Above the Law by Carsen Taite Read Free Book Online

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