Page 19 of Finding Silence
“I’ve been keeping an eye out, because Phil is worried the press may be able to track her to Silence. Frankly, so am I. But I’m not just worried about the press,” she adds.
Leaning over the screen, she taps her index finger on one of the other band members in the photo. A scrawny guy, with a Fu Manchu goatee and a ponytail. He looks wasted in the picture.
“Duncan Brothers,” Savvy informs me. “I’m ashamed to admit I had a major crush on him in high school. He’s the one Phil says pulled this stunt. This picture was taken at a reunion concert they did last December at a charity event for Feeding America, as a result of which he’s been hounding Phil to go on a reunion tour.”
She slightly turns the laptop to minimize a few of the windows open on the screen, to reveal an article in Rolling Stone.
“I found this today; an interview he gave last month, promising big reunion news coming down the pipeline. There’s also a short clip on TMZ where he echoes the same thing.”
“He’s trying to corner her into agreeing,” I observe.
“Exactly. And when she wouldn’t budge, he realized it would all backfire on him.”
“So he makes up a story she died?”
Savvy shrugs. “He’s desperate, and aside from him saving face, the stunt is giving their music new momentum in a different way.”
“Except she’s clearly not dead, and that’s bound to come to light,” I point out. “People will see it for what it was, a publicity stunt.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but even if it does come out, people are likely to assume the person who was supposed to be dead would be guilty of deceit. Either way, Phil is going to be hounded over this.”
I imagine so. She’ll be a target for the press and the public either way.
“Does she have any idea how to get ahead of this?” I wonder out loud.
“For now, she’s leaving it to her manager and her lawyer to deal with back in Portland, but I have a feeling that’ll only hold off the vultures for so long.”
“It may not be a bad idea to put someone on her to keep an eye out,” I carefully suggest.
I don’t want to overstep, I did that a few times when Savvy first took over the office and she ordered me in no uncertain terms to back off. Told me I either trusted her to do the job, or I didn’t, but that it definitely was no longer mine. It stung at the time, but I respect her for it.
“Exactly, which is the reason I wanted to talk to you.”
She flashes me one of those smiles I find hard to resist, and I already know I’m in trouble.
“Lloyd McCormick is recovering from back surgery, and as of tonight, Hugo is off the schedule for the foreseeable future, so I’m already short two deputies with a workload that requires double the man-hours we currently have in the budget. I’m trying to get some temporary help in, but I simply don’t have a deputy I could spare.” She widens her grin. “Which is where you would come in.”
I glare at her, but she easily wears me down with that smile.
“You’re asking me to babysit her,” I bite off.
“I’m asking you to keep an eye out. Who better? You obviously have built up a rapport with her already. You bought her lingerie, for crying out loud.”
“Should never have told you that,” I grumble.
“Your secret is safe with me,” she swears, making me instantly suspicious.
“What does Phil say about your idea?”
When the smile drops from Savvy’s face and she suddenly busies herself shuffling papers around on her desk, I already know the answer.
“Let’s just say she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of a protective detail, which is why you would be perfect. You live next door to her already, it won’t be hard to keep an eye on things, keep a finger on the pulse, so to speak. Invite her over for dinner, take her for a hike, maybe she likes horseback riding.”
I narrow my eyes on her. “You want me to pretend to be her friend?”
“Why pretend?” she flings back with a wide-eyed innocence I don’t buy for a second. “You already seem well on your way.”
A deep sigh escapes me as I drop my head between my shoulders. I don’t even know why I’m arguing this, because of course I’m going to keep an eye out on Phil. It’s not like I’m going to be able to sit by and leave that woman vulnerable. Savvy knows it too, which is why she shared Phil’s predicament with me.
