Free Above the Law by Carsen Taite Page A

by anyone in the agency. When a congressional staffer discovered what was going on, hearings were promptly scheduled, and heads rolled. The area director had been served up as a token to the torch-bearing legislators who’d threatened to withhold funding for any of the more worthy projects the agency had planned.
    Months later, some of the heat had died down, but the rest of the agents were still paying the price for the harm done by the few. Hard-to-get resources, constant scrutiny, and other annoyances plagued the division, and someone had decided to make a big deal of the tenth Take-Back Initiative, complete with speeches and educating schoolchildren, as a way to distract the media.
    She thought it was a colossal waste of time, but it wouldn’t do her or any of the other agents any good to give Lindsey an angle to the story that would only distract from the agency’s attempt to make a comeback. She measured her words. “It’s a good program. Any time we can get drugs off the street, it’s a good thing.” She pointed at the building. “Now, would you like to take a look around?”
    Lindsey read Dale’s body language—the set jaw, the averted eyes, the folded arms. She knew she wasn’t going to get any more information about how Dale really felt about this project. Not now anyway. That’s okay. She could wait. She opened her door. “I would. Thanks. I know you probably have way more important things to do than tour me around town.”
    Dale shook her head. “Right now, this is the most important thing I could possibly be doing,” she said and motioned for her to follow. There wasn’t a detectable ounce of sarcasm in Dale’s voice, but as Lindsey walked behind her into the building, she was certain Dale’s words were laced with some double meaning.
    An hour later, Lindsey emerged from the building. Dale had stepped out a few minutes before to take a call, leaving her to listen to the endless prattling of Harold Carter, the city employee who was in charge of the logistics of the event. In addition to walking her around the area outside where the stage would be erected, he’d given her a tour of city hall, including the alternate, but less desirable space they would use in the event of rain. While she pretended to listen to the boring recitation of detail, Lindsey’s mind wandered to her companion for the day. Dale had patiently answered every question about the setup for the event and the logistics of collecting and disposing of all the drugs, but she could tell by the number of times Dale had glanced at her watch, she would rather be doing anything else. She couldn’t blame her since she felt exactly the same way.
    Damn Larry and Susan for sending her across the country to chase a silly story. She’d been in the business long enough to know how it would go down. In the few weeks before the story aired, the network would fill the airwaves with promo spots promising a tantalizing story about the DEA. They’d use her name to give viewers the expectation the story would be an expose. When the story finally aired, everyone would tune in, waiting and hoping for the twist that would never come. Ratings would be through the roof, making the sponsors and whoever else this story was designed to please happy—her own reputation for ruthless reporting be damned.
    Truth was, her reputation was strong enough to survive, but that didn’t mean she had to enjoy caving to the pressure. Maybe instead of trying to get Dale to play along, she’d see if Dale would give her a different story, one with more substance. She’d much rather be her ally than her adversary. She spotted Dale with her back to her, and headed her way, getting within a few feet before realizing Dale was still on the phone. She started to backtrack, but a few choice phrases piqued her curiosity and kept her in place. We should talk in person. We may just need to work off the books on this one. I’ll do whatever I have to.
    She didn’t have a chance