Kathleen studied the man who grabbed her after she managed to catch her breath. He was a big fellow, with short, military-cut black hair hidden under his uniform hat. It was undeniably Scott Sherwood. She knew that twinkle in his eye and that mischievious smile. "Let me take a look at you." He spun her around. "You are a sight for sore eyes, Betty Roberts. You don't know how much I've missed you."
She had no idea of what was going on, but she decided to play along until they could find somewhere private. She threw her arms around him and gave him a big kiss. "Oh, Scotty! I've missed you, too! I've worred about you so much, all alone and trapped in the war."
He stroked her hair in that same, soft way that he did when...that he did in the storage room. "That's all behind us now, Betty. Come on, let's go catch a taxi. I could use some real grub." He pulled her through the crowded train station and into the men's bathroom. It was rather ornate for a bathroom, filled with lots of brass and marble. Kathleen was thankful that it was also unoccupied.
"Scotty," she demanded, "get me out of here!"
He grinned. "What, you don't like 1943? Did you have an encounter with Hilary?"
She rolled her eyes. "I almost blew my cover with that woman. Scott, how do you keep from throwing the microphones at her? She thinks she's God's gift to radio!"
He waved her complaints away. "Aw, you'll get used to Hilary after a while. She's not really that bad." He grew serious. "Kathy, we don't really have the time to mess with Hilary's ego. We have work to do."
"I didn't really learn much more than the new actor your real fiancee hired is a jerk, Mackie Bloom is a sweetheart, and I may do something desperate to Hilary Booth if I have to work with her for long."
"Like I said, don't sweat Hilary. She comes across as egotistcal, but there's a heart under that high and mighty shell." He frowned. "It's Andy I'm worried about. I assume you were talking about him when you mentioned the jerk."
"He hit on me today!" she sputtered. "I think Mackie was ready to hit him!"
Scott gritted his teeth, muttering words Kathleen didn't want to comprehend under his breath. "Kath, if he ever starts in on you again, tell me."
She raised her eyebrows. "Scotty, aren't I here to prevent bloodshed, not encourage you to do it?" "
I don't like that guy any more than you do," Scott grumbled. "We're going to have to put up with him for the time being, though. He's a prime suspect."
"Oh, great," She complained. "I bet Nancy Drew never got hit on by her suspects. She never went back in time, either, now that I think about it." She looked up at him. "Is there anything else I need to know? Do you remember exactly when you found out about the leak?"
Scott frowned. "I think the leak sprung a few weeks after I came home." He took her hand. "Kathy, promise me two things."
"What?"
He took her hands. "Keep the staff out of this. Like I said in my letters, they've already been involved in more intrigue than any of them need."
She nodded. "The fewer people we have to explain this to, the better." She sighed. "I don't understand all of it myself." She looked into his bright brown eyes. Darn, he had gorgeous eyes. Kathleen couldn't blame Betty for falling for him. If only he was alive, in 2000 at least....
She shook the thought out of her head. The last thing she needed right now was to fall in love with a man who was both a ghost and a resident of an entirely different era. The relationship would never work. "What's the other thing, Scott?"
Neither of them noticed the door open. Three men, all dressed in uniforms similar to Scott's, stared at them. One coughed nervously. Kathleen blushed. Scott gave the men a wink and steered her out to the main station.
Scott gave Kathleen another passionate kiss. She thought her heart was going to melt. He knees got weak. She straightened as quickly as possible. Don't fall for him, Kathleen! He's not yours.
"Let's go to my place," she whispered huskily. "We'll never be able to finish this converstation here or at WENN."
"Can't," Scott murmured back. "Your place is an all-women's boarding house. No guys allowed."
"Wonderful," Kathleen muttered sarcastically. "We'll have to go to your place, then."
"I don't have a place," Scott explained. "I gave it up when I joined the Army."
"I guess we'll have to go back to WENN. It's too early for dinner."
Scott checked his watch. "Everyone should either be on the air or at the very least occupied right now. We can talk in the writer's room." He led her to the front of the station and hailed a taxi.
They darted to the elevator the moment the taxi pulled in front of the building on Isabella Street. Kathy turned to her "fiancee". His eyes gleamed fiercely, and his lips were set in a tight line. "Scott..." she said softly.
"What?"
"There was something else...you wanted to tell me."
He nodded. "Be careful. Whoever has it in for me knows who I am and what I'm doing. They'll go after you, too, if they know you're helping me."
The door opened and they managed to sneak into WENN undetected. The little old man in the cardigan snored at the desk, and the hall was empty. They ducked into the writer's room. Kathleen threw off her coat and hat on the top of a filing cabinet and plopped in the wood chair in front of the typewriter. Scott went to the filing cabinets and riffled through them.
Kathleen sighed. "What else do I need to know?"
He looked up from the files. "I'm going to give you the current staff list, the names and plotlines of our shows, and some general info about everyone, at least to the best of my knowlege. Remember, I just got back from the front lines in Europe, so I have some catching up of my own to do." He patted her purse. "The keys to the station, this room, and your apartment at the Barbican should be in there." He switched on the small, old-fashioned radio. "We need to keep an ear on the programs, partially to listen for any signs of the leak, but also to make sure everything goes smoothly. One of Betty's specialties was fixing problems with the shows or staff, and trust me, there are plenty."
Kathleen shrugged. "Everybody I've met here but Hilary and Andy seemed really sweet. Mackie's a real doll."
Scott grinned. "Yeah, he is. He's a true pal, and has some of the best voices in radio. He's kind of our all-purpose guy, though everyone plays a variety of roles." He finally pulled the needed papers from the drawer. "I want you to study these. They'll explain most of what you need to know. And read this." He threw her a fat book.
She raised her eyebrows at the book's title. "Miss Lilly's Guide to Good Etiquite?"
He nodded. "That should tell you more about manners and morals in 1943 than I ever could. You might want to chat up the female staff about that, too, but be a bit more discreet with them than you were with Hilary."
Kathleen nodded. "One more thing, Scott."
He sat backwards in the other chair. "What, Kathy?"
"What, exactly, do I...does Betty...do here? What's my job?"
Scott laughed. Kathleen didn't see what was so funny. "You mean," he managed between chortles, "what isn't your job?" He deposited a heavy file in her lap. "Betty was...is...our script writer. She writes every single show we put on the air."
"You mean, I'm the ONLY writer?" Kathleen sputtered. "I write all the shows, all the commercials, all the announcements...."
"Not quite," Scott assured her. "Many of the sponsors send commercials on records that only need to be put on the air, and they often send their own announcements as well. You get the news from the teletype machine - the one that dings - behind you."
"Why, Scott, what are you doing here?" Andy, the obnoxious blonde from earlier, stood in the doorway. "I thought you were off enjoying the day with your, er, fiancee."
Scott glared. "Oh, hello, Andy. Betty and I were discussing wedding business."
Andy swung his arm around Kathleen's shoulders. "So, when's the big day?"
"May 12th," Scott said quickly.
Kathleen pushed his arm off of her. "Would you mind not handling the bride?"
"Yes," sneered Andy, "I would mind." He threw a packet of papers with the rest on her lap. "There's my new script, the one you said you wanted to see. It's my epic war story."
"'Epic' is putting it mildly," Kathleen muttered, hauling the daunting mass onto her desk. "How many national parks gave their life so you could produce this?"
Scott stood in front of Andy, dwarfing the small college student. "Is there a reason you're bothering us, or do you just feel like making a nuisence of yourself today?"
"Yeah, Sherwood, there is, so don't pop a button. Wouldn't want to ruin that spotless uniform." He turned to Kathleen while Scott fumed. "Betty, Mr. Allcroft is here about that new comedy you proposed for Wednesday night. He's in the office, if you can drag yourself away from Lover Boy." Andy ducked out the door before Scott could take a swing at him.
Kathleen restrained the angry officer. "Scott, don't react to him. He's just trying to get both our goats."
Scott nodded. "I know. I still don't like it, though, and I don't like the way he's acting around you."
"How do you think I feel?" Kathleen snapped. "You're not the one who got lifted out of one era and into another!"
"Kathy," Scott queried, "do you know how to handle sponsors?"
"I've worked with businessmen before, if that's what you mean," she replied. "I worked in the advertising department of a radio station in Trenton before I bought WENN."
"Good," Scott explained, "because you're going to have to talk to Allcroft. Talking to sponsors when Victor and I aren't around is another one of Betty's jobs."
"How many jobs does she have?"
Scott grinned. "A lot."
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