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business.
    Maybe her judgment had been clouded by the way Lally and the Mayor had treated her and Chloe. Maybe being fucked so viscerally and aggressively by these men had caused her to see a story where in fact there was none. Maybe the only story she really had was the sex scandal story.
    Unless she could get evidence of corruption, then the biggest thing she had was the mayor sleeping with a prostitute. It was a good story, but nothing earth-shattering. She had to find evidence of corruption to bring this story to the next level. She needed evidence of Lally bribing the mayor, or bribing members of congress, to get a story that Sandra Price could print. Only something on that level would allow Sandra to breach the waiver she’d signed. And only something on that level would allow Lacey to get revenge on Lally for all he’d done to her and Chloe.

VI
    L ACEY KNEW SHE NEEDED HELP if she was going to get the story she wanted. She went out to the lobby and dialed Chloe’s number. She waited impatiently for Chloe to pick up.
    She didn’t feel like she normally did when she was researching a story. She was nervous. She knew she shouldn’t be, it was important to remain calm. She needed to be objective and impartial and she wasn’t doing a good job at being either. She couldn’t help it. After all the things she’d seen Lally and the mayor do, after all the horrible things she knew about them, about the way they treated call girls at the mansion, she couldn’t remain objective and impartial any more. She wanted to nail them. She wanted to get revenge. She wanted to make them suffer and the only way she could do that was to nail the story. She wanted the story more than any objective reporter was supposed to ever want a story.
    She prayed she hadn’t allowed her emotions to cloud her judgment. She was usually able to trust her journalistic instincts. She relied on them. This time she wasn’t so sure. She was too close to the story to be able to look at it rationally. Her judgment was compromised. She was too closely involved, emotionally. She wasn’t just researching a story in the logical, calculating manner she usually used, she was trying to nail Lally and the mayor for all they’d done to her and Chloe. She wanted there to be a story here so badly that she was afraid she might just be making it all up in her head.
    Chloe answered.
    “Lacey?”
    “Chloe.”
    “What’s wrong?” Chloe said.
    “Nothing’s wrong. Why?”
    “You sound tense,” Chloe said.
    “I am tense.”
    “Why?”
    Lacey couldn’t help it. Right there in the lobby of the library she started to cry. She got a few curious looks from people walking by but she didn’t care. She was so wrapped up in the story, and she was so worried that her emotions were clouding her judgments, that the stress was getting to her. So much was riding on this story, not just for her career, but for her emotional wellbeing. She needed it so badly. She needed to get back at Lally and the mayor. She wanted it so much she thought she would burst. She sobbed into the phone.
    “Chloe?” she sobbed.
    “Lacey! What’s the matter?”
    “It’s nothing, Chloe. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do this.”
    Lacey felt bad for calling Chloe like this. She knew that it would only make Chloe worry about her and that was the last thing she’d intended. She knew that Chloe had enough on her own plate to worry about.
    “Tell me what it is,” Chloe said.
    Lacey wanted to tell Chloe everything but she knew she couldn’t. She was so worried, so scared. It had all gotten so complicated, so quickly. The story was complex but her emotions were complex too. She felt bad about lying to Chloe about who she really was. She felt sick about lying to Jason. She was worried about the gun she’d found in his apartment. She knew that she had to keep everything together, she had to do her job, she had to keep her mind focused. But everywhere she looked, disaster seemed to be looming.