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“What picture?”
“The picture that they are going to run in the evening edition and post online at five!”
“What?” I squeaked.
“If you weren’t arrested, Maggie, you better go talk to Jeff!”
“Yes, you damn well better talk to me. Where the hell have you been, Maggie Valor?” Jeff growled as he rounded the corner and almost bowled over the top of Jessica in her chair.
“I told you I have been working on a story.”
“Does your story have anything to do with being arrested? Were you released on bail? I couldn’t find any charges filed on you.”
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I taunted. “No, I wasn’t arrested, and I wasn’t charged because I didn’t do anything. I met with Detective Highmore because he had more questions.”
“We have a photograph of you in handcuffs.”
Who took that damn picture? “I was not arrested, Jeff.”
“What were they questioning you about? Was it a false arrest? We could do a story on that.”
“No, it was not a false arrest. I wasnotarrested, Jeff!” I threw my hands into the air as I lifted my face into the air. “I was not arrested!” I shouted so that everyone else listening could hear. “I was detained to answer a few questions.”
I turned around and glared at Jeff. “You do know what detained means, right? Or do I need to explain that too?”
“Of course, I know what detained means, Maggie.”
“Well, that’s good,” I said sassily. “I was brought in to answer a few more questions about the robbery. Something got distorted, and I had to clear it up. It was all a misunderstanding.”
“What was the misunderstanding?”
I tugged my bottom lip under my teeth and glanced away. “I can’t tell you.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Maggie,” he screamed. “Why can’t you tell me? This is a newspaper, goddamn it! We report the news! You were smack-dab in the center of the biggest story we’ve had in months, and you refuse to talk about it. Do you know what this could do for your career?”
I burst to my feet and got in his face. “And I told you that I was not going to talk about that because it could screw up the chances of those dirtbags being prosecuted. I’m a witness, a victim in this case. I cannot give the details until after the hearing. I could influence potential jurors.”
He shifted back, glaring down at me. “So what the hell have you been working on? I know for a fact that you haven’t been watching over your column. You have over a hundred comments online that haven’t been answered, which is bad even for you. You’re slacking on your duties; I should fire you.”
“Then fire me, Jeff! I told you I was working on a story.”
“What story?” He put his finger into my face, “And you better not tell me it has anything to do with politics.” I tried not to wince, and he glared at me with bulging brown eyes. “I told you that unless you did this article about the robbery, you weren’t getting near the news desk with a ten-foot pole.”
I straightened my spine and rolled back my shoulders. “You know what, Jeff? You will not dictate what kind of articles I am going to write anymore.”
“Of course I can, I’m your boss. Or did you forget that, Maggie?”
“Oh, I did not forget that you are in charge of some people, but as for being my boss, you arenotmy boss anymore. I quit!”
He shifted back as if I had slapped him—I should have. A moment later, he began to laugh. “You quit? Where do you think you’re going to find a job, Maggie? Do you think anyone else around here is going to hire you? Not a chance in hell.”
“Don’t worry your elephant-ass-head about me,” I snapped at him before I turned back to my desk and started collecting my possessions.
“My what?” Jeff sputtered. “What are you doing?”
“I just told you I quit. I’m gathering my stuff, and then I’m out of here.”
“But you have a column to finish!” he seethed, and the vein in his temple began to bulge. The man was going to have a heart attack right here if he didn’t calm down. “You can’t walk out in the middle of a series.”
