In March 2016, I was recovering from a serious heart attack.
My mother, for whom I’d been the primary caregiver for more than two years, had just died. And after nearly a decade on the investigations team, I was transitioning into a new role as IndyStar's consumer watchdog.
I felt oddly adrift — personally and professionally. It didn’t help when I saw my former investigative team colleagues, Marisa Kwiatkowski and Mark Alesia, huddled with IndyStar’s top editors behind the glass wall of a conference room.
I didn’t know what they were talking about, but I knew Marisa had just flown to Georgia chasing a hot tip.