BooksBarbecue
Back First Comes Love
Chapters (92)
  1. First
  2. Love Connection
  3. Zero
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. One Month Later
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Six Months Later
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-one
  27. Twenty-two
  28. Twenty-three
  29. Twenty-four
  30. Six Months Later
  31. Twenty-five
  32. Twenty-six
  33. Twenty-seven
  34. Twenty-eight
  35. Twenty-nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-one
  38. Thirty-two
  39. Thirty-three
  40. I Have Never
  41. One
  42. Two
  43. Three
  44. Four
  45. Five
  46. Six
  47. Seven
  48. Eight
  49. Nine
  50. Ten
  51. Eleven
  52. Twelve
  53. Thirteen
  54. Fourteen
  55. Fifteen
  56. Sixteen
  57. Seventeen
  58. Eighteen
  59. Nineteen
  60. Twenty
  61. Twenty-one
  62. Twenty-two
  63. A Christmas Date
  64. One
  65. Two
  66. Three
  67. Four
  68. Five
  69. Six
  70. Seven
  71. Eight
  72. Nine
  73. Ten
  74. Eleven
  75. Twelve
  76. Thirteen
  77. Fourteen
  78. Fifteen
  79. Sixteen
  80. Seventeen
  81. Eighteen
  82. Nineteen
  83. Twenty
  84. Twenty-one
  85. Twenty-two
  86. Note from the Author
  87. Sneak Peek – To the Stars and Back
  88. Two
  89. Three
  90. Four
  91. Also by Camilla Isley
  92. About the Author

“So.” I swallow the last bit of crunchy deliciousness and give Michael the same report I gave Richard two days ago.

The journalist listens patiently and doesn’t interrupt once so that when I’m done talking, I have to ask for his opinion. “What’s your take?”

Michael strokes the back of his head. “Your story does add up, but you don’t have definitive proof.”

Richard speaks before I can. “Would you run an article based only on what you’ve heard today?”

“I would”—Michael gives him a piercing stare—“if my editor backed me.”

I love you, Michael!

Richard frowns. “And would any sane editor back you?”

“You have a source and a credible one. I’d say it’d be fifty-fifty…”

Michael’s implied meaning is all too clear. Depending on the attributes of said editor.

Richard shakes his head.

“Whatever you do,” Michael continues, “you need to ask Maison Vanderbilt for a statement. They can refuse, and you put in your piece they weren’t available for comment. But you’re required to contact a representative beforehand and give them the chance to refute your case.”

A mean idea is taking form in my head. “What if we asked Rebecca Vanderbilt point-blank?”

Richard shakes his head. “She’d just deny it.”

“What if she couldn’t?” I insist.

“You want to base your strategy on the hope that Rebecca Vanderbilt doesn’t lie?” Richard snaps. “Think again.”

“That’s not what I meant. We’d have to trap her with our line of questioning.”

Richard crosses his arms. “Give me an example.”

“We ask her if she’s ever heard of Heron LLC. If she lies and says no, then we ask how come Maison Vanderbilt paid millions in management fees to that very company for at least three consecutive fiscal years.”

“All that would achieve is perhaps for you to make Rebecca Vanderbilt blush, at best.” Richard isn’t budging. “No one would see her reaction, and she’d then work to cover her tracks even more thoroughly. If she hasn’t already.”

I expected this argument. “What if everyone did see it?”

“And how would you make that happen?”

“We could tape her.”

“Walker,” Richard scoffs. “This isn’t a spy movie. You can’t go around taping people. She’d sue the second the video aired.”

“What if she’d given us permission to tape her?”

“And why would she do that?”