“Generally, they won’t become a member of the class.”

“Unless they’re convinced to testify that they did have such side effects, right?”

Now Prince’s eyes squinted and stayed that way. There was a pause during which he and Jane stared at each other. What was going on?

“No dead air, no dead air,” Tommy muttered under his breath.

The lawyer from New York, who seemed itching to speak, jumped in. “Jane, if I could say one thing…”

“Of course.” Jane introduced the lawyer. The monitors focused on his face. He began to rattle on about pharmaceutical companies pushing these drugs without proper testing. Meanwhile, Prince and Jane continued to stare at each other, as if involved in a silent showdown.

“What’s happening?” I whispered to Tommy.

“No fucking idea.”

Suddenly, Prince pulled out his BlackBerry and looked at it. Then he pulled off his mike and gestured to a producer. The producer, looking mortified, scampered onto the stage, while the cameras pulled in closer on the New York attorney. Prince and the producer whispered a few words back and forth. Jane asked another question of the remote guest, but continued to stare at Prince.

Tommy cupped his earpiece, listening. “Prince says he’s got an emergency in court.”

And then Jackson Prince stood and left the set.

22

I t’s usually only later, after something truly awful happens, that we look back at a certain moment and see that while that moment appeared mundane at the time, it was actually a turning point, the last such moment we would ever have in exactly the same way, with those same people. After we’ve caught a glimpse of that moment in our life’s rearview mirror, it takes on certain crystalline qualities. We view it more clearly than we actually saw it at the time. We give weight to each uttered syllable, to each brief touch.

For me, that moment was when Jane strode up to my desk. The newscasters and production crew who would handle the afternoon and evening broadcasts were coming in now. This was the lull before the next, soon-to-be-arriving storm.

“You were amazing,” Jane said. “I knew you would be. You blew it out of the park with that report on Pitello.”

I filled with satisfaction at her words. My professional life had been in such a downslide that it was great, even momentarily, to halt that fall.

“You were great,” I told her. “This is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing with your career.”

She smiled-a genuine grin, full of pride. “Thanks for saying that. I do feel like this is where I’m supposed to be. Did you see the segment with Jackson Prince?”

“Yeah, what happened there?”

Jane smiled. “Tommy wants to kill me, because I won’t tell him what’s going on, but I’m going to nail Prince to the wall.”

“With what?”

“I’m working on a story that will rock him. But I’m still putting the pieces together, and since I’m doing all the writing myself now, it’s taking a little longer. I want to make sure I don’t run with it before I’ve got everything nailed down. But Prince knows I’m circling.”

I looked at her face. She was clearly excited. “You love this business, don’t you?”

“Love it,” she said without hesitation.

But then her smile faltered. She looked over her shoulder. “Mick was here this morning.”

“That writer?”

She nodded, her face stern.

“I saw him. You looked kind of freaked. What was he doing?”

“Interviewing the network president and then some of the other guys. Some book he’s writing about the news business.”

“You didn’t know he’d be here?”

“Hell, no,” she said with vehemence. “I don’t ever want to see that guy again.”

“Why? You two looked like you were having fun the other night.”

She peered around, as if to see if anyone was listening. When she turned back to me her face was filled with distaste. “I didn’t tell you the other morning, because I was still trying to sort it out in my head, but I think he’s been following me.”

I stood. “What do you mean?”

Another glance around. “I found some stuff in his apartment, all this information on me-notes, pictures, articles, things like that. He had what grocery store I go to, where I get my hair cut, everything.”

“Was it information he could have learned by asking around?”

“He knew my gynecologist.”

“Wow. Bizarre.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to call the cops on him?”

“I do, but like I said when you were at my house, I cannot afford bad publicity right now, not with Trial TV just starting. And there’s no way the cops would keep this quiet.”

“Wait. Jane, why didn’t you tell me this when we found the noose? If he was following you, maybe it was him.”

She shook her head. “I thought about that, but…” She shrugged. “I don’t know how to say this, but I just don’t think he would do something like that. He’s not the type.”

“He was following you.”

“Yeah, but I think the following thing might have to do with his book. When I found those notes he made about me, he also had stories about other newscasters.”

“So? All that says is he’s a freak who gets his rocks off stalking newscasters.”

“He doesn’t know where I keep the key.”

“If he really was following you, he might have seen you use it at some point.”

She gave a brief nod. “I guess. And I guess I was just hoping the whole thing would blow over, and I’d never see him again. Things have been so rocky with Zac, I haven’t wanted to add anything to the mix.” She smiled wistfully. “I wish Zac could have been here today.”

“Does Zac usually watch your broadcasts in person?”

“No, but today was special, you know? He was supposed to come by this morning, but he’s still in Long Beach.”

She blinked a few times. Her eyes became tear-filled. “We’ve got problems.”

“What can I do?”

She forced a smile and batted a tear away. “You can go with me to the launch party tonight. You’re invited because you’re an employee now, and I hate going to these things alone. Zac usually goes with me.”

“Of course. I’d love to.”

She told me the address for the party and asked me to meet her at a bar down the street beforehand.

I sat down and jotted the name of the place then looked up at Jane. “You sure you don’t want to do anything about this Mick guy? I mean, he did show up here today.”

“Yeah, but he had an excuse, and he left. He didn’t even talk to me. And I haven’t heard anything from him since I spent the night there. It’s a situation that will go away.”

I raised one of my eyebrows and gave her a dubious look.

“And if it doesn’t, I’ll go to the cops.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Now make sure you wear something fabulous tonight. That’s an order from a higher-up at Trial TV.”

“Got it. What are you going to do until then?”

“See a friend of mine. I need someone to get my head straight, you know?”

“I know. My friend Maggie does that for me.”

“The tough part will be that I have to tell this friend I won’t be around much anymore. I need to focus on my marriage.”

“That sounds like a good idea.”

She put her hand on my shoulder. “And hey, you’ve been a good friend to me, too. Thank you for that. Really.”

I stood and hugged her. “Anytime, Jane.”

She squeezed me back. The embrace lasted only for the briefest second. It seemed a mundane moment. But it was one I would return to again and again.