Stop acting like a hostage, Bibb isn’t here to torture you, she told herself.

But she’ll be watching, her self replied. No harm in looking good.

Karima had called the night before to offer Natalie the interview. When Natalie had accepted it, she told Matt they would do it online. “We can livestream it on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and there’s nothing Bibb can do to stop us.”

And yet, for the last fourteen hours Natalie had been panicked that Bibb would somehow intuit the plan and ruin it. All night, during the four-hour flight here, and the two hour drive up the mountain, Natalie had imagined arriving at the house only to find Ryan, fresh off the elevator and ready to get started.

So far, no sign of McChesty.

“Higher!” Dasha commanded. She was setting the shot for the interview and adjusted a key light right into Natalie’s eyes. “Sit up! She is much taller than you.” Natalie straightened to do as Dasha ordered.

“And stop playing with your hair,” Matt said. “You look great. You’re going to be great. Don’t be nervous.”

Watching them, Natalie held back a smile. Both of them had called in sick to be here, risking Bibb’s ire. They’d scored the camera gear from Andrea. “She said it’s the least she can do to make up for the rehab debacle,” Matt had explained, then added, “And this interview will piss off Bibb, so for her, it’s a twofer.”

As Dasha tweaked the light, Natalie’s mind jumped ahead to her plan for the interview and to any holes. She knew that whatever had prompted FLOTUS to leave the White House related to the pipeline and the ships in Venezuela and had nothing to do with the mystery man in the video. Which meant that everything ATN had reported about the affair had been wrong.

Natalie’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Matt’s ringing phone.

“Go for Matt,” he barked into the speakerphone.

“Okay, all parties are primed and ready.” It was Andrea. Natalie could hear the sounds of the ATN newsroom behind her. “I tipped off the AP and they’re about to move three alerts. They know FLOTUS is coming out of hiding, giving an interview, and it’ll be streamed on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I also tipped CNN that Natalie Savage has the big exclusive, and they’ll carry it live. Once it’s on CNN, everyone’ll grab it.”

“Good plan.” Dasha nodded. “Everyone copy CNN.”

Beeping noises started blaring over the speaker of Matt’s iPhone. It was the sound of the Associated Press moving an urgent story, chiming on newsroom computers all around Andrea. “Here we go,” Andrea said as the beeps turned into a chorus and then became a roar of alarms, layered with people shouting.