“So it’s about Jodie,” she said in a low voice as soon as he closed the door.
“Yes.” Jacob indicated for her to take his chair and perched himself on a small ottoman littered with junk mail. Resting his elbows on his knees, he relayed his conversation with Elizabeth to Rebecca.
Rebecca’s lips were thin through the story, and when Jacob finished, she said, “Oh yeah, I’m with the agent. She’s your mole.”
Jacob sank forward, his disbelief rolling the rest of the way over into disappointment and a nest of more complicated feelings. It did seem she was the most likely candidate, once he told the story out loud. “So what do I do? Just confront her? Her grandfather?”
“No, not without a plan. Let me put one of the interns on this, scouring social media and archives for threads to solidly link her before you say a word. Rasul’s got a case here, if he wants it, of libel and harassment. Do you know if anyone doxed him?”
Jacob started to say no, then paused. “There was this one user I always thought might be local. Truthseeker98. At one point they took a photo of the exterior of the bookstore and used it as the image for a long post ranting about how this is where I lived and, according to them, made up my lies about my relationship with Rasul.”
“Well, that’s tougher because I’m pretty sure you’ve publicly stated in print that you live above the bookstore. If she said Rasul lived here, that’d be another story. But don’t worry about it, because my team will find what we need. They always do.” She stood and patted his shoulder as he rose as well. “Give me twenty-four hours and I’ll know how to best approach Jodie and whether or not we should bring her grandfather in right away, or maybe skip to him entirely.”
“Thanks.” Wiping his hand over his face, Jacob swallowed a sigh and opened the door to his office.
Jodie, tears streaming down her face, stood with her head bowed on the other side.
Rebecca quietly caught Jacob’s forearm, her entire being telegraphing don’t say a word to him.
“I h-heard you through the door. I’m sorry.” Jodie’s voice was a whisper. “I’m so sorry.”
Though Jacob remained frozen, Rebecca sprang into action. She glanced around as she gestured at him. “Go sweep the store, make sure it’s empty. Jodie, you come sit over here with me.”
Jacob’s heart beat in his ears as he brushed through the stacks upstairs and down. His mind kept trying to race ahead to predict what was going to happen, but he couldn’t do it. Once everything was clear, he locked the door and joined Rebecca and Jodie in the seating area. Jodie was seated in the straight-backed chair in front of the fireplace, and Rebecca sat to the side in the overstuffed chair, so Jacob defaulted to the love seat across from Jodie.
As soon as Jacob was settled, Rebecca leaned forward, all her focus on Jodie. “Tell us what you’re sorry for, Jodie.”
She’d been sniffling the whole time Jacob checked the store, but with this one question, she shifted to full-on sobbing. “I didn’t mean to h-hurt anyone. I-I’ve been an Ad-dinastan for y-years. I w-wanted to be just l-like her. And I h-heard you and Mr. Youssef say it was a fake relationship.”
Jacob sat up straighter. “You did?”
She nodded. “I thought it was unfair to her, so I told her. She—she was so nice to me. Asked if I could h-help, so I did.” She wiped at her eyes.
“But Jodie, we are dating. We have been for a long time.”
“I know.” She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. Jacob passed her some tissues and she blew her nose before continuing. “I realized it and I didn’t know what to do. I told myself it was okay, that he was cheating, because if I told the truth, people would stop paying attention to me.”
Jacob stilled. You threw hot coals at my lover’s mental health and his career because those things are less important than a D-list celebrity noticing you? God, this was as bad as Elizabeth had said. Maybe worse.
What’s a little betrayal or destruction of someone’s career when something you want lies in front of you?
Something cold and quiet formed in the pit of Jacob’s stomach.
Jodie dabbed at her eyes, which were still full of tears. “You don’t understand. It’s so hard to get noticed these days, and scandals are the best way to change that. I was already thinking, though, that maybe things had gone too far. The problem was before I could get myself to stop, my g-grandpa saw me DMing Adina.”
Still reeling from the casualness with which this girl—a girl he thought was so innocent—used another human being as a lever to get a few clicks, Jacob needed a second to realize Jodie was about to deliver the connection Rebecca had wanted to hunt down.
Rebecca, way ahead of him, pressed on. “And Les Clark told you to continue?”
Jodie nodded miserably. “I felt weird about it, but it was my grandpa. I didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe it was going to die on its own. But I think he’s been talking to her without me.” She started sobbing again. “I d-didn’t mean to make Mr. Y-Youssef so depressed. I just wanted the attention. She said she’d make me famous.” The tears started up again. “I’m sorry I said those mean things to you, about Rasul, sorry for all of it. I know you’re going to fire me now, and I deserve it. I deserve everything I’m going to get.”
Jacob’s fists clenched on his thighs. Oh, how nice of her to agree to being fired, and how adorable she thought this would be enough compensation. As if losing a job she didn’t need was enough to make up for the devastation this meant to Rasul. As if she could truly sit there and meekly wait for her punishment instead of stepping forward to take care of this in any way. Couldn’t she at least quit and keep him out of it?
Setting his jaw, he faced her with arms folded over his chest.
Rebecca, however, remained calm, sounding almost motherly. “Jodie. Look at me, please.”
She did as Rebecca asked, wiping furiously at her eyes.
Rebecca smiled the kindest smile Jacob had ever seen. “Are you willing to fix the mess you’ve made?”
Jodie nodded vigorously, reaching out to catch Rebecca’s hand. “Yes, I want to fix this. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Good.” Rebecca patted Jodie’s hand, then sat back. A tiny glint formed in her eye. “You’re going to confess what you did, and what your grandfather did.” When Jodie hesitated, Rebecca’s gentle smile turned sharp. “Here’s the thing, Jodie. You and your grandfather did significant damage to a man’s life. It’s a serious situation, with a lot of legal liability I don’t think either you or Mr. Clark took fully into account. But honestly, at this point I should talk first to your parents and your grandfather. You’re still seventeen, right?” As Jodie paled, Rebecca’s teeth appeared in her smile. “Ah, that’s right, it was your birthday last month. You’re eighteen now.”
Jodie pushed to her feet, shoulders and arms rigid as she did her best to loom over Rebecca and Jacob. “It was a mistake! I said I was sorry! I said you could fire me! Isn’t that enough? What more do you want from me?”
Rebecca blinked at her as if she were quite surprised. “You said just a minute ago you’d do whatever it takes. We both heard you. Right, Jacob?”