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.”

He leaned back in his chair. “I see. And I suppose it’s just a coincidence that this decision gives you the biggest scoop of your career? On the same morning that a flock of vultures will land here to cover the same story?”

Her temper finally flared beyond her control. “I’m not going to apologize for doing my job! You think some other media outlet might not get to Katy Royal in the hospital? What if she tells them about her father’s crime?”

“She’s in a coma! Please tell me this isn’t about hanging another Pulitzer on your wall.”

His words stung like a swarm of hornets, because they were partly true. He got up and flattened his hands on her desk, his lips pale with emotion. “Are you seriously willing to keep my father’s life at risk so that you can beat everyone else into print with this story?”

Penn’s unfiltered anger was hard to withstand, but she found strength in her conviction that only the truth could gain justice for the victims who had suffered so long. “I think your father has always had it in his power to resolve this situation. If Tom is going to be saved, it won’t be by us. He’s going to have to do it himself. All we can do is what we think is best, each by our own lights. That’s why I have to write this story.”

“How can you face Annie and my mother if you do that?”

She turned up her palms. “I think we’ll both have a lot to explain, if it comes to that.”

He sagged against her desk. “Maybe it’s a blood thing. Maybe if it was your father running for his life, you’d feel like I do.”

She was too exhausted to think anymore. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t.”

Caitlin glanced at her watch. The absolute deadline was coming at her like a train out of a dark tunnel. “I really have no more time. None. Not if we’re going to get this mess out tomorrow.”