Raging Hard(141)
“I’m looking for a guest. Her name is Jessica Green.”
The concierge nodded. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give you her room number.”
“Could you call her for me?”
“Sure, that I can do. One moment.”
She dialed a number and handed me the phone. I took it, turning away as it rang. After a few seconds, Jess answered, her voice heavy with sleep.
“Yeah?”
“Jess, it’s me.”
“What?” she muttered.
“It’s Lincoln.”
“What do you want? I was asleep.”
I checked my watch. I had to admit, I was a little surprised that she turned in by midnight.
“I’m at the hotel. Can I come up?”
There was a long pause. I had to resist the urge to make sure she was still there. Finally, she said, “Fine. Room 237.”
I handed the phone back to the concierge and got into the elevator, riding it up a floor. It was annoying that I couldn’t take the stairs, but my legs always hurt the most at the end of the day.
Once there, I hobbled down the navy blue rug with concentric circles and designs all over it, probably made to confuse drunk people as much as possible. Hotel corridors always had a strange in-between feeling, like they weren’t exactly one place or another. Not exactly in the hotel, but not exactly out of it. Not a destination, but somewhere else.
I knocked on her door. A few seconds later, she pulled it open.
“Evening, ma’am,” I said.
She wore a loose sweatshirt and sweatpants and her hair was messed up from sleeping on it. “Why are you here?” she asked.
“Not going to invite me in?”
She sighed and moved aside, letting me enter. I quickly surveyed the place and grinned to myself.
It was an absolute wreck. Bags were half packed and clothes were thrown all over the place. Underwear was conspicuously piled in one corner. She clearly wasn’t interested in living an orderly existence.
“Neat,” I said.
“I hate living in hotels.” She sat down on the little guest couch, and I took the chair across from her, stretching my legs.
“Nobody does.”
“Okay. I’m asking one more time. Why are you here? Finally came to your senses?” She gave me a sly little smile
I laughed. “No, not that. Sorry. This is strictly business.”
“I figured. What’s going on? You’re not supposed to leave the house, right?”
“Do you like your boss, Jess?”
She blinked. “Cliff? He’s fine.”
“Fine? Cliff is a fucking asshole. We both know it.”
“Okay, yeah. He’s an asshole.”
“I want to end him.”
She stared at me for a second. “I can’t help you, Lincoln.”
I decided not to waste any time.
“Fifty thousand dollars,” I said.
She paused. “What about it?”
“You give me something I can use against him, and I’ll pay you fifty grand. Cash.”
She paused, looking thoughtful. “Why would I risk my relationship with Cliff for you?”
“Because you hate him. I’ve seen the way you react when he calls you up. Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”
“He’s hard to work with.”
“He’s impossible. And he treats you like garbage. I’ve done some digging on you, Jess, and you have a pretty damn good resume. You can get work anywhere you want.”
“Cliff has a reputation.”
“I understand that. But so do you.”
She leaned back, thinking it over. I knew that stroking her ego a little bit would probably do the trick, but the money was the clincher.
“Okay, say I do this. What happens with this documentary?”
“It’s yours, isn’t it?”
“Cliff is the money. He owns a stake, yeah, but not the full rights.”
“Okay. I’ll bankroll the documentary myself if he pulls out.”
She nodded. “Fine. I also want another interview with you and Aubrie.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“I want to talk about Brent. We need the footage of her discussing what happened, and it’ll look bad if we don’t get it.”
“Fine.” I sighed. I didn’t want to get Brie involved anymore, but an interview wasn’t bad.
“One last thing. Fifty grand isn’t even a year’s salary for me. I need more on top of you paying for the film if Cliff pulls out.”
A huge grin broke out across my face. I didn’t love that she was trying to get more money, but the fact that she was bargaining at all meant I had her.
“What’s your number, then?” I asked.
It didn’t take long after that. We talked for ten more minutes, hammering out the details, but she agreed faster than I expected. I figured there was something I didn’t know about, but that was a problem for another day.