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currently the favored candidate for Congress in his district.
    She continued reading. Leigh Howard was Ed’s only grandchild, her mother his only child. Leigh was a socialite who dabbled in several charities and was recently named chairman of a charity horse show.
    Bells started ringing in her reporter’s head. She was never unethical, at least she hoped to hell she wasn’t, but a little deviousness was sometimes helpful, like reading a letter upside down in the mayor’s office or pretending to know more than she did to get information. Reporter tricks.
    â€œWhat are you thinking?” he asked. “Or maybe I shouldn’t ask.”
    â€œNothing to worry you,” Kira said. She was in a hurry now. A plan was already forming in her mind.
    His expression was dubious.
    â€œJust find out everything you can about these two women,” she said. “Particularly Leigh Howard. Is that her married name?”
    â€œNo. It’s her maiden name. Her mother, Karen Westerfield, married Glenn Howard.”
    â€œFind out everything you can about her. Her grades, her likes, her activities. Her habits. Anything.”
    â€œI looked her up on Google,” he said. “There’s lots of stuff.” He hesitated, then added, “She’s had a lot of tragedy. Both her mother and father were killed in an accident when she was six. She was critically injured.”
    â€œMaybe that will make her sympathetic. She would be gaining a mother,” Kira said even as the impact of his words sank in and her heart dropped. If Leigh Howard was the right person, then her own biological parents were dead. She would never know them.
    â€œIf she’s the right one,” he warned. He changed the subject. “How’s your mother?”
    â€œGetting weaker every day.” Just saying the words sent fresh jabs of fear—and anger—through her. How could her mom die when a kidney could save her?
    â€œI’ll stop by and say hello.”
    â€œYou won’t say anything about the blood tests?” she said, suddenly alarmed.
    â€œNo,” he said, “but maybe she should know.”
    â€œWhat if this woman isn’t her daughter? What if we never find her? It would be excruciating for her.” She stared into his eyes. “You promised.”
    â€œSo I did,” he said. “And, of course, I’ll do as you ask. But think about it.”
    She’d thought about nothing else for the past few days. If she were in her mother’s position …
    She rose. “I have to get back, but I can’t thank you enough.”
    â€œI’ll call if I discover anything else,” he said. “I’m trying to find the physicians and nurses on duty that day. Unfortunately, personnel records are hell to get these days.” He paused. “Try to find out from your mother the names of her doctors when you were born.”
    Kira nodded and slipped from the booth without eating. Her appetite was gone. Her mother had only a few weeks to live without a transplant.
    Now she had something far more important to do than eat.
    â€œWhy in the hell do you want to do that?” her city editor asked. His brows furrowed as he studied Kira with suspicious eyes.
    â€œA change might be nice,” she said.
    â€œYou want off the city beat?”
    â€œNo,” she said. “I worked for it too long, but I haven’t done a feature in a long time, and a friend was telling me about this horse show. I just thought a little variety …”
    â€œNow tell me the real reason,” Wade Carlton said. “You fought tooth and nail to get the city hall beat.”
    â€œI know. And I want it. I’ll do the other story in my spare time.”
    â€œIn your spare time?”
    She winced. He knew she had no spare time, that every minute spent away from the paper was spent with her mother. He’d repeatedly let her leave early or take a day off without penalty,