“To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind.” Buddha AAfter all of Smith’s people had left, Ron Rickman commandeered the kitchen and was in the process of giving everyone in the media who wanted a one-on-one interview or a sound bite their chance. Penelope took her cell phone out on the deck along with a hard copy of the two articles that would appear tomorrow under her byline. Mark’s reporters were pros and there weren’t many things that needed to be changed. These two articles—one about Walker being held in the brig and one about his escape, were just the warm up act. Once Senator Horn’s embargo period was us up at noon tomorrow, she would be on the record with the explosive conversation she had witnessed between Walker and the senator, not to mention her interview. With the image of the box of listening devices that had been removed from her house fresh in her mind, she wanted to be sure no one else was listening to her conversation. She called Mark Hatchet as she strolled out on the elevated boardwalk behind her house toward the dock and river. She had gotten the house; her ex had gotten the boat. They spent a few minutes going over the edits required before the conversation turned more casual. “So what’s Walker like?” Hatchet asked. 89 The Fourth Awakening “Somewhere between handsome and terrifying. Oh, while they were searching, they found bugs all over my house.” “That’s my girl. You made someone nervous.” She almost blurted out that Walker had found tracking devices on her car but caught herself just in time. While she had already shared some of the details of her conversation with Walker and the totally out of character reactions of Senator Horn; she had played dumb about the actual escape. She knew there was no way she could explain what she had seen without coming across as demented, and possibly an accomplice. “He said he had been arrested three times in the past two weeks, and that they kept taking him to the wrong prison. If you can believe that.” “I didn’t even know he had escaped from the brig until you called.” “How’s that possible? There are TV crews and reporters all over my house!” “Man,” Hatchet said with a hint of respect in his voice. “Th ey really have a lid on this. They knew that between you and Senator Horn they couldn’t keep the story of the arrest and escape quiet much longer, but they’re buying a few hours of damage control by not releasing any information on Walker. Very slick.” “What do you mean?” Penelope asked. “They kept it a local story about an escape only, and apparently they’re hoping none of the local reporters will figure out who escaped. Let’s hope they stay in the dark until we’ve gone to press. Once that happens all hell is going to break loose.” “What time do you go to press?” “Your stuff will go up on our web page around 11 Eastern and the print edition will start hitting the street shortly after that. You might want to turn your phones off if you expect to get any sleep tonight.” “Good thinking,” Penelope said as she nodded her head. “By the way, I had one of my reporters make a few discreet inquiries to news outlets down there and it turns out they all got an anonymous call about the escape.” “Really?” “Told them that a deranged maniac suspected in the disappearance of 30 people was on the loose and they should check over at your house.” Penelope burst into laughter. “Maybe he does have a sense of humor.” “What does that mean?” 90 Rod Pennington & Jeffery A. Martin “It would take too long to explain.” “Whatever,” Hatchet said as he suppressed a yawn. “All I know is with one masterstroke it started to pry the lid off Homeland Security’s carefully crafted cover-up and gave you enough protection to fi le your story. By this time tomorrow you will be absolutely bulletproof.” “What does that mean?” “After this story breaks unless they find you in the same getaway car with Walker there is no way in hell they could arrest you. We media people may all be ‘jackals’ but we protect our own. If they start fi tting you for an orange jumper every news outlet in the free world will go nuts.” “Oh,” Penelope said as she changed ears for her phone. “Th at’s why Smith didn’t arrest me.” “It would have been political suicide. In this case the only thing that could make this worse than the Walker story getting out would be the Walker story getting out and the reporter who broke the story getting arrested. That moves it from a few embarrassing news cycles to a Congressional hearing and the Secretary of Homeland Security announcing he’s retiring to spend more time with his family.” “Why is it I’m starting to feel like a pawn in a much bigger game?” “What do you care? You got the big story you had been wishing for and potentially an even bigger one in the wings. Speaking of which, let’s go over your interview with Walker again. Just in case.” “Just in case of what? “Just in case Homeland Security changes its mind and throws you in the hoosegow.” “Lovely.” For the next few minutes, Penelope recounted the interview, leaving out the parts she barely believed herself and certainly didn’t have the strength to try and convince anyone else about. “What’s the deal with the bowls?” Mark asked. “No idea but it really set the senator off .” “Speaking of the senator, we don’t have any conflict here, do we? Th e only confirmation we’ve gotten from him was on Walker being in the brig and nothing on this.” “He or his chief of staff is supposed to email me a release to put what I saw in the brig on the record and there was nothing classifi ed discussed. I haven’t done any work for him since he announced his retirement and 91 The Fourth Awakening Homeland Security revoked my security clearance an hour ago. Where does that leave me?” “I’ll run it past legal but you look bulletproof to me. They booted two senators with Presidential ambitions off Meet the Press, and they’re giving Horn a double live segment in the morning.” “Looks like he’s going to blow the cover off of the Hermes Project.” “That would be my guess too. I wonder how he’s going to get around the ............