When Caitlin covers her eyes with her hands, I know it’s all she can do not to hit me in the face.

“There’s more,” I go on. “Earlier today, I got into a fight with Randall Regan myself. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to worry. But it was brutal. Now you’ve driven Brody’s daughter to suicide, and fired a gun at Regan in his own house. Do you really think they’re going to sit around and wait for you to destroy them in tomorrow’s Examiner? We really shouldn’t even be sitting out here on the street.”

As though realizing the danger for the first time, she scans the dark street around us.

“To save Dad, we’ve got to go straight at them,” I tell her, squeezing her arm. “Right now. They won’t expect that, and it’ll give us the initiative.”

“But why would they agree to help Tom?”

“Because I’m going to show them a greater threat than Dad. Between what you’ve got on that phone, what I know from Henry, and some exaggerations about witnesses, I can make them see that killing Dad isn’t worth what it will cost them in the end.”

“What witnesses are you talking about?”

“Huggy Bear. Walker Dennis got a call today from a guy who claims he saw Brody and Regan burn the Beacon last night. He didn’t give his real name, but I think it’s the same guy who saw Brody burn Norris’s store forty years ago—only he’s a man now.”

Caitlin’s eyes flash with interest, but then she settles back into her seat, her jaw muscles flexing. “I don’t like this. It sounds more like bribery than intimidation. Those bastards aren’t going to give you anything without getting something in return. You know that.”

“Who cares! The point is getting Dad safely into federal custody. After that, you can throw Brody to the wolves. You just might have to wait a day to do it. That’s all. For them to call off the dogs, and for me to get Dad safely in.”

Her cheeks go red. “Now you want me to hold off publishing for a day? This afternoon you were demanding that I publish everything immediately!”

“Don’t postpone the story. Just leave Brody and the tape out of it for a day. Those old murders have waited nearly forty years to be solved. They can wait another twenty-four hours.”

There’s a war going on inside Caitlin, her code of honor and blazing ambition on one side, love for my father on the other.