Three months into Portland normalcy, Louis sat in editorial meeting at The Oregonian where she had secured freelance position writing investigative pieces about local government corruption. Her byline was her own again—Louis Anderson, not Sarah Miller or any other fiction. The restoration felt both liberating and terrifying, her name publicly visible to anyone searching for survivors of the Volkov conspiracy.
"Strong piece on the zoning commission," her editor commended, reviewing Louis's latest article. "You have instinct for finding corruption hidden in bureaucratic processes. Where did you develop that skill?"
"Previous work in New York," Louis replied carefully, truth edited to exclude international conspiracies and murdered oligarchs. "Covered city government and financial systems.
