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Source of Deceit - Chapter 59

Sep 27, 2020
3 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 59

Washington, DC – Wednesday, Feb. 26, 11:00 a.m. When Anna walked into the conference room at the DC bureau of the Daily Journal, it was already full. A crescendo of claps, cheers and hoots filled the room. “Whoo hoo!” “Congratulations!” “Welcome back!” She smiled at everyone. Tanner's hands were in the air with palms springing up and down, as if patting an invisible pet. “Alright! Alright! Settle down,” he said. Marching to the head of the conference table, he left the chair

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 57

Sep 25, 2020
5 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 57

Washington, DC – Monday, Feb. 24, 3:00 p.m. EST With the Federal Reserve behind her, Anna darted into Constitution Gardens near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The wind was blowing, but the sleet had ended. Through the trees to her left, the Washington Monument obelisk glowed in the afternoon sun. Suddenly, she spotted Tanner sitting on a bench facing the Reflecting Pool and rushed over. As soon as he saw her coming, Tanner nodded hello. When she got close, he stood up and ges

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 56

Sep 24, 2020
8 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 56

Washington, DC – Monday, Feb. 24, 1:00 p.m. EST When Anna arrived home, she was still seething at de Jeanbourg. She knew he was capable of hanging up on her, but when he actually did it, her blood boiled. She jumped out of the car and rushed upstairs without so much as a glance at the lobby lounge. It was as if the people playing billiards, debating the latest social media storm and staring at their laptops weren’t even there. Entering the apartment, she dumped her bag on the

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 51

Sep 19, 2020
6 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 51

Washington, DC – Monday, Feb. 24, 9:00 a.m. EST Sara reviewed the security-system keypad, verifying the windows and doors of the widow’s house were closed. She pushed “arm,” and ensured the heavy front door locked behind her. Hurrying toward the Spring Valley Plaza on Massachusetts, passing mansion after mansion, she tried to get her mind off her troubles by considering which home she would buy, if she had enough money. She remembered Evy had said you couldn’t pay her to live

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 49

Sep 17, 2020
5 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 49

Greenbelt, MD – Monday, Feb. 24, 6:30 a.m. EST “Thanks for coming with me,” Anna said, as Mel barreled north up Rhode Island Avenue toward Maryland. “And for driving in this crappy weather.” The windshield wipers on Mel’s new electric car throbbed. Shaw’s turn-of-the-century row houses shone in the sleet and headlights. “No problem,” Mel said. “The crack of dawn is my time. Did this bozo say why he wanted to meet way out there—at the scenic Greenbelt metro station, the prover

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 43

Sep 11, 2020
6 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 43

Washington, DC – Sunday, Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m. EST Disgusted at de Jeanbourg’s disappearing act, Anna was sitting on her couch, eating a piece of pizza and plotting her next move, when the phone rang. Caller ID showed who it was, but she didn’t answer. The phone warbled again. She took a bite of the pizza and looked at the phone. It rang the third time. She stared at the display. When it sang its little song for the fourth and last round, she grabbed it after all. “Raven,” she s

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 42

Sep 10, 2020
5 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 42

Washington, DC – Sunday, Feb. 23, 6:00 p.m. EST Anna was not exactly surprised when Charles de Jeanbourg called her—she was used to sources aiming to spin a story, and plenty of people called journalists all the time telling bald face lies hoping to mold reality. She was, however, taken aback that he contacted her so soon. “Well, Mr. de Jeanbourg, you are quick,” she said. “You have been asking around about me,” he said. “I’d like to talk.” “And why is that?” “I’ll tell you w

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 40

Sep 8, 2020
3 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 40

Washington, DC – Sunday, Feb. 23, 5:00 p.m. EST Anna was purchasing a latte for a late afternoon pick-me-up on her way to visit Viktor, when Zarribe called back. “Mr. Zarribe?” Anna answered as she handed a five to the cashier. “I don’t have much, Anna, but it’s not for lack of trying,” Zarribe said. “Oh,” Anna replied, disappointed. She made a fist with her left hand and held it close to her chest. With her right, she pushed her bag’s shoulder strap back and then grabbed her

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 39

Sep 7, 2020
4 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 39

Washington, DC – Sunday, Feb. 23, 12:15 pm EST Anna darted after Sara, who dashed through the Portrait Gallery foyer, barreled out the north door and flew down the museum steps. “Wait, Sara!” she called. At first, Anna stayed on her heels. Limping slightly, she wove around some loiterers, crossed G and ran up 9th. She was on her trail—until she wasn’t. Sara was nowhere to be seen. What next? Was Sara telling the truth? Did Giovanni kill Evy? Anna kept walking up 9th and took

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 37

Sep 5, 2020
8 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 37

Washington, DC – Sunday, Feb. 23, 10:00 a.m. EST Anna woke up late and headed straight for her programmable coffee machine, which had finished brewing a pot right on time—several hours earlier. She poured a lukewarm cup. The wound on her leg ached, and her head wound felt tender. She longed to play a game of racquetball to let off steam, but her body was in no condition. She checked her voicemail. There were only a few messages. Besides the usual scams, Tanner had left one sa

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 36

Sep 5, 2020
3 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 36

Chiang Mai – Sunday, Feb. 23, 8:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. EST in DC) Realizing their quarry was getting into a tuk tuk, Ice rushed over to hire another one. Speaking to the driver in Thai, he signaled Raven to get in. “I told him to trail the other tuk tuk, and stay hidden,” he explained. “Perfect,” she said, grabbing the metal frame. No seat belt! No doors! She held on as they bumped up and down, and the wind slapped her face. It didn’t take long before they left the all

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 35

Sep 4, 2020
9 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 35

Chiang Mai – Sunday, Feb. 23, 5:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. EST in DC) As the sun began to cast its enchanting evening shadows, Raven gazed up at the pagoda of Wat Chedi Luang. The temple was by all accounts one of the most impressive in Chiang Mai, no matter that it was a partial ruin. Steep steps led up a multi-storied square base. Oversized stone-carved elephants stood at attention facing outward, guarding the temple’s interior, and seven-headed Naga serpents curled up t

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 33

Sep 2, 2020
7 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 33

College Park, MD – Saturday, Feb. 22, 10:00 a.m. EST At the College Park Hotel & Suites, Anna spotted Viktor sitting in a reading nook in the corner of the cavernous lobby beyond a glitzy bar area. He was staring down at his phone and scrolling. He still hadn’t shaved, and she thought the stubble made him look particularly attractive. She reminded herself to pretend she didn’t—the meeting needed to remain strictly professional. He looked up, caught her eye and smiled. “Hey,”

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 30

Aug 30, 2020
4 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 30

Washington, DC – Friday, Feb. 21, 8:30 p.m. EST As Anna and Viktor were finishing dinner, Viktor’s phone rang. “Hang on, I should take this,” he told Anna as he walked into the bedroom. “I’ve been ignoring these texts for too long.” Anna shrugged and carried her wine glass to the couch. She picked up her friend’s new book about the Chesapeake foodshed, which was on the coffee table, and leafed through it, but her mind wandered to Channarong and Evy. With so little information

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 29

Aug 29, 2020
4 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 29

Washington, DC – Friday, Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m. EST Anna beamed at Viktor, who was dumbfounded that any of the supposed sources in the Mirror story were real people. Blinking and shaking his head in disbelief, Viktor added the chopped vegetables, ginger and oil to the sauté pan. “Jesus. That’s amazing. What did they say?” “The guy Walker Maslow was especially fed up,” Anna explained. “He said the Mirror story was full of misquotes, and he’d never do an interview again, since we w

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 25

Aug 25, 2020
8 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 25

Washington, DC – Friday, Feb. 21, 6:30 a.m. EST Anna dried off, wrapped herself in a towel and gazed into the bathroom mirror. She tenderly removed the two damp bandages on her head and inspected her new stitches: thirteen in all—five on her right eyebrow and eight above her hairline, complete with a sliver of shaved hair. Having lost a full 24 hours in Miami due to the car accident, she was glad to be home. She splashed water on the stitches and patted them dry with a clean

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 23

Aug 23, 2020
6 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 23

Bangkok – Thursday, Feb. 20, 11:30 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 19) After Mr. Gold shut down their conversation, Giovanni took off on foot. When he reached a canal, he removed the sim card from the burner phone and chucked both pieces into the water. Consumed by anger and disgust, sadness and self-hatred, he kept walking. The rich colors, sounds and scents of Bangkok’s crowded streets failed to register. Floating in a stupor, Giovanni recalled the first

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 19

Aug 19, 2020
6 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 19

Chiang Mai – Thursday, Feb. 20, 9:00 a.m. local time (9:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 19) A half hour from the Chiang Mai airport, Ko was already nearing the meeting point. Dust flew, as the driver raced down a narrow road flanked by overgrown grasses. They passed an orchard—lychees—then rows of marigolds, ensuring steady supply for the temples. Beyond lay intermittent forest and farmland, bamboo and an occasional palm. The car came to a rolling stop at a village intersectio

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 15

Aug 15, 2020
7 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 15

Washington, DC – Wednesday, Feb. 19, 4:00 p.m. EST Sara Reedman stood in the kitchen of the Georgian mansion in Spring Valley where she was cat-sitting—way out Massachusetts Avenue in Upper Northwest, past American University—and emptied the bottle of cabernet sauvignon into her water glass. She took a gulp and banged the glass down on the counter. She steadied her gaze on the door to the butler’s pantry. Her phone was in there. She had stowed it in a drawer that morning, aft

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Source of Deceit - Chapter 10

Aug 10, 2020
5 min

Source of Deceit - Chapter 10

Washington, DC – Tuesday, Feb. 18, 8:15 p.m. EST It proved more difficult than expected to reach the Egyptian, a bar and restaurant in a turn-of-the century mansion near Dupont Circle. Anna’s driver cut over to Rhode Island Avenue and headed southwest past a development of two-story garden apartments. Brownstones—some boarded up, others with renovated turrets and manicured mini-yards—filled the next blocks. She counted three liquor stores, an organic market, a dry cleaner an

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