Did You Hear?

Every trip down the corridor to get a cup of coffee was a reminder of how things had changed; the rows of empty cubicles, offices with the lights out and the silence broken only occasionally by a phone conversation somewhere behind a workstation panel. The office workforce, or what was left of it, was quietly going about the business of putting out a daily newspaper. The Gazette was like every other paper in the country; trying to hold on to its history and stay viable as print media continued its steady decline.

It was about three years, after I took over as Assistant Editor that the change began. Newspapers were in the same situation as magazines and music; everything was moving to an online platform. The days of touching and feeling and holding the news in your hands were over. Even though I understood the technological need to adapt it was hard to let go of something I’d grown up with.

I was no sooner back at my desk when Nicole walked in. “Morning, Marty.” She seemed to be a little out of breath.

 “Hey, Nicole, what’s up?”

“Have you heard anything from Jack? I went to his office like ten times yesterday but he wasn’t there .I checked with Anne and she said his calendar had been deleted. I don’t know if he ever came in and Mondays are usually his busiest day.”

“Well, an Editor spends as much time out and about as he does sitting behind a desk.”

“I know, but I need to get his okay on something.”

“How about asking the Assistant Editor? I’m here to back him up.” I wondered why I had to remind her.

“It’s that homepage ad banner that we’ve been arguing about for a month. The advertisers want to take turns running a big four color banner ad above the masthead and if we do it their way it will dwarf our name, like the Gazette works for them or something.”

“Have you run it by Sam?”

“Oh come on, he’s an advertising guy. He’ll give his customers anything they want if it’ll bring in a buck.”

I leaned back and thought about it for a moment. The paper desperately needed ad revenue but we were the only paper in town and the advertisers knew that whether in print or online it was the best way to reach their customers. I knew what I said next would bring an angry ad manager to my door. “Okay, let’s follow your lead. The homepage has to look like a newspaper not a supermarket tabloid. Make it happen and if Sam bitches tell him to see me or Jack, if he’s in.”

“Thanks, Marty. I hope I don’t get you into hot water over this.”

I thought that was the end of our little meeting but as she was leaving she stopped and turned around. “Marty, can I tell you something, like in private?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Well, I don’t want to be a gossip or anything but I heard Jack was having personal problems, something financial and I wondered if you knew what was going on, like if that’s why he hasn’t been in the office.”

I tried not to smirk before answering her. Nicole was the biggest gossip in the place. “Jack is my boss and my friend and if there was anything going on I’d know about it. So relax and let me know if you get any heat from Sam.”

I waited a few seconds for her to leave and then leaned back in my chair. Everything she’d said about Jack had already been playing on my mind for over a week. I’d noticed changes in him on the few days he’d actually been in the office. He’d become quiet and withdrawn, and seemed to be lost in thought. Over the weekend I had called him and left two voicemails and didn’t hear back from him. When he never made it to the office on Monday I called him again in the afternoon and again got no reply. I couldn’t help but be concerned. Not so unexpectedly, Sam interrupted my thoughts.

“Marty, this ad banner thing sucks and Nicole said you’re the one who told her what to do. Did you run it by Jack first?”

“Calm down, man. Yes, I told her how to handle it. Jack’s not here and she has a deadline to meet.”

“I just went to see Jack and he’s still not in. What’s with him? I heard he has some kind of stuff going on, some kind of money problem that’s affecting his health. Any idea when he’ll be back?”

I figured Sam must have talked to Nicole and now there was a new twist on the rumor. “No, but I’ll go over it when I see him and one of us will get back to you.”

My answer didn’t seem to satisfy him. He let out a sigh that was more of a growl and left. It was becoming clear that Jack’s absence had become more than a nuisance. It wasn’t like him to be so totally unreachable. He was a reporter when he first got into the business and a damn good writer as well. Showing up to talk and ask questions and turn it into a story was in his blood and now he was missing in action. The only thing I could think of was the series of threats against him. A few months back the paper had printed a story about local militia activity. The gun nuts, the ones who actually read newspapers were furious and interpreted the story as an attempt to take their guns. There were threats to kill Jack and even a threat to bomb the Gazette’s office. Jack took it seriously and installed security cameras and sensors at the entrance, exits and all over the office. The threats died down but the staff still buzzed about it.

I hadn’t heard the rumors that Nicole and Sam had talked about. I wondered how many other people in the office had heard them, or worse spread them. Whatever was going on with Jack the loose talk could only make trouble for him and for the paper. It seemed like it was my job to find out what was going on before any more rumors got started. My office was connected to Jack’s by a large conference room. A year ago it was full of people but now it served mostly as a private place for Jack and me to discuss and plan the future of the paper. I headed to his office and stood behind his desk for a moment. I looked around at the walls full of plaques and awards the paper had won over the years, many under Jack’s leadership. In a way I felt like I was trespassing but I sat down in his chair anyway.

I had a loyalty to Jack but also to the paper, and by extension the employees. His unexplained absence and the rumors that surrounded it suddenly felt like my number one priority. I took my phone from my pocket and called him again and like my previous attempts it went right to voicemail. “Okay, I thought”, “I’ve tried and tried. Now it’s time to jump into this thing.” I glanced out the door to see if anyone could see me and then started opening Jack’s desk drawers. I didn’t really know what I was looking for but I was hoping something would jump out at me, something obvious and out of place. I was searching so intently I didn’t notice when Jason walked in. Awkward doesn’t begin to describe how I felt.

“Oh, hi Jason, I was just looking for some financials I gave Jack to look over” It was a total lie and I’m sure he knew it because I had opened a small, personal drawer that could never hold files.

“Yeah, well I saw you were in here and I wanted to know when we can talk about cutting down to one or two photographers. Four is just too many for the number of stories we’re covering these days.”

“Well, Jack and I talked about that last week but never came to a decision. Have you thought about contracting with freelance photographers?”

“Yeah, I thought about it for like four seconds. The freelance guys want to get all artsy-fartsy with things and they charge too much because of it.”

“I’ll tell you what, give me a breakdown of salaries and soft costs versus the number of assignments you gave them and I’ll look it over. Make it for the past year.”

“Holy shit, do you know how long that’ll take me?”

If you get Kimberly in Finance to help you it shouldn’t take you too long.”

From his expression it was obvious he didn’t agree. “Okay, I’ll get on it, but do I have to wait for Jack to get back? I hear he’s in deep weeds with his money and he’s like really depressed and sick from it. Like ready for the hospital kind of sick.”

As much as I wanted to tamp down this latest version of the original rumor I hesitated. After all, I knew absolutely nothing about why Jack had become invisible. Maybe the stories were right or maybe it was some other reason altogether. I looked straight into Jason’s eyes. “I think we all need to be careful about the stories that are going around. Let me know when you have those figures and we’ll get you an answer.”

After Jason left I looked through a few more drawers and found nothing that looked unusual, just the bottle of Single Malt Scotch that we shared every once in a while. I went back to my office and the rest of the day was a balancing act between getting work done and wondering about Jack. The thoughts of Jack definitely won the contest. At six o’clock I packed up my laptop and headed for my car. When I got to the exit of the parking garage I made a quick decision to drive by Jack’s house to see if he was home. I needed some answers about what in hell was going on.

His house was a large Tudor style in the hills at the east edge of town, a very posh neighborhood of beautiful homes and perfect lawns. I pulled into the long curving driveway, left the engine running and went to the front door. It was getting dark and the exterior lights had already come on. I rang the doorbell and waited but there was no response. I tried it again and then a third time. I even called out his name but nothing happened. I was getting more nervous by the minute and when I got back in the car I called 911 and told the dispatcher that I needed a welfare check on a missing man. I gave her my phone number and headed for home. I was pulling into my garage when I got the call back from the police. ”Hello, this is Martin Pace.”

“Mr. Pace, this is Officer Torelli. You called us about a welfare check.”

“Yeah, right, did you get there yet?”

“Yes, we’re there now. We tried the doorbell and got no answer so we managed to get inside through the man door of the garage.”

“Did you find him, did you find Jack?”

“No, sir, we walked through the house, both floors and basement. There was no one home and there didn’t appear to be any sign of trouble. There was a black Mercedes in the garage. Tell me what you told the dispatcher about the man who lives here.”

“Well, his name is Jack Lewis and he’s the editor of the Gazette. He’s my boss and my friend. We haven’t seen him or heard from him since last Friday and he’s missed meetings at the office. I’ve called him numerous times but got no answer and no call-backs.”

“Could he be on vacation or a business trip?”

“I doubt it, he rarely leaves town and when he does he knows to tell me so I can cover for him.”

“Mr. Pace, we’ll fill out a report and do a few drive-byes and let you know if we find out anything. Please do the same for us.”

“Thank you, officer, I’ll keep in touch.”

I didn’t get much sleep that night and felt tired and fuzzy when I got to the office the next morning. Two cups of coffee helped a little and I was just starting to focus when Nicole rushed in.

“Marty, I need to talk to you. Terry from Circulation was driving by Jack’s house last evening and saw a police car in the driveway. Do you know anything? Is he okay? Is he dead? Somebody wondered if the militia got him. Everybody is freaking out!”

I couldn’t just leave her hanging. “I asked the cops to check out Jack’s house and to look around, that’s all. They didn’t find any trouble so let’s leave it at that.” I knew she could tell from my tone that the conversation was over and she left without another word. I sat back in my chair and felt my worry slowly turning into anger. “My god, Jack,” I thought, “why are you doing this to us?” A few minutes later as I was finally getting back into a work groove my cellphone vibrated on my desk. The screen read Jack Lewis. I picked up the phone and before I answered it I closed my door.

“Jack, what’s going on? Where have you been?” I made no effort to hide my anger.

There was a pause and then I heard him clear his throat. “Marty, before I say anything else I want to say I’m sorry for leaving you in the lurch these past few days. I had a good reason and I want to meet you to explain. Not the office, how about my house?

It was hard to find the right tone for a response but I took a couple of deep breaths. “Okay, I’ll leave now. Can I count on your actually being there?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I think you’ll understand it all when you get here.”

There wasn’t a lot of mid-morning traffic and I got there in twenty minutes. It wasn’t enough time to totally calm down but I felt better when I saw Jack standing at the door.

“Come on in, Marty. Can I get you some coffee?

I followed him into the study. “No thanks.”

I had never felt uncomfortable with Jack until the moment we sat down and I knew he sensed my uneasiness.

“Marty, I think it’ll work best if you hold your questions a minute and let me talk”. When I nodded he continued. “I know my disappearing act created chaos for you but it was necessary so I could get what I needed for a story. It’s a story about rumors and gossip in the age of social media.”

I couldn’t hold back. “You scared the shit out of everyone for a story?”

“Yeah, and it started with my disappearance. I knew people would wonder and start talking. They’d have nothing to go on other than my absence so they’d guess and make things up. In just a few days I went from broke to sick to dead.

That set off an alarm in my head. “Wait, that’s absolutely right. So how do you know what people have been saying when you weren’t there to hear it?

“Well, let’s just say the new security system is more than cameras and motion sensors. I also had some microphones installed around the office, up on the ceiling. And before you say anything you can relax. I only used them for the story and I already have a guy scheduled to remove them.”

“So you’ve been hearing every word everyone said.”

“Yes, but like I said it’s just for the story. I want to examine how misinformation and lies can spread. The internet and social media didn’t create the rumor train they just made it go faster. I put my story plan together and last Wednesday when I saw Nicole heading toward my office I grabbed my phone and pretended to be talking to someone about financial trouble. I knew she heard me. After that all it took to crank things up was to disappear for a while. My absence alone was enough to start the chain reaction.”

“What about the cops? They said you weren’t home.”

Jack smiled. “I guess I never told you about my wine cellar. You see, Marty, the mystery didn’t exist until the rumors created it. I became the mystery without lifting a finger. I want people to read the story and realize that words matter, all words not just the ones on the internet. Those people are the only ones who can control it.”

“I leaned back in the big, leather chair and let out a long sigh of relief. “I’m still kind of pissed at you but I have to say I’m glad you’re back from nowhere. And I’m glad to be a witness to the resurrection of Jack Lewis: Reporter and Writer. Jack was smiling and I gave in to an impulse. “Is it too early for a welcome back drink?”

THE END