“So what do you want me to do?”
“It’d be great if you could come out and tell everyone that Tina and you are just coworkers, that there’s nothing going on between you two. And of course, then if you could fire her, just to definitely get rid of any doubts, that would be perfect.”
My blood ran cold when I heard Kiegan’s uncle speak about me and my job so coldly. What a fucking asshole.
“See, the problem is Uncle, is Tina’s pretty good publicity fodder. Plus on top of that, I kind of like her. She’s got a tight body, you know?”
“Oh, I do know Kiegan, I do.” Puke. I literally had to leave the room for a minute to gather myself. I wanted to throw up. “The thing is though, this isn’t some sort of normal celebrity thing. I’m running for President. Do you know what I could do, as the leader of this country? I could make you more famous than you could possibly imagine. More powerful. You’re a member of the Hunt family, you’re better than being celebrity gossip magazine material, you belong on the cover of Time.”
“Fine. You’re right, of course. But listen, there’s something I need to talk to you about, first.”
“Yes?”
“You have to understand just how much me breaking off this relationship with Tina is going to cost me. I mean, I don’t care about her at all, of course, but it’s such good publicity. The thing is, she told me about how you touched her when she was seventeen, and I think it would make a pretty good deal if you threw in some cash to compensate me for the future earning power I’ll be losing by getting rid of my paparazzi magnet.”
I held my breath. This was it. Kiegan had to get him to admit on the tape that he had touched me. This was the whole point of this. What he said next could make or break the entire plan.
The pause before Edward Hunt replied only lasted about five seconds. But in my head, it was an eternity. I could practically feel time slowing down as my breathing stopped and every ounce of my being concentrated on the tinny, metallic voice coming through the speaker on the other end of the phone.
“I… I don’t know where you got that idea from,” Edward Hunt replied. Still, he sounded rattled. I closed my eyes and tried not to relive what had happened. I focused on Kiegan’s reply.
“Tina told me.”
“Well, you know, people like that, they make things up.” Fuck, he wasn’t going for the bait. Kiegan shot me a look, as if to say ‘don’t worry, it’s ok’, but I knew it wasn’t. Everything hinged on him admitting on tape that he had touched me.
“Yeah, yeah, of course. Besides, you didn’t miss much anyway. She’s pretty frigid, you know.”
“Oh really? I would have figured someone like that, from that kind of family, she would have been all over you, hot for you and your money.”
“Nah, not at all. Cold as a dead fish. But you know, she has the cutest little birthmark, a little heart right on her hip.”
“Oh does she now?”
“Yeah. Still, that’s basically it. Anyway, I figured you’d have denied it, since I imagine that’s the last thing you want to have come out, but Tina gave me proof, so there’s no point in denying it.”
There was a laugh on the other end, but I could tell it was forced. This was good. Kiegan was good.
“Proof? What kind of proof?”
“I’m not going to tell you that. But let’s just say it involves her Macbook’s camera recording, and it doesn’t lie.”
There was silence on the other end of the line again. This time, it lasted a lot longer.
“Fine. Name your price, and I’ll pay it. But I want all the copies of that tape. I swear to God Kiegan, if you try and fuck me over with this, you’re going to be sorry.”
“Tell me, Uncle Ed. Was she frigid with you too, or was it just me?”
“She didn’t move at all. It was like she was frozen. I think she was scared. But to be honest, I liked it that way. Now, when and where are we meeting?”
Kiegan looked at me. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. Holy shit, it worked! It actually worked!
“Fuck you, Ed. There is no tape. Well, there wasn’t, anyway. But I’m recording this conversation, so consider your political career over you fucking creep.”
Kiegan had pressed the “end call” button before waiting for a reply from his Uncle. He pressed stop on the tape recorder, then replayed the conversation, just to be sure.
“Oh my God, you did it,” I muttered as his Uncle’s voice came over the speaker.
“We did it, Tina. I would have never known, never been able to do this without you.”
“Ok, well now we have the tape, now what?”
“Now we absolutely, completely and totally destroy the Hunt name. We send it to the media.”
“Are you sure?”