Her throat was dry as she scrolled to Sam’s mobile and pressed Call.
‘Hey, Anna,’ he said. His voice was cheery, expectant. ‘All done?’
She closed her eyes. There was no other way to tell him, except bluntly.
‘They’ve overturned the injunction, Sam.’
‘What?’ he croaked. ‘What do you mean? They’ve turned it down? How? Why?’ The confusion in his voice turned to fear, then anger.
She forced air into her lungs. ‘The judge has changed his mind on the grounds that the story is not private any more.’
‘Not private? What the hell do you mean, not private?’
‘It’s just been posted on the News online. On Scandalhound too.’
There was an ominous silence at the other end of the line.
‘Sam?’
In the background, she could hear him tapping at a keyboard. There was another pause and then a loud clatter. ‘Fuck,’ he hissed finally. ‘I don’t believe it. I don’t bloody believe it.’
‘I don’t know how they got hold of the story.’
‘You don’t know?’ he cried. ‘Isn’t that what I’ve just paid you fifty thousand quid to know? Aren’t you supposed to know everything? Your job was to keep this out of the news – well, great job, Anna.’
‘Look, obviously Katie or Blake have talked to them. Of course they’d be in contempt of court and that’s a criminal offence. We could try and pursue damages.’
‘And how’s that going to help me?’ he shouted. ‘The bloody horse has bolted, hasn’t it? What the hell am I going to do about Jessica?’
Anna tried to remain calm, but her voice was trembling.
‘Look, I heard she was filming in Boston. That means it’s only five thirty in the morning so she’s probably still asleep. At least you can tell her about this yourself before she finds out from the press.’
‘Oh great. Just great,’ he snapped.
‘We can manage this, Sam,’ she said, although she was honestly beginning to doubt that. He was right about the horse having bolted. She looked up to see Nigel standing on the court steps, talking urgently into his own phone. ‘Our barrister’s right here. I’ll talk to him and see what can be done, then I’ll go straight back to the office, talk to Helen Pierce.’
‘Who should have handled this in the first place . . .’
Her cheeks stung with shame. ‘This isn’t ideal, but we can deal with it.’
‘Yeah? Well, deal with this,’ he said. ‘You’re fired.’
And then the phone went dead.
‘Anna?’ said a voice softly. Nigel Keyes was standing next to her.
‘He just fired me,’ she said, still staring at the handset in disbelief. It was only then that she realised Nigel was holding his own mobile out towards her.
‘Helen Pierce,’ he whispered.
Oh hell.
‘Anna? Have you see the News online?’ There was a sense of urgency in Helen’s usually icy-calm voice.
‘We’ve just left court,’ stuttered Anna. ‘We—’
‘Look, this can stop right here,’ said Helen, ignoring her. ‘With the injunction in place, Katie won’t be able to talk, and without her, no one will be able to prove that Sam had sex with her. We can sue for damages. I’m sure I can get a front-page retraction in tomorrow’s—’