Game Over. Fern Michaels
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One of the justices, Justice Douglas Leonard, who is a very close friend of Cricket’s from way back, is going to retire when the court term ends in June. Well, it’s not definite. Things keep switching up, so maybe yes, and maybe no. If it’s yes, Lizzie gets nominated. That’s why you have to keep it quiet, in case it turns out to be a bad rumor.”
“And you didn’t call me on this?” Angry sparks flew from Maggie’s eyes. “What is the first rule of a good reporter, Mister Robinson?”
“Tell your boss the news so they…she can decide if she wants to go to the mat with it and get out a special edition. Reporters don’t take sides. They just gather the news, and you print it. Jesus, Maggie, I gave my word.”
“You had no right to give your word. The only right you have is not to reveal your source. That I respect. But you gave me your source at the outset, so that cancels that right.” Maggie kicked off one of her ladybug boots.
“What? You can’t run with this, Maggie!”
The other boot hit the floor. “One reason, just one, why I can’t go with this. It’s not too late. I can get something out if I hustle.”
Ted stood up, a defiant look on his face, his shoulders squared, as though he were ready to go to battle. “Lizzie doesn’t know, Maggie.” It was all said so quietly, Maggie had to strain to hear the words.
Maggie stared at Ted as she tried to figure out if he was lying to her or not. “How could she not know? She’s been working at the frigging White House for four days now. She’s Martine Connor’s best friend! There are no secrets in the White House. Or in this damn town, that’s for sure. How could she not know, Ted?”
“I can only tell you what Cricket told us. She doesn’t know, Maggie.”
“I have to call the mountain. I’ll do whatever Annie says since she owns this damn paper.”
Espinosa decided he needed to weigh in. “Don’t do it, Maggie. Please. This is Lizzie we’re talking about. Don’t screw it up for her. Sometimes headlines aren’t where it’s at. People count. You know that. Like I said, this is Lizzie’s life you’re diddling with.”
Maggie sat down and pulled on her boots again. Ted and Espinosa were right, and she knew it. She would have thought it through and…She was almost sure she wouldn’t have run with the news. She shivered. She’d been a hair away from maybe doing something disastrous. Damn, maybe something was wrong. Something was happening to her. She still wasn’t hungry, and she had almost made a serious mistake. Something hot burned behind her eyes.
“Let’s go get something to eat,” Ted said, hoping to drive the awful look from Maggie’s face.
“No, you guys go. I couldn’t eat anything if I tried. I’m going to stay here for a while. I need to think.”
“Then why did you put your boots on?” Ted asked.
“Because my feet are cold, not that it’s any of your business,” Maggie said. “Be sure to stop for some cat food. If you recall, you asked me to remind you this morning you were all out. Look, I’m sorry for jumping all over you two. I’m not liking this at all, but I do understand, and to show there are no hard feelings, go out to dinner, use your expense account, and eat till you’re stuffed.”
“Are you sure, Maggie?” Ted asked.
“Yes, I’m sure. Go on before I change my mind.”
Maggie could see the elevator from the newsroom windows. She waited till she saw the doors close and the numbers light up overhead before she picked up her phone and hit the speed dial.
“Abner, sweetie, I need some help here. I need us to keep an open line, and I want the information as you get it. By early morning if possible. Let’s not go to the wall on this. This is one of those name your price and it’s yours. Of course, if you try to screw me, I’ll have to kill you, but not before I splash your face all over the front page of the Post. This is top secret, classified, need to know, the whole ball of wax. You following me here, Abby?”
Abner Tookus, Maggie’s supreme hacker bar none and one of her best friends in the whole world, simply said, “I had a new DVD I was going to watch tonight.”
“Boo-hoo. Listen up.”
Abner Tookus listened. And then he whistled. “A month in Hawaii. I loved that last trip you gave me. Black American Express card to use while I’m there. First-class tickets for two, five-star accommodations. And a new Porsche when I get back. Silver, black interior.”
“Done,” Maggie said.
“Why am I thinking you’re getting me cheap?”
“’Cause you’re stupid. A deal’s a deal.”
“Maggie…”
“I have your back, Abby. At any point if you feel…you know, uneasy, shut down, cover your tracks, and our deal is still a deal.”
“That will never happen, Maggie. I’m too good. That’s not what I was going to say or ask. I was thinking maybe instead of the Porsche, a check for a down payment on some beachfront property in Hawaii.”
Maggie hung up, but not before she said, “Remember, an open line on that other cell you have. I’m leaving here now, so just keep talking even if you don’t hear me.”
Twenty minutes later Maggie exited the Post building and walked straight to her transportation, a Town Car with a driver, the most beloved perk of her being the EIC of the Post. If she had looked behind her and to her right, she would have seen Ted and Espinosa huddled in the side doorway of the Post building.
“Goddamn it, I knew she was going to do this!” Ted hissed.
“I might be stupid on my stupid days, but how did you know she was going to come out and get in the Town Car? She does that every day. She’s probably going home,” Espinosa said.
“I know because I would be doing the same thing she’s doing. I’m a reporter, or did you forget that? Maggie at heart is still a reporter, and she is not going home. Five will get you ten she’s going to Lizzie’s house. Well, do you want the bet or not?” Ted hissed again.
“Nah, that’s a sucker’s bet. So, does that mean we’re going to follow her? And, why should we if you’re so sure that’s where she’s going? It’s cold out here, and I’m freezing. We’ll have to pay a taxi some big bucks, that’s providing we can even flag one down. I’m all for a three-inch-thick steak, some nice greasy fries, and French onion soup. C’mon, Ted, Maggie isn’t going to blow it.”
“Yeah, Joe, she is, but not in the way you think.” Ted called Espinosa by his given name only when he was really and truly worried about something.
“Do you mind spelling that out for me, Ted? How can she blow it but not blow it?”
“She’s going to tell Lizzie she’s on the short list. They’re females, Joe. Females stick together, no matter what. They’ll screw us over in a heartbeat, and you damn well know it. The one thing Maggie won’t do is tell Lizzie the information came from Cosmo Cricket. I’d stake my life on that. The screwy thing is I can’t really get mad, because if a secret involved you, Jack, Harry, or Bert, I’d be doing the guy thing, too.”
“So does that mean we’re going to go get that steak?”
“Yeah, that’s what it means. And before you can ask, no, Maggie won’t call the mountain. She knows she stepped over the line with me.”
“You are so weak when it comes to Maggie,” Espinosa sniffed. “I hope I never turn out like you.”
“You should be so lucky. Right now you should be worshipping the ground I walk on.”
Espinosa gave his buddy a hard shove, which pushed him into a snowbank under a lamppost.
Lizzie Fox looked down at her watch when