Winning Texas (3 page)

He crept in with trepidation. He should
’
ve stopped by the office to brief Annie the day before when he got back from the Rio Grande Valley mid-afternoon. But he and Lila Jo already had planned to go to a poker game, so he
’
d blown it off. He knew his editor had been forced to hustle on the story about the floater found in the ship channel.

In a conference room off the elevator, he saw her preparing for the meeting. He admired her slender figure in a sleeveless black dress. Annie always wore classy clothes that were feminine without being overtly sexy. He liked her brown-flecked green eyes and the black hair with a few silver strands she hadn
’
t bothered to color. He recalled the recent sheet cake celebration in the newsroom in honor of her 40
th
birthday. Annie had responded to it good-naturedly, as usual, but Travis could tell she wasn
’
t in a celebratory mood.

He knew about her storied history in the newsroom. Formerly an investigative reporter, she
’
d helped uncover a statewide scandal four years ago that involved two murders and a drug conspiracy to further a secessionist candidate
’
s run for governor. The fallout had been huge
–
indictments, prison, disgrace and a suicide. His friends in the newsroom teased him about having a mad crush on Annie, but it wasn
’
t really that. He considered her his role model and mentor. He just hoped he could get back on track before Annie found out how messy his life had become.

CHAPTER 3

Annie stood in the newsroom
’
s small conference room, nicknamed the rubber hose room, getting ready for her team
’
s weekly meeting. The dinky conference room got its moniker from its sheltered, out-of-the-way location off a hall from the fifth-floor elevator to the newsroom. With blinds lowered on the window facing the hall and a door that locked, Annie could see why reporters joked about it as a covert torture chamber where recalcitrant suspects could be beaten with a hose.

Before long, she thought, the rubber hose room will disappear into history. Like other struggling urban papers, the
Times
spent considerable energy looking for ways to shore up precarious finances. The latest trend was to sell downtown buildings for their high-value land and relocate the shrunken staffs of papers to cheaper digs in the suburbs. She knew it would happen in Houston before too long, because the McKnight chain had already announced its intentions. The proceeds from the sale, when it happened, would go to the corporation
’
s woefully underfunded pension fund. Annie believed strongly that newspapers should be located in a city
’
s downtown for visibility. On the other hand, maybe she
’
d need the healthier pension fund if she outlasted the continuing string of departures.

She put planning sheets for each reporter on the table and looked up expectantly as Travis walked in. He wore fresh khakis and a clean polo shirt, but something about his glance told her he
’
d had a bad night. She sensed that things were amiss with him lately, but couldn
’
t figure out what it was. She suspected that he drank too much, not unlike her and other stressed-out denizens of the newsroom. She also knew that he worried about money, though he
’
d never shown an inclination for hungering after an affluent lifestyle.

“
Hey, Trav,
”
she said.
“
How was your trip back from the Valley?
”

“
You know that route, slow trucks and fast cars. Thought I
’
d never get back.
”

“
But the cuisine is so great,
”
she joked.
“
Did you find any barbacoa?
”
She knew he enjoyed the spicy Mexican meat made from the heads of cows or goats. It made her gag to think about it, but it was his favorite Tex-Mex treat.

“
Nope. Strictly fast-food burgers the whole time,
”
he said.

“
Great job on the court hearing. We managed to wrestle it to Tuesday
’
s page one. You see it down there?
”

He rewarded her with a smile. He so badly wanted his stories on the front page that he came close to sulking when a good story didn
’
t make it. He worked hard, too, but her bosses often resisted her efforts to elevate the best crime and courts writing to page one.

“
Thanks. Seems like I can
’
t find the
Times
in convenience stores in Brownsville any more. What gives?
”

“
Circulation has cut back on supplying the truck routes again. They don
’
t pay for themselves, as the brass keep telling us.
”

“
And this place calls itself a major newspaper,
”
he complained under his breath before lapsing into silence and sliding into a seat. She didn
’
t have time to worry about his moodiness.

Her three other reporters, Nate Hardin, Maggie Mahaffey and Brandon McGill had filtered in and found places at the table. She let them settle in while she went to get the refreshments she
’
d left on her desk. When Annie had become an editor, she
’
d had no training in leadership, so she
’
d started out overcompensating with food. Her philosophy stressed eating together and pulling together as a team. She regularly set up team lunches, coffees and happy hours. But recently one of the top editors, in a rare lecture on management, had said assigning editors shouldn
’
t try to act as substitute parents for the younger reporters. Annie worried that perhaps her behavior could be construed as mothering. So she had to remind herself often not to meddle, worry, or try to solve her reporters
’
problems. God knows she had plenty of issues of her own, and what did she know about mothering anyway? However, she wasn
’
t going to cut out the food and drink just yet.

“
Hey, guys,
”
she said, setting a plate of kolaches on the table. The fruit-filled, doughy pastries were a Czech specialty she couldn
’
t resist from a downtown bakery.
“
Let
’
s get started. We need to keep it short. Who wants to go first?
”

Maggie, a petite blonde who usually wore bright shades of pink, scads of jewelry and stiletto heels, put her hand up. Annie thought she did a decent job covering state politics, but couldn
’
t figure out how to motivate her to probe deeply into more complicated stories. She suspected that Maggie used her feminine wiles as a shortcut for working harder.

“
I
’
m starting to look at something new I
’
m hearing about
–
the German-Texas movement,
”
Maggie said.

“
What
’
s that all about?
”
Annie asked, making notes on the legal pad she carried in a leather folder.

“
Those folks apparently are lobbying to get most of the Hill Country formally designated as German Texas, emphasizing German culture, language and traditions,
”
she said.
“
Kind of like the push for all things Gaelic in Ireland.
”

“
Who
’
s behind it?
”

“
The leaders are business people and history buffs from New Braunfels and Fredericksburg. As soon as I
’
m sprung from covering the legislature, I
’
m going up to the Hill Country and nose around.
”

“
That
’
s a few weeks away,
”
Annie said.
“
Can it wait that long?
”

“
I think so. I
’
m going to interview state Senator Satterfield about it next week.
”

A strange look passed over Annie
’
s face as she heard the name of her former fianc
é
, now one of the most powerful state government leaders. But she quickly composed her face into a pleasant mask again and turned to Nate Hardin. Just a few years out of college, his curly dark hair and lanky figure reminded her of an overgrown teenager. He was still fairly new to Houston, a hard-working reporter and openly gay. Annie wanted to nurture his talent and couldn
’
t help worrying whether he
’
d be distracted by the attractions of the city
’
s numerous gay bars.

“
Nate, what have you got for me?
”

“
Actually, boss, I might have something for Maggie on this German Texas thing.
”

“
You do? Spill it.
”
Maggie gave him the high-megawatt smile she usually reserved for influential lawmakers.

“
Does the name Kyle Krause mean anything to you?
”

“
Never heard of him.
”

“
Isn
’
t he one of the topless club owners you
’
re looking at?
”
Annie leaned in to hear more.

“
Yeah,
”
Nate said.
“
Krause runs the seven Texas Girls clubs in the Houston area. He
’
s one of the biggest strip club owners in town and definitely the most interesting.
”

“
In what sense?
”
Annie said.

“
There are plenty of older, entrenched owners. He
’
s different
–
young, enterprising and a political animal.
”

He turned to Maggie, who was taking notes.
“
What you said about the German-Texas movement rang a bell. Krause grew up in the heart of the Hill Country, supports politicians from there and recently wrote a big check to some German-Texas group in Fredericksburg.
”

“
Did you look at his campaign contributions?
”
Maggie asked.

Nate nodded, flipping through pages in a reporter
’
s notebook filled with neat, cramped writing. He found what he was seeking.

“
I thought so,
”
he said.
“
Last month, he sent a $25,000 check to the German Texas Political Caucus. There may be more out there.
”

“
The German-Texas caucus is the group doing the lobbying,
”
Maggie said.
“
Isn
’
t Krause kind of a German name? Strange if there
’
s a connection.
”

“
Isn
’
t everything in Texas connected?
”
Travis asked.
“
Have you heard the term six degrees of separation? In Texas, it
’
s only two.
”

“
Good tip, Nate,
”
Maggie said, ignoring Travis
’
s attempt at humor.
“
I
’
ll ask my sources about the strip-club king.
”

“
And I
’
ll keep you and Annie abreast of things,
”
Nate winked.

Maggie groaned and Travis kicked Nate under the table, saluting his pun. Annie hid a smile.

“
Kyle Krause sounds like a good profile,
”
she said.
“
Give me a memo summarizing what you
’
ve found and we can decide where to go from there. Travis?
”

He offered a recap of the kingpin
’
s trial in the Valley.

“
What about the floater in the ship channel, Annie?
”
he said.
“
By the way, thanks for going out there yesterday.
”