There wasn’t a pile of mail waiting for Henry when he came home, because that was being held at the post office, but he dropped his bags in the entryway and beelined for the drawer where he’d put his cell phone. It was of course dead, so he got that on his fast charger, pulled his laptop out of his bag and plugged it in on his desk, hesitated, and then dismissed the idea of getting some laundry started. There’d be time for that later. He did at least get in the shower long enough to wash his hair, and in front of the mirror long enough to shave. There wasn’t anything he could do about the shadows under his eyes, but hey, those were authentic. Almost professional. Mostly he just hoped one of his scheduled meetings wouldn’t take the full time so he’d be able to make coffee.
Despite the exhaustion, it was the best type of afternoon. Everyone he talked to, plus everyone who’d left a voice mail on his phone, desperately wanted to hear what he had to say. They needed him to prove he’d been where he said he was, of course, but even then they were desperate for any little detail he’d accidentally let slip.
Henry didn’t let anything slip. He was a professional, a businessman who had to know what was on offer so he could carefully weigh his options and choose the best one for him. Not for the story, although of course the better the story did, the more he’d get out of it, but the best option for him. Some of his notes included the words book deal.
He really needed sleep, but he couldn’t just yet. He had all these pages from today, plus more phone messages to get through, and everything from the past couple of weeks to print and reread and organize. Plus he needed to catch up on the news itself: the things the public was learning right now, whether or not it ended up actually being true, and the timeline of when it was revealed. On top of this he had his mental notes of what wasn’t yet revealed.
Seriously, this was gold. Everyone seemed to be discussing it: was Tammy a whore or a victim? Was Kimberlee really a victim, or was she in on it? Was Kyle sleeping with either or both of them? And did he know about Youngren? Were they now on an exotic island somewhere, sipping drinks and having a threesome … or was one of the women murdered? Or both of them? Or one of them and Kyle Ferguson?
Pure gold. And it had simply fallen into his lap. He’d gone north to find Annabeth Deschain, but she was gone and out of the headlines. Instead, he had this absolute once-in-a-lifetime story that he needed to claim as soon as possible, in case other people lied about it.
Henry decided on a short post to his socials. I’d like to address the rumors before they get out of hand: yes, I’ve been at Loon Lake Retreat these past couple of weeks. Yes, I’ve already spoken to the police. I hope everyone involved is safe and this gets resolved soon.
Okay, that last part was a lie, and so was the first, but he wasn’t just going to say Hey y’all what’s up, did you miss me? Addressing rumors was a much better way to go. It would boost engagement. The proliferation of social media sites these days was ridiculous, with everyone trying to be Twitter since Twitter was no longer Twitter, but by the time he got the last one posted, the first was already blowing up.
This wasn’t going to get resolved soon, even if everyone was found and brought into custody, because Henry would make sure of it. Everyone would know he’d found himself smack-dab in the middle of this, and even the police would play into his hands. He’d wait a while to reveal the whole duct tape detail, out of respect for the legal case but really because drawing things out meant more clicks and more discussion. More rumors he could fail to address and therefore fuel. There was probably a message from his U.P. lawyer already somewhere in his phone, but that didn’t matter. By this time tomorrow he’d have a signed contract that included a whole team of lawyers ready to yell freedom of speech to let him write what he wanted … as long as it got published by their people first. God, it was good to be back.
Cold Comfort: Sunday, July 14, 2024 – Agatha (2), coming September 1
Rebecca Frost 
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