The Morning Show Murders (1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that has about a five percent chance of makin' it. If it flops, I'll be used merchandise.
    "And there's Ted. He says we'll be able to work it out somehow. I mean, I probably won't be seeing any less of him on the West Coast than I am now. Still, one of these days, he'll be back and then ..."
    "Sounds like you've already made up your mind," I said.
    "The thing is, I like comedy," she said. "And I'm funny. I don't get the chance for funny on
Wake Up
".
    "Okay ..."
    "But I think I'm turnin' into a pretty fair newswoman," she said. "You know, I do a lot of mah own research and I write mah own material. And that gives me great satisfaction. I don't know if I want to go from real news to fake news."
    "Then ..."
    "But Rudy has been givin' the gets to Lance." Lance Tuttle was her slightly pompous but sincere coanchor on our show. "Ah'm real tired of interviewin'
Dancin' with the Stars
losers and novelists."
    I decided not to remind her of the interviews
I
was assigned: cookbook authors, faddists, diet doctors, and their ilk. "Have you talked to Rudy about it?" I asked.
    "Uh-huh. He said he admires Lance. They have this frat-boy thing goin' on, you know?"
    I knew. "You tell Gretchen about the series offer?"
    She nodded. "Yesterday. That's when she suggested we all meet for dinnah."
    The mention of dinner reminded me of the sandwich. It had been eight hours since lunch at the studio. But it didn't seem polite for meto start wolfing it down. "If Gretch is putting on the feedbag, that's got to be a good sign," I told Gin. "My guess is at the least, she'll offer a pay bump."
    "This isn't about money, Billy."
    "Of course it isn't," I said, and gave in to the gnawing in my stomach. "You mind if I have a bite to eat while we talk?"
    "Oh, Billy, ah'm keeping you from your dinnah. Please eat."
    It was more encouragement than I needed.
    "So you think Gretchen might agree to me getting some of the first-half-hour interviews?"
    The question caught me mid-chew. Instead of speaking with my mouth full or rushing to swallow and risking the need for a Heimlich, I gave her a noncommittal shrug.
    Gin seemed to interpret this as a "yes."
    "But I may not get another chance at a prime-time series."
    I swallowed, savoring the aftertaste, then followed it with a sip of wine. It whet my appetite to the point where I wanted nothing more in the world than to enjoy the rest of my sandwich. Alone and unobserved.
    "You're right, Billy," she said, again interpreting my food-induced silence as encouragement. "It's a win-win situation. If Gretchen gives me what I want, that's fine. If she doesn't, I get to do the series."
    Standing up and striding to the door with purpose, Gin looked back at me and said, "Thanks so much for ... clarifyin' everything." Then she blew me a kiss and was gone.
    I hadn't done a thing except listen to her. I raised the sandwich, opened my mouth, and was about to take my second bite of the evening when Bridget Innes said from the doorway, "Do you want to see me now?"
    "Sure," I lied. "Come in and sit."
    She took the chair that had been occupied by Gin. She sat rigidly, leaning forward, as if she expected to be fired or worse.
    "So what's the deal with Juan?" I asked.
    "Just a mistake," she said.
    "There are degrees of mistakes," I said. "Sprinkling cayenne pepper on sweet rolls instead of cinnamon. The invasion of Iraq."
    "This is closer to the cayenne-pepper example," she said. "Juan and I ... had a thing. I guess he was into it a little more than I was."
    "I guess. When did the breakup occur?"
    "Well, five days ago I realized I'd fallen in love with somebody else. And when I told Juan, he closed down. You know how he gets."
    "No, I don't," I said. "But so I understand the situation, you told him about your new romance tonight and he swung on you?"
    "No. I told him, oh, three days ago," she said. "And I could see he didn't like it, but he just moped and walked away."
    "What got him going tonight?"
    "Well, when I went in the bar with a drinks