Page 80 of Life, Love and the Pursuit of Happiness

“Are you people crazy?” Annie exclaimed. “We’re talking a big news story here, and you two are chitchatting about food. This scoop . . . I mean, this segment for The Morning Show . . . could give me the boost I need to move up to the networks.”

Meanwhile, Sam was glued to his cell phone, probably texting the story around the world.

Jeesh! Merrill had to get a handle on this runaway train.

“That’s it for today, folks. Sorry to see you go, but Harry and Gabe and I have work to do if we’re going to have a press conference on Wednesday.” He put particular emphasis on that day so that Doreen would get the message. No pirate nonsense!

By the time everyone left—even Gabe, who claimed to have an appointment in his Durham office that would probably keep him overnight, which was probably a lie—Merrill looked at Harry and sighed. “First things first. We need to warn the other team members that the cat is out of the bag.”

“More like the tiger’s out of the cage,” Harry said.

“We need a plan, that’s all. A strict plan of nondisclosure so that any reveals come from one source only.”

Harry nodded. “The phones are going to be ringing off the hook.”

“Just direct them to me, and I’ll choose which, if any, to answer. Also, we need extra security on the storage room. There’s a saying in historical preservation work, according to Bonita. When asked what’s the best way to preserve gold, the answer is, ‘Put it in a safe.’”

Harry laughed, but then he turned serious. “There is one thing I need to discuss with you.”

“Nah. That’s enough of that crap for today.” He waved a hand toward the remaining paperwork. “We can go over that tomorrow. I need to go celebrate.”

“How?”

“The best way,” he replied with a grin.

“Um, that’s what I need to discuss with you. Rather who I need to discuss.”

Merrill tilted his head in question. “Delilah?”

Harry nodded, reluctantly.

“What?”

“She’s a felon.”

Merrill couldn’t have been more shocked if Harry had stood up and kicked him in the gut. “No way!”

“Unfortunately, way! Her parole officer, a Ms. Gardner, dropped by last week and wanted to know if she’d reported her felony background to her employer?” Harry handed him the parole officer’s business card.

That news was alarming, but then Merrill laughed. “What’d she do? Rob a bank?”

“Accessory to armed robbery and murder.”

Another kick in the gut. “Impossible. Not Delilah.”

“She served five years in the women’s penitentiary in New Jersey.”

Finally, the missing piece of the puzzle. That accounted for Delilah ceding guardianship of her daughter to her grandmother. That accounted for her five years of celibacy. That accounted for so many things.

Merrill put up a halting hand when Harry was about to say more. Rising, he began to leave. “I need to be alone, Harry.” He jammed the card in his back pocket and said, “Make the calls to the other team members. We’ll talk tomorrow. I’m sorry to leave you with all this, but I just can’t . . .” He shrugged.

“Just one thing, my friend. Don’t do anything rash. You haven’t heard Lilah’s side of the story.”

Her side? Some omissions were so huge that they amounted to a lie. In essence, she’d been lying to him from the time they’d first met.

It’s over.

Maybe it was never meant to be. She certainly fought hard and long not to have a relationship.