The next morning, she got up while Bart was still asleep and showered. He was still snoozing when she finished and while she dressed. Celia had an early meeting with another writer, and she was going to need to leave soon. Finally, after her hair was done, she sat on the edge of the bed and shook Bart gently. “Wake up, sleepy.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s only 7:00, but I have an early meeting. I need to go soon.”
He sat up and stretched before smiling. “You look good. I’ll go ahead and get up. I need to shower.”
Celia looked at her watch and frowned a bit.
“I won’t make you late,” he laughed. “Or, you could always just give me a key, and I’ll lock up when I leave.”
“I’ll tell you what, if you can get ready quickly, I’ll take you to breakfast.” Celia stood and walked away from him. “It’s the least I can do,” she flirted a bit.
“Sounds like a deal to me.” Bart threw back the covers and gave her a quick kiss before heading to the bathroom.
Celia exhaled as he shut the door. A key? He was moving far too quickly. No one had a key to her place except her, and she liked it that way. If he kept up the insistence on going away and hints about keys, she’d have to put the brakes on. Those were the kinds of conversations Celia was never good at; someone always got angry.
After a quick breakfast at a diner, Celia headed to work as quickly as possible. She was going to be almost ten minutes late for the meeting, but it was better than giving Bart a key or even leaving him there alone. She didn’t want people alone in her space. Luckily, Julia was patient, and they got started and made up the time. By the time everyone else got to the bullpen, they were almost done. Celia headed to her office and checked messages. Other than the fact that her assistant was home with a bad cold, the rest of the messages were nothing of real importance.
“So, Celia, can I come in?” John knocked on her half-open door. It was 10:30, and Celia had become so engrossed in writing she didn’t look up immediately.
“Sure, John. I’m just making some notes.”
He sat down slowly and looked at her. “Notes about Natasha Bronlov?”
Caught off guard, Celia sat up and stuttered a bit. “Wh—what?”
“Your assistant is sick, so when her phone rang and I happened to be walking by, I thought I’d answer, help out, take a message for you. You were meeting with Julia.”
“I see,” Celia said.
“Someone from the prison asked if your next visit could be moved to 1:00. They are having some sort of official visit that morning. Want to tell me what’s going on? Or do you have a close friendship with a serial killer that you failed to tell me about?” He folded his arms.
Crap! Celia hadn’t wanted to tell John yet. She knew he’d hound her and press her to give people a sneak peek. “Look, John—”
“I get it. I know all of you are going to do some sleuthing of your own from time to time. I also know I’m not the biggest game out there. Though I’m pretty freaking close.” John leaned forward. “What I don’t get is why my favorite ice queen reporter would be interested in serial murder, especially when everybody knows that woman won’t talk to anyone about anything.”
“John... she asked me to come.”
“Bull,” John said simply.
Celia sighed and pulled out the letter she’d received from Natasha. He read it, and as he did, his expression changed.
“Well, I’ll be! This is amazing! This is big news! This is going to make me and the publication the biggest out there.” He slapped the edge of Celia’s desk gleefully. “When can you get me something tantalizing to run as a teaser?”
“It doesn’t work like that. You read what she wants.”
“Yeah, and to hell with that. She can’t get to the pub anyway. Hell, those death row people can’t even watch the news, can they? We can’t sit on this for three months. What if one of those jailers leaks it?”
“They aren’t going to leak it. Natasha will pay them if she has to. She won’t keep talking to me if I don’t do it her way. I’ve got this, John. Just be patient and we’ll be the big game. The only one with this story.”
“Is something else going on here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean am I even the game you were gonna pitch this to? I know you, Celia. You’re ambitious. You travel all over. I also know the two biggies have been courting you.”
“What, how did—?” Had John been reading her email?
“No, don’t change the subject. Are you keeping this quiet so you can use it to make the next step up?”
“No, John.” Celia was getting exasperated. “Good grief you’re paranoid. I didn’t want to talk to you about it until I’d done enough interviews to get something good. I’ve only met with her once!”
“You’re under contract. And I have some clout in this business.”
Now Celia stood. “Get out. Now. You don’t get to threaten me. This story is for us. Here. At this publication. And you’re acting like a child.”
John tossed the letter at her desk and stood. Celia didn’t sit, so he shook his head and left her office, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter 6
On Friday, Keith led Celia to an empty room and waited with her until Natasha arrived. When she did, she blew the officer who was escorting her a kiss
