82 Desire

Wootten.”
    “Ah. The plot thickens.” Jane felt her stomach flutter.
    “I came to discuss responsible journalism. Isn’t that what you said you were into?”
    Jane nodded, trying to keep her cool. “Sure. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
    “Some things just don’t jibe. Cindy Lou says you’re going to run a story about her and Russell Fortier. I want to hear it from your own mouth.”
    “I don’t mean to be rude—but why?”
    “Oh, Cindy Lou’s probably one of my three best friends. So I was just kind of wondering what’s going on. It doesn’t seem like she and Russell are news. So what would the story be?”
    Jane felt herself color. She had used a tactic or two to get Cindy Lou talking that might have slightly overstated the case.
    She said, “Well, I’d have to go along with you on that. I’m not going to run anything that’s not news. We’re not in the business of invading privacy.”
    Skip snorted.
    “Unless it is news. I mean, if Russell had been shacked up with Cindy Lou, it would be.”
    “Oh, come on, Jane.”
    “Anyway, it might tell me Russell’s disappearance isn’t the result of criminal activity. Unless you count crimes of the heart.”
    “She thinks you’re going to smear her. She’s a respected member of the community and she doesn’t deserve that.”
    Jane leaned back in her chair. “I’m sorry I spooked her—I’m not going to do anything unprofessional. But she should have thought about the consequences. Bebe doesn’t deserve a cheating husband either.”
    “That’s not your business.”
    Jane took a deep breath; she was having a bad time with men lately. “You’re right. I spoke out of turn.”
    “Can we talk off the record?”
    “Sure.”
    “Cindy Lou wasn’t even having an affair with Russell—she did see him a time or two, but she’s surprised anyone could know about that. This whole thing makes me nervous. I know you don’t reveal sources, but there’s something nasty about all this.”
    Jane shrugged. “I hear a lot of stories. Some pan out, some don’t. My job is to check ’em out.” She looked at Skip. The cop’s hair was growing back from an undercover do—it was no more than an inch long and already curly and wild. She wore a wrinkled rayon jacket, and pants a little too short. Her brow was all furrowed with worry.
    You couldn’t help but like her.
    Jane honestly wanted to be friends with this woman, but Skip was a high-profile news source. Was friendship even possible, given the nature of their two jobs?
    “Janie, tell me what you know about Russell. I’ve got a bad feeling about all this.”
    “You know I can’t do that. You can read it in the paper.”
    “What if that’s too late? Where does journalism leave off and life begin?”
    “Well, that’s a good question. A damn good question, debated nightly in newspaper grog shops the world over. You and I probably aren’t ever going to get to the bottom of it, but I’ll make today a little easier. I don’t know one damn thing that you don’t. All I really know is what Bebe told me. I presume it was less than she told you.”
    “Did she tip you, Janie?”
    “Bebe? Of course not.” It just slipped out. The question surprised her so much she forgot to be mysterious.
    “Well, that’s something, anyway. Look, I’m sorry I barged in on you. I was a little upset.”
    I’ll bet , Jane thought. I’ll just bet Ms. Skip Langdon never does anything without considering mucho carefully.
    She walked Skip to the escalator and returned to the newsroom, thoughts aboil. This was a highly unusual event, a cop with an impeccable reputation for honesty trying to stop a story—if that’s what Skip had really come for. On the other hand, if she thought Jane really was going to run a story about some stupid love triangle, and Cindy Lou really was her best friend, it made a kind of crazy sense.
    Still, it was strange behavior for Skip.
    I wonder , she thought, if there’s something here I don’t see. Skip’s on the Russell Fortier case and Cindy Lou’s her friend—does she have a conflict of interest?
    She tossed that one around in her head. Now that would be a story. But unless there was criminal activity, what did it mean?
    Suppose there was criminal activity and Skip didn’t see it because she was too close to Cindy Lou?
    She wanted to talk it over with Walter.
    She wondered if she should run it by her editor. But they didn’t have a lot of rapport these days.
    He was the