Free Risking Trust by Adrienne Giordano Page A

knock sounded on her door. “Morning, Rox.”
    “Hey, Phil.” She motioned him to a chair—one of the only surfaces not covered with folders or notebooks—unbuttoned her suit jacket and sat behind her desk. “What’s up?”
    “Something went on with Alicia Taylor and Carl Biehl, but nobody will go on record that it was an affair. I didn’t get anything from Mrs. Biehl. She didn’t deny it though.”
    Roxann rested her head against the back of her chair. She needed an aspirin, maybe ten, for the dull throb that had grown into a raging headache. Fatigue did that to her. Was this the right time to make an important decision? Would there ever be a good time to run this story?
    “What did your P.D. source say?”
    “He wouldn’t confirm the affair, but said a friend of the Taylors saw them—Alicia and Biehl—in a restaurant one night. The friend said Biehl seemed nervous.” He leaned forward and pushed up his glasses. “Also, a neighbor said he saw Biehl leaving Alicia’s two days before the murder.”
    “They certainly weren’t shy.”
    “Nope.”
    Roxann ran the options. Running the story would mean scandal for Carl Biehl. The mayor would go ballistic and Max would be right there with him because she’d messed around in an active case. On a personal level, if her uncle set his mind to it, he could create dissention between Roxann and her mother during a time when they needed each other. She didn’t want her mother feeling additional emotional upheavals because Max was in a snit. But would his anger be fierce enough to drag her mother into it? Roxann hoped not.
    She sat silently, turned over the options, ran the scenarios. Would it be worth the backlash? Her palms began to itch—the itch hadn’t failed her yet—but this decision carried personal and business implications. Breaking it down to its simplest form, this was a newspaper and the mayor’s chief of staff having an affair with a murder victim was news.
    Roxann leaned forward. “Can you combine this with other new details about the murder? You can add the Biehl information, but don’t say it was an affair. Call it a close friendship. Whatever.”
    Phil nodded. “Sure. My source gave me some stuff on the crime scene.”
    “Good. I’ll talk to Mitch about it. He and the lawyers will have to check for libel issues. I want to see a final before it goes to print. We’ll see what else is running tomorrow before we make a placement decision, but we’ll get it close to the front.”
    Phil whistled. “Thanks, Rox.”
    He rose from his chair and she held up a hand. “Michael Taylor is my source. Obviously, that’s not for disclosure.”
    A slow, satisfied smile spread across Phil’s face. “This is a really good day.”
     
    Roxann crawled into bed, her body feeling as if it had been plastered by a wrecking ball. When morning came, the Alicia Taylor story would break and create an avalanche of speculation. She burrowed farther into the supple, pink sheets and drew comfort from them. Sometimes a well made bed was all she needed. Wouldn’t it be great if a well made bed could cure all her problems?
    She gazed up at the ceiling, painted the palest of peach to add warmth. She’d need all the warmth she could get because come morning, Max would be furious. Should she call him with a heads up about the story? The sickening swell of bile in her throat made her rethink the idea. Part of her was too chicken to tell him. The other part couldn’t summon the energy to deal with the fit he’d throw.
    The digital clock on the bedside table showed eleven thirty-five, late for an early riser who kept to a regimented schedule, but nothing unusual lately. She flipped the lamp off and snuggled into her pillow. Thirty seconds later, her brain still buzzing, she sat up, turned the lamp on and whipped off the covers.
    Damn.
    She snatched her phone from the charger and scrolled through her contacts for Michael’s number.
    “Taylor.”
    His voice carried the fog