The Newsmakers Read Online Free PDF

grabs her hand and kisses it again and again. “You’re going to be okay, I promise, sweet baby, I promise.”
    Similar rescues are happening all around Erica. Now she’s just in the way. Derek and Lesli have also been offering help to the injured. Manny stays true to his training, filming the scene. “Let’s get back to work,” Erica says.
    She picks up the mic. Her dress is crumpled and bloodstained, her hair flattened, her makeup smeared. “This is Erica Sparks reporting live from Battery Park in New York City, where a Staten Island ferry slammed into the seawall just minutes ago. You can see from the terrible scene around me that there have been numerous injuries and fatalities. We have no idea why the pilot of the boat lost control. The New York City Police Department has arrived in force. I see several Coast Guard boats speeding toward the scene, where passengers who were thrown into the water are being assisted by brave civilians who leapt in to save them. Other passengers have managed to swim to shore on their own. Medical crews have arrived and are transporting the injured to hospitals.”
    Erica looks over at the party tent—all concerned are standing in shock watching the scene. Clearly, there will be no luncheon for the Duchess of Cambridge. News trucks from the other networks are arriving and reporters begin to broadcast.
    Erica spots a dazed but uninjured man, a ferry passenger, sitting on a bench in shock. She knows a good interview subject when she sees one.
    â€œCome on, crew, follow me,” she says.

CHAPTER 5
    SIX HOURS LATER ERICA ARRIVES back at her office. She’s in some realm beyond exhaustion, running on fumes. She’s covered fires, car crashes, and propane explosions, but never a disaster on this scale. By some miracle only five people died, but over eighty are hospitalized, two dozen of them in critical condition. As for the cause of the crash, the ferry’s pilot says the controls “just froze, like someone flicked a switch.” The National Transportation Safety Board arrived on the scene and has started its investigation. A computer malfunction is the suspected culprit.
    Erica sits down behind her desk, closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath. Suddenly a terrible loneliness descends on her. How do you come down from a day like today?
    By making dinner for your daughter and then helping her with her homework.
    Of course that’s out of the question. Still, the yearning feels like an open wound. She picks up her phone and dials.
    â€œHello.”
    â€œDirk, it’s Erica. May I speak to Jenny?”
    â€œI’m not sure that’s a good idea. I didn’t let her watch you today. It would have been traumatic for her.”
    Erica takes a deep breath and struggles to control the anger rising inside her. “I won’t mention it. Can I please just say a quick hello?”
    Dirk sighs in that disapproving way of his. “All right. A quick hello.”
    She hears him calling Jenny to the phone.
    â€œMommy?”
    â€œHi, baby. How was school today?”
    â€œGood. We drew a huge map of America. Where are you?”
    â€œI’m in New York City.”
    â€œCan I come see you?”
    â€œYes, sweetheart, of course you can. We’ll go see The Lion King .”
    â€œI’d rather see Aladdin. ”
    â€œHow about both?”
    There’s a pause, and then Jenny asks, “Are you okay, Mom?” There’s such concern in her voice, and a peculiar maturity. A maturity that comes from having seen her mother descending to the depths—something no child should have to witness. Something that forced Jenny to become the parent, at least for those last terrible months.
    Erica feels her throat tighten. “Yes, I’m fine. I had a hard workday, but that’s a good thing.”
    â€œI’m happy about your new job.”
    â€œI miss you, Jenny, I miss you so much. Be good. I love