When Dave arrived at the hospital that evening both the president and first lady’s press secretaries were with him as well as the chief of staff. He was interested in the new development. “How much do we think they know?”

“My guess is everything.”

“How good is their evidence?”

“Probably not good but let’s look at it this way. If they go public we cannot refute their story. We need every bit of credibility. We cannot lie.”

Betty Jarvis shook her head, “If we deny we loose all credibility. Our only way is to hope they do not publish. Is there any way we can keep them from releasing the story?”

Dan Carlson the president’s Secretary shook his head, “They are both aggressive reporters, both good, with good reputations, except the little run in with Mitzi.” He looked at her, “You gagged her once, want to try again?”

“Not really. She’s a good reporter. It will not work to try to gag her. The only way to keep her quiet unless she does it willingly is to imprison them in solitary confinement and even if we could do it I don’t know that will work. They are resourceful enough to get the story out. They may have even communicated it to a third party we would not suspect to release if they suddenly disappear. ”

“We can’t put them in jail. “

“I know. I just want everyone to know what to expect. She is one really strong woman. But I know she is fair and she cares about the country. I know I could get her to hold a story for the good of the country but I don’t plan to lie.”

Dan shook his head, “We do have credibility with the middle of the country. We want to preserve that if at all possible. Maybe we call them, we see if we can confirm and see if they will keep the story for a while.”

“Let’s see how the meeting goes. I am not planning to confirm anything.”

“I like that Betty,” Mitzi replied, “They’re coming in tomorrow morning. I want to do it here and tell Jason to bring his camera and a lot of film.”