Syndrome

man with a lot of vulnerabilities and insecurities. He hadn't expected it. 'It so happens I'm a damned good medical reporter and all I'm asking is to be the Boswell to Van de Vliet's Johnson. I want to be the one to chronicle this historic moment. There's no one who can do it better, believe me. Ill even agree to embargo everything until I get a green light from Gerex. But I want to start now and get it right'

'You can't ethically know any details of the work,' Bartlett declared. 'So the question I'm waiting to hear answered is, how did you find out-?'

'I can't reveal my source.'Because, he told himself,I still don't have one.All I have is guesswork. 'But I know that Karl Van de Vliet is running the first successful clinical trials using stem cell procedures. And I'm going to report on it whether you want me to or not. So are you going to help make sure my facts are accurate?'

'I'm going to help make sure there's no reporting at all till I say so,' Bartlett went on. 'Anything you print will be- by definition-irresponsible speculation and you can expect enough legal action to-'

'The original schedule was that they'll be finished in less than a month. I'm not going to publish anything before that I just want to have the manuscript I've been working on ready when the Gerex story finally can be told. It'll be the final chapter, the payoff. I'm going to describe your clinical trials, and it would be better for all concerned if it could be the 'authorized' version. If you force me to publish without your cooperation, it's not going to do either one of us as much good.'

Again he wondered why Bartlett was so upset. What was it about that one terminated patient that made him freak when he found out somebody knew? So freaked he charged up here personally, all the way from his fancy corporate building in TriBeCa, to breathe fire and brimstone and yell threats?

'Do I have to get a court injunction to put a stop to this corporate espionage?' Bartlett demanded.

'Everything I know is in the public domain somewhere.'Actually, Stone thought,that's a serious out-and-out lie.Nobody knows that a patient got mysteriously terminated from the trials. 'I just want to work together with you.'

Even as he was saying it, Stone Aimes realized that it was not in the cards, now or ever. He watched Winston Bartlett's eyes narrow.

'What kind of contract do you have with this paper?'

'Quite frankly, the terms of the contracts for employees of this paper are confidential.'

'I knew I should have kept those fucking lawyers here. It takes a shark to deal with a shark.' Then he seemed to catch himself. 'So if you're planning on writing anything about this, you'd be well advised to get yourself an attorney, because you're sure as hell going to need one.'

'Thanks, Dad.' It just came out. Maybe he'd been wanting to say it all his life.

Bartlett's look was shock for a moment, and then it turned pensive.

'You don't think I take an interest in you, but I do.'

'Yeah, you've really been around through thick and thin.' He felt the old anger of abandonment welling up.

'I took care of your mother. Whatever she did was beyond my control.' The eyes were switching to chagrin. 'Do you have the slightest idea what I could do for you? I've. . I'm not getting any younger and I've been thinking about. . with your medical background you could easily have a place. . I mean, if you've got a head for business, then someday. . So why do you fucking want to do this now? '

Stone listened, trying to internalize what he was hearing. Not only did Winston Bartlett know about him, he was finally thinking about acknowledging him. Sort of.

Or was this just a bribe to hush him up?

Either way, it was too little, too late.

'You've never given me anything and I've sure as hell never asked. I'd just like for you to get out of my way so I can do my job.'

Bartlett stalked toward the door. Then he turned back.

'You'd better think long and hard about what you're getting into. You can ask some of the two-bit reporters I've dealt with in the past. They're fucking road kill.'

With that pronouncement, he slammed the door and was gone.

Stone stared after him, feeling his heart pump. It wasn't the threat; it was the mixed emotions. For a moment, in spite of his better judgment, he'd felt like he had a father, but then Bartlett became the enemy again.

Then the door cracked open and Jane appeared, dismay in her eyes.

'What wasthatabout?'

'What waswhatabout?'

'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 piss off. He stormed in here, fit to be tied, personally demanding to know how the hell 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 theSentinel's staff. We're current on the rent.'

Stone felt a tinge of nostalgia. Sometimes her gold-plated bitchiness 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 meinsidethe 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 pissed 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 fucking 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.'

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

'Stone, why is it so hard to hate you? You can make a person's life miserable and that stupid person