Free The Cost of Commitment - KJ2 by Lynn Ames

and a speakerphone between them.
    “What’s going on, you two? You call me on speakerphone at 11:00 at night? You must be up to no good.”
    “Why half-pint, I believe I should be objecting to your insinuation.”
    “Oh, big word for you, big guy.”
    “Okay, you two, knock it off before I send you both to your rooms without supper.”
    “She’s such a killjoy, Jay, isn’t she?”
    There was a snort on the other end of the line. “Um, Peter? Do you really want me to answer that?”
    The technology expert had the good grace to blush. “I suppose not,”
    he mumbled.
    “Right, then,” Kate said. “I had a very interesting meeting this evening with Wendy Ashton, a reporter for the Associated Press. Seems our friend Mr. Breathwaite tried to blackmail her today.”
    “Now there’s a surprise.” Peter couldn’t help himself.
    “With what?” Jay chimed in.
    “Her sexuality.”
    “Oh, that’s original.”
    “It doesn’t have to be original, Jay, it just has to be effective.”
    “I know, honey, it just galls me that living your life honestly makes you vulnerable.”
    Kate wondered if her lover would ever get past being angry about the circumstances surrounding Kate’s dismissal from WCAP. “Me too, babe, but it’s a price I, for one, am happy to pay.”
    Peter forced their thoughts back to the issue at hand. “Why is she telling you this? Why not just do what the asshole wants and save herself?”
    “I asked her the same thing. She’s clearly no fan of his, I’ve always given her a fair shake, and she’d love to nail his slimy butt to the wall.”
    “Fair enough.”
    “What does he want from her?” Jay asked, the indignation clear in her voice.
    “He wants her to write a story for wide distribution that will force the governor and the commissioner to fire me.”
    Jay’s growl echoed in Peter’s kitchen, prompting a chuckle from Kate.
    “Down, girl.”
    “I’d like to wring his scrawny little neck.”
    “I know the feeling, sweetheart, but I’m not sure that homicide would solve our problem.”

    The Cost of Commitment

    “What do you mean?”
    “She means,” Peter said, “that Breathwaite can’t reinstall himself as PIO, so he must be only part of the equation.”
    “Exactly. Which is why we need to carefully consider our next move.
    If we flush him out now, we’re still going to be on the defensive, wondering who else is out there and reacting to whatever their game is.”
    “Kate’s right, Jay. We need to let this play out further until we can identify whoever else is behind all this.”
    “So we’re just supposed to sit here and watch him shred her publicly like this?”
    “To some extent, yes.”
    “No way.”
    “Jay, sweetheart, I love your protective side, but Peter’s got a point.
    And neither one of us is advocating that we let the jerk succeed, just that we let him keep trying.”
    “But what about Wendy? If she doesn’t do his bidding, he’ll go after her.”
    “Which is why we have to help her write a story that will satisfy Breathwaite, but not be sufficiently damaging to Kate to require her removal.”
    “Got any ideas, Jay?”
    The line went quiet for several moments as all three contemplated the possibilities.
    “We can’t let him continue to attack your credibility, that’s for sure.
    How about if we let her write something personal?”
    “What do you have in mind?”
    “Give her the story every tabloid’s been clamoring for.”
    “No.”
    “Kate...”
    “Absolutely not. Out of the question, Jay.”
    “Just hear me out.”
    “No. I’ve spent how many months protecting your identity, keeping the vultures away? Now you want me to let them have at you intentionally?”
    “Well, Breathwaite could hardly argue that Wendy didn’t give him something big, and it wouldn’t weaken your standing on the job, since your sexuality is hardly a secret.”
    “Jay could be on to something here, Kate.”
    “Unacceptable. I won’t do it.”
    “Honey.”