Whirlwind

Epilogue

It was late that night when Kate got back to Newslead’s Dallas bureau.

Expecting that her ID and swipe card had been invalidated, she’d intended to give it to the security guard then have him escort her to clean out her desk and leave a note.

“No, miss,” he said after taking her ID and checking his screen. “It’s still good for Kate Page. Want me to go with you? No one’s up there-they all went home long ago.”

“Yes, thanks. I want to do this right.”

“Sure, I don’t mind stretching my legs.”

As the elevator rose, Kate looked back on her day. After telling the FBI everything that had happened in Afton, Blake and Jenna had driven her to Lubbock, where they did network interviews…but without Kate.

She’d slipped away for a flight to Dallas.

Before she’d left Lubbock, Grogan and Quinn said the evidence team had finished processing her car after the murders in Fate. She could pick it up at the FBI’s office in the morning. That was good, because she wanted to start driving home to Ohio the next day.

In the cab from the airport to the Dallas bureau, her phone showed messages from Dorothea Pick, Chuck Laneer and about a dozen news organizations wanting to interview her for her part in the story.

She ignored them all, but one name caught her eye: David Yardley with USA TODAY wanted to interview her for a story. Kate’s heart warmed with memories. He was the reporter at the Chicago Tribune who’d helped get her started in journalism.

I owe him. I’ll call him when I get to my hotel room. Maybe he can mention that I’m looking for a job in the business? She laughed to herself. Funny how things have gone full circle.

The elevator doors opened to the dimmed lights of the bureau.

“I won’t be long,” she said.

The guard sat at the empty desk next to hers. Kate’s computer account had not been closed. She’d received nineteen emails from news organizations wanting interviews. Ignoring them, she typed a short note thanking Dorothea and Chuck for considering her for the internship and the job. After sending it, she wondered for a moment what had happened for Dorothea to replace Chuck.

She sent a goodbye note to Tommy Koop, thanking him for being her friend and helping her. Then she cleaned out her desk, putting her coffee mug and dictionary, along with a few personal items, into a small garbage bag, thinking it a metaphor for her career as she left with the guard.

The next morning, Kate checked out of the hotel, took a cab to the FBI to get her car. Before starting for Ohio she checked her phone. More messages for interview requests from NBC and ABC.

She ignored them.

When she got her third message from Chuck, she decided to return his call. Somewhere on the I-30 East near Union Valley she pulled over. He answered on the second ring.

“Kate, I’m sorry things ended the way they did.”

“Me, too.”

“Managementwise, our bureau was in disarray when you arrived. As you’ve probably heard, my wife is ill. I tried to keep that private, but it got out in the bureau. I was distracted during your internship and for that I apologize.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s okay, I understand. I’m so sorry to hear about your wife.”

“We just learned that it’s very serious. Cancer.”

“Oh my God, Chuck-that’s terrible.”

“That’s why Dorothea took over. There’s no question she had an agenda. I’ve since learned that you had two strikes against you, as far as she was concerned.”

“What were they? I don’t understand.”

“Mandy Lee’s father worked at the Dallas Morning News and had given Dorothea her first job. Guess she’s quietly guaranteed him that she would return the favor and hire Mandy Lee, not counting on you being so good.”

“She used that to terminate me?”

“Yes, she set everything in motion while I was in the hospital and she was acting bureau chief. In our time together, Dorothea and I never saw eye to eye, but that can’t be helped right now. I’ve got to take some time off to be with my wife.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I know this is cold consolation, but you were by far the best candidate for the position, and I made that known to New York. But Dorothea made her move to use the insubordination matter against you and hire Mandy. Dorothea had a weak case but you were an intern with no protection and human resources approved. I tried to intervene but was overruled.”

“Thank you, Chuck. Again, I’m so sorry for your wife and you. I’ll keep you both in my thoughts.”

“Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “Now, Kate, you can hate me for this, but I’m still a news reporter. Would you grant me a short interview about the Cooper baby case for a story for Newslead?”

“Well, I already spoke to USA TODAY as a favor for an old friend.”

“I understand, but would you also consider talking to Newslead?”

“I’ll talk to you, Chuck.”

“Thanks, Kate. Oh, before we start, I took a call for you from a young man named Cody Warren. A while back you did a small story about the search for the person who hit his dad in a traffic accident.”

“I remember.”

“Guess the person who did it saw your item and turned themselves in. We’re going to follow that up.”

“Good,” she said. “That’s good. I’m happy to hear it.”

As cars and big rigs thundered by her along the interstate, Kate talked to Chuck for nearly twenty minutes. Then she wiped away her tears, got back on the highway and drove out of Texas.

Before returning to Russia, Pavel Gromov and Yanna Petrova went to Shreveport, Louisiana. After making some gentle enquiries, they visited a small cemetery where Gromov’s grandson was buried. They found a marker for Baby Toxton.

They left flowers.

Remy Toxton was moved to Dallas, where she cooperated with the FBI’s investigation into Caleb Cooper’s kidnapping. Remy faced twenty-five years in prison. In a bid for a lighter sentence, she’d given evidence which led to Chicago and a federal investigation of Hedda Knight’s law firm.

At first Hedda denied knowing Remy, noting that she’d never set foot in Texas. Agents discovered Hedda’s recent airline ticket to Dallas for a flight that was canceled because of bad weather. They found other records and moved to charge Hedda for her national and international baby-selling activities.

Back in Lancaster, Texas, Jenna and Blake underwent the process of rebuilding their home and their lives with Caleb and Cassie, who never wanted to let go of her baby brother’s hand.

“I don’t want him to fly away ever again.”

Throughout it all, Jenna kept in touch with Kate Page.

As time passed, Kate recovered.

Being home with Grace was a balm for both of them. And although Kate was still unemployed with bills to pay, she also knew she was blessed. Our lives are fragile things, she thought, leaving us vulnerable to forces beyond our control that can destroy everything we cherish.

In the weeks after her return, Kate wrote a long article for Vanity Fair about her experience in Texas and the Caleb Cooper case. It paid very well, allowing her to take care of some bills. Her ordeal also led to a few job offers at news organizations across the country.

She was not sure what she was going to do.

Nearly two months after she’d returned to Ohio, Kate was giving serious consideration to accepting a job in Minneapolis with the Star Tribune when Chuck Laneer called her with good news. His wife had recovered. The doctors were confident they’d gotten it all, but the best treatment and therapy she needed was in New York.

“We’re moving there, and Newslead has given me a new senior editor’s position at world headquarters in Manhattan, and authority to build a new reporting team.”

“That’s so great,” she said. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Kate, I’d like to offer you a job with Newslead in New York. The pay is very good. We’ll help with moving costs and you’ll never have to worry about Dorothea Pick. She’s resigned to pursue a career in politics.”

“I don’t know what to say, Chuck.”

“Take some time to think it over.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Kate’s heart lifted with excitement as she walked through the house, considering the possibilities. Her dream to work for a major news agency in New York was coming true. Somehow she found herself in her room on her bed holding Chilly, the stuffed polar bear that had belonged to her sister. Moments later, she was looking at the tiny guardian angel necklace with Vanessa’s name engraved on it.

A storm of memories swept Kate back through time, across all she’d endured in her life, and tears filled her eyes.

Grace walked into the room.

“Are you sad, Mommy?”

Regaining her composure, Kate brushed her cheeks then pulled Grace up onto the bed and into her arms. “Just thinking about things.”

“What things?”

“How lucky I am to have you as my kid and stuff.”

“Is that because of the phone call you just got?”

“I guess so. It gave me a lot to think about.”

“Like what?”

“Like moving to New York City.”

“Oh, where Stuart Little lives? With all the really tall buildings?”

“Yes, and Central Park and subway trains that run underground and the big Santa Claus parade and the toy store with the Ferris wheel inside.”

Grace’s eyes grew wider.

“Think you’d like that, sweetie? Living in a great big city like that?”

She nodded big nods. “But I’d miss my friends so much.”

“Me, too, but we’d make new friends.”

“Like Stuart Little.”

“Exactly-like Stuart Little.”

Kate tickled Grace and their laughter filled the room.