Nothing But the Truth

“Okay. We’ll do this the slow and painful way. Sure you don’t want to just tell me the truth now?”

“I can’t confess to something I didn’t do. Don’t you see? Someone is trying to ruin my reputation. And they’re using you to do the job.”

That statement made him pause. What if she was right? What if someone had made Raleigh Shinn the target of a smear campaign based on lies, making Griffin a patsy? If he went public with something he hadn’t independently verified—and thank God he wasn’t that stupid—he would be in the unemployment line and possibly the defendant in a libel lawsuit.

Part of him wanted to turn loose of Raleigh. She seemed genuine. But if he let go of this story now, after he’d promised it to CNI, he wouldn’t have a shot at the anchor job.

Unless…unless he figured a way to turn the story to his benefit.

Maybe, if Raleigh thought he was on her side, she would let down her guard. “I’ll talk to the bank employees,” he said, trying to inject some sympathy into his voice. “If someone is trying to ruin you, we have to stop them.”

“We?” She looked at him as if he was crazy. “There’s no ‘we’ here. I believe our business has concluded for now.”

“Raleigh, maybe you don’t realize the seriousness of what’s going on here. You could be in danger.”

“Please.”

Griffin sat up straighter. If she was telling the truth, this could be an even better story than he first thought. Someone was going to a great deal of trouble to ruin Raleigh Shinn and, by inference, the whole of Project Justice. Why?

He took out his notebook. “Who are your enemies? Whose bad side have you gotten on lately? Who might want to hurt you?”

“Oh, no. You’re not turning this into another story.”

“We could help each other,” he pointed out. “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. I can figure out who’s doing this and stop them before he or she does permanent harm to your career.”

“I don’t partner with journalists.”

“You don’t understand. I’m being considered for a national TV job. A hot story like this would help me land it. And I could give Project Justice some positive press.”

“Talk to our public relations coordinator, then.”

But he could see the indecision playing on her face. She knew he could slice and dice her in the press, or make her look like Joan of Arc.

“If you’re really innocent of any wrongdoing, your cooperation could—”

“No,” she said suddenly. “I want you to leave. We’re done.”

That’s where Raleigh was wrong. She didn’t know it yet, but things between them were just getting started.

CHAPTER FOUR

BETH STUCK her head into Raleigh’s office. “You up for lunch?”

Raleigh was tempted. But she looked at the huge stack of paper on her desk that was the transcript from the original Simonetti trial, and shook her head. She’d been reading the transcript for hours, and had many hours to go. The original trial had lasted a ridiculous six weeks.

“I can’t. Too much work.”

Beth stepped inside. “Daniel wouldn’t approve. You know how important it is to rest and refuel.”

Raleigh pulled off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Beth was right. But work seemed to be the only way she could keep Griffin Benedict off her mind. It was like the guy had planted a seed in her brain, where it had firmly taken root.

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.

She had emailed him all the names of the people she’d talked to at her bank, and she had given the bank permission to discuss the matter of the mystery deposit with Griffin. And she’d finally gotten into her cell phone provider’s website and emailed a copy of the phone bill in question. She assumed she wouldn’t hear from him again, a thought that should have pleased her.

“Maybe lunch is a good idea.” Beth would no doubt have some distracting story to tell during lunch. She was one of those people to whom strange things always happened.

“Did someone say lunch?” Mitch Delacroix slipped through the open office door behind Beth.

Great. Now Raleigh’s office was Grand Central Station.

“I’m trying to drag Raleigh’s nose away from the grindstone,” Beth said. “Want to come with us?”

Mitch looked undecided then abruptly shook his head. “Can’t. Meeting. I just stopped by to give you this, Raleigh.” He held out a bulging manila folder.

Raleigh couldn’t remember asking Mitch for research with any of her cases. She must have looked at him blankly.

“Griffin Benedict?”

“Ohhh.” She slapped a hand to her forehead. “Mitch, I’m so sorry to have put you to a lot of trouble for nothing. I don’t believe Griffin Benedict will bother me again.”

Mitch shrugged. “It’s okay. Digging up dirt on people is fun for me, you know that, and I didn’t have anything else urgent—or half as interesting. Glad you worked it out, though.”

He handed Raleigh the folder. “Enjoy it. Then shred the contents, okay? A few bits and pieces in there aren’t, ah, fully in the public domain.”

Meaning he’d done some hacking. On her behalf. Raleigh felt guilty as hell.

She set the folder on her desk, grabbed her purse and headed for the door. “Does Lancer Steak-house sound okay to you? They have good lunch specials.”

“Wait!” Beth’s single word stuck her to the floor.

“What?”

“Aren’t you going to look inside the folder?”

“No way,” Raleigh said. “I no longer need information on the man. It wouldn’t be ethical for me to snoop—”

“Ethical, shmethical. This will make excellent lunch entertainment.” Beth grabbed the folder. “Let’s go.”

“I don’t think we should read the information on Griffin,” Raleigh said again a couple of minutes later as she signed out. Celeste seemed to be heavily involved in a Danielle Steele novel.

“But aren’t you curious?”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

Celeste gave a disapproving harrumph, reminding Raleigh that even when she seemed not to be paying attention, she was. Celeste was a little sharper than most people gave her credit for.

“Look, Beth,” Raleigh said once they’d exited the building into a gloomy, overcast day. “I think I’ve convinced Griffin of my innocence. He’s not going to print any lies about me. End of threat, as far as I’m concerned.”