2
Incognito
Alexandra tuckedher mominto bed and kissed her forehead. She’d learned one thing in the last two weeks. Brain cancersucked.
Always energetic and elegant, Kimberly Mitus had hit a rough patch.Nothing she can’t overcome.For as long as Alexandra could remember, her mom had been her hero. She’d overcome the horrific loss of a child, the end of a marriage. And she’d beat the cancer ravaging her frail body, too. Alexandra ran a gentle hand through her mom’s thinning, dark hair and kissed hercheek.
Her mom’s sleepy smile convinced Alexandra of nothing. “I’m going to make a full recovery,” Kimberly Mitus said. “No worrying about me. You should return to California right after Christmas. Your life and your new job are waiting foryou.”
But Alexandra had no intention of leaving. “Have a good sleep. I’ll be here until the night nurse arrives. I love you,Mom.”
“I love you, my sweet girl.” Kimberly’s eyes flutteredclosed.
Since her return to Northern Virginia, Alexandra had learned little about her mother’s condition. Kimberly insisted she’d beat the disease. Her brother, Colton, had been vague. For as long as she could remember, her family had treated her like a child. Even now, their whispers stopped whenever she entered a room. As she tiptoed out of her mom’s bedroom, her head pounded fromworry.
On her way toward the kitchen of her mom’s upscale Old Town condo, she glanced out the living room window.Another overcast, dreary day.Not even the ornamented Christmas tree decked in sparkling white lights could lift herspirits.
Alexandra needed to keep busy. She yanked open the stainless steel refrigerator door and loaded her arms with food. Twenty minutes later, she started the slow cooker, stuffed to the brim with chicken andvegetables.
Knockknock.
After spying the familiar nurse through the peephole, Alexandra opened the front door. “Hi,Tamara.”
“How’s your mom doing?” asked the petite woman with the Haitianaccent.
“She’s sleeping,” Alexandra replied, closing the door. “Another round of radiation today. And the doctor changed her chemomeds.”
“I’ll make sure she gets extra fluids when she wakes. Now she needs rest so her body canheal.”
As Alexandra plodded through rush hour traffic, she hoped her new roommate would be home. The online roommate finder had paired her with a single woman, also in her late twenties, who had a furnished bedroom to rent and would accept a month-to month lease. She’d wanted to stay with her mom, but Kimberly had insisted she live with people her ownage.
So far, Mandy had made two brief appearances. Alexandra’s move-in day and Mandy’s laundry day. The rest of the time, she stayed at her boyfriend’s, leaving Alexandra alone night after night.So much for hangingout.
She drove into the older Lyon Parkneighborhood in Arlington and street parked in front of her compact, brick-front home. In every direction, lights streamed from neighbors’ windows. Only her house stood dark.Alone again.Feeling bummed, she scooted inside and flipped on lights. As she tossed her coat over the staircase bannister, her phone rang. It was herboss.
“Hi,Rick.”
“Hello, hello! Happy holidays, Alexandra! How areyou?”
She winced. Rick forced “happy” whenever he delivered bad news. “I think you’re about to tellme.”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I have an update.” He paused long enough to worry her. “Because you’re under contract with the station, you’re not an employee per se. The network isn’t under any obligation to grant you family leave, but they did agree tothree.”
“Months?”
“Weeks.”
Her heart sank. After Thanksgiving, she’d returned to LA for two weeks to make arrangements to move back east—temporarily. During that time, she’d also requested a three-month leave of absence from the station. Even with her accrued vacation time and the additional three weeks, she’d still have to return mid-January if she wanted to keep her covetedjob.
“If it’s any consolation, I’ll hold the investigative slot until the end ofFebruary.”
“I appreciate that,Rick.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “On a positive note, the network doesn’t want to lose you altogether. If you can’t make it back by then, they’ve arranged a meeting with a DC affiliate. The upside is that you’ll continue working. Unfortunately, it won’t be a lateralmove.”
“Who’s the GeneralManager?”
“MaxBuchard.”
