Read Heart of the Matter for Free Online Page A

sure sign there was something on his mind. He might not know a lot about his employer yet, but he did know that.
    Cyrus picked up a paperweight and balanced it on his palm, then put it back. He moved to the window, walked back to the desk. Peered at Ross, blue eyes sharp beneath bushy white brows. Someone had compared Cyrus to Mark Twain, and he seemed to deliberately cultivate the similarity.
    The tension crawled along Ross’s skin again, refusing to be dispelled. “Something special you wanted, sir?”
    “Just wondering if you got that intern settled. Seemed like a nice youngster—maybe a little rough around the edges, though.”
    That was an understatement. “I assigned her to work with Amanda Bodine.”
    “Good, good. Amanda will take her under her wing. Might be a good role model for her.”
    She would, but somehow he didn’t think that was all that was on Cyrus’s mind today.
    “Was there anything else?” he prompted.
    “Well, now, I wondered what’s going on with that tip we discussed. Anything in it?”
    “It’s too soon to tell.”
    Maybe he’d have been better off to keep that tip to himself. Was Cyrus really the elderly gadfly, intent on keeping the establishment honest? Or would he, like so many others, sell anyone out for a big story?
    His stomach clenched. The face of his former mentor and boss flickered through his mind, and he forced it away. It didn’t pay to think about the mentor who’d sacked him without listening to explanations, or the friend who’d stabbed him in the back without a second thought.
    “But you’re lookin’ into it, aren’t you, son?”
    “I’m following up on everything we have, which isn’t much. An anonymous call from someone who said businessmen were paying graft to get contracts at the Coast Guard base. A couple of anonymous letters saying the same thing, but giving no other details.”
    Cyrus nodded, musing, absently patting the round belly he was supposed to be dieting away. “We need to get on the inside, that’s what we need.”
    “I’m working on that now, sir. I have an appointment with someone down at the base this afternoon.”
    Maybe it was best not to mention who. And even more important not to mention that tantalizing fragment he’d overheard from Amanda’s grandmother.
    “Good, good. Keep at it.” Cyrus rubbed his palms together, as if he were already looking at a front-page spread. “We can’t afford to let this slip through our fingers. This is the real deal—I can feel it.”
    “I hope so.” For more reasons than one.
    Like Cyrus, he wanted a big story for the Bugle, but even more, he wanted one for himself. He wanted to erase the pain and humiliation of the past year.
    Irrational. No one could erase the past.
    But one great job of investigative reporting could get his life back again. The need burned in him. To go back to the life he was born for, to dig into important stories, to feel he was making a difference in the world.
    This was the best chance he’d had since he’d come to the Bugle. As Cyrus said, he couldn’t let it slip between his fingers.

    Amanda stood outside the redbrick building on Tradd Street that was headquarters of Coast Guard Base Charleston, waiting with C.J. while Ross parked the car. She was beginning to wish she’d had a chance to talk to the intern about proper professional clothing before taking her out on this initial assignment.
    Ross came around the corner of the building, and before he could reach them C.J. nudged her. “So, you and the boss—are you together?”
    “Together?” For a moment her mind was a blank. Then she realized the implication and felt a flush rising in her cheeks. “No, certainly not. What would make you think that?”
    C.J. shrugged. “Dunno. Vibes, I guess. I’m pretty good at reading them.”
    “Not this time.” Her fingers tightened on the strap of her bag. What on earth had led the kid to that conclusion? Were people talking, just because she’d taken him to the