started?”
“Kids, they think.”
Carter scoffed. “Kids. Right. I want to know everything about those animal carcasses’ positioning, their pathology — everything.” Pausing for a moment and surveying the landscape, Carter exhaled slowly in frustration. “Nature doesn’t lay out animals in straight lines like that. We’re dealing with some sick, twisted bastard.”
Within the FBI’s often hidden P.R.E.S.S. Division, Carter and Bishop were known to deliver results. Carter was determined to rule out act of nature, and Bishop was set on refuting human causes such as bioterrorism. It was usually one of the two.
Carter rejoined Lynn and guided her by her upper arm away from the lake. “We’ll need you to report on this, but it’s important you don’t cause a total panic. The toxicology reports will come back in the next couple of hours. Our office will issue a statement once we have more facts.”
“Sure.” Lynn made a note of the detail. “Can I talk about bioterrorism?”
“Didn’t stop you before,” Bishop said dryly as he walked past them, back to the car.
“Minimize the panic, please, Ms. Meyers. Oh, and let your viewers know that we are instituting a precautionary water recreation advisory. No swimming or fishing in the surrounding rivers, lakes or streams until further notice. We’ll have an official public advisory within the hour, but you can break the news first.”
Lynn nodded, barely able to conceal her delight.
Carter turned to a nearby officer who was cordoning off the side area. “Once Ms. Meyers leaves, nobody else from the public gets access, understand? I want this under wraps, with police surveillance 24/7.”
“Yessir.”
Lynn watched the taller of the two agents join his partner in the car. She turned to the camera.
“Ready to roll in three, two, one …”
Nicole and Friend
“It’s here!” Amy slammed Nicole’s locker door shut and shoved a copy of the school newspaper, The Acorn, in front of her. She dialed the combination to her own neighboring locker and proceeded to rearrange her bag. Nicole couldn’t help but laugh — a few days into the new year at Oak Wood High, and Amy’s locker was already a mess of gum packets, makeup, candy bars, magazines and the occasional schoolbook.
“Go on, read it! I waited for you so we could see it together,” Amy urged. Suppressing a smirk, Nicole took a deep breath and ran her gaze down the report.
The headline ran “Heroic Oak Wood Student Saves Girl From Wildfire” underneath a grainy shot of Amy leading and Nicole carrying Elise. It promised details inside.
The editor, Marc, a smart senior who was aiming squarely at Ivy League, had visited Nicole’s house earlier in the week to ensure the story would run in the first Acorn of the semester. He’d asked the usual questions about their escape, and Nicole knew her answers had come out overly modest and somewhat on the shy side. Amy, meanwhile, filled in the gaps Nicole had left. She also exaggerated a couple of points.
But something else now stopped Nicole in her tracks. Within two or three lines of reading, she realized, with some horror, that she had been made the feature of the article. Worse still, Amy was mentioned only in passing — and not even by name. The caption under the grainy photograph read “Nicole and friend emerge from the wildfire.” She looked up at Amy, a little concerned.
“You really didn’t read this, did you?”
“What do you mean?” Amy tried to take the paper, but Nicole snatched it away.
“I mean, I have no idea why he reported it this way. Because we were both at the interview, right?”
Sensing Nicole was covering something up, Amy snatched the paper back and read through the columns breathlessly. With every new sentence, Amy’s shoulders sagged a little, and Nicole could see the exact moment that Amy’s heart sank. Her eyes searched desperately over the text a second time for her name, and again it was nowhere to be
“Kids, they think.”
Carter scoffed. “Kids. Right. I want to know everything about those animal carcasses’ positioning, their pathology — everything.” Pausing for a moment and surveying the landscape, Carter exhaled slowly in frustration. “Nature doesn’t lay out animals in straight lines like that. We’re dealing with some sick, twisted bastard.”
Within the FBI’s often hidden P.R.E.S.S. Division, Carter and Bishop were known to deliver results. Carter was determined to rule out act of nature, and Bishop was set on refuting human causes such as bioterrorism. It was usually one of the two.
Carter rejoined Lynn and guided her by her upper arm away from the lake. “We’ll need you to report on this, but it’s important you don’t cause a total panic. The toxicology reports will come back in the next couple of hours. Our office will issue a statement once we have more facts.”
“Sure.” Lynn made a note of the detail. “Can I talk about bioterrorism?”
“Didn’t stop you before,” Bishop said dryly as he walked past them, back to the car.
“Minimize the panic, please, Ms. Meyers. Oh, and let your viewers know that we are instituting a precautionary water recreation advisory. No swimming or fishing in the surrounding rivers, lakes or streams until further notice. We’ll have an official public advisory within the hour, but you can break the news first.”
Lynn nodded, barely able to conceal her delight.
Carter turned to a nearby officer who was cordoning off the side area. “Once Ms. Meyers leaves, nobody else from the public gets access, understand? I want this under wraps, with police surveillance 24/7.”
“Yessir.”
Lynn watched the taller of the two agents join his partner in the car. She turned to the camera.
“Ready to roll in three, two, one …”
Nicole and Friend
“It’s here!” Amy slammed Nicole’s locker door shut and shoved a copy of the school newspaper, The Acorn, in front of her. She dialed the combination to her own neighboring locker and proceeded to rearrange her bag. Nicole couldn’t help but laugh — a few days into the new year at Oak Wood High, and Amy’s locker was already a mess of gum packets, makeup, candy bars, magazines and the occasional schoolbook.
“Go on, read it! I waited for you so we could see it together,” Amy urged. Suppressing a smirk, Nicole took a deep breath and ran her gaze down the report.
The headline ran “Heroic Oak Wood Student Saves Girl From Wildfire” underneath a grainy shot of Amy leading and Nicole carrying Elise. It promised details inside.
The editor, Marc, a smart senior who was aiming squarely at Ivy League, had visited Nicole’s house earlier in the week to ensure the story would run in the first Acorn of the semester. He’d asked the usual questions about their escape, and Nicole knew her answers had come out overly modest and somewhat on the shy side. Amy, meanwhile, filled in the gaps Nicole had left. She also exaggerated a couple of points.
But something else now stopped Nicole in her tracks. Within two or three lines of reading, she realized, with some horror, that she had been made the feature of the article. Worse still, Amy was mentioned only in passing — and not even by name. The caption under the grainy photograph read “Nicole and friend emerge from the wildfire.” She looked up at Amy, a little concerned.
“You really didn’t read this, did you?”
“What do you mean?” Amy tried to take the paper, but Nicole snatched it away.
“I mean, I have no idea why he reported it this way. Because we were both at the interview, right?”
Sensing Nicole was covering something up, Amy snatched the paper back and read through the columns breathlessly. With every new sentence, Amy’s shoulders sagged a little, and Nicole could see the exact moment that Amy’s heart sank. Her eyes searched desperately over the text a second time for her name, and again it was nowhere to be
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