Amy turned her attention back to Tricia. This was usually the part of a scandal Amy enjoyed the most, the moment when the balance of power tipped back into her favor, the moment when she reigned in the chaos and started to set everything back into place. She had done it hundreds of times, and, as she let the silence sit thick between her and the reporter, Amy knew she’d pull it off again. The only problem was that this time Amy felt no excitement in fixing this crisis, only regret that she had helped cause it.
Staring at Tricia through the stale air, Amy looked her up and down. Tricia didn’t exactly look like the Jackson Hole type. In fact, she didn’t look all that different from Amy. She wore a pantsuit and had her hair up in a bun, and her designer glasses were much more sophisticated than her prose. She’d look perfectly in place in a New York boardroom or a DC committee meeting. So why was she wasting her time writing about Logan Harris? “I don’t think so,” Amy said. “My husband and I honeymooned here in the spring, perhaps we ran into each other then.”
“And what’s your husband’s name again?” Tricia asked, whipping out a notepad.
“I didn’t give his name, and this is all off the record, Ms. Tate.”
“Why is that? You might want to give a comment or two. This is going to be a big story when I’m done with it, a national story.”
“The Harris family isn’t thrilled with the story you ran on Logan, and they are prepared to make sure your site does no further harm to the family’s reputation.”
“If you think you’re going to intimidate me, you’ve picked the wrong girl,” Tricia said with a scoff. Normally, Amy would have enjoyed this challenge, but she only cared about ending this scandal before it got back to Ethan. She’d have to find another opportunity to play hardball.
“I’m actually here to offer you a job.”
Tricia laughed. “Yeah, right. Let me guess, digging my own grave?”
“A friend in LA has an opening on the staff of his online magazine. I can put in a good word. They’re always looking for young talent. I’m offering you an out.”
Trish tried to brush it off. “You’re really offering me a job? You’re kidding, right? There must be something more to this story.”
Amy pulled the contract out of her bag and handed it to Tricia. “I just need the originals of whatever photos and notes you have, and you’ll be free to go.” Amy reached back into her back and pulled out another file. “Or you can decide to play hardball. I have a cease and desist order already drafted for your blog, and a lawyer on standby to do the same for anyone else who chooses to share the photos. Like I said, I’m offering you a way to end this and still win. Trust me. I’m not in the mood to play games.”
“It’s funny. You still haven’t admitted that you’re the woman in the photos.”
“And I won’t.”
“Does your husband know? This whole thing could put his business deal in jeopardy.”
Tricia’s words hit Amy like a punch to the gut. “Who told you about that?”
“A good journalist always protects her sources. Of course, a good journalist also recognizes opportunities when she sees them.” Tricia reached into her bag and pulled out three hardcopy photos and an SD card. “You can have the story. It barely got any hits, a few blips here in Wyoming and, curiously, a few in Washington, DC.” Tricia smiled, signed the contract, got up from the booth and walked out of the diner.
There it was: a crisis averted, and Amy felt even worse than she had before. Tricia hadn’t deserved any reward for posting the pictures, and yet Amy gave it to her anyway. She felt like she was losing her edge. She felt like she was going soft. Maybe she wasn’t the hard-edged fixer everyone else thought she was. Maybe all that time with Ethan had really changed her. She motioned to the waitress before she realized that Tricia had stuck her with the bill.
Why was that so easy? Amy wondered. She looked down at the photos. She felt sick seeing the way she had leaned against Logan and the way she had looked at him. She could only imagine what Ethan would do if he saw the pictures. What if he had already seen the pictures? She felt a hard pit of panic deep in her stomach. She started searching the photos for some detail that would absolve her of any guilt.
The first two were complete busts. She could barely look at them. They were taken in the back room. Logan had his hand over her hip. He was turned at an angle that made it look like he was kissing her neck. Amy flipped the pictures over and focused on the third one. It wasn’t as bad. It was a picture of the two of them talking in the main room of the bar.