Nobody Knows by Mary Jane Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

Etta had pecked him on the cheek and told him that she’d come toFlorida to spend her days with him. It was her husband she wanted to be with, she said, but still, she knew they couldn’t be together every minute. They would drive each other insane.
    It would be healthier if he found some outside interests, too, Charles thought as he settled into the big chair across the room from the television. But what? He had never taken up golf, and truth be told, he wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about learning now. Maybe fishing? He should track down that old fisherman who was always at the beach and see if he would share his knowledge.
    The retiree’s attention was diverted by the Suncoast News meteorologist, who was talking about the tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico and explaining the storm grading system. “Winds up to thirty-eight miles per hour, that’s a tropical depression. If winds reach thirty-nine miles per hour, that’s a tropical storm. When a tropical storm reaches a constant wind speed of seventy-four miles per hour or greater—that’s a hurricane.
    “Stay tuned, folks, and we’ll keep our audience in the Sarasota Bay area up to speed on how Giselle develops.”

CHAPTER 8
    Cassie drove into the parking deck underneath the fifteen-story bank building that housed what was left of the KEY News Miami Bureau and gave the garage attendant a quick
“Buenos días.”
She eased the Explorer into her designated slot, next to the one marked EL JEFE, the space for the boss. But the latest round of corporate layoffs had eliminated the head count for a Miami bureau chief. Senior Producer Leroy Barry had inherited the boss spot. Leroy’s parking space was empty.
    The bundle of newspapers was waiting near the elevator, and Cassie picked it up.
The Miami Herald, The New York Times, USA Today
, and
The Washington Post
. It stung every morning to see the masthead of what had been her hometown paper. Cassie had to force herself to go through the
Post
’s pages, reading about people with whom she had been on a first-name basis, people who’d always returned her calls, people who didn’t want to know her anymore. Once, Cassie had influence and power in the Beltway world; now she was weak. Inan environment based on power and access, weakness was repulsive. Even those who sympathized with her situation were uncomfortable associating with her, and Cassie knew it.
    She was a leper.
    If she had paid more attention to her family and less to the job, it would be different. She would have drawn strength and emotional sustenance from a loving relationship with her husband and daughter. But she had neglected both Hannah and Jim. She hadn’t meant to, but she had. Everything at KEY News had seemed so damned important. It was so easy to get sucked in. The broadcasting adrenaline was addictive and intoxicating. Now, especially without her family, withdrawal was excruciating.
    Yelena Gregory had tried to make the Miami assignment sound positive when she broke the news that it was her decision, as president of the news division, that Cassie move from the Washington Bureau, but not to New York as planned. Both women, though, knew the truth.
    It was fine to be stationed as Miami correspondent on the way
up
the news ladder. But Cassie most definitely was on the way down. Wanting to make a point, Pamela Lynch was suing KEY News along with Cassie for $100 million. KEY News was sticking with Cassie while the case was in the courts. But after that, Cassie suspected she’d be on her own, cut loose by the company she had worked for most of her professional life.
    How quickly things change
, she thought as she got off the elevator on the eleventh floor and walked alongthe outside terrace to the office. Six months ago she was on track for the spot on
Hourglass
. Her agent had been salivating about going into the next contract negotiations. Now he didn’t return her calls.
    Cassie punched in the security code at the front door, which unlocked with a