Disclaimers: See part 1.

Sleight Of Hand

"He’s dumping my promos. My prime position promos." Elly Michael’s tone could not have been more hostile as she scowled across the conference table at Mark Wilson.

The General Sales Manager smirked back. "Kaz wanted the fire sale. Sell it to clear, she said. I needed the inventory."

"You dumped my stuff for trade, they weren’t cash spots." Elly stated emphatically.

Laura interrupted in a dangerous tone. "Were they trade spots?" Trade was airtime swapped for goods and services.

"Some of ‘em."

"Time to get a new rate card out, Mark. If the stuff that we sold that’s guaranteed to run is crowding the inventory, then bump the rates on the other stuff. And for Christ’s sake, trade is at the bottom of our priority list."

"I didn’t think we’d come close to selling out." Mark grumbled.

"Oh," Laura’s voice dripped with sarcasm, "That’s a terrible problem to have." Tossing her pen down she snapped, "Promos are seed corn. If we don’t plant it, we won’t get the viewers. It’s the height of hypocrisy to go out to clients and tell them they can’t get customers if they don’t advertise and then you won’t allow our promotion department access to our own on-air."

Elly raised her eyebrows at this tirade but didn’t say anything as Laura continued. "Things are tight all over. We have to re-forecast for fourth quarter as per corporate and I do not have time for the bickering. I need some money back on your expense budgets and I’ll meet with all of you to decide how that’s gonna work. The last thing on earth I want to do is to start cutting bodies."

The mention of layoffs was enough to chill the room and Laura nodded, as the rest of the department heads finally seemed to grasp the seriousness of their position. "Yeah, we’re making a ton of money but corporate wants two tons and they want it now. I know we can’t expense our way to higher revenue but apparently those guys in Atlanta haven’t figured that out yet. Elly, I’ll meet with you in my office first." She pushed away from the table and left the conference room. Elly scrambled to follow.

"Got your budget?" Laura asked Elly as she sifted through a pile of papers on her desk and pulled out a file.

"Honest to god Kaz, there’s nothing left." Elly ran a hand absently through her hair, making the last controlled strands stand on end. "I’ve just got lots of blank Excel pages. I’ve got some fourth quarter radio budgeted for November Sweeps, but that’s about it."

"What about this marked ‘Other?’"

"That’s for station promotional stuff. You know, pens, pencils, mugs and all that. It’s only five thousand but it’s yours if I can do a trade with a local company to get some of that stuff, though we’ve got quite a lot in the prize closet because I found a couple of deals like umbrellas and shit that we did sponsored contest giveaways…You know, like picture the weather and Seaworld always does a trip and merchandise giveaway."

"Consider your budget five thousand lighter then. And half your radio."

Elly frowned in disappointment. "Half?" She whimpered.

Laura shrugged in sympathy. "Sorry. I know all the arguments."

The promotion manager’s shoulders sagged. "Oh well."

"Tell Richard he’s next."

Elly hadn’t even taken a seat for the budget surgery and as she turned to leave she said matter of factly, "I’ve always heard that being a GM will make you crazy. Hope it doesn’t happen to you."

Laura gave a bitter laugh. "This job isn’t making me crazy, it’s just making me mean."

"Uh, listen," Elly cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know or at least suspect, but Mark Wilson has it out for you and he’s a mean, vindictive son of a bitch."

"No kidding." Laura blew out an irritated breath. "There’s something wrong over there in Sales and Traffic. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s something fishy. If you see anything that gives you pause, let me know."

"Rest assured, I will. "

"Wanna be a GM Elly?" The question was rhetorical, since promotion and marketing managers rarely ever got their own stations.

"Not no, but hell no. I’m not that ambitious…"

"Or stupid."

"I didn’t say that." Elly interjected. "I wouldn’t be good at it. The problem with being in charge is the knowing. Knowing when things are going badly and that the shit’s gonna hit the fan. You’re the one who’ll be blamed, whether it’s your fault, the market’s fault or corporate’s fault. Knowing when jobs are going to disappear and knowing that lives are gonna be disrupted. You can’t ever say anything about it and you can’t ever un-know it. It’d take a better person than me to pull that off."

Laura’s smile was sad and not a little bitter. "Now I remember why you’re my liar for hire."

************************

"So do you do any fun runs or 5k’s or anything like that?" Tori asked the question as she polished off her biscuits and gravy. She and Chris had gone for an early morning run and then stopped off at The Skillet for breakfast.

"I’ve done a few. I’ve ended up being the MC for a couple."

"Ah that local celebrity thing. You know I get more recognition here just doing one newscast that I ever did doing all three in Beaumont. Although it usually happens at the grocery store when I’m buying the economy size tampons, booze and a box of condoms."

Chris placed a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter and the food she was trying to swallow. "Don’t do that…or at least give me fair warning."

Tori’s eyes crinkled in mirth. "You know, you’re the most down to earth anchor I’ve ever had to work with. You get such a kick out of the whole thing."

"What’s the point if you don’t?" She wiped her hands on her napkin and laid it next to her plate. "Is the station working out for you? You seem to like it pretty well."

The dark haired woman waved off Chris’ concerned tone. "It’s great. We’ve got good photogs and good producers. It’s amazing to me that some of these guys haven’t split to larger markets yet. They’re certainly talented enough." She leaned forward and took a sip of coffee. "Probably has a lot to do with Kaz, I suppose."

"You think?"

"Sure. It’s one of the main reasons I came over. I think she’ll help me get to a network if that’s what I want."

"Well, she’s got the connections that’s for sure."

"I wish I’d been here when she was running the newsroom. Keith’s great, but he and I have the same level of experience. I want someone to teach me who’s had different experiences, worked in a major market and has really shaken things up, you know? She’s always really encouraging when she’s critiqued my newscasts and stuff...Always makes good points and I’ve learned so much. How is she for you? Seems like you get along pretty well."

Chris propped her chin on a fist. "She’s um…great." Clearing her throat she added, "She put me on the big shows and never doubted me for a second. Hard to find that kind of unconditional support in this business."

Tori nodded. "It is, but you seem like you’re good friends too."

"Pretty much." Chris pushed for a change of subject with a query, "What about this guy you’re seeing? Josh something? Three nights this week. What’s the deal?"

Leaning back Tori drummed her fingers on the table. "Could be long term. He’s awful good to me. And he gets things, y’know?" She smiled fondly. "I just wish he’d cut that little goatee thing on his lower lip. Why do guys even think that's attractive?"

Chris gave a sympathetic snort and checked her watch. Plenty of time.

"So what about your love life?"

"What’s to tell?" Chris shrugged.

"A lot…or nothing. You never talk about who you’re seeing, hard to believe that you go without."

She considered denying all but couldn’t lie outright. "It’s complicated."

"So you’ve said before. They’re not married, are they?"

"Nooo," Chris said slowly, realizing that there had been a subtle shift and she had missed it completely. Some reporter you are.

"Chris, I hope you know that we’re friends and you can talk to me." Then Tori added in a casual tone, "At what point are you gonna come clean and tell me you’re gay?"

"Come clean?"

"You freaked a little the other night." Tori said it gently, but it didn’t lessen the impact. "Rendally was just joking but for just a minute you were either incredibly insulted or incredibly scared. I’m betting on scared."

Chris wanted to wince with dismay. She had spent years believing that she had been discreet enough and that had been the right approach. Suddenly she was very tired. "What makes you say that?"

"C’mon Chris. You were so relieved when I laughed it off, you almost collapsed. What, are you afraid I’ll rat on you…tell Kaz her franchise anchor’s gay?"

"Not exactly." That’s a good one.

"Then what?"

Chris shook her head and composed her thoughts carefully. "This is a very conservative market, Tori. Speculation like that could end my career."

"Nobody cares Chris. And I’m not speculating, I’m asking."

"You…" She didn’t know what to do with her hands but settled on putting her fingertips against her lips. "You have no idea what you’re asking." She let out a brief humorless laugh. Rock and a hard place, eh? "You already know anyway, don’tcha?"

"What’s the big deal? I don’t care."

"It’s not a question of you caring. It’s a question of viewers caring or corporate caring, or a network caring if I go that route. In this business it’s still a liability, gay weathermen not included."

"What is it with weathermen?" The tangent momentarily distracted Tori.

"There’s always a gay weatherman and a gerbil story in every market. It’s bizarre." Both of them were silent for a moment, then Chris spoke up in a small voice. "I’m careful. I’d never do anything to endanger the station’s reputation. I don’t do the bar scene." She looked up at the dark haired anchor. "Do you know how hard it is to meet someone in a town this size if you don’t go to the bars?"

"No," Tori murmured.

"Damn near impossible." Chris frowned at Tori thoughtfully. "You’re not…"

"No!" She flushed. "I’m straight. Completely straight. You won’t ever meet anyone who’s straighter. Is that a word? Nope, I’m totally, totally heterosexual."

"Uh huh."

"Really. No, I’m sorry. That sounded really defensive and homophobic, and I’m not." Tori sighed and tried to explain. "I just didn’t get it. You’re so much fun to be with, you have so much to offer, you ought to have someone and there wasn’t anyone and you’re so private. I just wanted to know."

"So now you do."

"No, Chris." She reached out and touched the blonde anchor’s hand. "I’m sorry. I was prying."

"You were. But it’s what you do. Hell, it’s what I do." Chris leaned back. "I told you it was complicated."

"But you haven’t told me anything." Tori pouted.

"This is where I get up and say, I have to go."

"Have to go?"

Chris gulped down some water as she stood up. "Yeah. I’ve gotta get home, shower and get out to the police barn to have a chat with a detective."

"This isn’t over Chris."

"It is for now."

*******************

Detective Jack Donnelly was checking the maintenance record of his police unit in the BFPD car barn when the Sergeant brought Chris and Jody over to meet him. He was a good deal taller than Chris and she had to tilt her head back to look him in the eye. He did not greet her or shake the hand she offered. The PIO told her that Donnelly was handling the police shooting of the young man near the theater on 70^th street and had set up the interview. "You know I can’t talk about the investigation except to say that it’s continuing."

"Okay," she agreed. "Can we get that on tape?"

He sighed in exasperation. "I know what the Chief told you, Ms. Hanson, regarding our cooperation."

"That’s fine, I’m not trying to trick you or endanger your investigation."

"Then why exactly are you here?"

"We’re following the story. A pretty hot one that has one neighborhood close to the boiling point."

Jody had already shouldered the camera and Chris was certain he was rolling. "Just tell me where you stand, when you expect the investigation to be finished and we’re out of your hair."

Donnelly cleared his throat. "We expect the investigation to continue for at least another week. We’ll release the report as soon as the Chief is satisfied that we’ve done as thorough a job as possible."

"Do you have any concerns about violence in Cedar Grove?"

He shook his head dismissively. "No, I don’t.

"What about after the report is released?"

"That’s not a concern. Is that all you need?"

"Is that all I’m going to get?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess we’re done here." She signaled to Jody to stop rolling. "Will you speak with me again after the investigation is finished?"

"Look Ms. Hanson, we have a history. I can’t help thinking you’d still like to nail me for that little thing a year or so ago. I’ll talk to you because my boss says I have to. But it’s just like the song says, for all your good looks and your manners, you’re just another bubble headed bleach blonde looking for the big story that’ll send you to network. You ain’t getting there on my back. The guy had a gun, the officers were in danger so it was a righteous shoot." With that, the detective turned on his heel and stalked off. Jody gave a low whistle and Chris quirked an eyebrow at the photog.

"I think I’ve irritated the good detective."

"I think you’d better make sure your plates haven’t expired, your inspection sticker is good and your driver’s license is up to date." Jody popped the tape out of the camera and handed it to Chris.

"No kidding." She swallowed against a twinge of unease.

*******************

Laura crossed her arms and leaned against the back wall of the control room. Chris was doing the Six and they were in the middle of the first break and getting ready to go into the weather segment. Camera one zoomed in to check the focus on the blonde anchor and Chris yawned. For a moment Laura got an extreme close-up of her molars and she smiled at the absurdity.

"10 seconds." Lisa the director gave the time cue and then they were back on with Kurt the meteorologist in front of the green chroma key wall. It was strange to watch him wave and point at nothing but space on one monitor and have a complete map with information on the signal that was going out over the air on another monitor. The weatherman’s patter was easy as he assured viewers that the next few days would be rain free.

Laura watched for a few minutes longer and when they went to the next commercial break she eased out of the control room and headed for the newsroom. The scanners were squawking but there was very little activity since the night side reporters were already out working on their stories. She tapped twice on the doorframe of the News Director’s office and flopped down when Keith waved her in. "Two things."

"Just two?"

"We need to light a fire under corporate and get our new graphics package in here before November…"

"And the other?"

"We can do it in person because Don Farmer is coming in next week." Keith made a derogatory comment under his breath and Laura crossed her legs, grimacing in agreement. "It’ll be three days of pure, unadulterated hell but if it keeps ‘em away and out of our hair for the next six months, I’m all for it. I need you to be available for dinner on Monday and Tuesday night."

"Do you know what this is about?"

"Money. How to make more and not spend as much. That’ll be the chief topic of discussion." Laura reached up to play with the blinds absently. "I don’t know what else they’ll want to chew on us about. The July book was good even though we don’t sell from it and they have other stations that are causing them more trouble than we are." She gave the blinds one last flick. "I got the light kits. They’ll be here next week."

Keith’s mouth fell open. "How? With what?"

"Don’t ask. We’ll just call it found money."

"First the cell phones then the light kits. The Photogs’ll be thrilled. I don’t think they’ve had new light kits in five years or so and they take all kinds of abuse."

"Well they need to take all kinds of care with these. They’re about a thousand dollars a pop. Elly’s getting you new MIC flags too." The flags were plastic cubes with the station’s logo that were attached to stick microphones. They were highly visible, especially during news conferences.

Before Laura could say anything else, the crew from the Six came in for the newscast post mortem meeting. She stayed where she was and Chris took the seat next to her, pulling the IFB earpiece off and unclipping the cord. "That was interesting."

"It looked okay." Laura said and answered Chris’ unspoken question. "I watched a little from the control room."

"Well AP just dropped two whole stories for no reason and I just managed to get them reloaded before we went into the last break and the audio board is still acting up." Kate slapped her legal pad against her thigh as she came into the office. "I wrote it up last week and Richard said it was fixed but it never stays fixed. What are we gonna do about it? It keeps ruining…oh! Kaz."

"I’ll talk to Richard about the audio board. I’m sorry, I don’t see any relief anytime soon." Laura never imagined that being the GM would feel quite as powerless as it did. At least as News Director she had someone to rail against, someone in authority with yes or no power above her. She’d never realized that the GM couldn’t make things happen any more than she could at the middle management level. Unless you find a loophole. "We just have to keep doing more with less." Uncomfortable she stood up. "I thought the content was good and your pacing is improving." She nodded once to Keith and left.

"What was that about?" Chris asked first, concealing her worry.

"Ah, Corporate’s going to pay us a visit next week. It won’t be fun." Keith tugged at his tie. "What else?"

***********************

The General Manager’s office had a large plate glass window and sliding glass door that looked out onto a small patio. During the spring and fall some of the staff would eat lunch out on the wooden picnic tables under the little shade trees. August was a little warm but Laura enjoyed the window anyway. For as long as she’d been in TV she had never had an office with a window. There was something about television stations and their designs that seemed to prohibit them, as if a view of the outdoors would corrupt the artificial view provided by the electronic box. Laura sighed and reached for the remote on her desk and pointed it at the four monitors that blinked constantly. They all turned off at once dimming the room slightly.

"I’m hungry and I want Pizza." Chris stood in the doorway smiling; sure that anything that was depressing Laura could be soothed away by pepperoni and mushrooms.

"All you ever think about is food."

"It’s not all I think about."

"What else?"

"Well, I got this nifty cell phone, two way radio, wireless IFB thingy today. I love electronic stuff and this is the coolest. I’m guessing we don’t have corporate to thank for these. Look, I can wear it on my belt and look like an engineer." Chris opened one side of her jacket to display the clip on. "I even put your number in it. Must mean I’m kinda fond of you."

"Glad you like it."

"You didn’t tell me."

"I wanted y’all to be surprised."

Chris laughed. "We were. You’d have thought it was Christmas in the newsroom. So, let’s go out and get a pizza."

"I really should hit the range."

Chris perched on one corner of the dark cherry desk. "After you eat. Then you can watch the Ten over at my place and I’ll crawl into bed with you sometime around eleven."

Laura considered the proposition for a moment. "That could work. C’mon, I’ll drive."

"The shiny Accord?"

"Off the desk, yeah, that’s the one."

"You hate this desk. You probably wouldn’t mind if I walked across it wearing spurs."

"You have spurs?"

"I could probably get some." Chris laughed as she slid off the desk and sauntered to the door.

"Ah, I don’t think so. I’m more of a no toys, no dress up, kind of girl."

"Where’s your sense of adventure?"

Laura almost barked out a laugh. "I’m dating you. That speaks volumes about my sense of adventure."

"Wait a second." Chris closed the door and spun around to face Laura, pulling her close for a hard kiss. She slid her hands down to Laura’s waist, smiling into the kiss and the familiar taste. She shivered lightly as she pushed away only to have Laura move closer and trap her against the wall beside the window.

"You really shouldn’t start anything you’re not prepared to finish," she whispered. "And not in my office. For God’s sake I have to work in here."

"God you smell good." Chris breathed.

"I am not chasing you around my desk."

"You wouldn’t have to."

They stood there against the wall, trembling for a long while and finally Laura groaned as she pulled away. "Pizza, right?"

"Pizza."

**************************

"He was pretty much the way I expected." Chris speared some mozzarella-covered lettuce with her fork and paused. "Rude. I really don’t like him."

"You knew he wouldn’t tell you anything. It was just a courtesy from Chief Morris that they let him make any comment at all."

Chris nodded. "I know and it probably wasn’t even worth my while to go. But I wanted him to know that I was doing the story and he’d be dealing with me."

"My, what an ego." Laura leaned back as their server slid their pizza onto the table.

"Oh yeah, it’s monstrous. The thing is that they aren’t at all sensitive to how this is playing out in Cedar Grove. You’ve got an almost totally black community and the cops have been behaving badly there for years. They’ve already had a couple of incidents…you remember that other kid that was shot right outside his house just a couple of weeks after you got here. Now they have this very public shooting and Jody and I have collected half a dozen interviews with very credible people saying that the guy didn’t have a gun and the police just shot him. Then the gun is found a significant distance from the body."

"Is Keith ready to run the story?"

"It’s inflammatory, Laura. Jody’s cut it three different ways and toned it down as much as possible, but it still looks like a cold-blooded murder. I don’t know how the investigation can see it any other way. And God help us if those cops aren’t punished."

"Why?" Laura blew on her pizza to cool it.

"Because the Grove will blow. It’ll be like the Los Angeles riots all over again."

"You think it’s that bad?"

"I know it is. But nobody’s listening to me." Chris pushed her salad away and started on the pizza. "We’re gonna run it tomorrow. I’m surprised you haven’t seen the promos. Elly built some nice ones, but they’re only gonna run day-of. We didn’t want to tip our hand."

"Then I’ll probably see them in the morning. Could I have some more Coke please?" Laura asked the passing waiter.

"Isn’t it a little late to be drinking that stuff?"

"Nah, It’s early enough." She looked past Chris’ shoulder and tilted her head in greeting. "Hello Tori."

Chris froze for a minute before turning to look. Okay the gig is up. "Hey. This must be Josh." She scrambled up to introduce herself. "I’m Chris…heard a lot about you." Her eyes flicked to Tori for an instant and then back to the tall curly haired man. "Can you join us? I have to go in a bit, but you can get your order in hereand you can sit with us for a little while." Another glance asked for permission from Laura and begged an apology.

"Sure, if we’re not interrupting."

"Not at all," Laura murmured.

"Josh, this is my boss, well the GM anyway, Laura Kasdan."

"Good to meet you. Gotta admit I’m a bit of a fan." Josh’s smile was friendly as he pulled out a chair for Tori. The dark haired anchor asked innocently enough as she sat down, "Is this a working dinner?"

"No, Chris wanted pizza." Laura supplied the half answer. "We were talking about the police investigation though."

"Jody showed me that piece, Chris. Really nice work." The server came back with the requested Coke and took the newcomers’ order. If Laura thought that Chris and Tori might be awkward around her, those doubts were put to rest when they started talking over each other about making a pilgrimage to New Orleans. Josh seemed to take it in stride and turned to Laura. "It really is a treat to get to meet you. I guess you get all kinds of golf fans babbling at you and asking for tips, but I enjoyed watching you play in the Open. I was sure that putt was going to fall. Especially after that shot on 17. Do you play at Burkett Falls Country Club?"

"Northridge. It’s a little longer and a lot tougher."

"I’ve played out there a couple of times. It’s beautiful. Do you know Peter Davis?"

"We play pretty regularly."

"We were in school together. Mississippi State."

"Golf team?" she asked. Josh shook his head. "Peter, but not me. I played baseball."

"Don’t tell Chris."

"Tell me what?" Chris looked over questioningly.

"Josh played baseball at Mississippi State." There. I’ve lost her.

"No kidding. They’ve got a great program, were you drafted?" Chris propped a chin on her hand and her eyes sparkled with interest.

"Nah. Bad knees."

"It’s so cool though. Position?"

"Catcher."

"I love catchers."

"Then get your own," Tori laughingly grumbled.

"Not to worry, Tori." Chris glanced at her watch "Yow! I gotta get back."

"Well I brought her, guess I’d better haul her back." Laura stood and tossed some bills on the table as Chris started digging in her wallet for some money.

"My share." She handed a twenty to Laura.

"Josh, nice to have met you, Tori I’ll see you tomorrow."

Laura started making her way to the cash register but Tori grabbed Chris’ sleeve and pulled her closer. "You’ve got some s’plaining to do." She said in a singsong voice and then released her. Chris winced as she made her less than clean getaway.

***********************

"She knows. Well, I think she’s figured it out." Chris mumbled the observation around her toothbrush.

"How much does she know and when did she know it?" Laura half asked the cliché as she punched a pillow into submission then flopped over on her back with one hand behind her head.

"I’m gay."

"Yes, we know that but when did she figure it out?"

"Um, this morning at breakfast. She pretty much asked me point blank. Said we were friends and how long I was gonna hold out on telling her, asked me if I was afraid she’d tell you about it."

"And you said…"

Chris jumped onto the bed, propped her head on her hand and crossed her ankles. "I said…it was complicated. Then I pulled a Kaz."

"Excuse me?"

"God, I love it when you say that…your voice gets all deep and it’s like you want to laugh but you don’t. It’s very endearing."

"You pulled a Kaz?"

"I left. Had that interview." She turned away from Laura just long enough to reach for the switch on the lamp and snap it off. The darkness swallowed them and Chris sighed as she buried her face in Laura’s shoulder. "I hate being evasive. I’m not very good at it."

***********************

Laura watched the package with a critical eye and still couldn’t fault Chris’ reporting. It wasn’t sensationalistic…it didn’t have to be, it was explosive enough. After the story was over three separate promos ran. They were pretty raw as well and the three of them, Laura, Elly and Keith were quiet as the tape stopped and then rewound. "Okay then." The GM said, "Why don’t you have one of the associate producers stick around tonight and help Henry answer the phones."

"Already thought of that." Keith checked his legal pad. "Should we show this to the guys at Barnes and Poteet?"

Laura shook her head. "No, there’s nothing here we’ll get sued for. It’s going to make getting anything out of the police difficult for a long time though. We’ll definitely be persona non grata at the BFPD…at least Chris will be." She pulled the tape out and slid it into the sleeve. "Can I keep this?"

"It’s yours."

"Good work on the promos, Elly. Not too heavy handed and they sure could’ve been."

"No sweat. Do you have some time today? I need to go over something with you."

"Now is good for me." She glanced at Keith, "Anything else?"

"Nope. Now that we’ve got the all clear I’ll go put this into play." He practically bounced on his way out the door. Laura focused her attention on Elly with a raised eyebrow. "What’s up?"

"How much do you know about my promo schedule?"

Laura frowned. "You get some guaranteed spots in every show, right? It’s built in and sales can’t take them unless it’s an emergency."

"Right. Corporate requires that we run thirty seconds of some kind of promotional spot for the station in every thirty minutes. Mostly it’s News teases but we’ll run some Oprah promos and Seinfeld promos…stuff for our syndicated shows and a few network promos in our local programming. If Mark comes to me and says he’s got to get commercial in, but there’s no place to put it, I might let him have one of my spots."

"But we discussed this and he knows he’s not supposed to be dumping your spots."

"But something’s fishy. Look, this is my pre-log and you can see where I placed this thirty second weather spot to run in the Six." Elly flipped open some pages and pointed to one line. "And here…" She opened another booklet. "…Is the actual on-air log. And here’s my spot."

"So what’s the problem?"

"This is the big brother tape from that day. You know, the VHS tape that we make of every broadcast day. We keep these for a year. Realistically a client only gets a notarized invoice that says we ran their spot at such and such a time, ‘cause the master control operator says he ran it and he signed off on the log. If we actually have to prove it, we go to the big brother tape."

"I know all this."

"But watch." Elly popped the tape in the VCR. "Here’s the break that should have my spot in it." The two women sat through the two minute break in silence. "It’s not there." Elly said flatly. "You can check the rest of the newscast and it’s not anywhere. It’s just a promo, it’s not life or death, but it’s on the log, the log is signed and if I was a client I’d get billed for it."

"Okay then. What ran that wasn’t on the log?"

"A Builder’s Warehouse spot." Elly waited for a reaction.

Not for the first time Laura cursed her lack of sales experience, at least where it would have helped her out in the GM’s office. She stood up slowly and crossed to the door, closing it firmly. "If this is a scam, who else would have to be in on it?"

"Someone in traffic, someone in accounting and someone in Master control. And of course, someone in sales."

"Who signed the log?"

"Bill French signed off on it."

"Then he’s the one in Master control. Can you document some more times when this has happened?"

Elly looked determined. "I’ve found half a dozen cases. How many more do you need?"

"Are all of them in Newscasts?"

"Yes."

"Show me a pattern over the course of a month."

"All right." Elly nodded. "What else?"

"A paper trail. But leave that to me."

"Kaz, if someone’s pocketing the money, invoices won’t exist."

Laura took a deep breath. "They exist. Not a word to anyone, Elly."

*************************************

To Be Continued

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