Rules of Prey

discovered.”
    “That’s okay,” Lucas said. “They deserve it.”
    “I suppose.” Jennifer looked at the red wine in her glass, watching the light reflections thrown through the venetian blinds from the street. “What are we going to do?” she asked after a moment of silence.
    Lucas leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs. “We can’t go on like this. You’ve really hammered me. Daniel knows about our relationship, and every time something breaks in the press, he’s looking at me. Even if it’s Channel Eight.”
    “I’m done reporting, at least for now,” she answered. She tilted her head and let her hair fall away from her face, and Lucas’ eyes traveled around the soft curve of her chin and he thought he was in love.
    “Yeah, but if you get a lead . . . tell me you won’t feed it to one of your pals,” he said.
    Jennifer sipped the wine, set the glass on the table, ran her finger around its rim, and suddenly looked up into his eyes. “Did you sleep with McGowan?”
    “Goddammit, Jennifer,” Lucas said in exasperation. “I did not. Have not.”
    “Okay. But I’m not sure about you,” she said. “Somebody’s feeding stuff to her, and whoever he is, he’s tight with the investigation.”
    “It’s not me,” Lucas said. He leaned forward and said, “Besides, the stuff she’s getting . . .” He stopped, bit hislip. “I could tell you something, but I’m afraid you’d quote me and really louse me up.”
    “Is it a story?” she asked.
    Lucas considered. “It could be, maybe. It’d be pretty unusual. You’d be cutting on McGowan.”
    Jennifer shook her head. “I wouldn’t do that. Nobody in TV does that. It’s too dangerous, you’d set off a war. So tell me. If it’s like you say, I swear nobody will hear it from me.”
    Lucas looked at her a minute. “Really?”
    “Really.”
    “You know,” he said casually, as though it were of no importance, “I’ve threatened to stop talking to you in the past, but there were always reasons to get together again. I could always find a way to excuse what you did.”
    “That’s big of you.”
    “Wait a minute. Let me finish. This time, you’ve made a direct promise. No ifs, ands, or buts. If it gets out, I’ll know where it had to come from. And I’ll know that we won’t have any basis to trust each other. Ever. Even with the kid. I’m not playing a game now. This is real life.”
    Jennifer leaned back, looked up at the ceiling, then dropped her eyes to him. “When I was a teenager, I made a deal with my father,” she said slowly. She looked up. “If something was really important and he had to know the truth of it, I would tell him the truth and then say ‘Girl Scout’s honor.’ And if he wanted to tell me something and emphasize that it was important and he wasn’t kidding or fibbing, he’d say ‘Boy Scout’s honor’ and give me the Boy Scout sign. I know it sounds silly, but we never broke it. We never lied.”
    “And you won’t tell . . .”
    “Girl Scout’s honor,” she said, giving the three-finger sign. “Jesus, we must look ridiculous.”
    “All right,” Lucas said. “What I was going to tell you is this. I don’t know where McGowan’s information is coming from, but most of it is completely wrong. She says we think the guy is impotent or smells bad or looks weird, and we don’t think any of that. It’s all courthouse rumor. We thinkshe’s probably getting it from some uniform out on the periphery of the investigation.”
    “It’s all bull?” Jennifer asked, not believing.
    “Yep. It’s amazing, but that’s the truth of the matter. She’s had all these great scoops and it’s all bullshit. As far as I know, she’s making it up.”
    “You wouldn’t be fibbing, would you, Davenport?” She watched him closely and he stared straight back.
    “I’m not,” he said.
    “Did you sleep with McGowan?”
    “No, I did not,” he said. He lifted his hand in the three-fingered Scout sign. “Boy Scout’s honor,” he said.
    She toyed with the stem of her wineglass, watching the wine roll around inside. “I’ve got to do some thinking about you, Davenport. I’ve had some . . . passions before, for other men. This is turning into something different.”
     
    They slept in the next morning. Jennifer was reading the Pioneer Press and Lucas was cooking breakfast when the phone rang.
    “This is Anderson.”
    “Yeah.”
    “A cop from Cedar Rapids called. They busted Sparky