She put down the phone and stared at the wall. She wished her dad was around to commiserate. Mom used to be hard on him, too, she remembered, always complaining that he spent too much time on the raft of Sobby Sauls and Heartbreak Hollys, as she used to call her dad’s largely pro bono clients. Even at the age of ten, Natalie understood how important his work was, how he helped people who had no one looking out for them.

Then he’d gotten sick. That first time Natalie had arrived for a visit after the diagnosis, she’d found her mother out and her father watching the news. He’d motioned her into the chair next to his bed. “Just like the old days,” he’d said. Cronkite, a black Lab who’d been in the family a few years, was curled by his feet. “That’ll be you some day,” her dad had said, pointing to the television where a network correspondent was doing a live shot. It was Nelly Jones, the ATN reporter she was now replacing. Temporarily.

“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll get there for you. You’ll be proud,” she’d said.

He’d smiled back and said, “Get there for you, not me.” His eyes were glistening as he spoke. “I know how hard you work, how much you’re giving up. We all have to pay our dues. I couldn’t be prouder. You know that, don’t you?”

An unfamiliar buzzing noise broke through Natalie’s thoughts and she looked around to find her phone. Only the buzz was coming from the wall. She spotted the source of the interruption—an intercom—and frowned. She didn’t know anyone who could be visiting her now.

When she hit the speaker, a familiar male voice came crackling over the line. “Hey, it’s Hal. I figured you can’t move the mountain, so I came to you.”

Her body went on alert. Surely he isn’t here at the building.

“Where are you, Hal?” she asked cautiously.

“I don’t like the thought of you going to sleep so early on one of your first weeks in Washington. I think you should come down and grab a drink. We can talk White House stuff.”

A flash of anger shot through her calm. He hadn’t just crossed a line, he’d obliterated it.

“How do you know where I’m staying?” It came out like an accusation.

“It’s in the master file on the assignment desk, silly. We have to know how to find everyone in the bureau.” He sounded deeply unapologetic.

Her body tensed in disgust as she imagined Hal looking up her personal details in the manager’s file after she’d told him to back off.

“Sorry, Hal, but I can’t,” she said firmly.