Justifiable by Dianna Love, Wes Sarginson Read Free Book Online Page A

meant Riley Walker had no more information than the rest of the reporters who’d left with Cecelia’s lame press release and he didn’t give two hoots about a welfare mother’s death. He’d only come to the press conference to harangue Cecelia about the mayor’s economic and tourism programs.
    Riley Walker should be out of her way for a little while with the assault charges the newspaper reporter was probably filing at this very minute. The idea lifted her spirits until she wondered again how her father had gotten her new, unlisted cell phone number.
    She had only given it to a few people, all of whom were either in the DA office or law enforcement.
    Not for the first time, Kirsten wondered just how far her father’s powerful fingers could reach.

Chapter 7
     
    Sunshine finally won the battle over fog, leaving the mid-morning skies bright blue beyond the windows of George Lehman’s eighth floor office.
    Riley sat with his arms crossed, waiting on WNUZ’s general manager to finish his rant.  Yada, yada, yada...you’re making my life difficult ... yada ... yada ...
    Lehman walked to the window that looked out over the west side of downtown Philly where the traffic was probably mangled along Independence Boulevard. He raked his fingers through the few hairs left on his balding head. “I will not have this station in constant legal battles over bullshit.”
    Not much to say to that, but Lehman didn’t want a reply.
    Riley had a grudging respect for the general manager even if the man was as abrasive as sharkskin rubbed the wrong direction. Most of the staff and newsies hated the GM’s micromanaging, but the station had shown significant improvement since this hardass had taken over operations.
    People rarely liked the person who had to make the tough calls. 
    “I didn’t agree with bringing you in, Walker.”
    “I know that. Think I’ve proved my value.”  Riley let that sink in. Lehman might not have agreed with WNUZ’s board of directors’ decision, but even he had to admit that Riley had increased revenues for the station.
    But would it be enough to hold onto this job?
    Lehman scratched the heavy jowl that belonged to a man who had enjoyed a daily quota of hard liquor for most of his sixty years. His beady eyes hadn’t lost any fire. “This stunt at City Hall could tank the ratings you gained.” 
    “My special last week on child abuse didn’t hurt us.” Maybe Riley should keep his mouth closed, but he had to point out some silver in the cloud lining.
    “That rating spike was Dr. Ziegler’s. Not yours. Now with this City Hall incident . . . ”
    “ And Dr. Ziegler is now our new expert on child abuse.”
    Lehman released a terse sigh. “Fine. You came up with the special, but any doctor on child abuse – ”
    “No. Ziegler’s different and you know it,” Riley argued. The woman had almost a sixth sense about knowing if a child had really been abused or not and how to get down to the truth.
    “This isn’t about her.”  Lehman’s cold glare was low on patience. “This is about you not managing a volatile situation today.”  
    Riley hadn’t caused the problem, but Lehman had to give the board a scapegoat. Regardless of what happened, Riley wouldn’t point a finger at Biddy.
    Enough was enough. He asked, “What do you plan to do?”
    Lehman paced back across the room and stopped at the side of his desk, tapping the files stacked on the surface with a long finger. “ No one is worth putting this station in jeopardy. Your contract is clear as glass about confrontations.” 
    Lehman was a bottom-line kind of guy who wielded his power over anyone who stumbled in his path, but Riley had some juice with the board of directors right now. This station hadn’t seen a consistent ratings hike in the two years prior to his showing up.
    He was also a bottom-line kind of guy.
    “You firing me?” Riley asked calmly.
    The GM straightened to his full height and whispered something vile under