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Chapter One

A her fellow reporters’ histles Several of the guys froht she heard Si She’d heard worse Soh for her to hear all week However, it chafed It was clear that ton Sentinel were jealous She’d been working nonstop for six months on her expose of Senator Jackson He was the chairman of the Senate Coht have ju the first in her series, but she hadto nail his ass Jackson was as dirty as they came, and she was about to prove it

If the rest of Metro thought she’d been foolish to juo-ahead, then they could keep their unsolicited advice and opinions strictly to themselves

Or, better yet, they could shove it up certain orifices that shall remain nameless

Her best friend, Margery, offered her a small smile and a thumbs-up, even as the rest of the office seemed to part for her like the Red Sea Her best friend was also on Metro, but she’d been content to cover the ins and outs of DC infrastructure Margery covered which public school was getting an overhaul or a new construction deal, but A to work her way up to the top beat Those were the reporters that permanently covered Capitol Hill, and if she made it there, it could hopefully net her a Pulitzer noet her there But now…

When Donald Harris, her grizzled editor, had screamed across the office that he wanted to see her butt and now, even A to let anyone else know she felt like she was approaching the gallows

Never let them see you sweat

Her mom, who’d been a decorated reporter for the Post, had always said that Even now, A to that advice A real reporter couldn’t be vulnerable, and she refused to ever shoeakness Not after all she’d been through in her life While she couldn’t tell Harris to shove it, she could still go in there with dignity She’d tell hi and that her piece was i Sentinel back on the map

At least that was the plan

But nothing ever went to plan, did it?

“You knohy I’ve called you in here, don’t you?” Harris asked There was a no-s policy in the office, but that didn’t stop hihed a bit as the smoke unfurled from its tip “Seriously, Sinclair, do you have any idea how badly you’ve fucked up?”

She stilled in her chair It wasn’t the curse word, itself, that worried her It was just that despite his old newsman persona, Harris wasn’t one to cuss He’d often said that it didn’t serve any point to revert to sords, and he was too old and established to use shock value to get his reporters to co, then things truly had gotten fubar

“What?”

Shaking his head, he began to pace before the largein the corner of his room “For the last two days, I’ve been on the phone with Senator Jackson’s press secretary But it didn’t stop there The senator called at least twice to personally yell at me, followed by a call from his pricey lawyers over on K Street They sent the owner a cease-and-desist letter They want a retraction on your first piece and then they want you gone”

“Of course he wants one! Senator Jackson is a daest cartels in El Salvador and Guateone I mean, let them sue us I have the proof”

“And you published before I cleared it Look, Sinclair, I’ve always liked you You’re a hothead, but your work is great and it’s honest Personally?” he said, gesturing vaguely to his chest “I think that Senator Jackson is as crooked as they come”

“See? We can fight this It’s not like we don’t have our oyers”

“We can’t afford this fight Circulation’s doenty-five percent this year alone, and we already lost a suit because of that drunken fistfight our sports reporter started on opening day The truth is that the Sentinel is tapped out I’m sorry”

Her heart started hah, but Harris had always had a soft spot for her There was no way he was firing her That wasn’t possible Couldn’t be She’d had to work her way up here froinia If she lost her job she’d be stuck back there or worse Considering the state of journalisging from her breakfast nook

As if that was journalism