Pamela seemed content to sip coffee and listen to me fill in the gaps for her big exposé on Fiona Doyle and Blackstone. From what I'd heard, the Boston Globe had offered her a job again, though she hadn't told me either way if she was staying in Reading or heading out. Fleur's silent watchfulness and faint, continual mocking smile seemed to tell me she had her own hopes for Pamela's future.

My worries about the Pattersons I actually cared about-a short list that ...