by Bill Evans
“Palm Springs.”
“Kristen, what station did you work at?” She took her time adjusting in her chair, crossing her gorgeous legs. That didn’t go unnoticed by David Stenner. “I worked at the ABC station. TV3.”
“Oh, you worked for Stewart Simpson? I know Stewart very well.”
“You know Mr. Simpson? I worked for him a lot of years.”
“That’s funny. I own the CBS station in Santa Barbara. I think Mr. Simpson wants to buy my station. How funny is this? Small world, isn’t it?”
“Very small world indeed.”
Kristen reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. She folded the paper in half and slid it over to Stenner.
“Mr. Stenner, I really don’t know you, but our meeting was not by accident. Stewart Simpson wants to buy your station, and here is the price he wants to pay. Happy New Year.”
Kristen got up from the table and disappeared into the lobby as Stenner sat stunned. He watched Kristen exit on the arm of an escort, who walked her to a limousine.
The drive to the private jet terminal was less than fifteen minutes.
“Kristen, it was great seeing you again. You did that perfectly. Mr. Simpson wants you to have this.” Dugan handed her an envelope as they boarded the plane.
“Dugan, this seemed like a long way to go to get someone’s attention.”
“You know Mr. Simpson. He likes to do things with a flare, and tonight you were great. You even won money at the tables. That’s a nice bonus for you.”
***
The Ritz Carlton was exquisitely decorated with flowers and candles; it was very elegant. Being outdoors on the edge of the mountain looking across the resort desert below was a perfect setting. Eighty guests sat as Walter Campbell and his best man stood in front with the minister. Three harpists and four violin players played a series of love songs as the small contingency of bridesmaids made their way down the floral pathway. As the maid of honor took her place, the small crowd stood and looked to the back to see Lisa Addelson. She donned a custom Vera Wang wedding gown. The cream-colored, backless dress had a short train that hung at the waist. She was breathtaking, and just about every single person in the crowd gasped with wonderment when they saw her.
Lisa’s father wore a black, double-breasted tux. He didn’t know his daughter as well as a lot of fathers. But he knew all he wanted to know. She worried that if he knew the truth about how she lived her life, it would scare him and, more importantly, disappoint him. What Lisa never would understand was that no matter what she did in her life, she was still her daddy’s girl, and nothing would ever change that.
The night was warm and quiet—the perfect atmosphere as the music filled up the air. Lisa scanned the wedding crowd looking for the person who was paying for her night.
“Are you alright?” asked her father.
“Yes, Daddy.” Lisa still called her father daddy at times. He wouldn’t want that to change.
“You ready to do this? I’m very proud of you. I love you very much.”
Her father squeezed her hand as her arm interlocked with his for the walk down the aisle as the wedding march began.
The wedding ceremony was conducted by a judge who was a family friend. It was simple, and Walter’s and Lisa’s vows came from their hearts. As they spoke, they placed the rings on each other’s third fingers.
“Walter, you have completed me as a person. I promise to love you and never break the trust that you surround me with. I will stand by you through the great times but especially the difficult times. I will treasure and cherish every day that I am granted with you. I love you with all my heart.”
The portion of the wedding audience who knew Lisa was surprised by her gentle, loving words. She never showed this sentimental, vulnerable side before.
“Lisa, I pledge my undying love to you. I promise to take care of you and love you unconditionally. I will protect our love and guard it with my very being. I will treasure and cherish every day that I am granted with you. I love you with all my heart.”
The couple had decided to have the same ending to their vows to demonstrate their unity. There weren’t many dry eyes in the audience for such short, simple vows.
The judge spoke as elegantly as he ever had.
“Today we are blessed to be in the presence of two people who have demonstrated to all of us their love and devotion to each other. It is truly my pleasure to ask them together if they take each other, for better or worse, in sickness and health, in the good times as well as any bad times. Do you promise to love one another, share with each other, and support each other? And in the very darkest hours and toughest moments, do you promise to be there for each other?”
Lisa and Walter had asked the judge to propose the question of marriage to them together.
“I do,” they answered in unison.
The audience began clapping. The judge turned the happy couple to face the wedding audience.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure to be the first to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Campbell.”
Lisa finally saw the man she had been looking for. He was standing in the far back, unbeknownst to the others watching the ceremony. Lisa could only make out his silhouette, but she knew that Stewart Simpson was there as promised. Her heart filled with joy. She knew no one would ever understand their relationship, but it didn’t matter to her. She was at peace with loving these two men.
24
DUGAN SAT AT his desk, fingers dancing on his keyboard. He never imagined that working and living with Stewart Simpson would lead to such a cloak-and-dagger type of existence. His diary was perhaps his biggest secret of all. If Stewart knew of it, Dugan would likely wind up buried in a hole in the desert. The secrets, the lies, the deceptions and killings were all neatly chronicled with times and dates. Dugan’s word could bring down an empire and the scores of kingdoms built around it.
Stewart had Dugan working on a plan to get the TV station in Santa Barbara away from David Stenner. His job would be whatever Stewart Simpson required, unquestioningly and with the utmost professional care, always makings sure that his boss and the company were protected.
Dugan had never shown his writings to anyone—or even mentioned their existence. He started writing them as a form of protection, but he found himself documenting his actions, decisions, and events almost compulsively.
Over twenty years Dugan filled up diary after diary. He had stacks of volumes of his deepest and darkest secrets. Not just his secrets, but Stewart Simpson’s secrets. Secrets of the people that surrounded him, were close to him—his enemies, rivals and friends. There were numerous entries about his many women, and about his one-and-only Lisa.
It was quiet, and Stewart had retired for the evening. When he was sure his boss was asleep, Dugan finished entering his remarks about Lisa’s wedding. His writing was different today, almost joyous instead of his typical somber, matter-of-fact tone. This was one of the good days.
We started the day with me making the usual breakfast for Stewart. He woke up happy and that’s a good thing for everyone. I didn’t quite understand his mood because today was the day that Lisa got married. She has been his only true love. I think he was happy that she was marrying Walter Campbell because that took any pressure off of him to marry her. Lisa and he now have an arrangement. They’ll be married as well, but without an official ceremony, rings, etc. They are married at heart, and that is a deeper marriage than what Lisa and Walt will have today and forward.
It is kind of messed up, but I do understand it after being involved with Stewart and Lisa the past few years. Yes, there is something sick about their thinking this could work for the two of them. There is also something very romantic about this arrangement. Lisa knows that Stewart will never marry her. She knows Stewart loves her, and she is deeply in love with him. And they are both okay sharing each other with others.
I know Stewart is planning on making Lisa his general manager when he gets the S
anta Barbara station away from Stenner. That will make his ability to see and interact with her easier to sell to her new husband. I’ve always been amazed at how well he thinks out every detail, every deception, every option that could go wrong. That is also why I’m employed and very well cared for.
After breakfast we jumped on the jet to Palm Springs. Stewart promised Lisa that he would be at her wedding. I arranged for him to have a suite at the Ritz Carlton where he could easily hide out until the ceremony started. Once everyone was settled in their seats and Lisa walked down the aisle, Stewart took his place at the back of the room, hidden in the shadows so no one would see him. No one except Lisa, who knew he was there.
It was a beautiful ceremony, and I was happy to be able to see it from a distance. Lisa is the one woman that I know Stewart truly loved. That makes me happy, and it makes me want to make sure the two of them are always safe. I ran a lot of interference for Stewart and his liaisons with different women. Lisa was and always has been different. It was never part of my job description, but I made it a priority once I saw the connection the two of them had.
After the couple exchanged vows, Stewart and I left so no one would know he had been there. We got into the car and drove to the Palm Springs airport. Got back on the plane and went home to Dallas.
On the plane, Stewart talked strategy with me about Santa Barbara and David Stenner. This one could get messy. Stenner has his own money and isn’t easily intimidated. I’m not sure how we can get him to sell his station if he doesn’t want to sell. That’s Stewart’s department and he’s very good at it.
I’m sure I will journal about it when it happens. For now, today was a good day.
WATCH FOR DUGAN’s DIARIES OUT SOMETIME IN 2019!
Read about all the secrets that are documented over
volumes of Dugan’s writings.
Acknowledgments
This is my second novel in a three-book series. The list of people that I need to thank is long. I will do my best but apologize up front for anyone I leave out in this writing. First, great thanks to John Koehler, my publisher at Koehler Books, and Joe Coccaro, extraordinary wizard of the written word. I made Joe’s work harder on this book and he hung in there with me. Thank you! I need to mention the line editors, and there are several. Thank you, team.
To my trusted friends, who have supported my late jump into a writing career. You listen to my ideas that I ramble on about, provide me feedback and encouragement, and you give me the honest truth. Too many to name, but because of all of you I am a very lucky man.
To all the broadcasters that read advance copies of Murder at Broadcast Park and will read Live on TV3: Palm Springs, thank you. Your feedback always helps make it a better book.
For more than forty-six years, I have had the incredible privilege to work in the broadcast industry. Every day I got up and couldn’t wait to go to my station or stations. I love broadcasters, and in no way do the novels I write in the Murder at Broadcast Park series reflect anything but the fun that I’ve had over a pretty good career. And, yes, a lot of these stories have a lot of truth in them, but I write them from a place of respect and love for everyone that I’ve worked with. They are just great stories.
As I’ve said so many times, “You can’t make this stuff up.”