She shook her head, sniffed, the strawberry blond hair she usually braided hanging loose. “Not really. I can’t sleep at night. When I do, I havenightmares.”
“I think we’ve all had nightmares.” Joaquin certainlyhad.
Sophie went on. “I feel sick all day, like something terrible is about to happen. I can’t focus. I’m going to ask Tom for a leave ofabsence.”
Joaquin met Alex’s gaze, saw that Alex was as surprised as he was. Sophie was a consummate journalist. She’d been on the I-Team longer than the rest of them. But maybe that was part of it. A person could only take somuch.
Joaquin nodded. “That’s good. You need to take care of yourself and yourkids.”
“Do you think Tom will get angry? Kat is on maternity leave for another few weeks, so you’ll beunderstaffed.”
Kat James, who’d had a baby in the middle of the terrorist stand-off last month, job-shared with Sophie, but she was recovering at her family’s home on the Navajo reservation with her husband Gabe Rossiter rightnow.
Carmichael gave a snort. “Who gives a shit what Tomthinks?”
“Don’t worry about Tom, and don’t worry about us. We’ll manage. Your job will be waiting for you when you’re ready to comeback.”
“You think so?” Sophie looked at Joaquin, shadows in her eyes, dark circles beneath them. “You think Tom will let me comeback?”
Joaquin rested a hand on hers, found that she was shaking. “Of course, he will. You’re one of the best, and he knowsit.”
“If he doesn’t, he’s a fucking idiot,” Carmichaelsaid.
Behind them, Tom’s office door opened, and Cate stepped out. There hadn’t been any shouting, and Cate didn’t look like Tom had raked her over thecoals.
A good start to theday.
Tom was as big as a bear and had the disposition of a junkyard dog. “I-Team meeting now. Deadline is six hours away,people.”
Tom Trent was apendejo—no doubt about it—but he was also an old-school journalist who worked as hard as his reporters. Joaquin respected him and his editorial judgment, even if he didn’t like the way Tom treated thestaff.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay.” Joaquin gave her hand a squeeze. “You just tell Tom how it is, and we’ll be rightthere.”
“We’ve got your back,” Alexsaid.
Yeah, Alex was a different guy since the party. Weren’t theyall?
Joaquin walked back to his desk, grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, and followed the other I-Team members down the hallway toward the conference room. He took a seat at the table, his gaze on Sophie, who had managed to stop her tears but was visiblyupset.
“Alton,” said Tom, ignoring her hyphenated married name. “You’ve got something on yourmind.”
“I’m going to take a leave of absence.” Sophie’s voice quavered. “I am not able to function the way I should here at work. I can barely keep things together at home. I need to focus on my health and myfamily.”
Tom frowned, tapped his notepad with a pencil. “I’m sorry to hear this. You’ve worked long and hard for this newspaper, and we’ll stand byyou.”
Joaquin stared, wondering whether the man sitting at the end of the conference table was, in fact, Tom Trent. He glanced over at Harker and Carmichael and saw surprise on their faces,too.
“When were you thinking of starting yourleave?”
“Today.” Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t imagine I’ll be ready to come back for awhile.”
Tom nodded. “You and I will head down to HR after the meeting and see what we can workout.”
“Thank you.” Sophie seemed to melt withrelief.
Tom turned to Cate. “Warner, you’re in the hotseat.”
Cate sat up straight. “I’m doing a follow-up piece on Andrew Meyer, the missing man from Aurora. Police found bullet holes in his shower stall and shell casings but no body. They pulled out some slugs, but they’re not saying what caliber they are. There’s one person of interest in the case—a woman who was the last person to see this guy. The neighbor said he heard some kind of argument. She was Meyer’s executive officer when he was in the Army. Police are looking into her. I thought I’d pull her military record and that of the missing guy and see if anythingpops.”