CHASE: Complete Series by Cassia Leo

person, and I’m sure she has worked very hard to achieve her position at the Times , but the misinformation she printed yesterday gives me the impression that she is either very untrustworthy or unstable.”
“That’s a damning accusation to make about an, albeit upcoming, respected journalist.”
“Diane, let me tell you something about Heather Rodin,” I began, as I geared up to let loose the zinger Gideon had dug up on Heather to discredit her. I took a deep breath. “Heather Rodin fabricates sources. Her exposés are just a notch above tabloid trash. Last year, Heather Rodin wrote eight exposés, one of those was on Congresswoman Carol Jennings from Colorado and the misappropriation of federal wildlife preservation funds. She did another exposé on Nebraska State Senator Phillip Hardy’s alleged inappropriate relationship with a female coworker. On both occasions, she fabricated information, citing anonymous sources that did not exist.”
Diane furrowed her brow. “Cut,” she muttered, before she turned to someone off-camera. “Why isn’t any of this in my notes?” I waited for the interview to resume for more than thirty minutes before Diane returned looking a bit wild-eyed. “We will have to confirm your accusations before any of that can be aired,” she said, in a very friendly and reassuring tone. “For now, we’ll continue the interview.”
“I understand,” I replied.
Diane settled into her interviewer pose and the cameras rolled. “Larissa, we also spoke with Katherine Underwood who confirms your story. Her official statement to ABC News states that your romantic relationship with Teddy Holt was kept under wraps so as not to detract any momentum from the campaign, should the circumstances of your meeting become public. Katherine has stated that the two of you have become great friends and categorically denies that your relationship with her husband is anything but appropriate. Do you have anything you’d like to say publicly to Katherine Underwood?”
“Katherine and I only spoke briefly before I was whisked away into hiding after receiving multiple death threats. She knows how sorry I am that my relationship with Teddy has caused a whirlwind of misinformation and bad press, but I would like to take this opportunity to apologize once again. I am confident that Americans will accept the truth in time to make the right choice for our country. Senator Underwood has worked very hard over the past decade to make California and this nation a better place for all of us. I’m sure Americans will see past the rhetoric and speculation to focus on the hard truth when they cast their ballots on Tuesday.”
Diane asked a few more questions about my upbringing and my acting career before she thanked me for the interview and, right on cue, Drew entered the library to escort me down to the dining room for breakfast.
My stomach roared with hunger as soon as I smelled the scrambled eggs with crispy prosciutto, the fragrant melon-basil salad, and steamy cups of espresso. Drew pulled out a chair for me to take a seat at the long dining table.
“You’re not going to eat?” I asked, as he made his way toward the kitchen door.
He squinted his blue eyes as if he was considering my question.
“I just don’t want to be alone right now,” I added.
He turned around and took a seat in the chair across from me. “I was going to relieve Mike from the rear property entrance, but he can wait.”
“Thanks,” I said, as I popped some scrambled eggs into my mouth. “Oh. My. God. These are delicious. I’ll bet Chase has Mario Batali working in the kitchen.”
“I made the breakfast,” Drew replied, with a shy smile. “His last chef quit and he hasn’t bothered hiring a new one; too busy with the campaign. I figured the least I could do, after that Oscar-worthy performance, was make you something to eat.”
I squirmed in my seat as I began to imagine him in the kitchen, cooking for me, naked. I crammed more eggs