The Return of Betty Snickerdoodle Read online

  Aseem also lucked out that a few of his hashtags – #bettysnicks #bettyreturns #ttown4evah #bettylives – caught the attention of some popular Christmas bloggers. The real stroke of genius, though, was the fake “verified” checkmark he added to the pages. Somehow, whoever was in charge of the current Betty pages had overlooked getting the real thing – a pitiful oversight, really, for someone managing a famous person’s online identity, but that little screw-up was great news for Aseem. Some people even commented that they were glad to have “finally found the official Betty community” – even though he felt a little guilty about the trickery, Aseem had to laugh over those.

  “Everything’s ready for the live event,” Aseem said, looking over at Cash and adjusting the little tripod he set up on Cash’s shabby little dining table.

  “Good,” said Cash. “Maria will be here any minute now. We’ll have time for a run-through before we go live. We’ve got one shot to get it right.”

  “We will,” Aseem said. And even if we don’t, he thought, these fans are so devoted, I doubt anything could disappoint them. They’ll be delighted with whatever their precious Betty has to share with them.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Angela felt the world wobbling beneath her as she clicked over to the pages so many of Betty’s fans had posted on social media. She stared in stunned horror at new social media accounts that looked a whole lot like the ones she’d spent years developing, but that had sprung out of nowhere only a day or two before. Some of the content appeared to have been stolen directly from the Betty pages she’d created – like recipes and to-do lists that had been perennial favorites and traffic-drivers over the years.

  Whoever created these pages didn’t seem to know much about social media or Betty’s books – just enough to take advantage of all she’d built. And they were savvy and sneaky enough to put a convincing-looking “verified” checkmark on the pages. An experienced social media pro might notice the slight difference in placement. But the average reader would believe these new, cheater pages were Betty’s real, official pages.

  After the initial shock, Angela became furious with whoever had done this – and with herself. She should have pursued official verified status long ago. But the communities were huge and thriving; she hadn’t thought it necessary. Now some thief was free-riding on her hard work – and had managed, in just a couple of days, to lure away most of the audience it had taken her years to attract. Using her own content as bait! Worst of all, she had no idea why they’d done it. She wondered how badly it would screw up the release of their new Treacle Town book — and how she was going to explain all of this to Bea.

  Angela frantically scrolled through the pages’ scant posts. She was looking for any germ of a clue to who was behind these new pages. A message interrupted her: “One new post above.” She clicked the link.

  “Our special LIVE presentation starts in just five minutes! It’s the announcement we KNOW you’ve been waiting for! Click this link to watch. No Betty true fan will want to miss it!!”

  Angela reached into her pocket and pulled out a wireless earpiece. She discreetly placed it in her ear and connected it to her phone. Before she said anything to Bea about these new social pages – or how they appeared to be siphoning off her fans – she’d learn as much as possible about them, including what the big announcement was all about.

  Angela looked over at Bea, who was typing away, none the wiser about the inner drama unfolding in the chair behind her. She took a deep breath. If something unsavory was happening, she’d deal with it. She’d write to the compliance people and alert them to the fake “verified” tags. They’d act fast on something like that, wouldn’t they? An unauthorized decoy masquerading as the new official community for Betty — that must be the kind of thing that gets shut down immediately, right? Angela could easily prove she’d operated the real Betty Snickerdoodle communities for years. The slime-ball who’d hijacked Betty’s fans could, and would, be stopped — she felt sure of it. She sighed and let herself relax a little.

  Time for the big announcement. Angela clicked on the video window on her phone. She heard loud shuffling as a speaker lowered herself into a chair in front of a camera. Not exactly polished, Angela thought. She smiled, feeling a little smug, knowing she would have done a lot better. But as the speaker faced the camera, Angela’s smile drained away, along with all the color in her face.

  The words escaped her lips involuntarily.

  “OH. MY. GOD.”

  The woman presenting live on the fake Betty page was none other than the public face of Betty – none other than her own mom! She was all dressed up in the same Betty outfit they’d pulled out of the back of her closet and laughed over just a couple of weeks before.

  Bea turned around in her chair. “Everything okay, Angie?”

  “Sorry, yes, I’m fine,” Angela sputtered. “Just … just a funny post on one of our pages.”

  What was her mother doing presenting on this pirate page?

  “To be among the first to check out my new book, click the sign-up link on this page,” she heard Maria saying sweetly. “We’ll be sending out the first chapter in advance to anyone who signs up. You’ll be the first to see the cover and the new title, too!”

  Holy cow. Angela took the earpiece out of her ear and leaned back in the chair to think. Her heart was thumping, and her palms were starting to sweat. The social pages looked fake. What little content they had seemed to have been stolen from the communities Angela had built. But now they were offering a first chapter download – and they had the public face of Betty doing the talking. Why would the official Betty be presenting on a fake page?

  Maybe this wasn’t the work of a slimy web pirate, Angela thought with dismay. Maybe Bea had lost faith in her. Maybe Bea had felt the need to create a back-up plan.

  That had to be it. Bea could have engaged a back-up marketer – perhaps she’d done it just in case Angela fell short. Bea could have sent them the first chapter, and asked Maria to help them promote it. If that’s what happened, Angela knew she had only herself to blame. Bea had warned her about not taking on too much, yet Angela had still insisted she could help write the book and do the marketing at the same time. She’d obviously gotten overloaded and distracted – even getting Bea stranded in San Francisco.

  Bea had been so nice about it, Angela thought, but hadn’t she also just told me she believed she had to take care of herself? That could be exactly what this was: Bea protecting herself, in case Angela couldn’t get the job done.

  The thought that Bea had lost faith in her stung Angela badly. She hastily wiped away a tear and tried to pull herself together, not realizing that Bea was looking right at her.

  “Angie, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry,” Angela stammered, trying to figure out how to say what she needed to say. “Bea, have you hired someone else to promote the new book? Or, you know, to help?”

  “What? Of course not. Honestly, you really seem a little crazy today, Angie. I don’t want anyone doing my promotions but you.”

  “Thank you,” Angela sighed. “But take a look at this.”

  Angela turned the phone’s screen toward Bea, whose eyes widened as she immediately recognized Maria, all dressed up for her role as Betty Snickerdoodle. But to Angela’s surprise, Bea began to laugh – quietly at first, before warming up to her full-throated cackle.

  “I guess you’d better get your mom on the phone,” she said, still laughing. “And how soon can we get our book ready to publish?” Bea’s laughter gradually shrank to giggles, but she was clearly having trouble suppressing them.

  “Bea, I don’t get it – what’s so funny?”

  “Oh, honey,” Bea said. “I’m sorry about someone stealing your work and tricking your mom. But if it’s who I think it was, oh baby, there’s gonna be fireworks when that first chapter comes out! I’ll tell you all about it, but first let’s see what your mom has to say.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Cash
clicked off the video on his phone and broke down the tripod. Since he didn’t seem to realize she was still in the apartment, Maria assumed this was her cue to leave. Before the presentation, he grilled her about what she would say. He’d been all up in her face, nervous as a cat, all bossy bravado. Now it was like she was invisible. He was through with her, apparently. Good, she thought. He was not very professional – even a little bit scary. And his breath was disgusting. She wondered if he even bothered to brush his teeth.

  Maria got up from the old kitchen chair from which she’d made their big announcement, and picked up her purse to leave – instantly regretting having placed it on Cash’s grimy floor. As she turned around, she saw that Aseem still had his face buried in his laptop. He was clicking a mouse and smiling – and then looking over at Cash and making an exaggerated thumbs up gesture. Maria had the feeling that maybe Aseem was a little unnerved by Cash, too.

  None of this felt right, she thought. What was the big rush? When she’d done Betty gigs before, there had always been lots of time to prepare. Angela had told her that Bea was eager to get the book out quickly, but, even so, this “event” seemed bizarrely slapdash. Bea had tons of money. The promotions she did with Angela were always top-notch. And now they’re doing a ten-minute presentation via a mobile phone? In a filthy Tenderloin efficiency?

  She had been expecting to do television spots. A new Betty book should be a pretty big deal. Maybe not Nicholas Sparks-Nora Roberts-Danielle Steele big, but still big. Christmas was right around the corner, too. A new Treacle Town book would be good news for millions of readers, she thought. How hard would it have been to get a real television interview? For heaven’s sake, she could have called her friends down at Good Day Sacramento herself, if no national programs had been interested. But she simply doubted that would have been the case.

  And where was Angela? Maria couldn’t recall a Betty event that her daughter hadn’t been present for. Normally, Angela managed all of these details. She wished now that she’d called her daughter on her way to the video shoot – she’d simply assumed she’d be there.

  It all seemed hasty and cheesy and not quite right. But the call had come from the Charlie Carter Agency – at least that’s what Cash said. And “Cash” sure did seem like a good nickname for Charlie’s son.

  Ever-polite, Maria waved at the two young men and said a hasty “bye.” Aseem said nothing, just nodded slightly and smiled; Cash didn’t acknowledge her at all. “I’ll just let myself out,” she said. As she walked with her head down toward the door, she noticed something on the table: a stack of papers with a brightly colored cover sheet on the top. The image was striking: a grim, seedy Christmas full of tears, hostility, and broken dreams. With a title to match: Sleigh Ride to Hell.

  Maria slipped quickly out of Cash’s depressing apartment and hurried down the dim hallway to the stairwell. I’m glad it’s still daylight, she thought. Her first priority was just to get the heck out. Then she’d figure out what to do about everything she’d seen and experienced. She was beginning to believe she’d made a terrible mistake. But if she was right, then what was Cash up to?

  The back stairwell of Cash’s building opened onto a gritty side street. But the sun was shining, and it was a beautiful fall day in San Francisco. Happy to be away from Cash, Aseem, and that oppressive apartment, she walked briskly toward her car, thinking her next move was to call her daughter.

  As she unlocked the door of her car, her cell rang in her purse. She fished it out and smiled as she answered it. “Hi sweetheart, I was just about to call you. We need to talk.”

  “I’ll say we do,” Angela said, a little more sharply than she intended.

  “Honey, are you angry?”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. Upset is more like it. Where are you?”

  “I’m just leaving the video shoot in San Francisco. I thought you’d know about it,” Maria said.

  “Oh, I know about it, but only by sheer luck. I happened to see the promotion on social media. Mom, how could you not tell me about it?”

  Maria quickly explained that she’d assumed Angela was behind the project. How else could Cash have known to call her? Since he said he was Charlie Carter’s son, it made sense he would be helping launch the new book.

  “But when I got to the address Cash gave me, you weren’t there,” Maria continued, “and that wasn’t the only thing that didn’t really feel right.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, for starters, the address wasn’t a television studio – it was a tiny, run-down apartment. It appeared to be Cash’s place. And it was in a sketchy part of town, at the bottom of Nob Hill.”

  “The Tenderloin?”

  “I think that’s what he called it. Or something like ‘Tendernob,’ does that sound right?”

  “Tendernob is what people say to pretend they’re not in the Tenderloin,” Angela replied. “Sounds like you were in the heart of the crime zone. Are you on your way home?”

  Maria took the hint. She double-checked her locks, then pulled her car out from the curb.

  “So honey,” she said, “if it wasn’t you who set up the launch promotion today, who was it?”

  “That’s what I’d like to know,” Angela said. “Was this guy Cash behind all the social media stuff, too?”

  “Cash directed me for the video. Boy, he’s a piece of work – amped up, pacing the floor, full of temper. Doing that video was so stressful. Cash was obsessive about it. He had someone helping him who might have been doing the social media, though. His nose was in a laptop the whole time – a guy named Adeem or maybe Aseem, I think.”

  “Aseem?!” Angela gasped.

  “Yes, I think so. Middle-Eastern, about your age – quite handsome.”

  “Oh no. Mom, I’ve gotta go – I’ll call you later.”

  “I’m sorry if I caused a problem, Angela.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Mom. I know it wasn’t your fault. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  After they hung up, Maria realized she hadn’t even asked her daughter about the strangest part of the entire strange episode at Cash’s apartment: that dark, pulpy cover art she noticed on the way out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Angela put her phone aside and turned back to Bea. “My mom says a guy named Cash hired her to do the promos. He must be behind the new social media identities, too. He told her he was Charlie Carter’s son.” Angela decided to omit the detail of Aseem’s involvement for the time being. The fact that she actually could have prevented this disaster was adding insult to injury. Not to mention that she’d given Aseem the idea to offer a first-chapter download.

  “That’s just what I thought,” Bea smirked.

  “I don’t get it. What’s so funny.” Angela wasn’t in a mood to find much of anything amusing, much less the hijacking of her marketing efforts.

  “It really is funny. I’ll explain.”

  So Bea launched into the whole story from the beginning: how Cash had roughed her up, looking for a new Betty manuscript; how she’d said there was no new Betty book, but he’d refused to believe her; how she’d gotten the gun to scare him off; how she had guessed it was Cash who’d broken into her house that day and stolen the document she’d stored in her desk; how she’d wondered if he really was Charlie’s son.

  “I figured he thought he’d stolen a new Betty manuscript. That’s not what he got – and if he’s stupid enough to publish it, he deserves what’s coming!”

  “What do you mean, Bea? What is he about to publish?”

  “Just a silly little something I wrote that was never meant to be published. I was going to share it with Charlie, but no one else. It was just a goof I did for fun – I decided to write something as anti-Betty as you could get. I just got a little bored of always writing the sweetness of Treacle Town. I’m telling you, Angie, you wouldn’t believe it if you read it. It’s a crack-up!”

  Bea explained that she took the whole idea of Betty’s sweet wor
ld and turned it inside out: Drugs, destruction, and depravity replaced home, hearth, and heart. She had aimed to be as inappropriate and irreverent as possible, upending every cherished Treacle Town relationship, theme, and tradition.

  “I just thought, what’s the wildest, most un-Treacle-Town-like stuff I can come up with? I went totally overboard because I was having so much fun. It was just a way to amuse myself, stretch the old gray matter. No one was ever supposed to see it. Then I thought, well, I’ve got all these pages – maybe Charlie would get a kick out of it.”

  Bea laughed and laughed, deeply amused with herself. Angela smiled weakly as she listened to Bea describe the inversion of every beloved Treacle Town element. Inside, she was panicking. Bea seemed to regard Cash’s pending move like a poker hand she’d played perfectly: Cash was the greater fool, about to get called on a sucker bet. In Bea’s mind, Cash would be exposed and humiliated, and she’d be victorious. But Angela was growing queasy with concern about how fans would react to what Cash was about to publish.

  “Bea, are you thinking Cash will publish this opposite-world Treacle Town book as if it is a new Betty?”

  “You say it was Cash who hired Maria, so don’t you think that’s what he’s up to? Oh, boy, is that dumb ox going to have egg on his face!”

  Bea was gleeful at the thought of Cash’s impending comeuppance.

  “He didn’t bother to read a single one of my books – if he had, he’d have known that manuscript wasn’t a Treacle Town book. All he cared about was getting rich quick off someone else’s work. The firestorm that’s coming couldn’t happen to a bigger jerk. He was trying to steal a real Betty book and sponge off all our efforts. People steal things all the time and get away with it – but not this time! This bastard’s going down.”

  “But Bea, he’s going to present this … this … whatever it is as a new Treacle Town. Don’t you think your fans might get upset? You gave me an example: Nick and Rebecca splitting up. Bea, they’re your most beloved characters. People are always asking on Facebook, what’s up with N and R? That’s what they call them – N and R. Do N and R have kids yet? How long have they been married now? They think of them like family. Readers are going to be crushed to hear they’re splitting up – and that Nick cheated and lied. And from what you’re telling me, that might be just one of many disappointments in store if they read that book Cash stole.”