by Justine Davis, Amy J. Fetzer, Katherine Garbera, Meredith Fletcher, Catherine Mann
“That’s because I’m not. I finally had a good night’s sleep.”
“You did?” She’d tossed and turned, thinking about him and Perry and the sniper. Also, pieces of the puzzle surrounding Tom King were starting to come together. She suspected that the chopper King had reported taking off before their attack was key to what had gone wrong on Puerto Isla.
“Yes, I dreamed of you.”
“I think I’m going to be sick. That’s the corniest thing I’ve ever heard.”
He leaned back against the seat back and glanced down at the paper in her lap. “Nice photo.”
“Not bad.”
“How did…?”
“What?”
“Play the innocent all you want. I know—”
He covered her lips with his fingers. “You don’t have to say it. I know what you think of my lifestyle.”
She nodded. She’d almost blurted out the truth of his whereabouts. “I really am overtired. Not thinking the way I should be.”
“I know.”
The flight to Manhattan was announced, and Tory wasn’t surprised that Ben had the seat next to hers. Once they were seated, Ben lifted the armrest from between them and nudged her head onto his shoulder.
“Don’t coddle me, Ben.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. But even tough-ass Athena grads need to sleep sometime.”
She closed her eyes to tune him out. She warned herself that Ben Forsythe was exactly the type of trouble she didn’t need right now. But his shoulder under her cheek was firm and hard. And it comforted her as she finally drifted into sleep.
Chapter 11
Tory’s phone rang as she got in the cab at the airport. She glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was the trunk number for her brother at work.
“Hey, Derrick.” She’d lost Ben in the cab line and she knew that was probably a good thing. Her life was too complicated right now to have to deal with another man in it.
“Hey, yourself. Marie said you needed to talk to me?” he asked. Derrick was five years older than Tory and had always been very protective and bossy.
“I have a few questions about Puerto Isla and the DEA. There’s something fishy with that new government.”
“Fishy how?”
“Well, they invited me down there and then refused to let me see my interview subject.”
“There have been some pretty steady rumors of some shady deals between the new regime and some U.S. government officials.”
“Who?”
“I can’t say, but the rumors went pretty high.”
“To the U.S. drug czar?” she asked. The U.S. drug czar was the man appointed by the U.S. president to coordinate all aspects of federal drug programs and spending.
“I wasn’t able to confirm anything. Keep this close to the chest. The people I spoke to about this were definitely not happy to have questions surface.”
“Asking questions is what I do,” she said.
“Be careful, Tory. Something doesn’t feel right here.”
“Derrick, you worry too much.” She dismissed his concern. He hadn’t wanted her to go undercover inside a women’s prison. Yet that story had been the one to bring her to the network’s attention.
“You’re heading into dangerous waters. Let it drop.”
“I’ll take your words under consideration,” she said.
“And do whatever the hell you want,” he said.
“If there is a connection between the drug czar and Del Torro, Puerto Isla’s new leader, I can’t let the story drop.”
“Be careful,” he said again and hung up.
Tory leaned back in her seat and realized that each question she got an answer to generated more questions. The cab stopped in front of the studio and she got out, ready to concentrate on editing the King interview.
Tory rubbed the back of her neck and replaced the phone in the cradle. Her exclusive interview with Tom King was a smashing success. She’d had a few congratulatory calls from colleagues, as well as one from her mother.
“Got a minute?”
She glanced up to see Tyson standing in the doorway. The tall African American man was a dominant force at UBC and in the news world. She liked him as a man, respected him for his integrity and his willingness to go out on a limb for his reporters.
“Sure thing, boss man.”
He smiled and entered her office, taking a seat in one of the two guest chairs in front of her desk.
“We were all very impressed with the King interview.”
“Thanks. I thought it turned out well. He agreed to a follow-up in a few days’ time.”
“Do you want to do an uplink this time?”
Tory thought about it for a minute. An uplink would save time, as she’d be able to stay in Manhattan and concentrate on new stories and catch up with the Cassandras on the Athena investigation into Rainy’s death and possible child. But she wanted to talk to King in person. Interview subjects were more open when you sat next to them. “No. There are a few things that aren’t adding up. Tom was going to look into them at the base.”
“What kinds of things?” Bedders asked. He crossed his legs and leaned forward.
“I’m not sure. I talked to a DEA agent who said there were persistent rumors of money changing hands on Puerto Isla in exchange for DEA and FBI agents looking the other way at certain coca farmers.”
“Someone here in the U.S.”
“Yes. From what my source told me, the rumors went pretty high.”
“How high?”
Tory wondered if she should tell Tyson. He might kill the story before she had a chance to get it off the ground. “Drug czar or higher. My source said that when he asked questions he got shut down in a way that indicated someone very high up knew something they didn’t want us to find out.”
Tyson leaned back in his chair. “Are you sure you want to go after this?”
“Definitely. Men died, Tyson. Good men who were, if this proves to be true, led to their deaths to cover for a very greedy person.”
“Okay. Go to Virginia and follow up with King. Then go to D.C. and shake some cages. I’ll get you a temporary office at the D.C. station so you can file stories from there.”
“I really appreciate your backing on this, Tyson.”
“Make us proud, Tory.”
“I intend to.”
“Good. Be thinking about what you want for your next contract.”
Tory tried not to smile at her boss when he said that. But she couldn’t help it. Hard work and perseverance were finally paying off. Her contract would be up for renegotiation in six months’ time. “I will.”
“Have you considered the weekly newsmagazine offer?”
“I’m still thinking about it. I want to be free to pursue stories like this one. Not trapped behind the anchor desk.”
“Bring your wish list to the negotiating table.”
Tyson left without saying anything else. Tory leaned back in her chair. Hot damn. Unless she was very mistaken, it sounded as if she was going to be able to write her own ticket at the network.
This called for a celebration. Her first thought was of Ben, but she didn’t really have the right to call him. Besides, she was still involved with Perry. She reached for the phone, wanting to share her good news with Perry. At the last second she decided to surprise him.
She called their favorite Italian restaurant, which was just a block from Perry’s apartment, and then went downstairs to get a cab. Twenty minutes later she let herself into Perry’s apartment with the key he’d given her.
“Perry, I’ve got good news. And I’m ready to celebrate.”
She noticed the wine bottle open on the coffee table and the two half-empty glasses. Setting the food on the counter, she walked farther into the apartment.
“Perry?”
He appeared in the doorway to his bedroom, pants unfastened, hair disheveled and lipstick on his neck. Son of a bitch.
“Is there something you want to tell me?” Tory asked.<
br />
Perry rubbed the back of his neck but didn’t move toward her. Any guilt she’d harbored about the one kiss she’d shared with Ben evaporated. She swallowed hard against emotions she hadn’t thought she’d felt for Perry. Only now, knowing he’d been with another woman, could she face the fact that he’d meant something important to her.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” he said at last. He ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. He looked every one of his forty-five years at the moment. His lean body showed few signs of age, but his face made up for it.
“Obviously.”
Her mother had always drilled into her that a lady didn’t embarrass herself or others in awkward situations, but she knew Mom hadn’t meant in situations like this.
“Perry?” a familiar feminine voice called from the bedroom. Seconds later, Shannon Conner walked up behind Perry and wrapped one of her arms around his waist.
Betrayal ripped through Tory, weakening her knees. She started toward them and both of them backed up. Tory froze. What did they think she was going to do, kick Shannon’s ass? Though in her gut she knew it’d feel good, she wasn’t going to. Neither Shannon nor Perry was worth it.
She shook her head and turned to walk out of the apartment. The need to escape was powerful. She stopped thinking and forced her legs to take one step after the other.
Perry grabbed her arm before she got down the hallway. He smelled strongly of sex and another woman’s perfume. Not just any other woman’s. Shannon’s. The one person on the planet who held a grudge against Tory.
“Wait, Tory. I can explain.”
Perry’s grip on her arm wasn’t that strong. Tory shrugged away from him. “I don’t care.”
“Somehow I knew you’d say that.”
She wasn’t taking the blame for this. Perry was old enough to keep his pants zipped if he wanted to. This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment lust-beyond-control thing. “You asked me to move in with you, Perry. Do you remember that?”
“And you refused,” he said.
“Good thing. It would be crowded in your bed.”
He cursed under his breath. “Can we please not do this in the hallway?”
“I really don’t care what your neighbors think.”
“The network might,” he said.
He was right. This was Perry her mentor, not Perry her lover. She knew that as a public persona she had to be untouchable in public. She couldn’t even run to the grocery store without getting dressed and putting on makeup. She followed him back into his apartment. Shannon was wearing Perry’s shirt and going through Tory’s purse.
Tory pushed past Perry and grabbed her purse. Shannon held on to the purse, and Tory brought her left hand down on Shannon’s arm with a ridge-hand stroke. Not hard enough to break anything other than Shannon’s grip.
Shannon’s arm dropped to her side.
“What were you doing, Shannon? Searching my purse for some story that you couldn’t find on your own?”
“I don’t need to find them with Perry feeding them to me.”
Tory turned to Perry. He had his arms crossed over his chest, but in his eyes she saw guilt.
“I’m leaving.”
“Shannon, leave us alone for a minute?” Perry asked.
Shannon left the room. Tory stood in the middle watching Perry. The expression on his face was easy to read. He was sorting through the lies and deciding which ones she might believe.
“How long has this been going on? When did she get back from Puerto Isla?” she asked at last. Because a few things were starting to make sense. Like how Shannon kept showing up at the same place Tory did. Why Shannon kept going after the same stories that Tory was on.
“Since you went to Britain last summer. She returned home from Puerto Isla yesterday. She didn’t get a story on the island.”
Right before Rainy’s death. She stared at him for a moment, unable to believe that he’d betrayed her so thoroughly. Because the Athena piece Shannon had done had been based on a few things that the Cassandras had discovered. “You told Shannon what I discussed with you.”
“Like what?”
“The Athena stuff. The stuff about Rainy.”
“Maybe.”
Liar. He had. She could see it in his eyes. “Maybe? Why? She twisted the facts, Perry. You know that, right?”
“She’s not the same kind of reporter you are.”
“I know. I won’t do a story unless the facts are based in truth.”
“I don’t want to discuss ethics with you.”
“Obviously. Your girlfriend was just going through my purse.”
“Ah, hell, Tory. You were drifting away from me. You didn’t need me at work or at home. I…I needed a woman who did need me.”
All this because she’d wounded his male ego? “You could have said something.”
“No, I couldn’t have. Nothing gets in your way where your career is concerned.”
He was right. “Whatever. I brought dinner, you two enjoy it.”
Tory walked out again before he could say anything else. She took the stairs down and hurried past the doorman. The streets weren’t busy this time of night, scarcely a car or a person was there. She was alone. She stopped and closed her eyes for a moment, then tipped her head back and looked up at the stars.
My life is screwed up. Rainy, help me. Why can’t I stop competing long enough to settle down?
No answers came to her from the stars, and for once talking to her friend didn’t help. Perry had been a complication and now he was gone. She could accept the newsmagazine position without worrying about how to bring him along with her. Not that he’d been holding her back, but she’d not wanted to move on without him.
She felt alone despite her many friends and colleagues and her wonderful family in Florida. She didn’t have someone else nearby to share the events of her life or to celebrate with, because she’d let almost no one in.
She hailed a cab and gave the driver her address. Well, at least now she knew where Shannon kept getting all her scoops. That was one less thing to worry about. She’d make sure that Perry was kept out of the loop where her assignments were concerned.
When she pulled her wallet out to pay the cab, a slip of paper fell into her lap. Tory picked it up, thinking it was the receipt from the Italian place.
But it wasn’t. “Stop asking questions,” the note said.
The handwriting was kind of sloppy. Shannon had slipped over the edge, Tory decided. Especially if she thought this note was going to scare her.
Tory took a long hot shower and climbed into bed. But she couldn’t sleep. So she got back out and fixed herself a cup of tea before turning on her computer.
She was a machine, she reminded herself. A journalistic, female machine that got the stories and the answers that no one else could. Slumping forward on her desk, she felt like a broken one.
She’d never done depression well. Her naturally sunny personality always insisted on making her see the bright side.
It had been time to move on from Perry. She wasn’t really heartbroken, because she’d never really cared that deeply for him. He’d actually done her a favor.
She just didn’t like the way things had ended. She’d had a perfect little speech that she’d planned to give Perry. Something to make him feel better about their parting.
She didn’t like losing, and this time she’d definitely not been the winner. But it went deeper than that. How could she have been in a relationship with someone who would betray her so deeply?
Snap out of it.
The words were so forceful she thought that someone had spoken, but no one was in the room with her.
She checked her e-mail and saw one waiting from Lee Chou. She opened the message and skimmed it quickly. He’d found a fertility clinic that had had a break-in around the same time as Rainy’s supposed appendectomy.
She skimmed further down the e-mail. The missing and damaged items included donor sperm. One donor whose sperm was listed as
unrecovered was…Thomas King. The same Thomas King she’d just helped rescue? Tory began writing on the pad by the computer. She’d ask Tom when she spoke to him.
That was a bizarre connection. And he’d been married at the time, so why would he have donated sperm?
She picked up the phone and calculated the time difference to where Josie lived. It was still a decent hour.
Josie answered on the first ring.
“Hey, it’s Tory.”
“Hey. I saw your story on the news tonight. Nice job.”
“Thanks. The brass liked it, too. I think I’m going to get a big promotion come contract time.”
“You deserve it. So why are you calling me?”
“Well…I just heard back from one of my sources at the FBI. There was a break-in at a fertility clinic around the time those surrogate ads that Darcy found ran. And this is the weird part. Thomas King had donated or stored sperm there. His specimen was one of those listed as missing or destroyed.”
“Your Thomas King?”
“I’m not sure. But that’s an odd coincidence. I’m wondering if I’m missing something here.”
“If it is the same man, then we know that he’s highly intelligent and skilled.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Is it a stretch to think this is connected to Rainy? The timing of the burglary is about right.”
“I don’t know. Have you talked to any of the other Cassandras?”
“Not yet.” Tory wasn’t sure she could talk to Alex right now. Knowing about Ben’s secret life and not being able to share it with her friend would be difficult. “I think I’ll put it all in an e-mail and send it to you guys.”
“Good idea.”
“Josie, I need one more thing.”
“Shoot.”
“King mentioned that they arrived on Puerto Isla, they were ordered to wait before going in. Do you have access to any surveillance information from that mission?”
“I couldn’t share that with you even if I did.”
“I just want to know why they were delayed.”
“What do you mean, why?”
“I have a DEA source that suggested someone big—U.S.-drug-czar big—may have been taking a kickback from the Puerto Isla government.”
