Chapter 21

21

H olden had known all along that he would return to New York someday. Just not under these circumstances. As the Manhattan skyline came into sight, he wondered what the outcome would be and if he— or Madison —would walk away with the rights to his novel.

He was glad he had Finley by his side for what lay ahead. She looked out the window now, and he pointed out a few sights to her, trying to remember what he felt the first time he flew into the Big Apple. This was her first trip here, and he hoped they could clear up this situation with Madison so he could enjoy free time here with her.

"It's… enormous," she said, wonder in her voice. "And just beautiful. I love the Hill Country. It's a part of my soul, but this urban beauty also speaks to me. I wish I'd brought my camera with me. At least I can take pictures with my phone."

She turned to him, squeezing his hand. "I'm sorry. I sound like an over-eager tourist when we're here for a very serious matter."

"I understand. I know how excited and overwhelmed I was to see Manhattan for the first time. I don't want to take any of that experience away from you."

"Did you get a lot of work done?"

They had only had a few hours of sleep when they reached their airport hotel in San Antonio. While they waited at the gate and for most of this flight, Holden had continued reading through and tweaking Inside Threat . He was almost three-quarters of the way through the manuscript now, and he'd be damned if Madison Parmalee got credit for his hard work.

"I did."

They landed and disembarked, collecting their bags. Once they had those in hand, they searched and found a man holding up a sign with Holden's name, and he confirmed his identity to the driver, who took their luggage. The only thing Holden kept was his laptop bag.

The driver escorted them to a large town car and stored their luggage, telling them that he would swing by Mr. McGill's office and pick him up before heading to the law offices.

As they drove along the FDR, Holden pointed out various places to Finley.

"You know this city well," she said. "Maybe next fall we can take a belated honeymoon trip here. After the filming ends and I've shot all my senior portraits."

He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed her fingers. "Wherever you want to go."

Holden needed to keep things in perspective. Yes, there was this mess with Madison, but he had an excellent team in place to help him in the fight to reclaim his work. In the meantime, he had a wonderful life waiting for him in Lost Creek. Marriage to Finley. New friends and family who had taken him in as their own. A house to buy and a thriving career. Whatever the outcome regarding Inside Threat , he couldn't let any bitterness tinge the happiness he now felt and the life he would lead in the future.

When they got close, the driver texted Evan McGill, and his agent and assistant were waiting for them when they pulled up in front of the building. The pair got into the town car, and Holden introduced Finley to Evan and Delphine.

"I can see why Holden wants to stay in Texas now," the agent said, not bothering to hide his smile.

"Thank you for jumping on this so quickly," he told his friend. "I still can't believe that Madison would do something like this and think she could get away with it."

Evan shook his head. "And I can't believe you're having trouble with that fact. I told you from the beginning that she was bad news and a user from the first time you introduced us. Don't worry. By the time Rutherford Baxter is finished with her, Madison Parmalee will be done in the publishing industry."

Normally, he wasn't a vindictive type, but Holden wanted Madison punished as fully as possible for stealing his work and trying to pass it off as her own.

"Once we're dropped off, Delphine will check you into The Plaza, so don't worry about your luggage."

"Thank you, Evan," Finley said. "You've been very thoughtful."

"Holden isn't just one of my top clients," Evan said. "He's a friend. I'll go to the mat for him."

They arrived at the law offices, and the agent escorted them to the fifty-seventh floor, where they were immediately greeted and taken to a large conference room. Bottles of water awaited them, and the assistant asked if they would also like coffee or tea brought in. Everyone passed and moments later, three people entered the room.

Rutherford Baxter introduced himself and another IP attorney, Leo Turner, as well as his assistant, who would take notes and manage any administrative duties.

"I hadn't read either of your published novels, Holden, but I read several chapters of each last night, simply to get the flavor of your writing," Baxter told him. "Then I read the first thirty pages of the manuscript for Inside Threat . Clearly, you have a certain style. The first and third books, both being political thrillers, are very similar in tone, while your murder mystery still has echoes of your style and use of language."

He turned to Leo Turner, who said, "I input the manuscripts into a few AI programs, and they concluded the same thing, noting your phrasing and tone and other similarities. That establishes a baseline for us as to the kind of writer you are and the type of work you produce."

Holden had stayed away from AI, not even using Grammarly, an AI program which looked over a person's documents and social media posts to make certain they read clearly and effectively and were mistake-free. He preferred finding his own spelling and grammatical errors and those he didn't, he left to his agent, editor, and proofreader.

"We've contacted several professors in Iowa, ones who you and Miss Parmalee both took courses from," Leo continued. "Since the culmination of the workshop program requires submission of a creative thesis before awarding a Master of Fine Arts degree, the school had a record of both your novel and Miss Parmalee's. We were able to obtain a copy of hers. Dr. Ingram will also fly in tomorrow to meet with us and make himself available on Friday if we need him at our conference."

"I remember the novel Madison wrote and submitted," he said. "It was a women's fiction piece."

Baxter gave a barracuda smile. "Yes, it was. We also analyzed her writing via AI. Obviously, her style was nothing remotely similar to yours."

"I just wonder how much she changed Inside Threat before submitting it to Winston," he wondered aloud. "I wish we could get a copy of that."

"It's going to read like your work, Holden," Leo assured him. "Even if Madison did change a few things, your fingerprints will be all over it. One of our investigators has discovered that Madison's agent submitted Assassination Games to Winston Press three days after you left the brownstone."

"She wouldn't have had time to change much then," he remarked, feeling hopeful. "Does Madison know what's coming?"

"She's going to have an idea," the lead attorney said. "Both Vincent Winston and Amanda Sommers are meeting with us on Friday morning, and we've requested that Miss Parmalee also be in attendance. They know what I do. I would think by now, Miss Parmalee and her submission is under great scrutiny by both SGR and Winston Press."

"She'll be defensive," Holden predicted. "And prepared. Madison has always been meticulous. She'll do everything in her power to make it appear that it was her work that I stole and not the other way around."

"Can you elaborate on anything you read of hers?" Leo asked. "Beyond what we read? Anything about the content or style?"

"Madison started three different novels during our time together. Evan wouldn't take her on as a client, so she went through a few agents. I can give their names to you."

He did so, and Baxter quickly called the investigator, providing the names to him.

"Tell us about what you read," Leo urged.

"She never finished any of these three novels that I know of. One was about a women's book club. Another was about a women divorcing her high school sweetheart after twenty years of marriage and trying to find herself. The last one was centered around a mother and daughter spending a summer together at their beach house on Nantucket. Madison jumped around a lot. She has ADHD and takes meds in order to help her focus."

Baxter made a note on the legal pad in front of him.

"After a while," he continued, "Madison no longer shared any of her writing with me. I knew she was experiencing a lot of self-doubt. Her doubt was reinforced by the success I was going through. After the movie version of Capitol Crimes came out, she never let me read anything else of hers."

"When was that?" Leo asked.

Holden shared the date and then said, "Madison told me she was writing every day. I worked from the brownstone we lived in, and she would leave, being gone for hours at a time. She took her laptop with her, and I would ask her every time she came home how the writing had gone. She was pretty tight-lipped."

"Let's go back to your pattern regarding writing," Baxter said. "Walk me through that again. I want to make certain we're perfectly clear about your process."

"I keep everything in a folder with the name of the book. Title is always the first thing I come up with. I add a variety of blurbs to that folder. What I call the full-blown blurb for the book's jacket, along with a metadata blur of a hundred words or less. Then I have the elevator pitch blurb, which runs between twenty and twenty-five words. Along with those, I create character sketches and then an outline, which are also placed into that folder. Then there's the actual manuscript itself. I don't keep all the drafts of the story, though. I work from the original, adding scenes and chapters as I go along each time. I save that doc daily."

He paused. "I would send Madison the word doc of the manuscript about every five chapters or so, getting her input She's the only person who had eyes on the work."

Baxter prompted, "You told us yesterday that you always email yourself a copy of that day's progress."

"Yes, that's right. Once I email the current version to myself, I delete the one from the previous day."

"Could you leave your laptop with us overnight, Holden?" Leo asked. "Our tech expert can pull all your emails and any files off it we need. I assure you we'll take excellent care of it."

"I'm happy to do so. Whatever will help."

He slid the laptop across the conference room table, and Leo excused himself, taking the laptop with him.

"I think we have everything we need from you, "Rutherford Baxter assured him.

"Will you need us tomorrow?" Holden asked.

"I don't believe so," the attorney said. "Between interviewing Dr. Ingram and getting all the massive documentation printed out and those ducks in a row, we have a strong case to present to Vincent Winston. If we need anything else from you, I'll give you a call. For now, consider yourself free all day tomorrow. I would like you in the offices by eight-thirty on Friday morning, however. That way, we can go over anything additional that we need to."

Everyone rose, and Holden shook the lawyer's hand. "Thank you for what you're doing for me, Rutherford."

Baxter chuckled. "You'll get my bill, Holden. You'll be appalled at how much it is, but I'm the best IP and copyright attorney in this city. Probably the entire country. And after you sell Inside Threat —both the book and movie rights—my fee will seem like a pittance."

At the elevator, Evan texted the driver to meet them downstairs and then said, "Baxter's right about the bill. It'll be sky-high, but I'll split it with you, Holden. I have my own investment in Inside Threat."

"No," he said firmly. "Madison was my partner. I'm the one responsible for giving her a copy of the manuscript. She's the one who took it upon herself to steal it and claim it as her own. It's an expensive lesson. One I'll never repeat again. I'm also going to start putting you on my daily email to myself when I send that day's pages. You just have to promise not to read it."

Evan chuckled. "I can do that."

His fingers found Finley's and took them as they entered the elevator, needing her assurance.

They dropped Evan at his office, and then the driver took them to The Plaza, giving them the key card which Delphine had passed along to him.

As they entered the lavish hotel, Finley's eyes widened. "I've seen this place in so many movies. I can't wait to see what our room looks like."

They went upstairs and found their luggage waiting for them in their suite. Finley went to stand next to the floor to ceiling window and Holden joined her, wrapping his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. They stared out at Central Park.

"I'm starved," he told her. "Do you like Chinese food?"

"I love it," she replied.

"Then let's head to a spot where I ate my first meal in Manhattan."

An hour later, they were dining on steamed shrimp dumplings, Peking duck, crispy string beans with minced pork, and fried rice.

Finley placed the last bite in her mouth. "You may have to give me an hour to recover. I'm so full, I don't know if I can stand." She yawned. "Sorry."

"It's been a long, exhausting day," he told her, paying the bill.

They returned to their room, the curtains still open, the New York skyline lit up before them. A part of the city would always seem like home to him, but already Holden itched for the wide-open spaces of the Hill Country.

He dropped a kiss on Finley's nape. "Let's get some sleep. I want to take you wherever you wish to go tomorrow."

Holden enveloped Finley in his arms, hoping by the time they left New York, everything would once again be on track.