As White as Snow Read Online Free Page B

twenty-five years old. He had the job of his dreams. Every sign pointed to a career with a steep upward trajectory. He was an investigative TV journalist who could easily become the next big star in his field. He could have his own program before he was thirty. He wasn’t in a serious relationship, but that wasn’t due to any lack of options, just a matter of personal choice. Jiři didn’t want to make any serious commitments yet. He wanted to be able to flirt, to have adventures, to enjoy all the variety the world had to offer. He could settle down in a few years once he found a woman who was interesting and exciting enough.
    Jiři Hašek was living his dream to its fullest and shamelessly loving every minute of it. He wasn’t completely sure whether he deserved his position or this life, but he wasn’t about to start apologizing for it.
    The youngest of five siblings, Jiři had learned to stick up for himself and to grab some candy whenever it passed by. He was never the brightest student, but he was hungrier for knowledge and had a knack for finding exactly the information that would help him get ahead. Sometimes that information was helpful to him and harmful to others. When Jiři discovered the relationship between his history teacher and the math substitute—something he’d caught hints of and then established definitively when he opened the copy room door at just the wrong moment for them and just the right moment for him—he didn’t hesitate for a second. He demanded higher grades in history and math, and of course, received both.
    The right information opened doors that would otherwise stay closed. Jiři realized that he had a nose for news and found his way into journalism very early.
    Jiři thought about the story he was working on right now. He felt a thrill race through his body. This was going to be huge. It would be his big break. Once he broke this story, everyone would know his name and recognize his face.
    It was completely different from the bland stories he normally had to work on: Protests against the government. The effect of the euro crisis on the common man. The rise in food prices from the perspective of shop owners. Mistakes in the restoration of historic buildings. Jiři always did the stories his bosses asked him to do. He tried to be accurate and creative, bringing some new perspective that no one else had thought of yet. But he had never been as genuinely excited about a story as he was about this one.
    This one was important. It was heartrending. It had a human element. It was shocking and serious and worth exposing.
    Jiři didn’t play pious. He could admit that his desire to stand above the rest of the world drove him just as much as his thirst for knowledge. Yes, he wanted to be a hero. He wasn’t one of those workhorses who stayed in the background, content just so long as the truth was revealed. Jiři wanted to be seen. He wanted glory, and he wanted praise. He wanted people to remember his name and face just as much as the story he happened to be telling. But for Jiři, truth and fame were not mutually exclusive. They were two sides of the samecoin. Telling the truth brought fame, and his yearning for fame increased his motivation to work at unearthing the truth.
    For the first time in his life, Jiři was doing a story that would have real significance and attract the attention of a wide audience. He had spent months studying parish records and family histories. He had pored over police reports searching for clues and inconsistencies. He had also interviewed people who were so afraid they wouldn’t let him show their faces or use their names. Jiři knew the material he had was dangerous, which was why it was so valuable.
    Divine, some would say. Devilish, he would say.
    Now, the moment was at hand when Jiři needed to move closer to the heart of darkness, literally. He had to find an interview subject who would be willing to speak on camera, even if only as a blurry, anonymous