The Candidate Read Free Page A

shoots skyward. Erica loves mornings—when the world is still fresh and her mind clips along, almost tripping over itself with plans, ideas, and inspiration. Her life, so tumultuous over the past few years, is finally settling down. She’s achieved her two great goals: success in the news business and gaining custody of her daughter, Jenny. Yes, things get edgy at times—Erica feels like she still has the training wheels on her mothering skills—but they usually manage to work it all out. Jenny means more to her than anything in the world.
    The only piece missing from her life is Greg, the man she loves. He’s a world away, in Australia, working insane hours helping to launch a cable news network. It’s an amazing opportunity, and Erica was supportive of his seizing it, but not having him around has been tough. There are nights—after her daughter has gone to bed, as she goes around the apartment turning off lights—when she feels almost overcome with loneliness, with a yearning to have a man by her side during these exciting and fulfilling times.
    The elevator doors open on the fortieth floor and Erica gets off. She takes a deep breath. She likes Mort Silver, but his leadership style can be a little intimidating. After Erica’s investigation sent GNN’s founder Nylan Hastings to jail for the rest of his life, several large media companies vied to buy the network. Google was the winner, and CEO Sundar Pichai has turned out to be a demanding if distant boss. He was smart enough to hire Silver, a seasoned broadcast pro, to run the network—these men play to win, and the company’s results prove the wisdom of their ways. But they’re known for pushing employees to deliver—and if they don’t, well, sayonara.
    Silver’s receptionist gives Erica a deferential smile and says, “Mr. Silver is expecting you.”
    Erica walks down the wide hallway and into Silver’s large corner office. Unlike Nylan Hastings, who filled the space with modern art, Silver’s taste is more traditional—one wall has been lined with mahogany shelving that holds his three Emmys and other awards, and the other walls are home to numerous framed articles about Silver and his successes in the news business. Modest the man isn’t.
    “Erica!” Mort Silver says with a big smile, leaping up from his chair and coming to greet her. He’s around fifty, tall, and a little bulky, with an avuncular manner that borders on the overbearing.
    “Nice to see you, Mort.”
    He ushers her into the office. “Can we get you something to drink, something to eat?”
    “I’m fine,” Erica says, sitting down opposite his desk.
    Mort sits back down and leans forward, elbows on the desk. “It’s always such a pleasure to see you,” he says. He works hard at being charming, but it always comes across as just that—work.
    “Likewise,” Erica says.
    Silver grows serious, lowers his voice. “Sometimes, in the hurly-burly of our daily efforts, we forget how important journalism is to our democracy, indeed, to the world.” He looks Erica in the eye. “It truly is an honor to work with you.”
    Erica’s bullcrap alarm begins to sound—platitudes have a way of setting it off.
    “Thank you.”
    “But as crucial as our role is in uncovering the truth and exposing injustice and criminality, at the end of the day, GNN is a business.” Silver pauses, looks out the window as if he’s searching for his next words—but Erica can tell this has all been rehearsed. He turns back to her. “As you know, The Erica Sparks Effect is very important to the network’s bottom line. Which is why we’re so concerned.”
    Erica is thrown. After her work in exposing Nylan Hastings as a psychopath bent on world domination, her celebrity was transcendent, and for months her show had a firm grip on the number one spot in the ratings. Erica knows it has slipped a little since then, but she avoids tracking the ratings race. She’s a journalist, not an entertainer, and she’s