She looked at her phone, which was blowing up with messages from friends and Washington types she’d never met, congratulating her on a huge scoop, inviting her to drinks, and—shamelessly—asking if she’d share the name and contact info for her sources. There was an email from Karima Sahadi that read Please call me as soon as you can, dear.

She probably wants to be seen having lunch with me again, Natalie thought with a smile and flagged the email to ensure she’d remember to call her later.

“How high do you think the VOP will be?” Matt asked Dasha.

“Seventy. Maybe eighty?” Dasha said with confidence.

“Interesting, I’d say a hundred at least,” Matt said. “We never found out how high it can go. It’s a number with no meaning.” He shrugged. “Anyway, Ryan’s anchoring, so his VOP can’t be that good. God, we might actually beat him.”

The phone in the booth rang and Matt answered it, a little too enthusiastically, with “ATN, White House!”

He covered the mouthpiece and turned to Natalie. “They need us back on air.”

Natalie frowned at him but he only shrugged in reply and said, “I don’t know. They said ASAP.”

Back on Pebble Beach, Natalie was squinting under the lights at ATN’s camera. Why wasn’t anyone talking in her ear?

The show came back from commercial, the Breaking News open rolled and it cut directly to Ryan, who was wearing a Concerned Look.

“This is Ryan McGreavy at ATN. I’m here with continuing coverage on the First Lady. I’m joined now by phone with Dr. Eric Anderson, the executive director of the Huntington Recovery Center in Phoenix.”

Natalie felt a pressure a building in her chest. They’d reached the executive director, the one who wouldn’t take her call.

“Mr. Anderson, moments ago our own Natalie Savage broke the news that the First Lady is in residence at your center. What more can you tell us?” Ryan asked, looking Serious and Engaged.

“Thank you, Mr. McGreavy, I’m calling to set the record straight,” the voice said. “Sometimes our commitment to discretion leads to misunderstandings, and I’m afraid that’s what we have here.”

Natalie felt the world go into slow motion.

“Sir, please tell us, what is the misunderstanding?” Ryan wore a look of Grave Concern.

“First Lady Anita Crusoe is not a patient here, and I’m sorry for the confusion.”

Natalie held in a gasp as alarms started going off in her head.

“Has she ever been a patient there?” Ryan asked.

“No, I’m afraid not. She is not in residence. Not an outpatient. Never treated here.”