“You told me you were going to try to get the APB revoked, and Tom into federal custody. But from what you described, Brody’s giving your father a world-class get-out-of-jail-free card. A free pass on everything.”
“Well, I figured as long as I had him over a barrel, I’d push for everything I could.”
Caitlin felt her bottom lip shaking. She was usually good at hiding her emotions, but now it was impossible. “Royal’s obviously not going to move heaven and earth for free. What did you promise him in return?” A sickening thought struck her. “Did you tell him you’d give him the tape I made of his daughter?”
“Of course I did.”
Stunned by his casual tone, she walked around her desk and sat down, then fixed him with a level stare. “Did you promise that I would keep his name out of the Examiner?”
Penn didn’t answer immediately. Then he looked off to the side and said, “I had to, babe.”
She closed her eyes, and a sensation of falling in slow motion enveloped her. “You had no right to do that,” she said softly. Then she opened her eyes, her voice rising. “You can’t make a promise for me. You can’t make a deal with the devil in my name. You can’t sell my soul for me. Only I can do that!”
“Sell your soul? You’re blowing this out of proportion. This is my father’s life we’re talking about.”
Galvanized by righteous anger, Caitlin leaned forward and snapped, “Brody Royal’s a fucking murderer. Do you really think your father would want a man who’s killed innocent people to go free to protect him?”
“I don’t know,” Penn replied in a maddeningly mild voice. “I think Dad’s known some pretty bad things about Brody Royal for thirty-five years, and he kept them quiet to protect our family.”
Caitlin felt paralyzed; she wished Tom were here to argue for her. “For all you know, Royal is just stalling you. He could be packing his bags for Brazil right now.”
“Brazil isn’t a nonextradition country.”
“Oh, stop talking like a fucking lawyer.”
Penn rubbed the back of his neck, looking more haggard by the minute. “What do you think I’m trying to do here? Sabotage your career?”
“What are you doing? In the past, your motto was ‘Let justice be done though the heavens fall.’ And I loved you for it. But now that your father’s in trouble, suddenly Albert and Pooky and the others are just regrettable deaths. What about Henry and Sherry, for God’s sake?”
Penn took his time answering. “Caitlin, throughout my career, I had to compromise. Every single case eventually came down to that. Perfect justice does not exist in this world.”
“Perfect justice? This is the opposite of justice! It’s a black hole sucking in everything good that comes near it. It’s a singularity of shit!”
Penn’s nostrils flared, and she almost welcomed the prospect that he’d stand up and fight—but he didn’t. She sensed that he was seeing himself in a new light, and not enjoying what he saw. When he spoke again, it was in a tone of infinite regret. “If justice for those victims and families was truly your goal, you wouldn’t be trying to keep Henry’s files from the FBI. You’d have given Kaiser copies as soon as you got them.”
She stiffened, feeling her face go red. “I am giving them to him. Jordan and I talked about it tonight. I’m giving Kaiser copies of everything tomorrow morning.”
Penn was staring at her as though at a stranger. “Everything?”
God, how well he knows me. “That’s right.”
He didn’t bother to challenge this. “Maybe I’m not being clear. I’m not asking you to live up to this deal with Royal. I’m asking you to hold off on the man for one or two days.”
“One day in my business is like a month in yours. You know that. If we’re not first with a story, we’re irrelevant.”
Penn turned up his palms. “If Royal doesn’t do what he promised by tomorrow afternoon, you’re welcome to tear him to pieces. You can start posting in your online edition right after lunch.”
“But what if he does cooperate? You want me to bury the story forever? I can’t do that. I won’t. And what if he just strings you along some more? You’ll be back in here pleading with me to protect him.”
“No, I won’t. But this is Royal’s only way out, other than running. And if he runs, you can rip him to shreds. But for God’s sake—for Dad’s sake—let Royal pull these strings and remove the immediate threat.”
“You can’t trust a man like Royal, Penn. Some way or other, he’s going to screw you. You and Tom. Remember what he did to his wife? To his own daughter?”
Penn let her words hang in the air. Then he said, “You know something? You’re right. My father’s life means more to me than Albert Norris’s. Or Pooky Wilson’s, or even Henry’s. After Dad is safe, I’ll do everything in my power to send their killers to prison. But until then, I can’t worry about them. My father, my mother, Annie, you—all of you mean more to me than anyone else on this planet. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you, and I’m not ashamed of that.”
A smothering wave of emotion swept through her, for she knew that he meant every word. “I understand,” she said. “But I don’t want to mean that much to somebody. I don’t want a travesty of justice committed in my name. We can’t compound this evil. We have to fight it.”
“By publishing everything about Brody tomorrow morning?”
She nodded, her breaths coming shallow. “I’ve already written the story. I would have called and told you, but I assumed you were with Royal.”
“And you couldn’t wait a few extra minutes to see how that went?”
She felt her cheeks heat up again. “Not and make my deadline. But truthfully … maybe I was afraid I knew how it would go.”