Wildfire by Priscilla West Read Free Book Online Page A

happy with the changes I’ve made in my life and I know his love is always with me.”
     
    “Good,” Mark affirms. “The less guilt you have in your life, the less people can get you down.”
     
    I pause for a moment, taking a deep breath. He’s right, of course. Guilt will kill a relationship faster than jealousy, apathy or boredom. I let out a deep sigh that clues Mark in to the fact something big is coming.
     
    “I do have something I feel guilty about,” I say slowly, playing with my coffee stirrer and refusing to make eye contact.  “I lied to you, Valerie, and pretty much everyone but Janice.”
     
    “About what?”  Mark puts his coffee down and frowns my direction.
     
    “There really is a big story at Lynx I’ve been hiding. It’s a make or break story and I didn’t tell you about it because I didn’t trust you and I thought you might be working for Blake or to get the story for Valerie.  If Lynx folded I was going to use it to start over.”
     
    “Well, I knew that bullshit about a ‘source list’ was a lie, but I couldn’t figure out what you might be hiding and decided to let it go.” Mark concedes.  “What’s the scoop?”
     
    “I hired a college kid who was going to intern at Tilden-Jennings. I figured that firm works with every other firm on Wall Street so I might find a story or two. Bosses tell interns everything in order to impress them, and I hoped I’d get lucky.  Well, I hit the jackpot. By then end of his semester my source was given information about stock colliding – where the firms pretend to be rivals but secretly pick a stock to dump and battle over it. Smaller, less experienced firms see the big ones fighting and snap up the inflated stock—”
     
    “I know what stock colliding is,” Mark says. “And I know it’s illegal. I also know the kinds of firms that get ripped off are the ones who handle retirement funds and small investors who can’t afford to lose the money.”
     
    “Anyway, I have names, dates, emails, and proof that Tilden-Jennings and three of the major firms on the street were engaged. They brought down a number of college endowments, pension funds, and new businesses. I’ve got it all. I wrote it at home and kept the payments, source and research out of the office to protect the source. They must have seen some messages from me about the “big story” because other than that I’ve been super careful.”
     
    “Holy hell, Julia.” Mark says. “You’re going to piss off every power player in New York.”
     
    “That’s not the point, Mark. The point is I have the story and it is written and ready to run. I’m leading off the next issue of Lynx with it. I’m going to put us back on the map.”
     
    “You think Blake’s opposition was bad? Julia, even if Valerie had found that story she wouldn’t run it. It’s a hornet’s nest!”
     
    “Valerie wouldn’t run it because most of her friends are in it!” I counter, getting a bit angry. I thought he’d take my side but I can see the cutting edge is no place for a well-set businessman who cares more about the bottom line than a teacher in Iowa losing her retirement.
     
    “Think twice before you do this, Julia. Blake was a spark. This is fire.”
     
    “I told you about it because I felt guilty keeping the secret, not because I wanted your advice,” I snap, getting off the stool and heading to the bathroom where I hung my clothes to dry.
     
    “I don’t want to fight with you,” Mark says following me.
     
    “Then stop talking,” I fire back.
     
    I leave without so much as a goodbye kiss. He offers to drive me home but I tell him I’ll hail a cab. I ask him not to reveal the story to anyone and he promises he won’t.  Walking through his door I hear him say one thing under his breath that chills me to the bone.
     
    “I can see we still have a lot to learn.”
     

Chapter 6
     
    Blake Stone being trussed up and stuffed in a police car not only did something good