Chapter 11: Off The Record

"No story?"

"I'll ask permission first."

Deke frowned, then nodded. "I guess that's all I can ask of a reporter."

"You talk about my profession with such disdain. You'll have to tell me why sometime. Right now, I want to know our current situation, and the plan."

He cocked his head at her. "For someone in danger, you're awfully demanding."

"I'm not going to be passive. It's not in my nature."

He settled at the table, and she wiped her hands dry. "The man was murdered. He was the Assistant to the Governor of Pennsylvania—Tom Scott."

"What was the assistant's name?"

"Derek Bonham."

She sat in a kitchen chair. "The name's familiar, but since I don't write the hard news, I can't place it."

"He's been in the news because he was going to testify in a trial this week—a trial for someone who was crucial to the governor's political career."

"So, Derek was silenced." She'd heard the story before. Some of the older editors—who had been around when gambling started in Atlantic City—talked about ho