Chapter One

My day seemed to be winding down innocently enough —

"Georgia, may I see you for a minute?"

  — but it didn't play out that way.

I stepped into my boss's office. Garbage was everywhere. Crushed tin cans. Stacks of old newspapers. A broken stress toy on the floor. Stress test flunked, okay.

I thought of Junk Man, the urban prospector who used to cruise my old neighborhood with a grocery cart. Junk Man loved to sift through garbage. This office would be his treasure island.

"Clear a space somewhere," said my boss, Halo Bingington. "Please have a seat."

Bing's personality is half George Foreman and half Mike Tyson. That's cool for two rock 'em, sock 'em boxers but not cool for one newsroom boss. So I knew that Bing's nice-nice stuff could turn ugly quick and in a hurry.

When your boss calls you into his office, you get that feeling. Like after the match ignites the fuse in ... read full excerpt from Details at Ten ebook