"Sis," he said finally, "there're only so many risks I can take for you, and they have to be about something that matters. Forget about Kristen. Nothing can save her now. But I'm offering to help you get out of here before they go any further. I can't be seen helping you, but they've started you down a road that you don't want to go, believe me. I got you into this, but if there's still time, I want to try to help get you out."
She didn't know what was going on, but if Grant of all people was freaked about what Karl Van de Vliet had in store for her, then maybe she'd better take it seriously.
But she was through relying on him for anything.
"Okay, but I want to call somebody to come and get me."
"Are you referring to that reporter, by any chance?" he asked. "The guy who drove you here? W.B. hates him."
"Yes." She was puzzled that he would know about Stone. "How do you—"
"Bartlett has him."
"What do you mean?"
"He's radioactive now. I actually kicked him out of here myself yesterday. This is not a moment for press freedom. He could screw up everything. W.B. said he's doing a book. No way is that guy going to be allowed human contact with anybody till the sale of Gerex is in the bank. He had a run‑in with Bartlett in the city and they took him somewhere. I don't know the location. And I don't want to know."
"Oh my God."