The Love Of Money - Episode 214
01-08-25 (08:05)
She chuckled, "You don't want me as a PR manager, Mr.
Upton."
"Why not?" I asked.
There's more qualified people out there," she said.
"What if I want you?"
We stared at each other as the tension grew. I
watched as her eyes dropped from mine to my lips,
and I did the same. They were slightly bee-stung,
plump, and painted in a subtle shade of brownish red.
She gave me another crooked smile and rested her chin
on the palm of her left hand, making the wedding ring
on her finger very obvious, "I think you could do better."
I wasn't sure if there was any subtext to that but
decided to drop it. I was getting too used to hooking up
with almost any woman I found attractive.
"Besides," she continued, "It might benefit you to have a
friend in one of the largest news organizations in the
US."
"You might be right," I admitted. "Send me your
recommendations."
"Alright," she said. She raised the glass to her lips, but I
could see a smile in her eyes. "I'll do that."
"Hey, boss?" Erin said from behind us. Julia and looked
over our shoulders at her, and she held up her phone.
"Important call for you."
"Excuse me, Mrs. Lyons. Enjoy the party," I said and
took the phone from Erin. It was Helen.
"Hey!" I said.
"Why did you do that?" Helen said. Her voice was low
and soft, as If she were trying to keep the conversation
secret.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine. Why did you let Ashlee go?"
"Weren't you there?" I asked.
Yes."
"You heard him. He said he would spill everything." I
said.
"The first two were empty threats. I promise his hands
are just as dirty as your grandfather's. He's not going to
tell on himself."
"And if you think the Bobbi threat has any teeth, I
promise you, that girl's wrapped around our fingers. She
doesn't want to go anywhere', and she'd happily tell
anyone whatever she needed to in order to keep her
position."
That sounded like a hell of a stretch. "Are you sure?"
"I promise you. I think she's infatuated with you in her
own twisted way. Why else would she stay?"
"You heard her."
"I heard what she admitted to. It's less embarrassing
than what I suspect is really going on. That doesn't
matter, though. Whether it's infatuation or the fact that
she likes her cushy new life, she'll do whatever it takes
to keep it."
"So, you're saying I gave Ashlee up for nothing?"
"Mostly," Helen admitted, "but one interesting thing
came out of it. Roger knew about Bobbi."
"You didn't tell him?"
"No," Helen said, and I could detect a note of hurt
behind her voice. I told you, Marcus. You can trust me."
"But someone did," Helen continued. "Who knows about
her?"
"Damn," said. "I don't know. There's you, Erin, Natalie,
Chloe... probably most of her team. Some of the hotel
staff where' she was staying before, maybe." The hotel
reminded me of a specific event where' Bobbi and I got
extra spicy. "Shit... her friend... dealer.... whatever. She
was there when Bobbi and I had sex right before she
moved into the apartment."
Remembering Candace brought up several more
possibilities. "There could be a lot. Basically, anyone at
Marduke could have pieced some of it together...
Cartwright was tailing me for a while,
apparently."
"Hmm..."
"What?" I asked
"And there's Bobbi, Helen admitted.
"You just said-"
"I know," she cut me off, "but we can't rule it out
either."
"Yeah," I said. "My money's on the dealer, though. She
seemed like she could have been easily bought off, and
if Cartwright or anyone else was tailing me, they might
have picked up on her scent."
"Regardless," Helen said, "You shouldn't have let Ashlee
go."
"Yeah. Thanks," I groused. "Do you think you could get
anything out of her?"
"No." Helen said. "She's gone anyway."
"What?"
"Roger dropped her off at the university. He has his
own hired security looking after her now."
"Fuck. Why?"
"Because Ashlee won't stay at home, and Roger's
learned that giving her what she wants within reason
makes it easier to steer her in the right direction... and
probably to keep her away from me."
"And the security?" I asked.
"To keep you away from her," Helen said.
"I don't get it. Helen. This is all really confusing to me.
She said someone was-"
"I have to go," Helen said. "I'll talk to you on Monday."
"Not sooner?"
The line went dead. looked down at Erin's phone and
considered destroying a second one that evening.
Obviously, Erin could sense what I was feeling because
she tentatively reached for it and pulled it free from my
grip. "I know It's frustrating," she said, "but please save
me from transferring data for two phones."
"Fine," I said, and let her take the phone from me. "Can
you order me a new phone?" Don't forget to leave a Comment 
