by Bill Evans
Kristen didn’t react. She got a glass of water and sat on the couch.
“The police came and talked to me this morning. I told them what happened. The guy who did this works for the NBC station. He’s one of their reporters. We dated a few times and when I wouldn’t put out he got mad.”
“So, was he the father of the baby?” Lisa again spoke the words as she thought them. She’d have to work on that.
“No, never. The father was a mistake and he doesn’t know about any baby. And please promise me you’ll never bring it up again. No one needs to know about this. Promise me,” Kristen pleaded.
“Not to worry,” Lisa reassured her roommate.
For the next hour the two sat in the living room talking about the Palm Springs area, the TV station, and living together. Kristen was the morning anchor, which meant she left the apartment around 2:30 in the morning and worked until 11 or so. She would then do her running around and chores and hopefully end up going to bed by 8 or 9 at night. This was the perfect schedule for Lisa because she was scheduled to work from 2:30 in the afternoon till 11:30 every night. Jack knew when he put the two together that they would seldomly run into each other. The perfect scenario for the two roommates.
Lisa spent the day moving into her new place and getting to know her new roomie. Kristen Nesbitt was a Southern California girl who had graduated from USC. She moved to Palm Springs for the morning anchor job at the ABC station. Jack had recruited her much like he did Lisa. Looks were his top priority for hiring, only because he knew that if he hired beautiful women, viewers of the Coachella Valley would follow. He was confident that he could work with almost anyone, training them to be better communicators. Good looks you couldn’t teach.
The Riverside sheriff’s office was the agency in charge of the investigation involving the morning news anchor. They needed to talk to Dave Yaegar, the NBC reporter Kristen named as her assailant. She gave them a vivid description.
Two officers went to the station, but because it was the weekend, there wasn’t anyone there that could help them. It would be Monday before they got around to arresting him.
***
Monday arrived quickly. Lisa woke early in the morning. She was going to the station to meet with Jack Router, her news director and boss. She would spend time in the business office to take care of all her new employee paperwork. She didn’t go on the clock until 2:30, but she wanted to hit the ground running.
The television station was located on a dark side street in Cathedral City and surrounded by auto garages and a few paint shops. Not exactly where she thought a TV station might be. TV3 was in an old building where it had been located for fifteen years. Cars were double and triple-parked in front of the building. So, you want to be in show biz? she thought as she got out of her car.
Lisa entered the building. The downstairs was the studio and the newsroom. Upstairs was sales, the traffic department, the business office, and the general manager’s office. She caused quite a stir just walking into the station. Word had apparently spread about the new girl and how hot she was. Lisa introduced herself to the receptionist and asked for Mr. Router.
Jack emerged in the lobby within minutes to greet his newest employee. Meeting her on Friday at the hospital didn’t seem to make a difference in terms of impact—he was captivated once again. Let’s hope she can read and talk, he thought as he reached out.
“It’s good to see you again. Thank you for taking such great care of our Kristen. How’s she doing?”
“She’s much better and anxious to get back to work.”
“Follow me,” her new boss said.
The newsroom was a small open bullpen with thirteen desks crammed together. There were two file cabinets with each desk. This allowed two people to share the same work space, each with their own cabinet.
There were only a few people working in the newsroom at this time in the morning, but the ones that were there noticed Lisa as she walked through. Once they got to the news director’s office, Jack shut the door. His office sat a few feet above the ground-level newsroom and had two large windows so he could always watch over his news operation.
“Lisa, it’s nice to have you here. We’re excited you are joining our team. I’ll take you up to the business office after we spend a few minutes together. How was your drive out here from Texas?”
“It was a pretty easy drive. It helped that I had great weather the whole way.”
“I got a call last Thursday from your journalism professor, who couldn’t say enough about you. He was very complimentary about your work and he thought you had a great future in this business. I was a little surprised, because I don’t usually hear from the teacher.” Jack watched for any expression that might tell him something about her.
“That was very nice of him to call you on my behalf.” Lisa didn’t tell her new boss that this was part of the deal she made with her professor for having sex with him.
“Lisa, let me tell you some things about the Palm Springs market and this ABC TV station. We’ve been number one in every news program for the past fifteen years. The NBC station across town is a dog of a station, and we literally kick their ass in local news. We don’t want that to ever change. In fact, we want to continue to distance ourselves from them as much as possible.”
Lisa nodded as Jack continued to fill her in on what she already knew through her own homework. Everything he said she knew to be true. Then the lecture began.
“It’s very easy to get caught up in the wrong things in this market.” Jack’s words took her by surprise.
“Mr. Router, what do you mean?”
“This valley has a lot of celebrities who live here, or at least visit. There are events that you will have to cover, and because of the way you look and your position as a reporter, you will be given the opportunity to run in some very fast circles.”
“I understand, sir, but, you won’t have to worry about me.”
“That’s great, and I hope you are right, but I still want to lay out some ground rules as long as you are working for me.”
Jack took the next thirty minutes to list his rules for reporters. He took his time with Lisa to make sure he stressed his most important rules.
“If you get caught taking advantage, in any way, of your position at this station—”
Jack stopped. He could see that Lisa had no idea what he was warning her about.
“Look, the bottom line is that you are going to be offered free dinners or lunches at restaurants. You’re going to be asked if you want free tickets to attend events. You need to understand that to do your job effectively, and be unbiased in your reporting, you can’t accept any freebies. As soon as you take something for free, the perception will be that you owe them something. You would never be able to do a hard story against someone you took favors from. It is that simple.”
“I understand, Mr. Router. You don’t have to worry about me. I get it. No favors from anyone.”
“Okay. Now I’ve got a special assignment for you if you feel up to it. Tom Preston, our main anchor, is working on an investigative piece and he needs someone to go undercover.”
At the word undercover Lisa wondered if she was ready for something like this on her first day. Jack read her thoughts.
“Lisa, there is absolutely no danger in this story. What I mean by going undercover—we just want you to crash a meeting and wear a micro mini camera to record what is going on inside. Do you feel up to doing something like this?”
“What kind of meeting are we talking about, Mr. Router?”
“We think some community people are involved in a Ponzi scheme. A pyramid scheme would be a better name for it. It may not be anything. But because you’re so new, no one is going to know you. And you have the look that will fit right in with this crowd.”
Before hearing another word and without any hesitation, Lisa agreed. “Absolutely, Mr. Router. When and where is the meeting?”
“We will let you know. Tom is waiting on
the information. You can’t tell a soul about this. The reason we are asking you is, like I said, because you are so new that no one will know that you are associated with TV3. For you, it’s perfect timing.”
Ten minutes later, Lisa exited the news director’s office. She would be back at 2:30 for her first shift. That was when her professional broadcast career was supposed to begin. But she was about to find out how fast the news business worked.
3
DICK THOMAS HAD arrived at the station seven years earlier with the new ownership. The owner, Stewart Simpson, was out of Texas and the company was privately held. Madison Broadcasting had six television stations. TV3 in Palm Springs was the smallest as far as profitability, but it was the most fun for the owner. He loved to fly in to play golf and party with young women.
Dick was an easygoing GM who thought he had the best job in television. His station was dominant in the market. He loved to play golf and abuse his trade privileges with restaurants. The owner never questioned any of this because Dick delivered a very healthy bottom line and was often responsible for providing his owner with “scholarship material.”
Dick always called Stewart very early in the morning. They were both early risers, so it was easy to connect without any interruptions. It helped that Dallas was two hours ahead.
“I thought I’d bring you up to date on how Kristen Nesbitt is doing. She’s been released and is home recuperating. She could be back to work on Wednesday.”
“What do we know about her assailant?”
“He works for the NBC station. He’s a reporter who has an anger management problem. Apparently, he got very upset at Kristen when she wouldn’t give in to his advances.”
“Is his arrest pending?”
“It’ll happen today, according to my guy inside the sheriff’s office. I’ll keep you posted on this. Oh, while I have you on the phone, I should tell you about our new reporter.”
Usually, Dick waited until the newbie had been at the station a few months to make sure they weren’t going to be a problem before he told Stewart about them. Dick was so impressed with what he heard from his news director about the new girl that he decided to jump the gun.
“Is she scholarship material?” the fifty-two-year-old owner laughed.
“She certainly is worth meeting—probably one of the prettiest girls we’ve ever had work for us. She’s smart, too. It might be worth a trip out to Palm Springs. Besides, you can still get some golf in before the courses reseed.”
Dick thought that if he kept his owner happy, the business end would take care of itself. Dick didn’t know that Stewart Simpson always paid attention to the business side before anything else. If that side wasn’t working, then it wouldn’t matter how well you entertained him.
“Seriously, she is that good looking,” Dick reiterated to Simpson.
“I’ve got to do some market visits through Tucson, Phoenix, and San Diego. I could easily add Palm Springs to the trip. I’ll get back to you as to when I’m coming out.”
***
Lisa left the station and was at home grabbing a bite when her phone rang.
“Lisa, it’s Jack Router. Hey, I need you to do some work right now. Are you available?”
“Absolutely, Mr. Router.”
“Well, I’m not sure what it is, but it appears the police have found a body in one of the apartments in your complex. Greg, our chief photographer, should be there within minutes. Can you go over and meet him and turn a package for our early news? The apartment number is 516. Not sure where that is to where you are located. That’s a pretty big complex.”
“Not a problem. Let me throw some makeup on and I’ll get right over there.”
Lisa decided to drive the complex. She assumed 516 was in Building 5, which was located all the way on the other side, at least a mile from her building.
Lisa saw the station news van and quickly spotted Greg.
“What do we have?” she asked the officer at the door of 516.
“Some kid committed suicide, it looks like.”
“Do you have a name?”
“You have to talk to our PIO. She’ll be here in a few minutes,” the cop said.
Lisa walked over to Greg. He was trying to get as much footage as he could but was limited as to what the sheriff’s deputies were letting him shoot. He got inside the apartment when he first arrived and was quickly expelled.
“Greg, you know who it is?” Lisa asked.
“Yeah, it’s Dave Yaegar, the reporter from the NBC affiliate—the guy who attacked Kristen.”
Lisa stepped away from everyone to call her roommate. Kristen picked up right away. “Hi, Lisa. What’s up?”
“Kristen, what is the name of the guy who attacked you?”
“He worked for the other station.”
“You told me that, but what was his name?” Lisa was anxious. This was her first real story and it was becoming breaking news. It was easy to get excited. It didn’t hurt that she was somewhat involved in this story already.
“His name is Dave Yaegar. Why? Why do you want to know?”
“Kristen, it looks like he’s dead.”
“Oh my God. Are you sure it’s Dave?” Kristen almost sounded sympathetic. “He lived in our apartment complex. Somewhere on the other side. I think number 516.”
“Okay, I’ll call you back once I find out more.” Lisa hung up and hustled back to her cameraman. This story was now bigger than just a homicide or possible suicide. She needed to make sure she had all the information correct.
***
Lisa spent two hours putting together her background notes, getting ready for a special live report. She would anchor from the scene. Ten minutes before she was to go on the air, her pager went off.
“This is Lisa.”
“Lisa, Jack Router. I know you’ve been preparing for these breaking news reports, but I’ve sent Terri Randall over there to do these reports for you.”
“What? Why? Jack I’ve spent the past two hours putting this story together. I don’t want to turn it over.”
“Lisa, settle down. Listen to me. I can’t put you on the air on this story because if I do, you won’t be able to do the undercover work for us. I really need you to give the story to Terri. I can’t blow your identity before we use you on this undercover piece.”
Lisa Addelson was getting her first taste of the reality of local news business. You could do all the work and, at the last minute, well, you would have to hand off the work to someone else. And that person would then get all the credit for the story—at least from the viewer’s point of view.
“Okay, Jack, not a problem. I’ll give Terri all my notes and fill her in. This undercover thing better be worth it.” As new as she was, Lisa understood her new director’s point of view. She didn’t like it, but she went along with it. It was her first day. Terri Randall, the reporter who had taken Lisa to the mall’s grand opening, approached her. Lisa waved.
“Good. Fill Terri in and then come back to the station. I don’t want too many people to see you representing us just yet.”
Lisa spent a few minutes going over her notes and what she thought were key points of the story. Terri Randall felt uncomfortable taking over the story from Lisa, especially because it was Lisa’s first day. Terri wasn’t told why she was filling in for her new coworker, but she figured that maybe it was because of Lisa’s lack of experience. A story like this didn’t happen very often in Palm Springs, so maybe the news director wanted someone more seasoned presenting the story. It was all ad-lib, and that wasn’t something that a lot of inexperienced newspeople could pull off.
Lisa got back to the station just in time to see Terri Randall sign off from her first of many live shots that night.
“Look, Lisa, sorry about pulling you off the story, but I was afraid of people being able to recognize you as part of the TV3 staff. Especially with such a high-profile story. We will be using these pieces for days. Besides, Tom Preston says there is a meeting tonig
ht. He’s getting the details right now from one of his informants.”
“Jack, what can you tell me about this story?”
“We believe some very high-profile community leaders are participating in a Ponzi scheme that involves hundreds of people. We need you to attend the meeting wearing our micro video recorder. That will help us to build our story on this.”
There was a knock on the news director’s office door.
“Come in.”
“Jack, the meeting is on for tonight,” Tom said.
“Tom Preston, say hi to Lisa Addelson.”
“It’s my pleasure, Lisa. Welcome aboard. Are you sure you’re ready to get in the trenches tonight?”
Lisa thought Tom’s words were a little overdramatic, but what did she know? This was her first professional day of work and she had already been involved with a homicide-suicide story and now she got to go undercover. She wondered if the workload was always like this.
“I’m ready.”
“You’ll have to go change,” Jack said. “Wear jeans, a jacket, and a baseball hat. You need to look almost like a tomboy. We need to cover up your beauty so you’re not so noticeable. You need to dress down.”
The news director was being as direct as possible about how he wanted his new reporter to look. It was for Lisa’s own protection. No one thought this would be a crazy, over-the-top dangerous story. But for his reporters’ safety, Jack took all precautions.
Tom Preston filled Lisa and Jack in on his story. The missing piece was inside information on these special meetings. Lisa going undercover would change that, provided she was able to get the video everyone wanted. Lisa thought, Not bad for a first day of work.
4
DETECTIVES GLEN BARNES and Sandi DiSanto were already in the TV3 conference room when Lisa, Jack, and Dick Thomas arrived. A few pleasantries were exchanged, and coffee or soft drinks were offered. Then Detective Barnes turned on the recorder he had placed in the middle of the table.