "Great. We get away for a few weeks and this is the weather." It amuses me that people still act the same no matter where you go.
I wait in line to enter the event. A table of four people stretches at the
end of the line. Four people are checking in the guests. One is a woman with striking blonde hair. Another has a brown Dixie cup. A young man sits in a suit. And a final woman at the end just seems to be scrolling her laptop. She's the lazy one.
When I reach the group, I give my name. They hand me a press page. The young man on the far end of the table stands up and walks me over to the auditorium.
"Just here for the speech?"
She shrugs. "I guess so."
"Did someone get murdered?"
"Huh?"
"You're Annette Gardner. Big fan," he says.
"Oh, yeah. Totally. Sorry, sometimes I forget about all of that stuff when I'm out reporting. I try to keep a low profile these days."
"I bet it's hard for you to do that."
"It's easier than you think."
"So what are you doing here then? They have you reporting on some meaningless speech from a tech CEO who will just high-five herself the entire time?"
He's probably right. That's what a lot of these events are probably like. Tech bros just celebrating each other.
"I think it'll help this story I'm working on about New Surge. And the federal regulation. And the shutdown."
"Ah, yeah, the shutdown. Crazy stuff. Heard the president might sign a new deal anyway now," he says.
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's been all on Twitter today. Government could reopen and then the president would sign an emergency act or national emergency. Something like that."
My eyes grow wide. "Wait, really?"
"Eh, it's just Twitter. Who knows."
We arrive at the auditorium and he gestures for me to walk in first. So I do. When we're inside, he points out a row of chairs five rows up from the bottom. He explains hat's the press row, and that's where we can sit to have perfect coverage. He gestures toward Jay Biles, the media coordinator, who is off in the corner of the room. If I have any additional questions, talk to him. He'll know.
Into the Night Page 15