Lost Lake

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Patrick Gorman, the owner of Exposed, lumbered into the visiting room at the San Diego jail and dropped into a chair across from a dejected Vanessa Kohler. Vanessa’s initial euphoria at escaping from her father’s mansion had given way to despair as it slowly dawned on her during the numerous police interrogations that everyone believed General Morris Wingate’s version of events and no one gave any credence to her fantastic tale of secret armies and government conspiracies.

Gorman forced a smile, but he was sad to see one of his reporters in such a sorry state.

“When I hired you, did I forget to tell you that your job is to report the news, not be the news?” he asked.

“I probably wasn’t paying attention.”

“That, I can believe. So, how are you doing?”

“Okay. I’m isolated from the rest of the prisoners so I don’t have to worry about being gang-raped. My biggest problem is boredom and the shitty food. Of course, with what you pay me, all I can afford is shitty food, so I guess boredom is my main problem.”

“Hey, I pay top dollar for a scandal sheet. See if they’d pay you any more at The Enquirer.”

“How’s the paper doing? I can’t get it in here.”

“It’s gone downhill since you left. No one writes a giant rat story like you.”

Vanessa smiled for a moment. Then she sobered. “Have you heard anything about Carl? They won’t tell me a thing.”

“I know he’s in federal custody. They’re not letting anyone near him. He hasn’t even been arraigned yet.”

Vanessa leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Did my lawyer bring you my manuscript?”

“I read it yesterday.”

“Are you going to publish it?”

Gorman shook his head slowly. “I can’t, Vanessa.”

“This will be bigger than Watergate, Pat. You’ll be the next Woodward and Bernstein all by yourself. They’ll be talking about Exposed in the same breath with The New York Times.”

“Exposed can’t afford to go legit. We’d lose our readers,” Gorman joked in an attempt to lighten things up, but Vanessa wasn’t biting.

“Do you really want someone like Morris Wingate running this country?”

“My politics have nothing to do with my decision. You’ve been in the newspaper business long enough to know that you can’t print the stuff you’re writing about without heavy-duty corroboration.”

“You’ve got resources, Pat. Use them to corroborate my charges.”

“I don’t have the contacts to verify something like this. You’re talking about decades-old black ops that are buried so deep that no one else has ever heard of them.”

“Carl Rice knows all about them.”

“We can’t base our story on the word of an escaped convict who’s murdered a congressman, a general, and…“ Gorman shook his head. “I forgot the body count at your father’s house.”

“You’ve got to show everyone what my father is really like.”

“I can’t do that without rock-solid proof. We’d be sued into oblivion.”

“You’re afraid, aren’t you? Did he get to you?”

Gorman looked tired. “Neither your father nor anyone connected to him has talked to me, Van. We just can’t print unsubstantiated stories accusing presidential candidates of murder.”

“Then why are you here?”

Gorman looked uncomfortable. “Like I said when I came in, you’ve gone from writing the news to being the news. You and Carl Rice are the biggest story in the country, and Exposed would like an exclusive.”

“I can’t believe you, Pat. I never thought you’d take advantage of our friendship.”

“Your defense is going to be expensive. We’ll foot the bill for the best lawyer.”

“What’s the headline going to be? ‘Love-Starved Spinster Seduced by Serial Killer,’ or will you go with ‘Maniac Lovers on the Run’?”

“You’ll get to tell the story anyway you want. You can even talk about your father. Our lawyers tell me that we can’t be sued if you’re the one making the accusations.”

Vanessa looked sad. “I am so disappointed in you, Pat. I thought you were my friend.”

“I am your friend. I want to help.”

“You want a story. I’ve become another giant baby-eating rat.”

“That’s not true,” Gorman protested feebly, but he looked ashamed.

“Please go.”

“Will you think it over?”

Vanessa seemed on the verge of tears. Gorman could not look her in the eye.

“Just go, Pat.”

“Van…”

“Please.”

Vanessa closed her eyes. She felt more tired and defeated than she had since her arrest. She never believed for a moment that Patrick Gorman would betray her. Now she knew that he was like everyone else. For a brief moment, she gave way completely to despair. But that moment ended when she recalled something that Gorman had said. The guard entered to take her back to her cell, but she didn’t even know that he was in the room. Without realizing it, her boss had given her an idea that might save her and Carl.