Nina scanned the pages. The dates matched Jessa’s complaints exactly. “This is not instability,” she said. “This is retaliation.” Her editor sighed. “I know. But perception matters. And now they are threatening to cut off all our child welfare sources if we air anything ‘speculative.’”
The dilemma burned. Distance from Jessa to protect the story, but that would erase her again. Or stand by her and watch the whole investigation branded as reckless. Nina thought of Tuck lining stones, Mira glancing at the gate. “Give me five days,” she said. “I will make the documents speak without Jessa’s name.”