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look for him and fill him in.”
    I sighed. Alex was no more to blame than I was, but that didn’t stop me from feeling exasperated. “Okay,” I said, “let’s move on. But we need to be careful going forward. Get your hands on a list of everybody under contract with Vicky’s show, as well as anyone who shows up there on even a semiregular basis. We better stay clear of those people, too.”
    “Yup,” he said, standing up. “Have a good night, Robin.”
    “You, too. And Alex?” I flashed a smile. “If I ever attempt to run around the halls in face primer, chain me to a chair, will you?”
    “Promise,” he said. He smiled back, but I wondered if he was annoyed that I’d questioned whether he’d followed through with Tom.
    Thirty seconds after he left, I was on my way to the executive floor, one flight above.
    “So tell me how you stepped in doo-doo,” Ann said as I slumped into the extra chair in her office.
    I described the ugly little scene in the newsroom, not leaving out any details. When I’d finished, Ann shook her head, smiling ruefully.
    “The bottom line? It’s not your job to know who Vicky has under contract, and besides, your using Baylor didn’t harm her show in the least. You have nothing to feel bad about.”
    “You think I should do anything?”
    “You aren’t considering sending Vicky a gift basket, are you?” she asked wryly.
    “Of course not. I just don’t want to end up on the wrong side of her. Should I send a short note or email to smooth things over?”
    Ann pressed her hands together in a steeple and, with her elbows on the desk, touched her lips to her fingers, thinking. Her nails were always perfectly manicured, and today, I noticed, they were painted gray, almost the same color as her eyes.
    “This is totally under the cone, okay?” Ann said finally. “I can’t stand the woman. About a year ago she insisted on hiring a personal press person. It’s on her own dime, and this guy handles the auxiliary stuff that’s out of my team’s bailiwick, but I didn’t like the way she presented it to Potts, as if my work is somehow lacking. Vicky doesn’t believe in the win-win situation, and she has a gift for finding the soft underbelly of any potential enemies. If you apologize in even a small way, it’s going to feel like a triumph to her. And she could use that against you.”
    “Got it.”
    “Of course, when you bump into her, be perfectly pleasant. You don’t want to look like you’re nursing a grudge.” She leaned back in her chair, studying me. “Sounds like Carter really played the white knight tonight,” she said after a moment or two.
    I shrugged. “Yeah, and I could have done without it. Though maybe he meant well and didn’t want to leave me hanging out to dry.”
    “Don’t you think it was mostly about covering his own ass? I’m sure he doesn’t want to end up irritating Vicky any more than you do.”
    “True,” I said.
    “Just watch your back with him, okay?”
    “Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
    “No,” she said after a beat. “But as I’ve advised you from the beginning, he’s always going to be looking out for number one.”
    That was hardly a surprise. It generally came with anchorman territory.
    I stood up from the chair and ran my hands through my hair. It was thick with hair spray from the show, and I felt an urge to shower and slip into a pair of jeans. Ann rose, too, and tucked a few papers into her purse.
    “How was the rest of the party?” she asked.
    “Oh wow, you just reminded me of something,” I said, and told her about the notecard.
    “How awful. Do you have any idea who could have done it?”
    “None. I keep telling myself that a note like that springs from some serious rage, and I’m not aware of ever triggering anything like that in anyone.”
    “What about jealousy? That’s what I’d guess is at play here. You know what people in this business can be like, especially other women.”
    She was