Sorry Now? by Mark Richard Zubro

Author:Mark Richard Zubro
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2011-05-31T04:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

Fenwick and Turner ran into massive chaos in the lobby of the Chicago Hilton and Towers. The noted author and talk-show guest Arnold Bennet held court in the grand foyer with a gaggle of media people around him. The camera lights shone on his bald head as he gesticulated and roared.

Arnold Bennet, archconservative and darling of the right wing, published one novel a year, about international conspiracies and foreign intrigue. His books belonged to the more-macho-than-thou-school, with lots of military hardware and international intrigue. His hero, the same now through twentysix books, bedded a different woman in chapters one, six, and fifteen of each adventure. Every book since number eight had hit the New York Times best-seller list. Every book since number seventeen had made it to number one on the list.

Bennet cultivated his reputation as an eccentric. He could show up on a talk show dressed in anything from see-through pajamas to a canary-yellow three-piece suit. He refused to travel on any days except Tuesdays and Thursdays. On the talk shows he loved bantering with hosts and plugging his books. Many criticized him for selling out his profession, but since most of the comments came from authors who were far less successful, they were somewhat suspect.

At the moment, in the lobby of the Hilton, he waved a piece of paper at the cameras; he was, Turner suspected, on the verge of hysteria. They couldn’t reach him through the press of reporters, so they listened.

Bennet screeched, “This is all I have left. This is the only thing they left me.” He flourished the paper around his head.

A reporter asked, “Why don’t you have a copy?”

Bennet stared fixedly at the interlocutor. Turner could barely see either of them through the crush of people. Today Bennet wore an entirely turquoise outfit.

“Everyone knows,” Bennet said, superiority dripping from each word, “that I never keep a copy. I never revise. I sit and write until I’m done. I see each instant of action in my mind, and it becomes reality when I put it on paper. Nothing gets between me and my reader. I’ve never made copies before. I will not in the future.”

Turner stopped a hotel employee and asked if he could tell him where to find house security. She pointed to a tall woman at the edge of the mob, behind Bennet. Turner and Fenwick eased around the crowd. Turner showed his star and introduced himself. She jerked her head backward and said, “Follow me.”

Away from the press of the crowd she said, “That has to be the biggest jackass this side of anywhere.”

“What happened?” Turner asked.

The security director, Mabel Henshaw, told them. “He called us about an hour ago. I think he called the media first. They got here awful goddamn quick. He claims three guys broke into his room. Two of them held him down while the other burned his manuscript. I think it’s all just a publicity stunt. Who ever heard of an author keeping one copy of their book?”

Fenwick said, “I’ve read about this guy.

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