“I’m not ashamed of anything you have on me. If it were up to me—if it were onlymycareer on the line—this would be a non-issue. I’ll be fine without the masters. I don’t need you, but you sure as hell need me, so badly that you had to blackmail me into letting you keep my work. That’s pretty damn pathetic if you ask me. It kind of seems like I’m not the real loser here today.”
I’m so fucking proud of her.
That’s why I have to make sure FM Sound doesn’t touch her.
“How did you get this?” Rhiannon asks.
“Harmony and I shared our GPS locations with the each other a while back. She probably forgot I could still see where she was. When she left the morning after Dana’s threat, I wanted to be sure she was okay, so I kept an eye on her through the app. And while it might have been logical to think she was just headed to Rodeo Drive for some retail therapy, she’s specifically mentioned hating that whole area. Anyway, I happened to be somewhat close by after a meeting in Westfield, so I had my assistant drop me off so I could try to intercept. In the time it took her to park and walk, I got there, followed her into Saks, and saw her with Dana … so I started filming.”
“That’s smart,” says Charles, “but I’m pretty sure this video is inadmissible in court. You can’t record without someone’s consent.”
“Audio,” Rhiannon clarified. “Videos are more easily admissible. We can’t use what was said but, being in a public place, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy as far as visual recordings go.”
I nod. “That’s what I was hoping. The way Dana is acting looks suspicious, especially the part where she checks Harmony for a wire. Why would she do that if she didn’t have something to hide?”
Rhiannon gives me a sympathetic smile. “It has implications, yes. This alone won’t be sufficient to make a case though.”
“There’s more,” I tell her. “I spoke to security at The Wentworth and they have footage of Harmony talking to Dana at the bar. It’s from one of their newer, hidden cameras, so Dana probably thought they were in a blind spot. But it’s clear onscreen that Harmony is surprised by the encounter and in distress. Dana even shows Harmony her phone displaying some of the blackmail documents, visible on video. It’s too far away for any text to be clear, but it’s obvious that they’re screenshots. Which implies blackmail.”
“Okay,” Rhiannon says. “That does help.”
“I’ve also spoken to some of FM Sound’s former artists,” I say, “and at least three of them are willing to go on record about the label’s behavior. Apparently this isn’t the first time FM Sound executives have resorted to coercion. They've delayed royalty payments and withheld earned advances to keep artists quiet about shady contract terms, or to get them to drop disputes. They've blacklisted talent for not cooperating. According to one artist, FM Sound has a pattern of leaking scandals as a form of punishment.”
Charles nods along. “Thatseemslike enough info.”
“We can request voluntary production of the security footage,” Rhiannon tells us, “or at least submit a preservation letter. Between that and your video, plus the former artist statements and Harmony’s testimony—if you can get her to give one—we might have a case here.”
“I’m not trying to start a big court drama,” I clarify. “I mean, if FM Sound gets put on blast for their tactics down the line, that’s for the best. But right now, I just want Harmony in the clear.”
“My firm can review the evidence and, if everything checks out, we’ll do a hard cease and desist. A pre-litigation demand letter. Basically we lay out the legal violations—extortion, blackmail, harassment, defamation—and summarize the nature of our evidence without revealing our full strategy. That will put FM Sound on notice and also create a paper trail to prove they've been warned. It establishes intent, if they proceed to leak any documents. The leak would be reasonably attributable to them at that point.”
“But there’s noguaranteethey’ll keep the documents to themselves,” says Charles.
“There’s never a guarantee,” Rhiannon replies, “but in cases like these, the aggressor often backs down. Extortionists actbold, but they're quite risk-averse. And pattern evidence terrifies them; you were right to look for that, Griffin.”
“Thanks.”
Charles folds his arms. “After the demand letter, we should also conduct an in-house investigation at Glambam. That could help us find the mole. I’m sure whoever’s been feeding information to Dana Hatton has a laptop full of damning emails.”
“Great idea,” says Rhiannon. “I’ll get on this and let you know where we stand as soon as I can.”
On the way back down to the lobby, I press the elevator button. “Thanks for doing this, by the way,” I tell Charles while we wait. “It means a lot that I could come to you for help.”
“My pleasure,” he says. “I know I’m tough on my artists sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. Believe it or not, I want you to succeed.”
“Oh I believe it …” The words slip out before I can stop them, and in a tone that isn’t exactly respectful.
He narrows his eyes. “You just don’t believe my want is … independent of my desire for financial gain.”
I don’t answer him.
The elevator doors part and we step in.
Charles huffs. “This is a business, Griffin.”
“Not a charity. I know.”
“But?”
