Page 29 of Baby Take Me Home

“I know you’re bossy, but are you always this impatient, too?”

Being bossy made me think about backing her against the wall and telling her what to do. Her blush made me think she was remembering that very scenario from our earlier encounter.

I grinned. “Please, go on.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Aiden was smart and funny and an absolute curmudgeon, but one of my favorite things about him was his love for the work. He believed unequivocally in the sanctity of a free press. He knew his generation of reporters wouldn’t be around forever, and he considered it his duty to pass along his knowledge. If he saw someone with talent, he went out of his way to mentor them and nurture that talent. That’s rare in my industry.”

“I’d say it’s pretty rare in most industries.”

She took a deep breath and continued. “I was one of the lucky ones—about a dozen of us total, over the years—whom he took under his wing. He tapped me to help him follow leads, organize his notes, and eventually write parts of his stories, and when I did, he insisted I get a shared byline.

“Then the first Me Too stories broke in the press. I had a few ideas I pitched to Aiden, thinking he might agree to work on them together. He told me the ideas were excellent, and also that they were mine. He supported me all along the way, but in the end, those were my first solo feature stories. I won my first journalistic award for that series.”

I didn’t know whether or not there would truly be a plan at the end of her story, but it was obvious that she needed to talk about her lost friend. “I can understand why he was important to you.”

She nodded solemnly. “He was. I’m getting to the plan, I promise.”

“Take your time,” I said. “Despite rumors to the contrary, I can be quite patient.”

She smiled again, and I realized how much I enjoyed eliciting that reaction from her.

“Anyway, after I won the award, I got a promotion and an office. It’s tiny and windowless, but it’s mine. And then the rumors started, things about Aiden’s and my relationship.”

“People accused you of sleeping with him for favors? He was openly gay.”

“It was sadly unsurprising that some people still tried that old standard. But mostly the lies were about the work itself, hinting that I hadn’t actually written those articles at all, that the Sun just wanted a woman to be the face of their coverage of the Me Too movement.”

“That’s shitty. I’m sorry.” Once again, as I had many times in the past, I felt a surge of pride for the equality X had not only fostered in HEAT’s ranks but that she had insisted on building into its DNA.

“Thanks. It really was shitty for a long time. And isolating. I had to prove myself, so I couldn’t accept help, not from anyone, not even Aiden. He was still my friend and my cheerleader, but in some ways, I even shut him out. I kept moving forward, onto the next lead, the next corruption case, the next story. It paid off. I won more awards and received more raises. And most importantly, earned the respect of most of my colleagues.”

“I’m glad,” I said. “I’ve read your work for years, and I wasn’t lying when I said I’m a fan. But as far as a plan, I still don’t understand...” Or maybe I did. Almost but notallof her colleagues respected her. That meant she still had detractors at The Sun, frenemies who would fan the flames of doubt about her ability to do the work if given the slightest chance.

She stared down at her hands. “If you were in Kovac’s position, trying to discern whether I was a threat, what would your next step be?”

When she glanced up at me, I couldn’t help staring into her bright blue eyes. I knew she was waiting for an answer, but I couldn’t break the spell of our shared look just yet.

She blushed. I wanted to trace my fingers over that color and those freckles. I wanted to run my thumb over her lips. God, how I wanted to kiss her again.

She cleared her throat and pulled me out of my fantasy. “So, with all the evidence pointing to my innocence, again, if you’re Kovac, what do you do next?”

My stomach dropped. “HUMINT,” I answered. “Human intelligence. I’d hire someone to poke around at the newspaper, chat up your colleagues.”

“That’s where my plan comes in. Kovac will start digging. He needs to find colleagues who will swear I was only riding Aiden’s coattails all these years. Then during our meeting, I’ll be all sweetness and light and it will be apparent I’m not investigating corruption or other crimes.”

“Ashlee, you’re amazing at what you do, and Aiden was right about the world needing your talent. You can’t ruin your career to fool Kovac. The cost is too high.”

“I built my career from the ground up once. I can do it again.”

“Last time, though, you weren’t overcoming a destroyed reputation.”

She shrugged. “What I’m buying is my life, my real life, and my family’s safety. If Luka believes I’m harmless, it will be worth anything I pay for it.”

I couldn’t argue her point, although I was sure the cost would be more than her career. It would be a piece of her soul. But how could she weigh that against protecting her loved ones? And that was my fault for following X’s order to play on Ashlee’s vulnerabilities.

She scooted a foot closer to me and took my hand. “I’ve set it up perfectly.”

I cringed, remembering my own words to her on Sunday morning. “The fluff pieces you’ve been writing.”