She told him that Angel wasn’t the sort of person to ever harm a child. Then he wanted to know how she knew that. She wouldn’t reveal her source, she said, falling back on a tried and true response. But the man was innocent.

Her editor had just laughed. So she thought the guy was innocent, what did it matter? The news was the thing that mattered, scooping all the other media and being first and best at delivering the story. She’d given the facts of the matter, that was the end of it. She should just enjoy her celebrity status while it lasted.

Michelle went back to her apartment that night saddened and weary, with a new sense of disillusionment about life and people.

The next morning, she phoned Minette Carson and asked if she had an opening for a reporter who was certain she wasn’t cut out for the big dailies.

Minette was hesitant.

“Look, never mind,” Michelle said gently. “I know I’ve made a lot of enemies in Jacobsville with the way I covered the story. It’s okay. I can always teach journalism. I’ll be a natural at showing students what not to do.”

“We all have to start somewhere when we learn how to do a job,” Minette replied. “Usually, it’s a painful process. Eb Scott called and asked me, before you did the interview, if you knew who Gabriel really was. I told him no. I knew you’d have said something long before this. I should have told you.”

“I should have suspected something,” came the sad reply. “He was away from home for long stretches, he spoke a dozen impossible languages, he was secretive about what sort of work he did—I just wasn’t paying attention.”

“It amused everyone when he took you in as his ward,” Minette said. “He was one of the coldest men Eb Scott ever hired—well, after Carson, who works for Cy Parks, that is.” She chuckled. “But once you came along, all of a sudden Gabriel was smiling.”

“He won’t be anymore,” Michelle said, feeling the pain to the soles of her feet.

“Give it time,” was the older woman’s advice. “First, you have some work to do.”

“I know. I’m going to do everything in my power to prove him innocent. Whatever it takes,” Michelle added firmly.

“That’s more like it. And about the job,” she replied. “Once you’ve proven that you aren’t running away from an uncomfortable assignment, we’ll have a place for you here. That’s a promise.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Michelle convinced Eb Scott to let her talk to his detective. It worked out well, because Dane Lassiter was actually in San Antonio for a seminar that week and he agreed to meet with her in a local restaurant.