Every one has an issue or two that persist throughout life, Maria's was the search for the truth and what was going on behind closed doors.
Maria now married and thirty years of age had paid the price for her indiscretions, a long list of prices paid indeed and all leading up to this one big one in Mexico.
As a child she had been grilled for the inappropriate surveillance of neighbors, relatives and acquaintances of her parents, only to go to college to pursue journalism and continue turning over rocks. Journalism had turned in her opinion into some kind of entertainment and it annoyed her to no end, or perhaps better said it annoyed her to an end.
Sam Hatch slammed his fist down one last time as he told Maria the story was closed for follow up and she should move on to her new assignments. Maria huffed as she exited the room while considering her options. Sam Hatch was the Chief Editor of the Southern California Daily News and up to here with Maria's antics. She had been told a week ago the story was done and they could not pursue the leads into Mexico, but Maria was bull headed and possessed with finding the truth.
That evening Maria was visibly perturbed as her husband tried to talk to her about it.
"I just don't understand why they are willing to drop this investigation, we were so close." The investigation she was referring to was pertaining to the disappearance of over fifty women over the last year. The justice system had to this point treated the cold trail as if aliens had abducted them and without a space ship of their own they would never find them. Maria didn't believe in aliens, and she didn't believe in space ships and most of all she did not believe in the justice system.
The case was open for months and it had led to Mexico in three cases. The women had turned up in other places, but were traced back there from Madrid, Iraq and Canada.
Sam Hatch had closely watched the ratings drop as old news became older news, knowing the plug was needing to be pulled ASAP, and so he did.
Maria's husband made good money and Maria pondered the option of going on her own.
Others had done it and came back with stories to sell for big bucks.
Maria slept on it and the next day she turned her resignation into Sam Hatch, "Not again damn girl, you know there will be more just like this one and where will you be, Huh?"
Maria said nothing, left the office and drove straight to one of their competitors across town to see if they would front her investigation.
Bill Stevens sat across the desk taking in Maria's natural good looks while only half listening to her request. Bill was a womanizer through and through, undressing her as she spoke, asking her to walk to the eraser board and write things down and explain this and that while all the while checking the young wife out from stem to stern.
Something Maria wrote on the board caught his attention and suddenly Bill was all business and ears.
Maria, caught up in her moment thought nothing of Bill's quick change of interest and just rattled on, then in the end said the words, "If you don't front my trip I will just go somewhere else and they will have the exclusive.
Those words burned in his mind as he thought now on another track.
Bill asked if he could have a couple hours and offered to have an aid take her to lunch at another building across the street while he made a few calls to Corporate. Maria smiled feeling the tug on her line and agreed. Once Maria had walked out to meet the young aid Bill walked slowly to his door, closing it and lifted his cell phone from his sport jacket.
As Bill dialed Maria turned as she walked away looking back through the glass and smiled as Bill raised his free hand in a wave and checked out her ass one more time.
"Dan, we have a situation I fear, reporter, looking to come down, yes, would you, ok yes ok give her what, ok yes good idea, my take?, well lets just say I will be coming down in a month or so and would like to see her progress, OK it's done.
Bill closed the phone and smiled to himself as he called his secretary, "Marg, tell Hogan to bring his file on the missing without a trace story, yes I know it's closed I just want to prepare it for a reawakening plan before we file it, thanks.
Once Bill had the file in his hand he took a piece of plain white paper and wrote some notes on it, then a few dates, places and one name.
He then placed it in the middle of the file as Maria knocked on his glass office door.
Quickly Bill tossed it aside and opened the door for Maria.
Bill was straight and to the point, now being all business, "Maria, I'll do it, here is the file from our investigation, you might as well have it as it may help.
We usually do a direct bill on our travel but because I'm sticking my neck out on this one, being closed and all, I will give you cash for the trip and you can ledger all expenses off that. If you need more, just call and I will wire you as much as you need.
Maria smiled and was wondering weather or not the horrible stories she had heard of Bill were perhaps not true, after all she had never had such a friendly sendoff and with a cash expense account to boot.
Bill opened his small office safe and gave Maria two thousand dollars cash. Maria waited for just a minute and asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?" Bill thought quick and looked again in the safe then smiled. "Well I'm all out of our expense forms and we're changing them any ways, just make up your own, after all you're an independent now, right?" "Oh ya," one more thing, our people thought there may have been an inside source either in the news media of police department so this one is a closed to discussion case, you know the drill." Maria smiled and reassured Bill not even her Husband would know who she was working for or where she was going. "OK sounds good Maria, I look foreword to seeing your report, and hey, be Careful!"
Maria snickered to herself as she left the building thinking, No one has ever got a good story being careful.
