Above the Law (6 page)

“Where then?”

He looked over at Peyton. “I want to go home.”

Peyton hesitated only a minute. “We’ll take you now.”

C
HAPTER
F
IVE

Lindsey pushed the button to the eighth floor. She and Jed had just returned from the DEA office and were in the elevator on their way to Elaina’s room for a planning session. Elaina had called when they were on the way back to the hotel and suggested the meeting, intimating they could use Lindsey’s room, but Lindsey didn’t offer. As the talent, she had the best accommodations, but the idea of having Elaina lounging in her suite made the decision easy. All she really wanted to do was find something to eat since she’d burned through lunch hours ago. The minute this meeting was over, she was going to have a serious date with room service.

She turned to Jed. “Let’s get something straight before we go in there.”

He grinned. “Yes, boss.”

She smacked him on the arm. “Seriously. I need your help. Elaina’s working some network agenda on this project, but I want to keep an open mind.”

“I got it. Play along to get along, but be prepared to go rogue.”

Lindsey reflected on her promise to Larry. Going rogue was what she was known for, but he was right; she did owe him a favor. If she did this assignment by the book, she’d be off the hook and free to tackle a new project. One of her own choosing. “No, we’re not going rogue, but I do want to have some of my signature on this piece, no matter how vanilla it is, so be prepared to add in some angles if the opportunity arises. We’ll have to be creative since I’m pretty sure Elaina was instructed to watch me like a hawk.”

“And how are you feeling about that? Have you two worked together since…”

“Nope. This is the first time. Aren’t you lucky?” Relationships in their industry took place in a fishbowl. When the relationship imploded the way theirs had, everyone got to witness the fallout. She’d seen worse debris from others, but all breakups were awkward for the people in the audience. “So far, things have been civil, and that’s all I could hope for.”

“I don’t know how to say this,” Jed said. “So, I’m just going to be blunt. There are better producers out there. Ones who are more in tune with your style.”

“I know.” Part of their personal clash had come when the romance wore off and Lindsey realized how differently she and Elaina approached their work. Elaina cared about ratings, viewership, and the bottom line—all the things that made the network love her. On the other hand, Lindsey cared about the story, and everything else was incidental. She’d go to any lengths to find the truth even when no one else, including viewers, wanted to know the real story. Her doggedness had never diminished the popularity of her work, but Elaina had assured her there would come a day when she would have to sacrifice her integrity in exchange for the opportunity to reach a broader audience. That assurance had been the death knell of their relationship. It hadn’t taken Lindsey long to realize she was better off alone than with someone who would never understand her. She’d never let anything get in the way of her quest for the truth.

“She’s perfect for this piece,” she told Jed. “And that’s all that matters for now.”

She knocked on the door of Elaina’s room and smiled when Alice answered the door. She and Alice had worked together on dozens of stories. There was no better cameraman in the business, and she was certain Alice had the same questions as Jed about why they’d been picked for an assignment that a trained monkey could do. She leaned in to give Alice a hug and whispered, “Thanks for doing this. I owe you one.”

“Always glad to get a call from you,” Alice whispered back. She stepped aside to let Lindsey enter the room.

Elaina’s digs weren’t quite as fancy as her own, but they ran a close second. Lindsey started to walk over to where Elaina was seated at a sizable desk, but she stopped abruptly when she spotted several trays of food sitting on the coffee table in the sitting area. “Oh my God, I’m starving.” She grabbed half a sandwich and scarfed it in three bites. She reached for a napkin and when she looked back up, Elaina was standing beside her, wearing a sweet smile.

“I figured you’d be hungry,” Elaina said. “I don’t know how you manage to eat the way you do and keep looking this good.”

Lindsey cleared her throat, hoping she wouldn’t choke on a breadcrumb, but didn’t ask for clarification about what “this” was. She wasn’t interested in flirting with her ex or reminiscing about how she’d always worked through meals and then come home starving. Elaina might know all her little quirks, but those were all surface level, not the stuff that really mattered. She diverted. “Hey, Jed, you better get over here before I eat all this food. Consider this your only warning.” She heaped a plate high with sandwiches, pasta salad, and fruit and took it to the desk where Elaina’s stuff was spread out. “How about we make this a working dinner? What’s first on the agenda?”

Elaina scrambled to shove the papers into a folder and then opened a fancy leather planner the size of a Volkswagen. “I’ve arranged with the local affiliate to provide us with a room for filming some of the non DEA interviews, but I’d like to do all the agency clips either at the DEA division office or in the field, same with the other local agencies. Jed, can you work with that?”

He gulped a bite of sandwich and nodded. “Sure. We took a good look around while we were at the DEA office. It’s not ideal, but I can make it work. What kind of in the field filming do you have in mind?”

Elaina leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know. Maybe Lindsey could tag along with one of the agents.” She looked down at her planner. “Since our focus is the Take-Back Initiative, Lindsey, you could get them to show you where they plan to hold the main event along with some of the local outlets, stuff like that.” She pointed at her computer. “The guy in charge, Agent Diego, sent over a bio for the liaison you asked for, Special Agent Dale Nelson. He’s a decorated Marine who served in Afghanistan, and I think he could be the perfect hook for the story. Might be good to follow him around and work the human interest angle. From the war on terror to the war on drugs. Different battles, same skills. Something like that.”

As Elaina droned on, Lindsey tried to hide a grin. Jed was kicking her under the table, and his own grin was infectious. Alice was the first to catch on. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Lindsey said as she delivered a return kick to Jed’s shin. But Jed was not to be deterred.

“She’s going to figure it out sooner or later,” he said.

She sighed. He was right. She turned to Elaina. “Dale Nelson is a she, not a he.”

It took a few seconds for Elaina to register her words, but when she did, her eyes narrowed. “Hmmm, that might change things. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Why?” Lindsey suspected she knew the answer, but she wondered if Elaina would be so crass as to admit her reasoning for rethinking Dale as the focus of the human interest angle.
Please let her not be that callous.

“It’s just different is all. Doesn’t have the same broad-based appeal.”

“Broad-based appeal? Care to explain what that’s code for?” Damn. No matter how much she’d hoped Elaina would change, her hoping couldn’t make it so. Lindsey’s appetite vanished, and a clawing sense of claustrophobia drove her to stand and pace. “A woman serves her country overseas and comes home to do more of the same and that’s less compelling than a man who does the same thing? Like death and destruction can only be appreciated if we placate the majority by showing them only a pure reflection of themselves?”

Elaina glanced at Jed and Alice, probably looking for moral support, but they both shook their heads as if to say “not my battle.” When Elaina finally addressed her, she sidestepped the question. “It’s not a matter of what you or I think. Our job is to reach the common denominator, and there’s a method to getting there. Not everyone likes the idea of women in the military, and you might lose your opportunity to reach your audience and get the message across. You know that even though you like to pretend you don’t.”

Lindsey shook her head. Elaina wasn’t going to give in. They could continue their standoff or she could grab what little advantage she could by turning Elaina’s own words back around. “Didn’t realize you were so focused on making this a substantive piece with a moral and everything, but I’m glad to hear it. I’ve got some great ideas for ways we can beef up this story. Trust me, Dale will be the perfect centerpiece for what you have in mind.”

She was bluffing since all she knew about Dale was that she was gruff, handsome, and annoyed as hell that she’d been thrust into this assignment. One word from Elaina and Dale would likely jump at the chance to ditch this gig, but no way was Lindsey going to let that happen. Even with the little information she’d heard so far, she was certain Dale would be the key to making this story more interesting.

*

“You two should eat something too. Come on. We’ve got plenty.”

Dale looked up from watching Neil scarf his way through a plate of pot roast into the welcoming eyes of Helen Davis and wondered, not for the first time, how one woman had given birth to two such incredibly different children. Peyton was one of the most honorable people she’d ever met, and Neil was a selfish, entitled brat. She had no desire to break bread with him. She glanced at Peyton who nodded.

“Mom, I’ve got to talk to Dale. We’ll be back in a few minutes.” Peyton motioned for Dale to follow, and they walked out front and sat on the front porch. “She pushes food on people. It’s her way.”

“Sorry if I was rude, but I actually do need to talk to you about something and I couldn’t do it in front of your brother.”

“Sounds serious. Shoot.”

Dale hesitated for a second before plunging to the heart of what she wanted to know. “Did you know Gellar is shutting down the task force?”

“What?”

“It’s true.”

“It can’t be. He can’t do that.”

Years of experience talking to liars told her Peyton’s reaction was genuine. The next question was what they were going to do about it. “Diego told me. He got the word from the director. I expect you’ll hear about it firsthand when you meet with Gellar tomorrow. In fact, that’s probably the real reason he wants to meet with you.”

“We can’t let this happen. Not now when we’re just starting to make headway.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. Diego’s got me lined up to work with some reporter who’s doing a piece on the agency for
Spotlight America
. It’s a PR thing about our drug Take-Back program. Supposed to make us look good after all the fallout from the hooker deal last year. Guess the director needs to go to Congress for more funding. Anyway, I can probably shake her to get some work done. Think you can sneak around if needed?”

“If I’m not out of a job entirely. They transferred me back here to head up this task force. If Gellar dissolves it, he may not see his way clear to keeping me on.”

“You’ve got to stay on. Bianca’s good, but she needs more experience, and she won’t stand up to Gellar. If we’re going to prosecute the Vargases, we need you.”

“I hear you, but maybe it’s for the best. My dad is getting sicker by the day, and there’s the whole conflict with Lily’s father.”

Dale heard what she was saying, but she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. “I get that it’s a sacrifice. My wife died fighting these people. Your relationship with Lily, the fact that it’s personal, just makes you more suited to the job. People fight the hardest when they’re fighting for something they care about.” She’d seen the concept in action every day that she’d served in active duty, and she believed it to her core.

The creak of the screen door interrupted Peyton’s response. Helen stuck her head out. “I’m officially declaring your business on hold for now,” she said. “Come on in and eat before everything gets cold.”

Dale looked at Peyton who merely shrugged. What the hell, she was starving and it did smell wonderful. “Yes, ma’am.” She started to walk through the door, but Helen placed a hand on her shoulder before she could get past.

“Dale, don’t you worry about Peyton. She’ll do the right thing. I can always count on her that way. Her daddy may be sick and her girl may be caught in the middle, but Peyton won’t leave you hanging.” Helen delivered the last words with a pointed look at Peyton, and Peyton offered what appeared to be a grudging smile. Dale made a mental note never to assume a conversation in the Davis household was private.

A few minutes later, they were seated around the table with Neil. Lily had excused herself to go make some phone calls, and Helen said something about checking her horses, but Dale suspected they both wanted to give them some privacy to ask Neil the hard questions. She and Peyton had agreed that Dale would do most of the talking.

“Like I said at the office, you’re not being charged with anything. Frankly, I don’t know if you’ve done anything illegal, but I have to say you sure are acting like someone who has something to hide.”

Neil dropped his fork and let it clatter against his plate. “Maybe you’re just overly suspicious.”

Dale leaned back in her chair, purposely meeting his aggressive stance with calm tones. “Maybe. But I’ve got an eye for folks in trouble. They start hiding things, like the financial condition of this ranch and the fact they’ve made sketchy business deals, from loved ones. They miss important meetings and go on the run. And they get themselves tied up and left as bait for a bunch of federal agents.”

“Sketchy business deals?” He stabbed his finger at Peyton. “She’s talking about the father of your girlfriend. If you think Cyrus Gantry is bad news, then what are you doing dating his precious daughter and the heir to his fortune?”

The only sign he’d gotten under Peyton’s skin was the hitch in her breath, but she quickly took control. “Spare me the lecture. If fathers and their children were exactly the same, you’d be more like Dad and be content to earn your money through hard work rather than gambling with the wealth of others. You sold rights you didn’t have to Cyrus Gantry and took a nice little bonus off the top.” Neil’s expression told them both he hadn’t expected her to find out about his side deal. “The question now is, why did you get paid in cash? Maybe all that money wasn’t for the drilling rights. Have you been helping Cyrus launder money for the Vargas brothers? All I want is information, but if you don’t pony up what you know, then I’ll be after blood.”