“I get that you want it to be,” Kirk said, “but it’s not. The White House gave a secret briefing to the pool, on the single condition that it be embargoed. Nothing was to get out until after the attack was over.”

“If it was so critical to keep a lid on the story, why did the Tribune publish it?”

“Because you did. Once the genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put him back in. That’s what we’re dealing with here. You put out innuendo and guesswork as fact, and it hit close enough to the truth that the Iranians started to go nuts.”

“So it’s true?” Todd blurted. “The U.S. is launching a first strike?”

“Jesus God,” Kirk said. “Did you read the other stories, or just watch the numbers move on your website?”

Sally and Todd remained silent.

On the other end of the phone, Sally could hear movement. Muffled voices. “Oh, shit!” Kirk said. “God damn it! This is all on you!”

The line disconnected.

“What was that all about?” Todd asked.

Sally knew damn well what it was about. It was about David Kirk being right.

This was her worst fear. She should have listened to her own doubts. Sometimes you run into a story that is simply too big to be told. She’d sensed it, but she’d let Todd’s enthusiasm cancel out her own misgivings. His enthusiasm and her own ambition to break the Big Story.

She swirled her middle finger on her laptop’s touch pad and tapped on the home page for the Washington Tribune.

“Sals?”

“Hush a minute, Todd.” She clicked on their version of the story, which was told in the subjunctive tense. It was all very conditional. Government officials were considering . . . If the attack occurred. . . And, yes, the plan was for Israel to strike the Iranian nuclear-manufacturing and launch sites. The United States would serve as a shield against retaliation.

President Blanton had already written a statement to the nation, which said, in part:

Iran’s role as an aggressor in worldwide terrorism cannot be tolerated. With the recent escalation of their rhetoric against our loyal friend and ally, the State of Israel, Prime Minister Ibrahim had no choice but to take this terrible action in the interest in protecting the citizens of that great nation.

“I don’t get it,” Todd said. “I’ve been reading the Tribune article, and we got everything right. What’s the big—”

As they watched the Tribune page, it changed. The plain screen blinked to a red border, and a new headline flashed.

“Oh, my God,” Sally breathed.

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER NINE