Plot twist: They did not.
I let it ring through the voice mail and selected the option to leave a message for one of the paralegals.“Hi, my name is Damien M...Maguire,” I winced, realizing belatedly that using my real name might be a bad idea.“I’m calling on behalf of, um, my boss.He sent some papers last week and wasn’t sure if they’d made it through.If someone could give me a call as soon as you’re able...”I rattled off my number and hung up, blowing out a huge, nervous sigh.
Charlemagne turned his head in disgust.Muffin, at least, was encouraging with his big toothy doggy grin as I set the papers beside the board, in the non-existent Wednesday space.Groaning, I let myself flop to one side, staring at the fluttering pieces of paper and the dark space under my bed.
The dark space...with the flash drive in it.
“Oh...oh, shit,” I breathed, scrambling forward to snatch it, as if someone was going to materialize under my bed and grab it before I could get there.I’d dropped it on Thursday night when I changed, forgetting to pick it up.And it’d been sitting under the bed the entire time.
“What are the odds,” I murmured, grabbing my laptop and setting it up to take the drive.Charlemagne hopped down and deigned to sit beside me, watching the screen as it populated with a list of several folders, most with huge amounts of data, and one marked justMeeting w/Pthat had barely anything.
I started there, hesitant to open anything huge just in case Tubbs had something I really didn’t want to see-cough, cough.TheMeeting w/Twas a media file, an older one I had to download a player to see.“In for a penny, right kitty?”
Charlemagne licked his paw in annoyance.
The file opened and, for a moment, my screen was black.Then a blur of color and sound came up in a rush—whoever had been filming things had moved the camera suddenly.
No, a phone, I realized—the way it was framed, the quality of it, it all indicated it had been shot on someone’s older smartphone and whoever was filming it had been trying to be subtle about it.Pamela Sommers came into the frame just from the chin down until she sat, holding a glass of wine.It looked more recent than not judging by her clothes and hairstyle.“It’s nice to talk again,” she said to someone off camera.
Tubbs replied.“It’s been a long time.Too long.”
Pamela sipped her wine, nodding.“It’s...it’s been difficult.It never stopped hurting.”
Tubbs made a sympathetic sound and joined her on the sofa, a tumbler of something amber with ice clicking in it clutched in one hand and a packet of papers in the other.“I’d hoped you wouldn’t be upset about this, Pamela.I think Beth would like it, honestly.”
Pamela’s lips twisted into a sour grimace.“I don’t know.Gwen is against it.She said Beth deserved rest and....and well, I agree.”She gulped her wine in two swallows, setting the glass down to one side.
Tubbs was quiet for a long time, sipping his own drink and staring at her thoughtfully.Pamela fidgeted, fingering the edge of her soft pink cardigan and darting glances around the room.Finally, she twittered a tiny, fake laugh and shook her head.“Why are you staring at me, Gerry?I feel like I did something wrong!”
“The night Beth died,” he said quietly, “I went to see her.She was drunk already when I got there.I wanted to beg her not to take that role.”
Pamela went very still.“What are you talking about, Gerry?”
“Beth was leaving.She’d already told you and Gwen.Don’t try to lie about it—my father told me that part himself.He was working with her on an exit.But she couldn’t wait to tell you two.She was excited.Wasn’t she?”
“I...I suppose,” Pamela stuttered.“Why are we talking about that night, Gerry?It was terrible!I lost my best friend.My soul mate!Why are you bringing her death up like this?”
“I thought I’d killed her,” he admitted, reaching out to stop Pamela when she moved to stand.He wanted, I realized, to keep her in view of the camera.To keep her recorded.Charlemagne leaned in beside me, making fussy little sounds as his person spoke again.“We fought, me and Beth.She said I didn’t get it.That this wasitfor her and, if I recall her words correctly—and I do—she saidnone of you people will stop me, damn it.Wanted to know why ‘we’ couldn’t be happy for her.”
“She was drunk,” Pamela gasped.“Who knows why drunk people say what they say!”
“So the thing is...”He pushed the papers towards her.“I was wrong.She wasn’t drunk.”
Pamela took the papers and, after one glance, blanched so violently and visibly I thought the color had faded on the video.“How—”
“Money gets you everywhere.”
The video cut there, but picked up at another location.It looked like they were on a boat—theBeth,I realized.Had this only been Thursday?My heart was racing as the muffled voices became clearer.Pamela again, this time smiling broadly, her dainty handbag hanging from her elbow as she took up a spot at the table.Tubbs settled across from her, placing that bottle of vodka and two glasses on the table between them.“I’m glad you came,” he said, nudging one glass towards her.
“Oh, not for me, thank you.I had two glasses of wine at that awful party and I’m still feeling it.I shouldn’t have hadany, not with my medication, but you know how these things are,” she laughed, setting her purse down on the table.Belatedly, I realized this was no longer the phone filming but a laptop—the angle was weird but I could make out that it had been about the place I’d found the fallen computer when I went looking for Tubbs.
“Oh my god,” I whispered.“Oh my god...”
They talked for a few minutes, mostly about Lester Cove (and I didn’t want to examine how offended I felt about some of their comments) and the upcoming fan convention Gwendolyn and Pamela were to attend, leaving that night to be there early in the morning.They talked about Nate—-apparently, no one liked Nate but Tubbs admired how he was such a ‘shark’ and admitted Nate had approached him about a job.“The thing is,” he admitted, “if this comes through, I might let him direct.”
Pamela wrinkled her nose at that.“Nate?Nate?He’d be a terrible director!”
“I don’t need it to be good, just made,” he pointed out.“I assume you’ve looked at the report.”
