CLOSE TO YOU: Enhanced (Lost Hearts) (3 page)

             
"No, we live apart." How odd that he would think they'd live together!

             
His sharp glance darted to her, did a quick up and down, then returned to the screens. His gaze wasn't insulting or sexist, more analytical, as if he was weighing her, judging her . . . really observing her for the first time.

             
How strange. If he wanted her so much as a reporter, she would have thought he'd be done with his assessment. She hoped he hadn't changed his mind. "I rented a town house in a converted warehouse downtown."

             
"You should be safe enough."

             
"I would think so." What an odd comment, but then, Kate was beginning to think Brad was an odd man. "Mom wanted me to live with her, but—"

             
"Right. Right. You need your space, blah, blah. Young, free, et cetera. We're going to have you work the capitol. The Senate is in special session, won't go on break until Thanksgiving or the governor declares they're done." Standing, Brad hefted his brown leather belt over his belly, and gestured through the wide windows into the newsroom where he could see each and every desk and each and every reporter—and Kate would bet he kept track of them, too. "I'm sending you over with Linda Nguyen so you can learn the ropes. Come on, I'll find her for you." With a gait like John Wayne's, he rolled out of his office.

             
She followed him down the hallway and wondered if anyone ever got to finish a sentence around Brad.

             
As they stepped into the newsroom, silence fell. Kate shot a smile around, but it wasn't returned. Not by anybody. Everyone, every single person in the newsroom, stared at her, flinty-eyed and hostile.

             
Her smile faltered.

             
She'd dressed carefully for her first day at work. Black pants, white shirt, midnight blue jacket, and everything cut without a hint of sexuality. Her heels made her legs look long and lifted her up enough to give her confidence when looking people in the eyes. Her makeup was subdued, her hair blown smooth and brushing her shoulders. She was the epitome of the perfect reporter. So why did they look at her as if she were a bug smashed on the windshield?

             
"This is Kate Montgomery, our new capitol reporter. You all make her welcome." Brad looked around, and his voice contained a threat as he added, "A good Austin welcome."

             
"Hi, Kate."

             
"Hey, Kate, good to have you in Austin."

             
"Good to meet you, Kate."

             
Each welcoming word was delivered in a monotone; the insincerity was palpable, and not even Brad's glare produced anything more than glances sidling away.

             
Kate didn't understand the enmity. Sure, this was a competitive business, but never had she felt so awkward.

             
"Here's your desk, your phone, your computer." Brad indicated a space beside the window. "You won't be here much. The happenings up at the capitol should keep you plenty busy."

             
"Good." Especially if the crew was always this surly.

             
"Linda, here's your trainee." He stopped by the desk of a young Asian woman and rapped on it with his knuckles. "Get Miss Montgomery out there, show her around. Introduce her to the right people."

             
"Sure, whatever you say." Petite, dark-eyed, with sleek black hair and the taut muscled body of a reporter whose job depended on her looks and her ability to chase criminals while wearing four-inch heels, Linda stacked papers, turned off her computer, and stood in one graceful motion.

             
"I say she better be up and running by next week." Kate jumped as Brad yelled, "Sonovabitch!" and pointed at the monitors clearly visible through the windows of his office. "Bomb scare at an elementary school!" He wheeled and headed for his office. "Roberts! Potter! Get in here!"

             
Two reporters slapped their work aside and hurried after him. With his departure, the temperature in the newsroom dropped from cold to frigid.

             
"Come on, Miss Montgomery," Linda said. "I've been waiting for you to get here, and now I'm late for a hearing."

             
As if it were Kate's fault! Without a backward glance, Linda walked out to the elevator.

             
Everyone in the newsroom bustled with patently fake business, and they said not a word. If ever there was proof something was wrong, it was that, for newsrooms were never silent.

             
Determined to get to the bottom of the situation, Kate joined Linda at the elevator.

             
"You take your car; I'll take mine." Linda punched the call button. "Since you'll probably be leaving early." As if it would hurry the elevator, she punched the call button again.

             
"Why would I leave early?" Kate asked coolly. "I can't imagine you want to hang around for the
real
work."

             
"You can't?" When Kate was in grade school, her mom had taught her how to deal with females untrained in the social graces.

             
"Look. Let's not pretend." Linda punched the button again, then looked surprised when the doors opened. "You're one of those girl reporters who make it on your looks, your expensive haircut, and your capped teeth." _ She stepped inside.

             
Kate followed, her indignation rising.

             
"I spent ten years covering blizzards in Chicago and debutante balls in North Carolina before I earned the right to cover the Texas state capitol." Linda jabbed the button for the ground floor, then punched the close-door button, then jabbed the ground-floor button again. "Now Brad creates a position for you so you can waltz in and take the glamour job. I don't know who you know, and I can't do anything about having to teach you the ropes." The elevator began its glide down to the ground floor. "But I don't have to like it, and I don't have to like you, and I don't have to pretend."

             
I don't know anyone
. But what was the use of saying so? Linda wouldn't believe it. No one at the station would believe it.

             
"Are you going to run to Brad and tattle on me?" When the doors opened, Linda strode out of the elevator and turned to face Kate, her hands on her hips, a short, belligerent Vietnamese American with a righteous attitude and a blue silk suit that Kate coveted.

             
Kate's mother was a southern lady steeped in courtesy and elegance. Her father had been a man given to blunt honesty and plain speaking.

             
Kate was her mother's daughter—but at that moment her father's spirit took possession of her. "No, I'm not going to tattle on you. I'm going to go to the capitol and make contacts, and within two years everybody in Austin is going to know that I'm the best reporter who ever covered this beat."

             
Linda's jaw dropped.

             
"Anything you want to tell me? Like where to park or who to avoid because he's your contact? I'd hate to embarrass you, and I'd really hate to win by taking unfair advantage with my expensive haircut and capped teeth." Kate smiled, showing the sharp points of the teeth that had seen years of braces but no caps.

             
Linda's mouth snapped shut. "By the way, if you like, I'll give you the name of my personal shopper." With another brilliant smile, Kate headed for her car, a sporty BMW coupe. As she sank into the leather seat and shut the door, she could imagine what Linda was thinking.

             
Rich, spoiled, untalented.

             
In the protected confines, Kate drew a long breath and pressed her cold hands to her hot cheeks. Damn! She'd pinned so many hopes on this job, worried about why she'd got it and what could go wrong, but this . . . this bitter personal resentment had never occurred to her. Sure, she'd come from a wealthy family and that had given her an advantage in being able to afford the tuition at any university she chose. But she'd worked hard to get into Vanderbilt, and studied hard to graduate at the top of her class. Sure, she knew people, but she hadn't tapped anyone to get a job, quite the opposite. And as for Brad creating a position for her—she didn't believe it. Why would he do that?

             
Set in the heart of Austin, the red granite of the capitol rose four stories and faced south at the end of Congress Avenue. The basement was connected to an underground mall to the north, which housed the Senate and legislative offices, and underground passages veered off to the state Supreme Court building and the buildings that housed various state agencies. The area was green with well-tended lawns and late-blooming flowers. Everything about the area was lovely and well planned—except the parking, which was a joke. The scramble for parking involved permits and assigned spaces and lots of asphalt striped with white lines. The few garages were reserved for visitors and legislators--even when the legislature wasn't in session. Kate followed Linda into a parking lot.

             
As Linda led Kate through the humid September heat toward the entrance to the underground mall, she said, "Usually, this time of year, there's not much going on, but the governor called a special session for school funding. Luckily for us the debates are heated and partisan." They headed down the stairway toward the Senate Finance Chamber. "The clerks and interns give us some of our best information. Don't step into an empty room with any of the senators unless you're prepared to fight for your virtue. Don't screw up." Linda's smile at the gentleman opening the door for them was at complete odds with her sharp tone. "Brad'll blame me."

             
"Remember, Miss Nguyen, after today we hardly have to see each other." The blast of air-conditioning took Kate's breath away. She walked quickly down the corridor, her long strides leaving Linda eating her dust.

             
Linda caught up with her in a hurry and steered her into the path of a short gray-haired man clad in a tan suit. "Representative Rimmer, this is our new reporter . . ." She pretended to forget Kate's name.

             
Kate stepped forward and shook his hand. "Representative Rimmer, I'm Kate Montgomery."

             
He heartily proclaimed, "How good to meet Miss Nguyen's replacement."

             
That did it.
"I'm not her replacement." Kate could feel waves of heat coming off the fuming Linda. "She's showing me around."

             
"That's right, but Kate has a political science degree." Linda injected just enough scorn into her praise to turn it sour.

             
Pride whipped along Kate's nerves.
And a degree in broadcasting
. Again, a waste of time to defend herself. She would stand or fall according to her performance, not her qualifications. As a small crowd gathered, she widened her eyes in false innocence. "That's how I know the difference between the House and the Senate."

             
Representative Rimmer bellowed with laughter, a big laugh for such a short man.

             
"Very good." A gray-haired Hispanic woman listened to the exchange, then extended her hand to Kate. "We find education improves the coverage."

             
Kate recognized her at once. "Senator Martinez, I'm privileged to make your acquaintance." Kate meant it. The one female senator in the Texas capitol, Senator Martinez was a woman who had taken the seat on her husband's death and never relinquished it through twenty years of redistricting and partisan mayhem.

             
Senator Martinez took the time to chat with Kate. So did Senator Rimmer and two legislators who stopped by. It seemed reporters were important cogs in the wheels of government, especially young, single female reporters, and Kate worked hard to make a good first impression.

             
She glanced up once to see Linda standing on the periphery, smiling tightly, and when she did, another man caught her eye.

             
He was a good-looking man of fifty-something, his thick blond hair swept into a stiff Bill Clinton—style cut.

             
His charismatic smile flashed, and for the briefest of moments, his blue eyes burned as he watched Kate.

             
She took a breath, startled by the heat of his gaze.

             
Then he smiled genially, and the impression of fire dissipated. He stepped forward, and the crowd parted to let him through.

             
Linda's voice contained a tone of respect when she said, "Senator Oberlin, this is the new reporter for KTTV, Kate Montgomery."