A Drone over New York

“Max, thank Christ you’re here!” Kate almost yelled as Max walked in the door to the office of CelebrityNews.com. “The meeting’s in two minutes. Missy is already in there. Trust you’re up to speed on the Tyell story.”

This was the exact kind of reaction he was hoping for.

“Yep,” Max said. “Tom and the night-shift team have done a decent job with it. How much do we actually know?” The story was going to be the only thing anyone would talk about on a slow news week like this.

“Martha will explain. Drop your stuff and let’s get to the meeting.”

Together they walked into the meeting, and Max felt a little surprised by who had been called in. All the company’s heavy hitters were present and accounted for, seated in their normal chairs. Most of them would never be called in for a meeting in the middle of the night. But everyone sitting down or standing along the side of the room only made Max see more dollar signs. Even the company interns stood lined up along the back wall. He was glad to see Callie and Madison among them.

This was more than he had expected. Martha probably knew something that he didn’t. That would be a good thing. There must be an angle that Max wasn’t seeing.

“A very early good morning, everyone,” Martha announced once everyone was accounted for.

The room fell quickly silent.

Martha went on. “I trust you have all seen the news on Tyell. Tom and the night team did a great job on digging up everything. Now I need us to take this over and run with it. The timing of this could not be better, so we need to be on the front foot with this story. Everyone in this room is the best we have, and I am expecting you all to put your full weight behind this.”

The way Martha spoke about this made Max think a little. This was too much too quickly for her. Over the past three years they had only had a handful of cases like this, but Martha already seemed more stressed than normal.

“Kate, what do we know?” Martha said.

“Around 1:00 a.m. this morning, a fairly reliable source uploaded these two stills on a hacker website. We picked it up after Marsden ClarkenWells published something on their feed at around 1:30. At the moment these are the only two stills available. I’ve called my contact at MCW, and he says they’ve used the source a few times and he has always provided genuine material. After the post came a flood of other stills claiming to be real as well, but our confidence is a lot lower with those. That’s all I know.”

Max stifled a smile. Kate had called him “fairly reliable.”

“Thanks, Kate. Keep digging,” Martha said, then turned. “Max, good to have you here.” Before he could respond, Martha looked away and said, “Sarah?”

“Needless to say, this has already gone viral in a big way. Even the mainstream news channels have articles up on it. It’s a slow news week, so everyone is jumping on board. The public is lapping it up. Everyone is seeing crazy web traffic. Last time we got these numbers was the Bubber case. Our switchboard has been flooded with calls from various contacts of ours, asking us to verify which stills are real.”

“Good, thanks, Sarah.” Martha nodded and turned her attention to the large man opposite Max. “Michael? What you got?”

“We already have a freelancing team outside Tyell’s house. They are going to message me as soon as she appears. I’ve already spoken directly with her agent. Officially it is a ‘No comment,’ and I think a few other people had already spoken with him. We have someone outside her parents’ place, as well as her pastor’s. We don’t know who her lover boy is yet, so haven’t been able to do anything on that. However, we have already started to collate a list of potentials.”

“Excellent. I want that list on our site inside the hour,” Martha replied.

She turned to face the rest of the team. Max knew how much she loved being in control. She had built this company from scratch and this was the kind of thing she lived for. “Okay, here’s what we are going to do. Kate, you and your team get cracking to see if this is the real deal or not. Anything real, I want. Also, see if we can get any more stills and even footage. Use MCW as an intermediary. I don’t want this coming back to burn us like last time. We’ll pay for another genuine still, as long as it is exclusive. If this guy is going to want a lot, make it clear we are happy to pay. Use it as leverage to get the entire video. Michael, you focus on her. I want something out within the next thirty minutes. Then another update at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and one more before 3:00 p.m. After the initial list of potential guys is out, give James all your work on the mystery guy’s identity. James, I’ll want an update by 11:00 a.m. Make it quality, people. I don’t want a repeat of DJ Youhay. You are all earning your keep today. Now get going.”

Everyone jumped up and got to work. Despite the hour the place sounded abuzz with excitement. Martha had indeed really fired everyone up. The dollar signs just kept multiplying in Max’s head as he walked toward the doorway of the conference room.

Max spotted Callie still standing with some of the other interns just inside the door. Max’s own intern, Madison, was already gone, knowing to wait for him by his desk. It was probably the only thing that Madison ever got right. The remaining interns, however, had their pens in hand, waiting for whomever they were assigned to. Callie, Max knew, was meant to be shadowing Michael this week, but he was halfway down the hall and had already forgotten about her. She looked around, wondering what to do. Max knew he needed to step in to help.

“Hey, you know what you’re doing?” Max asked quietly. She no doubt was still a little too sleepy to really comprehend what had just happened.

She shook her head.

“Michael will be going hell for leather today, so he is going to ditch you, and honestly it looks like he already has,” Max said just above a whisper as he pulled her aside. “The only way to get back in is you have to be proactive. Look like you’re helping. I know this sounds dumb, but go round and grab everyone’s coffee orders. And keep looking after Michael. When he is stressed, he loves chocolate. Just make sure he has everything he needs.”

She gave him that sad, intern-puppy look Max had seen way too often. She clearly was hoping for something more on a day like this. Max frowned. Kate would be on his back any second now, but this was something he needed to do.

“No one will have time to babysit today,” he said, trying to sound kind but firm. “People are really tired. Trust me, if you do all the crappy jobs now, you’ll still be in the room when things get interesting. Make yourself look like you’re indispensable—and that means I’ll take a large skinny latte.”

Her facial expression slowly revealed a reluctant smile as she gave in. It was a smart move. Max had told her before about this. Martha had a habit of kicking out people who looked like they were doing nothing on a day like today.

Callie nodded in a fatigued but eager way. On her pad she wrote out Max’s order. She always wanted to impress, and Max knew how to take advantage of it. He watched her eyes get brighter as she caught Sarah passing by: chi soy latte with an extra shot. With that Callie was off down the corridor, grabbing other senior people’s orders on the way. Max almost laughed, but then he heard someone clear her throat behind him.

“Bothering the intern again, Max?” Kate asked.

Now Max did laugh. “Just helping her keep her job.”

She stared at him and said, “You got a sec?”

Max clenched his jaw. “Look, I’m sorry …” he said. Kate loved to tell him not to flirt with the interns. But, oh, how little she really knew. “Callie just—”

Kate shook her head to cut him off. “No, I need you to have a look at the footage ASAP. Martha wants your opinion on it. I spoke with Jack this morning and he says the guy has more stills to sell.”

“More?” Max said, knowing he sounded a little more surprised than he should be.

“A lot more, apparently,” she replied, not seeming to notice Max’s reaction to what should have been expected news. “Jack said they’ve used this source before, and he’s been reliable. He also always has more to sell. Martha is trying to work out if we’ll put a bid together to try and get all of it.”

This was music to Max’s ears. He hadn’t heard from Jack yet, but he hadn’t checked his dark email since he’d arrived. He was starting to think he had underestimated his own reputation.

“Missy’s grabbing the files now,” Kate said. “She’ll have it on your desk in a few minutes.” She turned and headed for the door. “Oh, and Max,” she said. The smallest of smiles crept across her face. “Leave the interns alone.”

With Kate gone, Max used the time to duck into the bathroom. As soon as he closed the stall door, he pulled out his phone and fired up the email. Sure enough, among a few of the other regular names, he found Jack.

He copy and pasted the same response to all the important players:

Thank you for contacting me. The footage is original and verified. Full details will be provided to serious bidders. The full video is approximately 25 minutes long. It contains two clips, 15 seconds and 18 seconds in length, showing full frontal nudity of Tyell, as well as her engaging in explicit activity. Footage will come with information on other people in the clip, along with all information required to prove authenticity. All serious bids are to be received by 6pm PST.

Max liked to use a different time zone to throw them off a bit. It also gave him time to get his work done today so no one would suspect anything.

It was perfect.

By the time he got back to his desk, both Missy and Madison were ready and waiting. Missy, his junior analyst, just nodded at him and handed him a pen drive. Max copied the files over and then ran the software over the images. He felt kind of silly doing it, especially with Missy and Madison hanging off his shoulder.

The three were about to spend the next hour going over the two images, pixel by pixel. For a lot of other people, staring at a topless photo with female coworkers working alongside them would be awkward. But this was just another day at the office for their team.

After about fifteen minutes Callie appeared and placed Max’s latte on his desk. Out of the corner of his eye, Max saw Madison give Callie one of those mocking looks that said she couldn’t believe Callie was doing a coffee run. Callie didn’t seem to care, though, and she moved off to knock on Kate’s door, and Max looked over his monitor to watch her hand Kate what had to be her usual extra-large black coffee. Then Callie moved on and scurried along the rows, handing out other orders. She seemed to struggle a little with the number of coffee cups she had to carry, but everyone looked happy when she gave them their order. Finally Max saw Callie hand Michael his coffee. It was her last delivery—and a smart move. Michael’s eyes lit up at having his first blissful sip. That was when Callie pulled out a bar of his favorite chocolate. He looked like a man in heaven. He then looked up at Callie and said something that Max couldn’t hear. Callie smiled, nodded, and headed in the other direction.

Max glanced around the office. The other interns were still sitting at their desks fidgeting or trying to look over the shoulder of the people they were meant to be shadowing. Everyone knew Martha was cracking the whip today, so there was no time to slack. Madison was trying her best to follow what Max and Missy had been talking about, but Max knew they were moving too quickly. It was clear that Madison was struggling with the technical jargon already. Max probably could have taken the time to bring her up to speed, but it would have looked suspicious. He just had to put his head down and work. He couldn’t afford any questions about him today.

It was another forty-five minutes before they were done. Kate was in her office, talking to Michael, when Max gave her the thumbs-up. She stuck her head out the glass door, smiling.

“Good news?” she asked.

Max nodded. “Yep, the ones the guy posted are either the real deal, or the best fakes I’ve seen. Most of the other stuff coming through are just cheap knockoffs. I don’t think we should waste our time with them.” Max smiled at her.

“Awesome. Let Missy have a look at the rest of the photos. There’s more and more popping up. Max, can you focus on the ones we know are real? See what you can dig up about where they are and anything else that might give us any clues. The source just opened up the bidding. We need anything you can give us before eleven.”

Max heard all she said, but his mind focused on the fact that his own company was going to bid for the footage. Music to his ears. The company had deep pockets, and for cases like this they were normally willing to spend big to win.

After giving Kate a smile and a nod, Max told Missy to sift through the other photos while he focused on the two main images. Then he turned back to his computer and started the software again.

“Madison, why don’t you work with me today?” Missy said out of the blue.

And in that moment Max realized he had fallen into his own little trap of being so focused on his work that he never noticed Madison had nothing to do. He turned and watched as Missy divided up the fake photos with Madison. Max noticed that Missy gave most of the obvious fakes to the intern. As soon as the images were divided up, the three of them put on their headphones and dove in.

Max flicked over to auto-pilot as he worked through the two images. It was the first time he had managed to review his own work, so it was a slightly different kind of thrill. He looked at it as a test of himself. If he could find something, then someone else could too. His professional pride made him want to know first.

It was easy for him to get lost in this type of work.

It was 10:00 a.m. before Max, Missy, and Madison managed anything that could resemble a break. Together they decided to head downstairs and grab another coffee. It was going to be a long day and Max was going to need to be caffeined up.

On the elevator ride down, Max could tell that Missy was clearly still ramped up about all of this and probably didn’t need an extra coffee hit. But she was grabbing one all the same. Skinny soy latte. Madison, on the other hand, had been struggling with the workload and had not gotten through as many images as both Missy and Max were hoping she would. It kept her busy, though. But her large latte with an extra shot was not going to help her work any faster.

The coffee lady seemed extra chirpy that morning—not doubt trying to get the inside word from anyone who would talk to her. The place was buzzing with the news of Tyell. This story, Max knew, was going to be massive, the biggest entertainment scoop in years. When the coffee lady tried to press Max for information, he just laughed and told her he knew nothing. She always tried, though, and she always failed. No one ever gave her anything. That was the point. She was their gateway into the rumor circus, and thus needed to be managed the same as any other source.

“I can’t believe this is happening to Tyell,” Missy said as they waited for their coffees to come up.

“Yeah, you’re a fan of hers, right?” Max asked.

Missy smiled. “Yeah, like crazy. I’ve got all her albums. Really liked her film too.”

Everyone in the office knew Missy was a big fan. She was always listening to her on the headphones. Now Max wondered if she had listening to been listening to Tyell this morning while they looked at the nude photo.

They finally received their respective coffees, and together the three walked outside to let Missy smoke her e-cigarette. The morning’s sun shone bright. It was going to be a beautiful day. A shame that they would all spend it inside, basking in the warm glow of their screens. Max would much rather be sitting on a beach somewhere.

“Can I ask a question?” Madison asked. Her voice was still quiet and shaky. She still lacked the confidence she needed to really prove she was learning everything.

“Fire away,” Max said while Missy drew another breath of vapor.

“How are the images that this guy posted so clear?” she asked. “From what you have both been saying all morning, it was shot from a delivery drone. But aren’t all drone cameras low-definition by law? I mean, that’s what I’ve always been told.”

Max and Missy looked at each other and smiled, but tried not to laugh at their innocent intern. It was a good question, though, probably the best Madison had asked since joining their team. But it showed how little she knew, and how little she listened.

“Drones are required to use low-definition cameras, yes,” Max said, trying to affirm her at least a little, “but everyone knows they then use software to turn the images into HD ones. They need to use the low-def to fly so that the pilot software can process everything in real time, but with the right camera and software, the feed can be turned into HD after the flight. It’s meant to help them fix any software bugs.”

Madison’s eyes went a little wider for a moment. It was a piece of genius, really. Everyone did it, but no one really talked about it. Anything private, copyrighted, or illegal caught in the low-def feed was never meant to be converted, but it all was. It was easier that way. Then people like Dale ran the feeds through various software, looking for things to strip out. That was probably how he’d found Tyell and got access to all of the footage. He just copied everything across, hoping he got enough for Max to pay what he did. Dale had probably thrown a few extra things on there too, but it wouldn’t have been anything Max was interested in.

“Kind of crazy, isn’t it?” Missy said in follow-up. “They can just find an image of you and convert it. Any drone can do it with the right equipment. You just have to find the right celebrity, even if it is your favorite one!”

Madison looked at Missy. “And are you okay with doing this to her? I mean, you’re a big fan.”

Missy took another drag and then blew it out through pinched lips. “Mm, I wasn’t a huge fan of the squeaky-clean image anyway. She’s been getting a little religious and preachy for me recently. Anyway, I always knew this might happen. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

Max raised his eyebrows. “Wait a second,” he said. “You thought this might happen?”

Missy shrugged. “Sure. I mean, she has managed her image so perfectly for so long. She’s gone the other way compared to most of the Disney child stars now her age. But a sex tape, especially after that story last month and the interview last week—this is incredible. The timing is crazy.”

Max couldn’t help but smile. This was the big thing that he’d been counting on for the money. Missy had been the one who told him that Tyell had been at a rally in Georgia when she announced she wouldn’t have sex before marriage. Missy really knew Tyell well. It was the kind of knowledge that you had to acquire over a long time.

“Here’s a crazy idea,” Max said, surprising himself a little. “Missy, why don’t you present to Martha?”

The idea popped into Max’s head as he said it. Missy’s knowledge of Tyell would enable her to give a great presentation. It was also time for her to be stepping up to the plate a little. She wanted to go for a promotion to senior analyst next year, and this would be the perfect opportunity.

Missy’s big dark eyes lit up like fireworks. “You serious?”

“Yeah, I’m serious,” replied Max, trying to reassure himself of the impulse decision. “I’m going to get so stuck on the technical side, I’m not going to have any time for pulling together the presentation. Let’s just go through it beforehand, but you take the lead and build the deck. It will give me more time to focus on the technical work.”

Nodding, Missy smiled ear to ear as she embraced the suggestion. Max and Missy spent the rest of their short break discussing the details of the presentation. Madison just stood there the whole time, looking like the proverbial deer in the headlights. A shame she wasn’t as fast on the uptake as some of the other interns.

On the way back up Max spotted Callie doing cold calling. It was a crappy job, calling the random people loosely associated with the case. Nothing ever good came from it, hence why the interns were assigned it. James, another intern, sat next to Callie, looking bored out of his mind as he dialed away. It was always the case with that soul-crushing task. But Callie was doing her best to look lively and interested. Another good move on her part.

“Max, Missy,” Kate called out as soon as they got back to their desks. She stood there outside her door, waiting with Penny from the writing team. “You have any idea where the place is yet?”

“Not yet,” Max said. “What’s up?”

“Her agent just got back to us. They’ve sent information that supposedly proves the photos are fakes.”

Max and Missy both laughed, loud and hard.

“Not a chance, Kate,” Max said between breaths.

“You sure?” she replied.

Max looked at Missy. “You’re the one in the lead today, so do you want take her through the details, or should I?”

Kate shot Max an angry look that said she wasn’t sure about Missy leading on it. Max returned the look with a “Trust me” nod and so Kate turned her attention to Missy.

A moment later they all sat around Missy’s computer as she walked Kate and Penny through the details of the photo. Missy clearly was keen to prove herself, and Max was quietly proud of how well she explained it all. The small skin blemishes on Tyell’s right shoulder were the key to the first image. Consistency, skin tone, and blemishes, as well as angles, were the keys to understanding an image in their field of work.

Penny ran off as soon as they were done. She had to get something up on the site fast. Minutes were big dollars. Sarah would have advertisers tripping over each other by now. Every new piece of news, every new article helped make the money that paid the bills. Each one gave Martha more reason to bid.

Max used the moment to break the news to Kate that Missy was going to do the presentation. At that, Kate smiled at Missy and said it was a good idea. Then Kate returned to her office, and Max and Missy turned back to their work. They still had many more hours ahead of them and the backlog was piling up. Fifteen minutes later Kate pulled them off the images they were working on to do something for Michael. His team had a bunch of stuff on the guy and they needed someone to look at it. So Max and Missy did. It was all useless, though. Max had made sure there was not enough on the guy for anything important to leak. But he looked all the same. It was another good test to see if he was as good as he thought he was. But he had chosen the two stills well. Whoever the guy was, no one, not even the team at the office, would be able to guess it. If they couldn’t do it, then no one else could either.

They were almost done when Kate poked her head out of the office.

“Max, you got a sec?” she asked while signaling for him to come in.

He nodded, knowing it was time to defend the Missy presentation decision.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Max jumped on the front foot. “Look, I know what you’re going to say, but Missy is perfect to be the one presenting on this.”

“It’s not about that. I agree with you, anyway. I need something else. Outside of Jack, you’ve got another contact at MCW, right?”

He did, but it was only one. And it was someone who did not want to talk with him.

“What’s wrong with Jack?” he asked, afraid of what she was going to say.

“Jack’s stopped answering his phone. I spoke with him at three this morning, but I’ve heard nothing since. He’s normally really good at getting back to me, especially when it’s this type of case. MCW is being really funny about something, so we need another way in. Can you give your guy a call and see what’s going on over there?”

Max stood frozen for a second, and Kate must have read his mind.

“What is it?” she asked, looking almost afraid about the answer he might give.

He looked down at the floor. “Well … the only other person I still have a number for is Rachael.”

Kate sighed as she shook her head. “I told you not to burn that bridge. But … whatever. I still need you to call her. Find out where Jack is. We need to know if they’re working with other buyers already. Just be professional and I’m sure it will be fine.”

Kate didn’t know Rachael like Max did. This was not a phone call he wanted to make. But this was work and work came above personal issues. Max had not spoken to Rachael since the DJ Youhay saga. As far as he’d been concerned, the end of that case meant the end of the relationship, especially with the way that one ended. Rachael hadn’t seen it that way, though. Max had moved on; she hadn’t.

He found a quiet corner of the office and pulled out his iPhone. He pulled up Rachael in his Contacts list and just stared for a moment at her profile picture. He remembered taking it the morning after they’d first gotten together. They had stayed at her place. He loved the way her red hair looked in the morning.

Sighing, he pressed the green Call button and stared out the window. The morning sun beamed off the glass buildings around him as he pressed the ringing phone to his ear, waiting for the inevitable. And then the ringing stopped.

“What?” said the suspicious voice on the other end.

Max actually felt a little surprised she even answered. “Hey, Rach, it’s Max.”

“I’ve got caller ID, dipshit. Wha’cha want?”

“How’s your morning doing?”

“What the fuck do you think?” she fired back. “You think just because Jack’s gone MIA, you can just call me up! Do you know how many fucking people are trying to get hold of him right now? I wish I could say ‘Go fuck yourself,’ but I’ve been asked to take any call from your company. So what the fuck do you want?”

She always swore when she was angry, but Max didn’t care at this point. He had what he needed, so he couldn’t help but stir the pot a little.

“Nothing, just called up to say hi,” he said cheerfully.

The call went dead. Max had a little chuckle. The call went better than he had expected. He had what he needed, after all.

Returning to his desk, he sat back down with a smile on his face.

“And?” said Kate, appearing out of nowhere and standing over him. “Please tell me you spoke with her.”

“Jack Harper is MIA,” Max said casually. He enjoyed these moments. “No one’s seen or heard from him for a while. There are other people trying to get a hold of him too, so it’s likely others are involved. You can take over and give Rachael a call, though. She’ll talk to you. Sounds like she’s been ordered to take over in his absence, and there is no way she is taking another call from me.”

Kate let out a happy sigh. “Thanks, Max. I know that probably wasn’t pleasant for you. What’s her number?”

Max couldn’t help but smile as he wrote it down on a small scrap of paper. As he handed it to Kate, her phone sprung to life. She held it at arm’s length a moment, looking almost surprised.

“It’s Jack,” she said to no one.

Max went to say something, but Kate held up her hand and walked to her office. He watched her for a moment as she listened, occasionally offering a brief response. He couldn’t help but wonder what Jack was doing. It was unlike him to go MIA on a case. Max had only seen the one email from him this morning. That might mean that Jack was working another story. Something bigger. That worried Max.

And that made Max realize he had to pretend to focus on his work. He had stuff to do if he wasn’t going to raise suspicions. So he turned back to his screen and opened the image of Tyell with the guy. It looked so much more amazing on the larger screen compared to his laptop.

Max looked at the photo and started to pull it to pieces. He compared it to all the potential men that James’s team had sent through. Max was still intrigued about who the guy actually was. He had been running his own facial-recognition software at home, but then got interrupted and never did get to check it, so it was still a mystery to be solved. If there were any issues with the software, James’s short list would be a useful resource if he needed it. But in the image he had posted of Tyell and the guy, no one would be able to gather nearly enough information to identify him. Max, of course, had other stills from the video to do that himself. But here at the office, he still had to try and put the pieces together from what he had in front of him. Dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s. He needed Martha to think nothing was outside the normal. Something else, though, was going on and it told Max that Martha would probably pay a high price. If all went well and if he played his cards right, the company Max worked for could be the very one that ended up being the highest bidder. Then it would be truly funny. Then he really could go and sit on a beach.

Max looked back at Kate, whose face no longer showed a mix of excitement and business. Now it looked far too serious. Max clenched his jaw. Something was not right.

Max hoped it wasn’t another story. Jack would occasionally do something like that. Disappear and come back with a big story. But that was exactly what Max didn’t want to happen today. It would take all the attention away from Tyell. It would split the company’s resources. Split the readers. Split the money.

Max couldn’t help feeling a ping of guilt. After all the hassle of the Bubber, Marshall, and Price stories, he knew that this would burn someone at the company. But that was the industry. People were burnt and buried all the time. All you could do was hope your number never came up.

He tried not to be obvious as he watched Kate pull the phone from her ear and then slowly open the door.

“You okay, Kate?” Missy asked.

Kate looked pale and more than a little shaken. Whatever Jack had just told her, it was big. Max braced himself for the news of another story.

“That was the police,” Kate said quietly. “I was the last person to talk to Jack.” She looked from Missy to Max. “Jack’s been in an accident, Max. He’s in the hospital and has been listed as critical.”

Max just blinked as silence fell over the group. Everyone within earshot suddenly turned toward Kate.

“What happened?” was all Max could say.

“A delivery drone fell out of the sky and hit him,” she said.

The news hit Max like a cold slap in the face. Everyone there knew that it was no accident. Strict safety protocols prevented things like that. The memory of Dale’s warning sprang to mind. The hacked email was only the beginning. Most people must have thought it was a rogue drone, sent out by some crazed fan, but Max knew more. He knew someone must have hacked it.

Whoever this hacker was, not only was he good, but he was also willing to kill.