Page 40 of Just Curious

“Just this past February.”

“Are you shitting me? You’re Willa Freakin’ Camden! You’re a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and international bestselling author, and who is she? A conniving thief! We need to hire a team of lawyers and get to the bottom of this right away. I can’t believe you’ve let that slide, Willa!” Sheila’s voice was getting louder and louder, making Willa wince. “So, now she probably wanted to cash in on her success. I bet she stole your book so she could release something right away and make a fortune before everyone forgets about her. She obviously knows how great your work is. God, what a manipulative, schemingbitch. She’s probably cooked up some stupid story about how she wrote it and you’re the one trying to steal it because she’s all famous and important now. Listen, Willa, I’m going to get our legal team on this right away, so I’ll be in touch. Keep your phone handy, okay?”

“I can get my own lawyer, Sheila. My dad’s partners would probably be willing to represent me.”

“Do they know about copyright and intellectual property law? You ought to have a specialist for this.”

“I’m not sure actually. Maybe you should handle it after all.” Willa found herself feeling overwhelmed. “Thank you.”

“No shit. This is my job, Willa.”

“Well, thereissomething good I need to tell you, though.”

“Thank the lord. I need some good news this morning.” Willa could hear Sheila take a gulp of something—probably coffee, but she wouldn’t have blamed her if it was something stronger. “So, spill.”

“Jackson, my boyfriend, got us a meeting for later today with Baxter Brothers Studios. They’re interested in possibly making a movie from my bookLost and Found. We’re heading up to Hollywood to meet with them. Jackson has backing for the movie already. I’m pretty excited to see where, if anywhere, this goes.”

“Well, shit. With a mover-and-shaker boyfriend like that, you probably don’t need me as your agent. Where’s all the money coming from?”

“I do so need you, Sheila. This is just a fluke thing and something he’s been researching. The money is coming from him and my… um… other boyfriend Casey, and possibly from one other guy. They’re all pretty… okayreallywell-off.”

“Willa, I don’t know what’s up with you lately. You go from living like a nun, as far as I can tell, to suddenly swimming in rich men? Two boyfriends? Do they both know you’re seeing someone else? How can they invest together with you in the middle?”

Willa let out a tiny snort. “I’m not always the one in the middle.” She paused to let that sink in for a second. “We’re a triad, Sheila. It means…”

“I know what it means. Christ on a cracker, Willa!” There was a pause on the line and another audible gulp, and then Sheila continued over Willa’s soft giggles, “You never cease to amaze me. I would feel a lot better if you had an attorney with you at this meeting today as well, but it’s kind of short notice. Just promise me you’ll have a lawyer look over everything before you agree to sign, okay?”

“I promise. And we’ll figure out this business with Deb too. What a disaster.” She paused and Sheila could hear Willa say something to someone else and then came back to the phone, “I have to go now, Sheila. Our driver is here. I’ll talk to you later.”

The studio execs were two smarmy old brothers who eyed Willa with lust. Casey immediately got his back up when he saw one of them talking to her chest. Willa seemed unfazed by him, however, and Casey finally relaxed.If they can make her dream come true, I guess they can ogle her tits a little. As long as they keep their hands to themselves. I guess this is how it’s done in Tinseltown.

Bernie Baxter, the younger of the two, explained, “It’s a wonderful book, Willa, but since you’re lacking a screenplay thus far and have no experience writing one, we’d like to hire a screenwriter we recently worked with very successfully to assist you. You may have heard of her—she won an Oscar for the movie we produced with her. As a matter of fact, the subject matter and general feel of your book is similar enough to that story, and it was so successful, that was one of the reasons we were interested in talking to you in more detail.” He eyed Willa who’d suddenly put her hands over her face and hung her head. “Is there something wrong?”

“Deb Abbey,” Willa muttered. “Of all people. I can’t believe it.”

“You’re familiar with Deb? She’s a big talent, I assure you. That story was magnificent.” Bernie looked questioningly at everyone. “What’s the problem?”

Jackson jumped in and explained in a voice that sounded like a knife fight, “Deb Abbey is athief. Willa was the one who wrote the book that Deb stole from her several years ago. It’s all plagiarized material. I don’t know what she told you, but Willa wrote that story. The book was stolen from her. There wasnothingoriginal in what that woman showed you.”

Bernie’s eyes bulged and his face went pink. “That’s some accusation for a respected member of the entertainment community. I hope you have some proof of that allegation, otherwise I’ll ask you to get lost!”

Uncovering her face and looking Bernie right in the eye, Willa asked, “Were you aware of any changes made from the screenplay she brought you to what you ultimately used when the movie was shot?”

“Yes, of course. We had to shorten things and combine a few storylines for the sake of the movie. That’s standard procedure. The first draft of the screenplay needed revisions, and we had our people work with Deb on that.”

With steel in her voice, Willa addressed him. “I’m not doubting your practices, Mr. Baxter. My point is, that was an unpublishedbookthat was turnedintoa screenplay. My book. I have personal knowledge of what was included in the original story before it was adapted and then abbreviated. Would most people know that? I watched the movie, and I can give you several examples.”

Bernie’s mouth dropped open for a second, and then he urged her in a nasty tone, “Try me.”

“The main character in the book had a little dog named Scooter. It was a Papillon. There was no dog in the movie.”

“Yes, well, we had to cut out the dog because the actress was allergic…”

“Not in my book, she wasn’t. Scooter went with her everywhere. He was her purse dog. And the original name of the town was Marbury, not Cadbury.”

Bernie blinked a few times. “We were afraid people might think it sounded too much like Mayberry.”

“Cadbury sounds like something out ofWilly Wonka—not much of an improvement unless you’re selling chocolate,” Willa muttered.

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