Tessa said nothing.
“I have my finger on the Upload to YouTube button.”
“Yes, I’m going to do what you say.”
“Good.”
“I want that foul thing destroyed.”
“That can happen. Or it can trend number one in Google searches. It’s entirely up to you. I want you to do something for me. Are you ready to do it?”
“That depends on what it is.”
“Does it really? I mean, do you really think I’d make you do something you’d like less than that video?”
Tessa waited in silence.
“Here’s the deal. There’s a board of directors meeting coming up for Centurion Studios. You will attend, and you will vote your stock.”
“I don’t attend meetings. My husband has my proxy. He votes my stock.”
“A proxy is voided when the stockholder appears in person, as you will do. A man representing a corporate holding company will make a motion. You will vote your shares with him.”
“I won’t be at the meeting.”
“If you’re not at the meeting, your video will go viral.”
The phone clicked dead.
* * *
—
Tessa slapped as big a smile as she could muster on her face and hurried back to the set. “I’m sorry,” she said to Peter. “My mother was seeing a doctor, but everything’s all right. I’ve turned my phone off.”
Peter knew Tessa’s mother. His father, Stone Barrington, had been dating her when Tessa first came over from England to visit.
“Is it serious?”
“It could have been, but it’s fine. I know she doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“I thought Tessa was doing remarkable work under the circumstances,” Brad said.
Tessa forced a smile. Having to endure condescending faint praise from a no-talent star was almost more than she could bear. She took a breath and went back to work.
33
Teddy showed up during the next camera move. Tessa had time to drag him into her trailer and bring him up to date.
“So that’s what they want,” Teddy said.
“You don’t seem surprised.”
“I’m not. It had to be something of this nature. A few days ago I learned that Centurion stock was being bought up by several holding companies—I can’t prove it, but I suspect they represent one investor interested in a hostile takeover. They can’t buy your stock, but they want to force you to vote it with them.”
“So what do I do? I can’t attend the meeting and vote against Ben and Peter. It would be obvious something’s wrong.”
“Ben’s a good guy. Do you think he’d hold something that happened in college against you? Being filmed without your knowledge, for goodness sakes? Just tell him what’s going on.”
“I can’t. You didn’t see the DVD they sent me. It was awful. Horrible. I can’t.”
“If you say so. But eventually these secrets have a way of coming out, like it or not.”
Tessa looked ill at the thought.
“Have it your way,” Teddy said. “Well, don’t you feel better now?”
“Better?”
“You were sick to death wondering what the blackmailer wants. Now you know.”
“Yes, and it’s something I can’t do.”
“It’s something you don’t think you can do. Come on. Compared to some of the scenarios you were envisioning, this isn’t that bad.”
“Not that bad? What can I do? It’s a no-win situation. If I show up at the meeting and vote my shares against him, Ben will want to know why. If I don’t show up at the meeting, they’ll leak the video.”
“I’ll handle it.”
34
Teddy dropped by Ben Bacchetti’s office during lunch.
“Oh, hi, Mark,” Ben said. Teddy, of course, was in his character-actor garb. “What can I do for you?”
“Are you still concerned with people buying up Centurion stock?”
“It’s sort of in the rearview mirror. Right now my focus is on some projects to greenlight, or not. It’s always a tough decision, and when it’s an either/or proposition, you want to make the right choice.”
“Does either/or mean you have to take one or the other?”
“No. It’s more a question of do I want to commit ten million dollars to a first-time director with a fixable script, or fifteen million to a proven director with a fixable script.”
“Does anyone have a script ready to go?”
“There’s no such thing—most scripts require editing. Peter turns in scripts that don’t need to be touched, but that’s rare. Some parts of my job are simple. Greenlighting Peter is one of them.”
“Uh-huh,” Teddy said. “Look, I think there might be a reason to reexamine the stock situation.”
“Oh? What brought that on?”
“Vanessa Morgan died. I understand she was a substantial holder.”
“She was.”
“What happened to the stock?”
“Her son inherited it.”
“Does he have any interest in motion pictures?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Has that stock been transferred yet?”
“Hang on.” Ben scooped up the phone. “Get me Kenny in Accounting. . . . Hi, Kenny, it’s Ben. I’m wondering about Vanessa Morgan’s shares of Centurion. Did they go to her son? . . . Yeah, I’ll hold.” Ben covered the phone. “Accountants. He knows the answer, but he’s not going to tell me until he can read it off a ledger. . . . Yeah, Kenny, I’m still here. . . . Really? When did that happen? . . . Thanks, that’s what I needed to know.”
Ben hung up the phone. “The shares went to her son, but he turned around and sold them.”
“To a holding company?”
“That’s right.”
“When’s the next stockholders’ meeting?”
“Hang on.” Ben flipped open his laptop. “Let’s see . . . a week from today. Damn it to hell. It seems like we just had one—I can’t stand these meetings. Well, we’ll get to see Peter’s father, which is always a pleasure.”