Nice work, Anastasia. Your story was great and the pictures and video were terrific. We’re blowing everybody away on this thing.”
Still in her terry-cloth robe, Anastasia lounged on her bed, propped up with a pile of down pillows. There was a copy of the L.A. Times on her lap. She had already read her story on the murder of Esperanza Flores three times. She held the phone to her ear and smiled with satisfaction at the praise coming from her editor.
“Glad you’re pleased, Tim,” she said. “I have to tell you that it’s a thrill to see my byline on the front page. That’s a first for me.”
“Yeah, well, keep up the good work and it won’t be the last,” said the editor. “And don’t forget our Web site. We’ll post any good video you get. Who knows where else it will end up! Good Morning America used some of it today.”
When she ended the call, Anastasia congratulated herself on having the foresight to register at Elysium using a different last name, with a credit card she’d kept active after her divorce from Jeff Wilcox. If the Abernathys knew that it was she who was responsible for the press coverage, they undoubtedly would have asked her to leave. She had to remain on the inside to cover the aftermath of the murder as well as to finish her research on the story that had brought her here in the first place.
Anastasia picked up the spa directory from the table and perused the contents. She ached to take a yoga class or get a massage to relieve the tension in her neck and shoulders. But she decided it would be in the best interest of her story to call the skin-treatment room for an appointment.
“Is Kyle Quigley available to do my facial?” she asked. “I hear he’s the best.”