Page 42 of She Doesn't Have a Clue
“I’m just asking questions,” Kate said with a shrug. “Why does that feel like an interrogation to you?”
Juliette’s mouth curled up in a slow, predatory smile. “Oh my god, you’re trying to pin this on me, aren’t you? Your plan must be going ass up if you think anybody would believe I did it. Okay, Veronica Mars, I’ll play your little game.”
“You sure do know the names of a lot of teen-girl detectives,” Kate said.
“Yeah, I was super into them as a kid,” Juliette said. “I like Loretta, too. She doesn’t think with her dick like all of Serena’s characters, and she’s not a total bitch like all of Marla’s characters. It’s one of the few Simon Says titles I actually enjoy reading. So, what’s my motive?”
“Knowing you? Revenge. Against Kennedy, and against me.”
“Revenge for what?”
“The promotion,” Jake said. “You and Kate had a falling-out over the cancelled book tour, and it cost you the promotion that Kennedy got. So, of course you’d want revenge against both of them for the slight.”
“Mmm, first of all, we didn’t have a ‘falling-out’ over the book tour,” Juliette said, holding up a finger in rebuttal. “I scheduled an extensive book tour involving fourteen bookstores in eleven cities, and Kate pretended to have mono at the last minute because she was going through a breakup. It was unprofessional, expensive, and damaged our relationship with several indie bookstores.”
Kate’s mouth dropped open, but Juliette wasn’t done. She lifted another finger, cataloging her next point.
“Second, it’s laughable you think that would cost me the promotion. Yes, I was at one point in consideration for it, but I removed myself from the running. The last thing I wanted was the albatross of all those little ninnies constantly running to me asking what they should do about every single book launch. Your book-three tour disaster taught me that much. My ambitions and my skills are higher than that, which I’ll be proving to all of you soon enough. And third, I was with Veeta at the time of Kennedy’s staged accident.”
“Veeta, right,” Kate said. “And what would Veeta say about the two of you breaking into someone else’s room last night, hmmm?”
Juliette hesitated the slightest bit, her only tell that Kate had truly surprised her. Her gaze narrowed. “What did that little narc tell you? I knew I couldn’t trust them.”
“Whose room were you breaking into, and why?” Kate demanded.
“Nobody and none of your business,” Juliette snapped back.
“I heard you say you were about to get everything you wanted, and one little idiot stood in your way,” Kate pressed.
Juliette crossed her arms, her gaze narrowing. “You werespyingon me?”
Kate did her best to match Juliette’s stance. “What did you mean by ‘one little idiot’? Were you talking about getting Kennedy out of the way so you could get the promotion you thought you deserved?”
Juliette glanced around the room before bringing her gaze back to Jake and Kate. “I guess I can trust you two, considering you’ve been out of the country for six months and you had a very fake case of mono and a very real case of hiding in your apartment like a coward.”
“It was real!” Kate protested.
“So youdoknow who I am,” Jake said at the same time.
Juliette took both of them by the arm, steering them into a more private corner of the breakfast room. “Simon Says has a mole.”
“What, you mean the one above his lip?” Kate asked, confused. “What about it?”
Juliette sighed to the ceiling. “Not Simon Hsu. Simon Says, the company. Someone is leaking confidential information. Details of the sale, investor meetings, potential layoffs. I swear, a week hasn’t gone by without a blind item about Simon Says getting reported in thePub Dailyemails. Most of them have been unsubstantiated rumors, but a couple of them were about private, privileged information that only a mole could have access to.”
Kate had read a few of those emails, including the one Serena mentioned that claimed Kennedy Hempstead had become a private investor in the company. If that one had proved to be true, she could imagine which other ones might have stirred up panic within the publisher.
“Simon tasked me with finding out who it is,” Juliette continued. “When I do, he’ll make sure I’m compensated. I was checking out Serena’s room last night when you were snooping.”
“Why Serena?” Jake asked.
“You mean other than the little author riot she’s been stirring up out there this morning?” Juliette said dryly. “Well, I found out that Serena Archer isn’t her real name.”
“A lot of authors use pen names,” Kate reasoned.
“Yeah, but it’s not just a pen name, it’s a fake name. Like, her whole identity is fake. Serena Archer doesn’t exist.”
Thatwasnew information. “So, what is her real name?”