By the time she poured her second cup, she’d already pulled up the band’s social feeds.Engagement was still climbing, the rehearsal clip continuing to trend.The comments were mostly good—fans praising the honesty and media outlets reposting snippets—but something caught her attention.A duplicate upload, same video thumbnail, slightly different caption.
Her stomach dipped.
The file metadata looked wrong.It wasn’t her original scheduling.She clicked play and felt the color drain from her face.
The sound was warped.Someone had spliced Jami’s lyrics to make it sound like he was mocking the label and his bandmates.The clip ended with a new caption:Guess the truth finally comes out.
She froze, staring at the screen, pulse hammering.
No one outside of her or Tony had access to those files.
Her jaw tightened.Reed & Carr.Her former firm.They'd tried this type of tactic once before, and she'd stopped it.Would they try again?She opened the grainy photo and looked at the metadata.She scanned it through software to see if she could find the origin of the altered photo.While that scanned, she opened her email and began drafting a message to the label before they saw it elsewhere.Fingers flying, she outlined the evidence she believed she'd find, leaving room to change it if her suspicions weren't true.She'd attach screenshots and time-stamp her original upload.Then she opened her drives and prepared to trace the new file’s source.
It wasn’t hard.Whoever had done this had copied the original data structure perfectly...almost.They’d left a faint trail of code linking the post back to a Miami-based server she knew too well.
Her old firm.They were behind it.
Her phone buzzed.Looking at the name on the screen, she saw Marla.
“I see some things never change,” she said the moment Carlene answered.
“Yes,” she said.“And that isn't an admission from me.That means some folks we both know can't let things go.”
Marla was quiet for a long time."Are you sure?"
Carlene clicked the computer tab that was scanning the photo, and her jaw tightened."I'm quite sure."
Marla's tongue clicked, but that was the only sound that came through the phone.Carlene hissed, then ended the call before she could say more.She pressed a palm against her forehead and closed her eyes.
The sound of the barn door creaking open drew her attention.Jami stepped inside, hair damp from the rain, shoulders tense.He held up his phone.“Tell me this isn’t real.”
“It’s not,” she said quickly.“Someone tampered with the file.”
“Why?”
“Because they can,” she said, eyes meeting his.“Because we’re gaining momentum, and someone wants to derail that.”
He set the phone on the counter.“Can you trace it?”
“I already did.”
“And?”
“It came from Reed & Carr’s servers.My old firm.”
He swore under his breath, pacing once across the room.“You think they’re trying to take you down, or me?”
“Both,” she said.“They lost their biggest client when I left, and they’ve been waiting for a reason to prove I can’t handle a band this size.”
He stopped pacing and looked at her.“You don’t have to fix this alone.”
Her throat tightened.“I know how to handle it.”
“Maybe.But you shouldn’t have to.”
The softness in his voice broke something in her.She looked away, focusing on the laptop instead.“If I can prove they altered the file, the label will back off.I just need time.”
He nodded, watching her.“Whatever you need.”
