Part 38 (1/2)

”What was _what _about?”

”I've gotta tell you, that man doesn't know how to keep his voice down.

What was that about helping your mother? Karen. You never talked about her much, but I sure don't remember you ever saying anything about her and Winston Bartlett.”

”That's because I didn't. Jane, there are parts of my past life that I try not to think about any more than I have to.”

”After the fact, it's nice to know that there were parts of your life that you didn't see fit to share with me.” She sniffed.

”Maybe someday.”

”It's a little late for that,” she declared, hurt lingering in her voice. ”Look, Stone, I don't know what you know that's got Bartlett so upset, but he's not the best guy in the world to p.i.s.s off. He stormed in here, fit to be tied, personally demanding to know how the h.e.l.l did you have proprietary information about the Gerex Corporation's clinical trials. He already seemed to know who you were. Now I realize there's more to the story, somewhere back there in time.”

”And what did you tell him?”

”I was completely blindsided for which I thank you. I told him I didn't know anything about your sources, but I wouldn't reveal them even if I did. He's our landlord but that doesn't give him subpoena power. He doesn't have the right to barge in here and try to intimidate the Sentinel's staff. We're current on the rent.”

Stone felt a tinge of nostalgia. Sometimes her gold-plated b.i.t.c.hiness was the very thing he admired most about her.

”Well, thanks for sticking up for me. Maybe I've got him upset enough that he'll come around eventually and decide it's better to have me inside the tent, where I can be monitored.”

She snorted at the improbability of that.

”No, Stone, as usual you're an idiot idealist and dreamer. I'll tell you exactly what's going to happen. Bartlett is most likely on his cell phone right now, as we speak, threatening the Family, trying to get you fired. He's saying you're stealing proprietary information somehow and he's going to sue the Sentinel for our last dime if we print a syllable of anything you write about him. That's his next move, Stone. I expect my phone to ring in approximately fourteen and a half minutes. Their attorneys are going to tell me to tell Jay to get you under control.

That's what's going to happen. The Family does not want Winston Bartlett p.i.s.sed off. Especially by the likes of you, somebody who's always writing muckraking articles that make them real nervous. Does anything I've said have the ring of logic to you? Or are you living in some never-never land where the facts don't f.u.c.king penetrate?”

Hey, he thought, that's pretty good. Jane is in DEFCON 1 mode today.

”Depends on what you look at, the doughnut or the hole. That is, the stick approach or the carrot. I'm betting he's going to split the difference and try a little of both. He's going to cool off and then offer me a few crumbs as an inducement to go away.”

”G.o.d, you're so naive.” She laughed in derision. ”Winston Bartlett is not accustomed to having to ask anybody for anything. So the fact he came up here this morning to try to get you to back off on whatever it is you're doing must mean you've really got him psyched.” She stared at him. ”What is it, Stone? Tell me. What do you have on him?”

”Right now I'm more interested in what he thinks I might

have. And the truth is, I don't really know. But it must be something pretty big.”