All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy [72]
"And you know me, Natalie. I do what it takes to keep this department running smoothly, and right now you are causing a huge commotion. I also got a call from Bennett half an hour ago. He wants me to make this go away."
That was typical of the hospital administrator. "I didn't do anything wrong."
"I'm sure you didn't, but you need to find a way to resolve this issue and repair your professional reputation. I don't have to remind you that a physician must be above all scandal. Especially a female doctor. Fix this."
"Dammit," Natalie swore as Rita left her alone in the examining room. She couldn't believe the impact the book was having on her life. As she gazed around the room, noting the familiar machines and instruments, she felt a terrible fear that she might lose it all. The hospital was her home. The doctors and nurses were her family. Her career was everything. She told herself that it couldn't happen, wouldn't happen. She was guilty of nothing. But apparently she was going to have to find a way to prove that. She had to do what Rita said and fix it.
* * *
Cole stared at the copy on his desk. He'd already read it twice and it still didn't make sense. His cousin Marty sat in the chair in front of him. A thin, wiry, nervous type in his early twenties, Marty didn't usually deliver copy personally to Cole's desk, yet here he was today, clearing his throat every thirty seconds and running a hand through his hair, obviously worried about Cole's reaction. He had good reason to be.
"What is this?" Cole asked in a quiet voice that barely contained his anger. He looked at Marty, having the sudden urge to hit him. He was tired. He hadn't slept all night, trying to figure out the puzzle of Malone, the novel, Emily's death, and Natalie's involvement.
"We have to cover the story," Marty said in a tight voice. "It's news."
"It's old news. Emily died ten years ago."
"I know that, but the book is happening now. I wish you'd given me the heads-up on this. I was completely broadsided when a source told me that Entertainment Tonight is running a preview of tonight's lead story with the tagline What really happened to Emily Parish, daughter of the Parish publishing dynasty?"
"Shit!" After his conversation with his father the day before, Cole had known the story was about to blow up. He'd just hoped to have a few days before it exploded, enough time to locate Malone. Apparently, that wasn't going to happen. Who the hell had called ET? Where was the buzz coming from? He knew it wasn't coming from Natalie or himself.
"This brief article gives just enough detail to keep us in the game," Marty said.
Cole ignored that as he leaned back in his chair. "I want to stick with no comment for the moment."
"We can't do that. The integrity of the paper is at stake. We can't let every other news organization cover the story of one of our own." He paused, uttering a nervous cough. "You know we've been slipping the past year. Every day our circulation numbers go down a little bit more. We have reporters all over the world, but hardly anyone covering our own city. And now this. If we refuse to print information about this book, it might put us over the edge."
Cole heard every word Marty said. But this was Emily they were talking about.
"It's the best way to tell our side of the story, to let the world know we're conducting our own investigation," Marty argued.
He knew Marty was right. They had to put out some sort of statement and this was the best compromise. "Fine, run it. But we'll have no further comment until we speak to the author of the book."
As Marty left the room, Jack Hinkley walked in. Jack was a fifty-year-old private investigator who worked for the paper on occasion and most recently on finding Malone. He shut the door behind him and sat down in the chair across from Cole's desk.
"Malone has disappeared off the radar," Jack said bluntly. "He has canceled all scheduled appearances. His publicist