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She wet her lips again. “In an interview with Shauna.”
Chapter 34
Hello?”
“This is Elle Portman.”
The call had come in through the TV station’s news line and had been routed to the extension in Shauna’s cubicle. When she heard who was calling, she nearly dropped the receiver. Her heart gave a thump of excitement. At the same time, her insides roiled with resentment because of Calder.
However, she’d be damned before giving this woman the satisfaction of knowing that. Coolly, she said, “What can I do for you?”
Elle made a sound of wry amusement. “It’s the other way around, isn’t it? I’ve decided to grant your repeated requests for an interview.”
Shauna could barely breathe. After the fiasco at the so-called safe house, the story was hot again, hotter than ever. The Fairground shooter had struck again! With a vengeance!
But she’d been hobbled. Identifying the key witnesses had been a journalistic coup, but in light of the three murders that had resulted, it was costing her. The news director had called her on the carpet and berated her for overstepping.
A news flash that sensitive should not have been aired without his approval and clearance from the station’s lawyers. As her punishment, other reporters had been dispatched to cover the two stories that had broken overnight.
Since early this morning, she’d been on her phone, calling everyone she could think of, doing her manipulative best to get a tidbit of information significant enough to build a story around.
But Billy Green had been made an example. Since his abrupt eviction from the sheriff’s office yesterday morning, it was as though every law enforcement agency in north Texas had been issued a gag order.
No one was talking. Not a single soul.
Her calls weren’t being returned by public officials who previously had been flattered if she sought them out for a sound bite regarding an event as inciting as last night’s.
She didn’t take their cold shoulder treatment too seriously. It was temporary. The first time one needed face time on TV to reach his constituency, Shauna Calloway would be the first reporter he or she called.
Knowing what a girl crush Dawn Whitley had on her, she had tried to reach her by going through the hospital’s phone system. But it was Dawn’s mother who’d answered. When Shauna identified herself, she’d gotten an earful of condemnation before the woman hung up on her.
It was rumored that Calder and Elle had made good their dramatic getaway together and on foot, but Shauna couldn’t get anyone to corroborate that. How had they managed to escape the gunman? Where were they now? These questions had been eating at her, and now,now, she had Elle Portman on the telephone, offering to give her the holy grail of interviews.
But she wasn’t going to leap on it like a mongrel who’d been tossed a bone. She said, “For reasons you’re well aware of, it’s a busy news day. I’ll have to check my schedule. Even if I can work it in, it’ll take me a while to round up a crew and—”
“No crew, just you. You’ll come alone and record the interview on your cell phone.”
What the hell? Shauna gnawed the inside of her cheek, thinking through various strategies.Appeal to her vanity.“Your camera-shyness is admirable, but you’re a celebrity-in-the-making because of your book, which has been flying off the shelves since the shooting. People want to hear about your journey since the tragic loss of little Charlie.
“From a broadcast standpoint, a cell phone recording isn’t ideal. Your first interview, your coming out, so to speak, should be done right. It should be properly recorded in a studio, where you can be shown to your best advantage.”
“Lights, camera angles, a makeup person?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Ms. Portman, with all due respect, this is my field of expertise, not yours.”
“But this is my interview. Do you agree to my conditions or not?”
“Your conditions will compromise the quality of—”
“Goodbye.”
“Wait!”
Dammit!It stung that this picture book writer was dictating the rules of engagement. She may look as meek and maidenly as freaking Snow White, but she obviously had gumption. It would serve Calder right if he was having to contend with this intractable side of her.
