Turning to Stone (Heart of Stone: Book 2)

Chapter 5: Impersonation

Chapter 5: Impersonation

Shortly after dinner, Ed and I found ourselves going round in circles again—but this time on a different matter.

"You'll need to talk to Lacey first," I said. "Anything you reveal in a tell-all interview has to be approved by her."

"She won't agree to it."

"Won't she? She seems pretty forthcoming on social media."

Ed leaned back into the sofa, stretching his arms out over the cushions as he surveyed his notes.

"That's based on speculation only. Officially confirming something is a different kettle of fish. Her team will veto it."

"Well, if her team's involved, ours needs to be, too," I said.

Shaking his head, he scraped a hand over his jaw. "No. If we tell Helen, Mark will find out."

"But we can't go behind Lacey's back. It's not fair on her."

"I can tell them bits, but not everything," he said. "It will seem like a tell-all to the journalist, but we'll know it's not."

I drummed my pen against my notebook. "Okay, but those bits still need to be approved by Lacey. We can't go completely rogue on this."

Ed groaned and rose from the sofa, beginning to pace back and forth as he wrung his hands together in front of his stomach.

"Maybe it's simpler to pay-off."

I lifted a shoulder to shrug. "Fine. But, again, that will go through Helen."

"Not if we do it privately."

This time I couldn't hold back my scoff of astonishment, my eyes widening as I gaped at his pacing figure.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

"Yeah. Fair enough."

Stopping by the window, Ed leaned his shoulder against the glass and stared down at the bright lights illuminating the dark city. A hand ran absentmindedly through his hair, a sign of stress that I'd come to recognise.

"Let's call it a night," I said.

"I at least want a plan," he said, turning to face me and leaning back against the glass, "so tonight hasn't been a waste of time."

Given that he was stressed, I swallowed down my defensive retort.

"You need to talk to Lacey before we go any further with this. If she's not on board, the whole thing's a non-starter."

"Right," he said with a complete lack of conviction. "And the journalist?"

"She's good. As far as she's aware, we can't get hold of you to corroborate the story. I may have suggested that your disappearing act could add flavour to her piece if true."

Ed nodded, swiping his tongue over his bottom lip. "And the girl?"

"The journalist is buying time by saying she's negotiating payment with her boss. Relax, it's all in hand."

"Okay. Thanks, Soph..."

I began to pack away my things, very aware of the pair of eyes burning into my skull. But when I turned to say bye, worry etched lines into his face. They faded into a relaxed smile, but it was too late. I'd caught him.

"Want to talk about it?" I offered, hand poised over my bag as I waited to see whether he needed me to stick around.

Shaking his head, Ed perched on the edge of the mattress, kicking off his shoes.