Hard News

second.
    “I’m really—”
    Sutton turned to Maisel. “So, what’s the next step?”
    “Nighttime News.”
    The lawyer winced. “It’s a New York story. Can’t we justify keeping it local?”
    Maisel said, “No way.
Time
and
Newsweek’ll
cover it. You know what the other nets are going to do and forget about the
Times
. They’ll crucify us. It’ll be understated but it’ll still be a crucifixion.”
    “We’ll have to preempt them,” Sutton said. “Put it on the
News at Noon
, then do a piece at five and have Eustice do it at seven. We tell all. We confess. Not a single word of excuse or backpedaling.”
    Krueger said, “God, that’ll hurt.”
    Maisel sighed.
    The lawyer asked Rune, “You have any idea where Boggs went?”
    “All I know is like he came from the South. Atlanta was where he was born and he lived in Florida and North Carolina but other than that …” She ended in a shrug.
    The lawyer said, “I’m going over to our law firm and brief the litigators, just in case.” With a fast, curious glance at Rune he left the office. Sutton stared at the
Daily News
. Lee Maisel played with his pipe and sat in a slump. He was uncomfortable. Rune looked into his eyes, though his darted away quickly The disappointment she saw hurt her more than the hatred she felt gushing from Sutton.
    Oh, how could I do it?
    He believed in me and I let him down.
    Sutton looked at Rune. “Don’t talk to the press about what happened. You’ve already blabbed your mouth off, I see.” Waving her arm at the newspaper.
    Rune said, “I didn’t say anything. The police must’ve told the reporters.”
    “Well, all I’ll say is, the Network is going to be in deep shit for this and heads are probably going to roll. If you make things worse for everybody because you can’t keep your mouth shut, then you’ll be opening yourself up to a big fat fucking lawsuit. You understand me?”
    Rune nodded.
    There was a long pause, broken by Sutton’s saying, “Well, I guess that’s it. You’re out of here.”
    Rune stared at her, blinked. “Just like that? Today?”
    “Sorry, Rune,” Maisel said. “Today, yes. Now.”
    Sutton added, “And don’t take any files or cassettes with you. That’s our property.”
    “Do you mean I should go back to my job at the O&O?”
    Sutton looked at her with a disbelieving smile.
    Rune said, “You mean, I’m like totally fired.”
    Sutton said, “Like totally.”
    SAM HEALY WOKE UP AT EIGHT THE NEXT MORNING when Courtney emptied a box of Raisin Bran in their bed.
    The noisy cascade didn’t wake Rune up.
    “Jesus Christ,” Healy muttered and shook her arm. He rolled over. Rune opened her eyes and said, “What’s that noise? That crunching?”
    Courtney stood in front of the bed and looked down at the flakes, frowning.
    Rune swung her feet over the side of the bed, her legs covered with cereal. “Courtney, what did you do?”
    “I’m sorry,” the little girl said. “Spilled.”
    Healy, who’d gotten home two hours before from duty watch, said, “I’m going into Adam’s room.” He vanished.
    Rune scooped the cereal up and brushed it off her legs, then put it back into the box. “You know better than that. Come on.”
    “I know better.”
    “Don’t look so damn cute when I’m yelling at you.”
    “Damn cute,” Courtney said.
    “Come on.” Rune trudged into the kitchen. She poured juice and bowls of cereal, made coffee. “Can we go to the zoo?” Courtney asked.
    “Tomorrow. I’ve got some errands to do first. You wanta come?”
    “Yeah, I wanta come.” She held up her hand. “Five-high.”
    Rune sighed then held up her hand. The little girl slapped it.

    chapter 28    
     
    A HALF HOUR LATER RUNE AND COURTNEY GOT OFF THE E train at West Fourth and started walking down Christopher Street to the water. Rune paused at the West Side Highway, took a deep breath for courage then plunged around the corner to survey the damage to her late home.
    The houseboat still floated but it looked like a load of charred wood had been dumped onto the deck; irregular, glistening slabs of fluted charcoal rose from it. A haze of smoke still hung around the pier and made everything— the houseboat, the debris, the trash cans, the chain-link—appear out of focus. The front of the pier was cordoned off with yellow police tape, fifty feet in front of where the boat bobbed like a man-o’-war that had lost a sea battle. Rune remembered her excitement at seeing the