Above the Law

by Carsen Taite

  “Jonas.”

  “Okay, Jonas. What’s your opinion about the troop drawdown in Afghanistan? Is it happening fast enough or should we keep a presence there for the indefinite future?”

  Dale sighed. “I’m sure Jonas has better things to do than debate you on international relations.”

  “Let’s hear what his opinion is before we decide if there’s going to be a debate. Jonas?”

  “I think it’s time for our troops to come home. Hell, everyone I know thinks the same thing. I mean—hey, aren’t you Lindsey Ryan? I watch you on TV all the time. I love your show.”

  His voice rose with his last remark, and several patrons at nearby tables turned to look their way. Lindsey did her best to hide a grimace, but she had only herself to blame for letting an intimate evening with Dale turn into a very public display. While she fumbled for what to say, she saw Dale crook her finger and motion for Jonas to come closer.

  “Jonas, she is definitely the Lindsey Ryan you see on TV, but she’s having a rare night off and we’re relying on you to ensure our privacy.” Dale handed him a folded bill. “I know you’ll do a great job.”

  Jonas glanced at the bill in his hand. “Absolutely, Ms. Ryan. Not to worry.” And then he was gone.

  “I thought he’d never leave,” Dale said.

  “You’re just mad that he agreed with me.”

  “Nine out of ten people would say they want all the troops to come home, but they don’t understand the intricacies of the situation. You know as well as I do how unstable the region is when we’re not there and it’s not a simple matter of pulling out. Besides, your pal Jonas was stumbling all over himself from the first moment he saw you. He would have agreed with anything you said.”

  “Too bad I don’t have that affect on you.” Lindsey wanted to pull the words back the moment she spoke, but now that they were out there, she waited eagerly for Dale’s response.

  “If you didn’t, this whole process might be a hell of a lot easier.”

  Dale delivered the words and immediately picked up her wine glass and took a deep drink. Was her hand shaking slightly? Lindsey played the words back in her head several times to make sure she’d heard correctly. Had Dale just admitted she was attracted to her or had she misunderstood?

  Ask her, dammit. Lindsey locked eyes with Dale, but she didn’t ask for clarification. She couldn’t. If she did, then this conversation was sure to take a completely different direction than its intended purpose.

  The irony wasn’t lost on her. She was here to ask personal questions, but this line of questioning was completely off limits if she wanted to get the story she came for. Whatever she said next would set the course for what lay ahead: giving in to the attraction between them or giving her all to deliver a hard-hitting human interest piece. She knew what she wanted, but she didn’t know how to choose, so she did what she knew best and stuck with the story. “Tell me about Maria Escobar.”

  A few beats of silence passed between them, and then Dale took a deep breath. “Tell me what you want to know.”

  She wasn’t going to make this easy. “Tell me how you met.”

  A smile flickered across Dale’s face and then settled into an earnest expression. “We met in the service. She was the prosecutor and I was her key witness. I’d arrested a private for driving while intoxicated.”

  “I guess that professional conflict didn’t keep you from forming a personal relationship.”

  “Is that a question?” Dale asked.

  “Maybe it was just an observation.” Lindsey didn’t like where this was going, but she’d started it, so it was up to her to get things back on track. “I assume you started dating later, you know, after you were no longer her key witness.”

  “Sure, that sounds right.”

  Lindsey heard a ringing sound and watched as Dale reached under the table and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “Do you need to get that?”

  Dale frowned at the screen and touched it with her thumb. “No. Sorry, I thought I’d put it on vibrate.” She set the phone facedown next to her wine glass and folded her hands on the table. “Next question.”

  This wasn’t working. Dale was poised and ready, like she’d prepped to tell all the details of her personal life, but the preparation robbed the telling of any vibrancy. When they got around to filming tomorrow, the result would be a dried up version of Dale’s story of loss, devoid of emotion unless she could figure out a way to catch her off guard. The truth was she didn’t want to talk about Dale’s past at all, not right now anyway. Not while they were enjoying a nice dinner that had started to feel an awfully lot like a date.

  Jonas showed up at that moment to deliver their food, and they spent the next several minutes engaged in conversation about regular dinner table topics like their favorite foods, what they liked to read and watch on TV. When they were done and the plates were cleared, Jonas reappeared to ask if they wanted dessert. Lindsey deferred to Dale.

  “I couldn’t eat another bite, but if you’d like to keep talking how about we take a walk?”

  After they settled the bill, they walked outside. The restaurant was in the convention center hotel, and there didn’t appear to be much going on on that side of downtown after dark. Lindsey caught Dale looking at her high-heeled boots. “You like my boots?”

  “I was just wondering how comfortable they are.”

  “Trust me, I’ve walked miles in these babies. I won’t slow you down.”

  For the next few moments they walked in silence through the dark, cool night. A few blocks away from the hotel, Dale switched to the curb side of the street and looped their arms together. Lindsey saw the reason a few feet away as they came up on a huddle of homeless men on the opposite sidewalk, but when Dale continued to hold her arm for the rest of the walk, she wondered if the gallant touch meant something more.

  “Do you have more questions?” Dale asked.

  She did have a ton of questions prepared for the interview tomorrow, but right now, leaning into Dale’s side, walking the streets like lovers enjoying a nighttime stroll, she didn’t want to ask any of them. If she was going to ask questions they were going to be things she wanted to know. “Why did you decide to become a DEA agent?”

  “Not a very interesting story.”

  They came to a park and Dale motioned to a bench. Lindsey sat down next to her and said, “Tell me anyway.”

  “I come from a family of cops. It was kind of expected.”

  “But you like it.”

  “Yes. What about you?” Dale asked. “Why did you become a reporter?”

  “There are a bunch of reasons, but one is that I like to tell people’s stories.”

  “Even when they don’t want you to?”

  “Are we talking about you?” Lindsey asked.

  “Not necessarily. Forget I said that. What are the other reasons?”

  Dale shifted on the bench and stretched her arm along the back of the seat. When she turned toward her, the light from the nearby lamppost illuminated her smile and her full, luscious, kissable lips. Suddenly, the night was no longer cool, and Lindsey lost the train of the conversation because all she could think about was the press of Dale’s hand against her back and how much she wanted to kiss her. “Reasons?”

  “The other reasons you wanted to become a reporter?”

  Okay, she could do this. “You’ll laugh.”

  “I won’t.”

  “You will because it sounds corny.”

  “Tell me.”

  “To root out the truth.” Lindsey watched as a flicker of a grin crossed Dale’s lips. “See, you’re laughing.”

  Dale held her hand to her chest. “I’m not. I swear. Okay, maybe a little. So, here’s a test. What are you thinking right now—tell me the truth.”

  Lindsey wavered. She shouldn’t. Dale was a subject. She didn’t mix business with pleasure. But here they were, sitting on a park bench, talking about the kind of things she imagined real people talked about on a fir
st date. She knew the next step, even if she knew she shouldn’t take it. Before she could think it to death, she leaned in and touched her lips to Dale’s.

  They were as soft and firm as she’d imagined, and she swooned as Dale pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. She had no idea how much time passed before they broke for breath, but when they did, she was heady with want.

  Dale’s phone buzzed again. She didn’t take it out of her pocket, but she stood and extended her hand. “We should get back,” she said.

  Lindsey took her hand and held it as they walked back to the restaurant. She wanted to ask more questions, but all she could think about was the kiss. She shouldn’t have done it, but now that she had, she wanted another. Maybe she could invite Dale back to her room for a drink. No, that was a bad idea. If Elaina saw them, she’d go ballistic. They could go to Dale’s place. Her mind whirred with possibilities, but they all ended with more kissing.

  They were back at the valet stand. Dale handed her ticket to the valet. “Do you need a cab?” she asked.

  Now was the moment. She started to say, no, I want to go home with you, but Dale’s phone buzzed again. She watched while Dale pulled it out of her pocket and her eyes moved across the screen. “Is something wrong?”

  Dale looked up, and her face was an unreadable mask. “I have to go.”

  Lindsey saw the valet pull up in Dale’s truck, and she felt the tender passion of their evening slipping away. She reached for Dale’s arm. “Take me with you.”

  Dale stepped back. “Not a chance,” she said, and this time her voice had a distinct edge.

  Lindsey watched helplessly as Dale climbed into her truck and sped away. She had no idea what had just happened. She replayed the last few minutes in her mind, over and over, but all she came up with was a few key facts—Dale was pissed off, she’d begged Dale to stay, and Dale had refused—none of which boded well for whatever was going to happen the next day.

  “Is everything okay?”

  Lindsey looked up to see the valet standing next to her. She asked for a cab and prayed it came quickly. Whatever had happened between her and Dale tonight was over. It was time to stop wanting things she couldn’t have and focus on doing her job.

  *

  Dale sped away from the restaurant, more angry with herself than Lindsey. She’d lost her focus, and she needed to know what kind of damage she caused. She glanced at the text she’d received again. The car you asked about was rented by Spotlight America. Damn. She punched a number into her phone. Andrea DeJesus picked up on the first ring.

  “Dale, you got my text?”

  “I did, but I wanted to hear it directly from you.”

  “Okay, well, I did some checking around about that plate you called in.”

  “And?”

  “Enterprise rented it to Elaina Beall. She’s the producer for that piece I gave the interview for earlier this week. You know, Spotlight America? Remember, down at the police station earlier this week?”

  Dale remembered all right, but all she cared about now was why a car rented by the producer who was working with Lindsey had turned up at Peyton’s ranch. “Do you have a copy of the paperwork?”

  “No, but I’m sure I can get it.”

  “Don’t. I was just curious,” Dale said, struggling to keep her voice even. “I appreciate the heads up, but I’m sure it’s nothing.” She was lying, but she had no desire to involve Andrea more. She was certain she’d led Lindsey and maybe her entire crew, to Peyton’s doorstep no doubt looking for a juicy story. Several events from the last few days flashed through her mind stoking her suspicion, including Lindsey showing up at her apartment the night she’d spotted the car outside the ranch and Lindsey poking around the federal courthouse the morning Gellar was in court on Cyrus Gantry’s case. For all she knew the coverage of tomorrow’s Take-Back event was a cover to allow Lindsey and her team to poke around and see if they could find a salacious scandal to garner higher ratings.

  She could barely contain her anger, and most of it was directed at herself for putting the task force work in jeopardy. Whatever this was between her and Lindsey had caused her to drop her guard, but it wouldn’t happen again. Not a chance.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Lindsey stared at her face in the mirror and wondered if there was enough makeup in the world to cover the bags under her eyes. She’d finally given up on sleep at five a.m. and ordered coffee from room service which had only served to make her jittery.

  The programming portion of the Take-Back event was scheduled for three o’clock, so she had all day to dread it. Most of her interviews were already in the can, and today was mostly about capturing some live moments for the show, including the cornerstone interview with Dale. Any time now, Elaina was going to knock on her door to go over the questions she’d prepared, and Lindsey would have to admit Dale wasn’t going to show up.

  As if she’d summoned it, she heard a few sharp knocks and looked through the peephole to see Alice standing outside. She swung open the door. “Come in. Thank God it’s you.”

  “You look like hell.”

  “You’re supposed to tell me you can put some special gel on the camera to make me look amazing.”

  “I can only do so much.”

  “You’re a big help.”

  Alice made a show of looking around. “So, I guess your hot date went well. She still here?”

  Lindsey threw a towel at her. “No hot date and no one was here last night.”

  “Right.”

  “I’m serious. In fact, serious is all I have right now. I’m pretty sure Dale isn’t showing up today.”

  “We don’t need her to cover the event,” Alice said, her tone unconcerned. “It sounds like it’s going to be a glorified school assembly.”

  “I’m talking about for the exclusive interview after.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’m not sure. I took her to dinner and I started asking questions I should’ve held for the interview, but I didn’t want to catch her completely off guard. Maybe it was too much. Anyway, I thought everything was going great, but then she got a text and she couldn’t ditch me fast enough.”

  “She got a text? Duh, it was probably work.”

  Lindsey knew that was the easiest explanation, but she couldn’t help but think it was something more. Dale’s tone, her entire demeanor had signaled she was angry, and the anger was directed at her.

  She’d let her personal feelings get in the way of her reporting, and now she had no story. Not one with any meat anyway. When Elaina found out Dale had bailed, she was going to throw a fit. She could deal with Elaina’s anger, but she wasn’t in the mood for a call from Larry and threats to her autonomy to investigate other stories.

  Maybe there was a solution to this. “Hey, you have time to do a little digging with me before we head downtown? I still think there’s another, more important story, based on what we saw at Peyton Davis’s ranch, and I want to run down some leads. See if you can get Jed to run interference with Elaina while we check it out.”

  “Sure. I don’t have a lot of setup to do because the local studio is doing most of the legwork for the event. My only job is to get you on tape. I’ll go get my stuff and be right back.”

  Lindsey smiled. She was back on track. She’d get her story in spite of Dale.

  *

  “I’m not doing it.” Dale paced Diego’s office and slammed her fist into her palm to emphasize the point.

  “Look,” he said. “I get it. You’ve sacrificed more than most. If it wasn’t really important, I’d say to hell with them, but I need you to do this interview. Do it and you’ll get a letter in your jacket.”

  “Since when does the agency offer bribes to get agents to talk to the press?”

  “It’s not a bribe. Can you sit down for a minute? You’re giving me a headache with all the walking around.”

  Dale compromised by standing still, but she had too much pent up energy to take a seat. She’d been keyed up
since she’d left Lindsey the night before. Instead of going home, she’d driven out to the Circle Six and done a couple of loops around the property in her truck. She didn’t have a clue what she expected to find, but she needed some reassurance that no one was spying on Peyton. The exercise had been in vain because she didn’t feel better for not finding anyone. The absence of a threat didn’t mean it wasn’t real.

  She’d finally managed to get a couple of hours of restless sleep, and she’d woken up resolved to take control of things. She called Diego to let him know she had to meet with him this morning, and she’d shown up with a head full of questions and a heart full of mixed emotions. “I don’t get why this interview is so important.”

  “It’s a trade-off.”

  “Come again?”

  “You give them some heart-wrenching story about your life, and Operation Discreet is off limits. They won’t ask about it. They won’t mention it. It’s like it never happened.”

  And just like that, she realized she was being sacrificed for the good of the agency, and her lifetime of duty meant they expected her to go along without question. Once upon a time, their expectation would have been spot-on, but she was beginning to tire of the politics that got in the way of good police work. “That’s bullshit. That story broke months ago. Why would they even want to resurrect it now? If you’re going to sell me out at least get something good in return.”

  “Dale, it wasn’t me. I’m just passing along the directive. If you decide not to go along, I get it, but I can’t promise I can protect you from the fallout.”

  The only fallout she cared about was the pain of having to sit across from Lindsey Ryan and bare her soul. Last night when she’d been on the precipice of asking Lindsey back to her place, but the text from DeJesus had erected steel walls around her heart. Now that she knew Lindsey had her own secret agendas, Dale wouldn’t trust her with a grocery list.

  She glanced at her watch, eight o’clock. DEA agents and local cops were staked out at various community centers around the metroplex getting ready to collect prescription discards. The ceremony commemorating the event was scheduled for three p.m. If she gave in, her interview for Spotlight America would take place immediately after. The time would fly by, but the reality was she had hours to make her decision. “I’ve got some stuff to do. I’ll see you downtown.”