A Drone over New York

Max used Kate’s bomb-drop about Jack as an excuse to grab some air. A million things raced through his mind on the long elevator ride down. He tried to blame the AC for making him feel cold. Someone, somewhere, had put everything together way too quickly. As soon as he got outside, he tried to call Dale. No answer. It just went straight to voicemail.

Max hung up and threw his head back in despair.

All the memories of the Marshall story came flooding back. Zoe and Emma especially. No one had expected it so soon this time. This could be a real problem for him.

He fumbled with his phone and tried to send Dale an email. His thumbs struggled with the keyboard as he typed. Sweat started to bead on his forehead. The news was affecting him worse than he thought.

Max had just pressed the Send button when he spied Callie coming out of the main entrance. He knew instantly she was looking for him.

Callie waved a hand in his direction when she spotted him. “Max, Martha’s called another meeting,” she said. She seemed calm and was smiling—probably hadn’t realized what was going on.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Max said, trying to sound calm himself, but apparently doing a lousy job, because Callie just stared at him.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just felt a little queasy, so needed some air,” Max lied. “I’ll be there in a sec.”

Callie gave him an unsure look before she headed off to gather everyone else. This was all happening too fast. He anticipated some reprisal, sure, but nothing this soon. A million things started running through his head. Now that he had sent the warning to Dale, he needed to think about everyone at the office. More importantly he needed to think about himself.

Max’s mind flicked over to problem-solving mode. The one thing that stood out in all of this: only a select few people knew that Jack would be in direct contact with the source. For it to be a fan making the connection, it was way too fast, way too specific, and way too serious.

His first thought of a hacker still lingered. He tried to tell himself even a skilled hacker wouldn’t have the diverse range of skills to hack Dale and then a drone in such a short time.

It had to be an unrelated story.

That knowledge settled Max a little. Not too much, but just enough to make his hands stop twitching and return a little warmth to his face. Max tried to tell himself that Jack could still be okay. He was in the hospital now. His company insurance would look after him. He would pull through.

Whatever the cause of the accident was, it would bring about extra security measures for everyone. It meant that Jack’s friends and coworkers would be safe. No one else would get hurt. It also meant the price Max could get would skyrocket. He could get his payday and no one would be the wiser.

He reached his natural conclusion that what happened to Jack was either a real accident or was related to another story. After all, he didn’t know any of the details yet.

Knowing he couldn’t be away for too long, he headed back inside to join the others.

As soon as the elevator door opened on his floor, Max could feel the tension in the air. People stood around the office, huddled together, whispering and murmuring. The news had spread like wildfire. For a company that worked on gossip, rumors already seemed to be flying.

Max tried to ignore it and remained silent. Adding to it would only make him feel worse. Callie was busy herding the various groups into the meeting room. Her tone had changed somewhat from a few minutes ago.

Carefully trying to calm his mind, Max walked alone toward the meeting. He needed to be professional. He needed to push past this. Focus on the day ahead. Kate and Martha would be watching him now. Depending on him to help put the pieces together.

The familiarity of the all-hands meeting somehow calmed Max as he entered the room for the second time that day. The mood, though, definitely felt more somber than the first time in the dark of the early morning, but Max had been through this type of meeting before. “Familiarity breeds calmness” was a lesson he’d learned from an old pro.

This time around, Martha stood at the head of the table rather than sat. She appeared calm. Authoritative. This was the reason why she was CEO.

“Attention please,” she called out.

She only needed to say it once. All the nervous eyes turned in her direction.

“Everyone, sorry to pull you off your work, but there has been a recent development that I need to tell you. I know a few of you remember Jack Harper. Sadly we have just been informed that he was involved in a major drone accident about an hour ago.”

Hearing Martha say those words hit Max like a sledgehammer in the gut. All he could do was ask himself the usual questions: Why Jack? What was he mixed up in this time? And how could they have found him so quickly? This was way too fast. The news had only just broken. It couldn’t be related to the Tyell story.

Everyone sounded shocked, and a panicked mummer rose through the room. It was only confirming what people already knew, but hearing the CEO say it was like admitting a secret that no one wanted to say.

“Quiet please,” Martha said. “We don’t have a lot of details yet, but he is currently in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery. I have already offered our support to him and his wife should they need it. I know a few of you know him. He’s a great man, and a damn good investigative journalist. However, as he himself likes to say, the world continues to spin and the story must be told. We are sitting on the biggest story of the year. Given this development and historical events, in the interest of everyone’s safety, I think it would be best if we send a few people home.”

Another murmur went through the crowd.

“Sorry to do this to you,” Martha called out over the noise, “but right now, I need only the people working directly on the Tyell case to be here. So if Michael, James, Kate, Penny, or Sarah don’t have you on their team, I think it is best if you leave the office immediately and work from home until further notice.”

An uneasy silence met this announcement—the memories of Emma and Zoe front of mind for anyone who had been there long enough to remember. It took a moment before about half a dozen people realized they were being kicked out. Eventually someone got the hint and started toward the door. Tom, from HR, told all the interns it meant them too.

Max, though, remained only half aware of what was going on around him. He just couldn’t believe it was happening. But if Martha had called this meeting, then she must think it all connected.

“Callie,” called out Michael above the buzz. It pulled Max’s attention back to the room.

“Not you,” Michael said to his intern. “I think I’m going to need you here.”

Callie smiled and resumed her standing place against the wall. Once there, she shot a glance in Max’s direction. She had the tiniest of smug little smiles. That little bit of proactivity on her part had paid off. Max’s eye now caught Madison’s. She gave him the hopeful look that every intern showed when they wanted to be needed, but Max could only shake his head. He was about to get buried in technical work and Missy needed no distractions. A few of the other interns tried to hover briefly, waiting to see if their name would be called. They weren’t, and Martha was getting a little impatient. So they shuffled out, giving Callie minor death stares. She would have a few new enemies now. But enemies were the price of success.

Martha waited for everyone to clear out and the door to close before continuing.

“For those of you here, I have contacted Jim, who will again be organizing our security. I know you know the drill, but I am going to tell you anyway. He will ask that we all please be extra diligent with regard to both your personal safety and our building security. Please make sure you carry your security card at all times. If you see or hear anything out of place or unusual, report it immediately. If anyone has anything specific or personal to discuss with me, please see me after this meeting. My door is always open to you. We’ve all been through this before, so I know you are going to do a good job. But now that it is just us, let’s not forget that promise we made to each other. The old hands, please bring the newer people up to speed. If you want to go to the hospital and see Jack once he’s out of surgery and okay to have visitors, just let Jim know. I know a few of you were good friends with him when he worked here. Otherwise let’s get on with the job. We may have a celebrity to destroy today. Personally I can think of nothing better than burying her.”

A spontaneous clap rose through the room. This was the pep talk they needed. “Focus on what is in your control” was Jack’s old saying when he’d been here.

Whoever this antagonist was, he had just made a powerful enemy in Martha. She was going to stop at nothing until Tyell was in tatters. She had done this before, and was the best in the business at doing it.

Despite the sick feeling in his stomach, Max joined in the clapping. It felt good, actually. It made him forget about what had happened to Jack and to refocus on the story. That was the best thing he could do. If everything went to plan, he would be the one going over the footage once it was on the company servers. He would officially be involved in the case. If he made a few bucks in the meantime, Jack wouldn’t mind. He would probably have done the same.

Focus on the bid, and get the day job done. That was all that Max had to do.

The clapping died down and people began to file out again. Max decided to try and hold back. Ideally he wanted to chat to Martha about the case, to see if he could get an inside track on how much they were willing to bid.

Martha seemed to have no intentions to hang around, though, and walked out talking to Sarah. Max had missed his opportunity. He might have to come up with a reason to go and talk with her later. He knew if he said the right things, Martha would ensure she paid enough to get the footage.

Before he knew it, the last of the people had filed out, leaving him almost alone in the meeting room.

For some reason unknown to Max, Callie still remained as well.

“You okay?” she asked.

Max couldn’t help but ask himself what she was doing. She should be focused on following Michael, not him.

“Yeah,” he replied blankly, not really sure about the question.

“Do you know him?” she asked.

Max realized he must be still looking a little shell-shocked, and Callie was only trying to be nice.

Finally he nodded. “He used to work here,” he said, trying to make himself sound more reassuring. “He quit after what happened on the Marshall story. I appreciate your concern, but you need to get back to Michael.”

“Okay,” she said. “But real quick, can I ask you what might be a silly question?”

“Sure.”

“Everyone has been talking about the Marshall story since the news came in. What happened on it?”

Max had forgotten that she wasn’t here for the Marshall case. It was something Michael should have told her about because of all that had been going on today, but it seemed as though he hadn’t. Now it was up to Max.

“You remember the story when it broke, though, right?” Max asked.

She nodded. It was the story of the decade at the time. The personal information about James Marshall and the relationships he’d had with the other band members, especially their wives and girlfriends, was a gossip reporter’s dream. But it was the band’s reaction to the news that had made the story go big-time. Band members started publicly fighting among themselves, eventually causing the hard-rock group to break up. Their fans were fanatics, though. That was the real problem. It was all laid out for everyone to see. The fans’ reaction made the industry want to bury the band. It was not a widely known secret, but Callie needed to know what happened behind the story.

“You remember that it wasn’t just about the band, but also the fans,” Max said, feeling and sounding suddenly, and strangely, calm. “The fans of the band were not exactly thrilled with what was being said about them. The band cancelled their sellout tour. That was when things got messy.”

Everyone remembered the violence that followed. Chicago was the worst hit. The gig was cancelled only an hour before it was scheduled to begin. The city was a powder keg after the ProBlez empire went bust, so the riot went crazy. But it kept going. The violence went on for a month.

“Two of our team, Emma and Zoe, were coming back from some fieldwork upstate when they were attacked by gang of fans.”

“Oh my God,” Callie gasped. “Were they okay?”

Max shook his head. “It was nasty what happened to them. I mean, really bad. Both of them ended up in the hospital. They did stuff to them that was not very nice. Stuff I can’t really talk about. Emma even tried to commit suicide a week later.”

Saying the words made Max’s stomach plunge. He remembered it like it was yesterday. Jack had been driving the team hard on the case. Both Emma and Zoe had been really trying to impress him, just the same way Callie was trying to impress Michael. Emma had only been an intern, and this story could have put her on a great career path. Max had never been involved in the fieldwork team; instead he was always safe in the office, sitting hidden behind his computer. Max and Jack had been good friends up until Jack got promoted. It went to the guy’s head, and he started thinking he was better than everyone. Jack drove his team hard. Too hard. Max believed it was Jack’s fault that the girls were out there, unprepared. But he couldn’t say that. He also couldn’t say that he remembered when Jack made the decision. He had told Max over a beer. Jack didn’t want to send more security with them, but could have been talked into it. Max was there. He could have done it.

Suddenly Callie’s arms were around him. He didn’t understand why until he realized he was crying. He knew she was trying to do the right thing.

“Max?” called a soft voice as someone entered the room. It was Kate.

Max cleared his throat. “Hey, Kate,” he said as Callie let go of him. He rubbed his eyes, trying to hide his tears.

“You alright?” She must have seen Callie giving him a hug and thought something was wrong.

“Yeah, just explaining what happened on the Marshall story. The memory is still a little too fresh, I think.”

“I know you were good friends with him once,” Kate said. “Go home. We can take care of this.”

“If I go home, then the fans win,” Max said, suddenly feeling defiant. “Your words, Kate. You said that after we found out what happened to Emma and Zoe, remember?”

Kate gave a tight little smile. “Yeah, I remember.”

Shedding a few brief tears had somehow given Max nerves of steel. He needed to be here. He needed to be close to the office. Not just because of Jack, but to eliminate suspicion. He had no idea what he had set in motion. He needed to stay in control of things. He needed to know things that could only be found out if he was here, in the office. There was no backing out of it now. He would do everything he could to make this go viral. This could ruin Tyell’s career. The company had paid close to $2.5 million for the Marshall story, and Tyell was bigger than they ever were. Max had the skills to make it all happen.

The realization of the full size of the payday finally sunk in. This was going to be his ticket out. Somehow, just then, he decided to quit it all. He’d had enough, he decided, as he nodded at Kate and then Callie, and finally left the room.

As he sat back down at his desk, Max could feel everyone’s eyes on him. News had probably already spread about him crying, but it felt like something more. He tried to keep calm. He knew that they didn’t know he was the source. At least he hoped they didn’t. If so, then he’d be obliged to hand it all over with nothing more than a 10 percent bonus at the end of the year. He would get a pat on the back and told it was a job well done. Martha would probably even joke about the money she was willing to pay an outside source.

Max put his headphones on and went to work. He needed to focus on the job at hand. It would calm him down. It was going to be easy to proof his own material, but going through the motions allowed him to bury himself under the screen.

It must have been an hour before he noticed someone standing over the top of him. A tall shadow of an intimidating brunette meant it could only be one person: Martha.

Max removed his headphones and looked up at one of the most powerful people in their industry. Max had a sudden feeling she knew it was him.

“Hey,” she said in a quiet voice. “Kate told me you want to stick around today. I just wanted to pass by and say thanks. We need you on this case. If there is anything you need, just ask.”

He kept himself from showing his surprise. Martha rarely acted this nice to anyone.

“It’s all good,” Max said. “I just kind of want to bury myself in my work. Kate’s chatting to my ClarkenWells contact. I just want to find out if this is the real deal or not. If it is, I want to destroy her.”

The last part came out a little more bitter than Max had intended.

“Same,” replied Martha as she smiled and then disappeared.

It wasn’t often you had the CEO of your company ask if there was anything they could do for you. Rarer still was responding to the CEO with basically a “F-off and let me work.”

Headphones back on, Max checked the folder for the new images coming through. Missy needed help.

The late morning consisted of Max and Missy trawling through the websites, looking at fakes and the photos of all the potential suitors that Michael and James were working on—comparing each of them in turn, making note of the differences as they spiraled through the world wide web. It was a little bit of cat-and-mouse for Max. If he did it too quickly, it would look suspicious. If he was too slow, Kate would go nuts, and Missy might suspect something.

It was a grueling morning, but Max wouldn’t have it any other way. Kate was dealing with Rachael back and forth. Max found out that Kate quickly learned never to use speaker with Rachael.

Max didn’t know what time it was until Callie brought around sushi for everyone’s lunch. She even made sure she got some soft-shell crab California rolls. She smiled as she put them down on his desk. He had forgotten he’d told her about that.

Missy and Max decided to rest their eyes and eat in the break room. Kate, Ted, Callie, and a few others joined them. Soon they were all discussing what they had found that morning. The chase was on, and the hunters all eager to discuss their latest finds.

Out of nowhere Kate mentioned that the Marsden ClarkenWells team was talking to the original poster. Everyone leaned in, eager for any little snippet. Max did his best not to laugh. He hadn’t heard anything from Rachael yet.

It was 3:00 p.m. when he finally received an email from Marsden ClarkenWells to his dark web account. It had come from Jack’s email address. They must have hacked it. That was probably why they had taken so long. They probably thought Jack and the mystery seller would never have met in person. How little they really knew.

Max headed to the bathroom so he could reply with no one looking over his shoulder.

They were doing their best to pretend to be Jack, but were lacking his normal charm. They used the opportunity to introduce Rachael, who they said would coordinate their side of the buy.

The next email was from Rachael. She said she represented a buyer that offered $1 million for all the footage and exclusivity. Rachael didn’t really know what she was talking about. There were two other sites willing to pay almost that without exclusivity. He replied and told her as much. He knew his company had the deepest pockets in this field.

With the email sent, it was back to work and head down for the rest of the day.

When it was finally time to wind up and present their day’s work, Missy really seized the opportunity to walk Kate and Martha through their findings. They both still threw a few questions Max’s way, but he did his best to let Missy run with it. Her presentation skills had come a long way. He couldn’t help but smile a little. He was starting to feel that, when he finally cleared out, Missy would be able to step into his shoes nicely. He wasn’t sure why he cared about ensuring someone was there to take over for him, but somehow he couldn’t help it.

He did care about that place.