Chasing Deception

by Dave Milbrandt

  Will began with a short prayer focused mainly on the grief friends and family were struggling through at this time. Ending the prayer, he glanced at his notes and began his message. Jim half-listened as Will started off with the standard message on death and grief. He acknowledged the sadness of those who loved the victims and the frustration at the cause of their loved ones’ deaths.

  “Many of us are asking ourselves this question today: Why? Why on earth did these people have to die? Why would God allow this to happen? Where was God when all this took place and why didn’t He stop it?

  “The answer to these questions is simple in form but immensely difficult in meaning. The reason this happened is because sin rules this world and people are essentially evil. God gave people the choice to do what they wanted and they chose to do evil.”

  What? Jim was shocked by the pastor’s words. Pastors were supposed to say nice things at funerals. Say a prayer, offer a few words of comfort and say another prayer. Nobody was ever to blame for death. It just happened like everything else in life, at random times for random reasons. Jim listened with curiosity and intensity at the rest of Will’s message.

  Will motioned toward the photographs as he continued. “And these people died because one man chose to do something very bad. He chose to take the lives of others. These people were all seeking some form of the truth, but they followed one evil man because he told them something that would ‘tickle their ears’ as it says in Second Timothy. This evil man, bent by Satan and his demons, led many people to their deaths in a vile and horrid way.

  “But what is our proper response? Are we to hate this man for the evil he has done? Are we to revile him for his terrible and vicious act of mass murder? What are we as a society to do with people like Jeremiah Harmon?

  “For the majority of us, taking action against the perpetrator is not a viable option. Once this man is brought in to face the judicial consequences of his actions, God, through a select group of jurors, lawyers and a judge will determine what to do with Jeremiah Harmon.

  “So are we just supposed to grieve for the loss of these lives and do nothing more? I believe to do that would be a gross disservice to the lives of these people and to the intentions of God.”

  I wonder where he’s going to go with this?

  “There are three things we must do when a loved one passes on. You are already doing the first two: grieving the loss and remembering the blessings. The third thing we must do is much harder. When someone close to us passes away, we must examine our own lives and really come to grips with what would happen to us if we were to die in the near future. Some might say it is morbid and wrong to contemplate your own mortality when you lose someone close. But it’s natural. When a friend, sibling, parent or spouse dies, in the back of our minds many of us struggle with difficult questions. Who will die next? When will I die? What will happen after death? Is this all there is? These are instinctual questions for us as thinking, rational human beings. But we must do more than just think about these questions. We must find the answers too.”

  Jim felt compelled to discover his own answers to these questions. He admitted to himself that he had contemplated these questions ever since his father died. But he had never really dealt with them.

  “Are you afraid to die?” Pastor Will asked the mourners. “Are you afraid of what will happen when you die? Maybe you’re not worried about anything because you assume nothing will happen. This life is all there is and death is the end of everything. But for those who are aware of the existence of the afterlife, you have a whole different set of questions. Where am I going? What does it take to get into the good place? What about the alternative? Is there something in-between? Maybe you’re not sure if you’ve been a good enough person to get into Heaven, but you surely don’t deserve the other place.

  “I’m here to tell you something. If you are not sure that Heaven is where you are going when you die, then you have already chosen your destination. And that destination has no joy, only suffering. No peace, only pain. No hope, only misery. Without salvation through Jesus Christ, you cannot expect to make it into God’s Kingdom. Faith in Christ and a life lived according to His example is the only way you will have true joy in this short time on earth and in the eternity that comes afterward.”

  Jim was blown away when he heard the scattered “amens” throughout the audience. How could this man of God disrespect the grief of those in this large room by preaching the Bible and Christianity at them? Where does he get off?

  Then one question popped into his head. What if he’s right?

  Jim chose to ignore the idea for now and listened to the rest of the message that wrapped up a couple of minutes later with a prayer. After Will sat down and the official part of the service ended, friends and family members streamed forward and passed by the photos. Most stopped to cry for a few moments. As one woman buried her head into her husband’s chest, Courier photographer Robbie Garcia took a few photos silently and without the disturbance of a flash.

  A few minutes later, Jim excused himself and walked toward the front of the sanctuary. Melissa watched as he hugged his mother and his aunt and uncle. She noticed his aunt handed him an envelope before she turned away and proceeded to the lobby.

  “Here’s the picture you asked for, Jim. I just can’t believe he’s gone.”

  Phil Salucci hugged his wife as she wept softly. A moment later, she regained her composure.

  Jim knew this wasn’t the best time to conduct an interview, but he wanted the answer to a question his uncle had been unwilling to answer the last time he asked. “Uncle Phil, did you ever pay money to New Creation?”

  Phil nodded his head. “I paid two of their $1,500 ‘bills’ before I suspected it was a scam. We had paid for programs like that in the past, but something didn’t seem kosher. I stopped sending in money after the second bill. I got one nasty letter, but that was the last I ever heard from them. I guess Pastor Jeremiah stole enough money from everybody else to bother with us.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  They talked for a couple more minutes before Jim left to find Melissa.

  —

  When Jim entered the lobby, Melissa looked for signs of grief but could find none. Whatever pain he was feeling, he hid it behind a mask of professional detachment. She was worried until she heard the unmistakable still, small voice of God. He needs to figure this out at his own pace. She accepted the answer and went about talking with people leaving the service. After a few minutes they returned to her car.

  On the way back to the office, Jim didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk and Melissa knew better than to try to make conversation. She knew he was working through some strong emotions and needed to process what he had heard today in silence. She turned on a classical music station for some background noise.

  —

  12:35 p.m. Tuesday

  They arrived at the office and proceeded straight to Melissa’s computer. They had agreed beforehand she would take the lead in reporting and writing on this article. Their stated reason was because they knew it would be a religious service and Jim conceded Melissa was better at writing those kinds of stories. Privately they both knew, but would never say, that Jim was too close to this story to be objective. Jim knew it would be best if he simply added a few quotes and offered suggestions on the structure of the article.

  “I think we should move the Chris De Silva quote down closer to—” Jim was saying when Dan walked up.

  “How are things going?”

  “Doing just fine, Dan.” Melissa wanted to make sure Jim didn’t answer and offer a semi-truthful reply. She could tell he was still grieving internally, and that, combined with his quick tongue, could get them both into an awkward situation.

  “Oh Jim,” Dan said. “Ted wants to talk with you. He’s over in Photo, and they are missing a picture for the spread on the victims. He said you told him you would get it.”

  “I’ll take care of it.” Jim knew Ted Nelson of
ten liked to leave his perch as executive editor and get his hands dirty by doing “real journalism”. Why did he have to pick today to play assistant photo editor? Jim had been hoping to quietly slip Vince’s picture to Photo Editor Henry Zeder and not have to do any explaining. Little chance of that now.

  Jim noticed his palms were sweating slightly as he approached. His plan was to quickly slip Ted the envelope and leave. Besides, Ted didn’t need to know who Vince really was. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt me. The thought made him crack a slight smile.

  The photo department was walled off on three sides but had a large open doorway facing the newsroom. Entering the room, he saw Ted and Henry leaning over a small light table discussing the photo layout.

  Ted smiled. “Got that photo of Vince Salucci for me?”

  “Sure do. Here you go, boss.” Jim handed Ted the envelope and turned to leave.

  “By the way, you never did tell me what took you so long to get the picture.”

  Jim turned around to answer the implied question. “It took a while for Aunt Patty to find the photo.” As soon as finished his sentence he knew the grave mistake he had made.

  “Aunt Patty? I thought you said you were getting the picture from his parents?”

  Cover. Cover!

  “Uh, yeah. That’s right. I did get it from his mother, Patricia Salucci.”

  Whew!

  Ted chuckled. “For a second I almost thought you were going to say this guy’s mom was your aunt.”

  Jim mumbled a response.

  “What did you say?”

  “I said ‘She is’. Patricia Salucci is my aunt and Vince was my cousin.”

  Ted was mute for what seemed like a full minute before he began to speak calmly and directly. “I am not happy to hear this. We will talk about it later today. I will see you then.” Jim recognized his boss’s clear, crisp tone as the one he used to conceal great anger. Knowing the trouble he was in, Jim left immediately.

  He walked quickly back to Melissa’s desk and told her in whispered tones what just happened.

  “I just told Nelson that Vince was my cousin.”

  Melissa’s jaw dropped slightly.

  “Yeah, he was about as shocked as you are.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Not much, but he used that quiet, penetrating voice that sounds like a drill sergeant in a library. He was not happy. He wants to meet with me this afternoon and talk things out. I just hope I get to choose my own mode of execution.” He laughed nervously. “Can you do me a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “Pray for me.”

  Melissa’s wide eyes betrayed her momentary shock. “OK, will do!”

  23

  Jim ate little at lunch, picking at the potatoes in his chicken fried steak frozen dinner. He didn’t have much of an appetite. What he did eat he ate alone. Melissa seemed to instinctively know he wouldn’t want company. And word had begun to spread already that Jim had done something bad. Really bad. Jim had overheard a couple of whispering coworkers who suddenly went silent as he walked past them.

  He knew what they were talking about. He had talked with his coworkers the same way when Chet Blackwell had decided not to come to work for a week in protest. He had gotten into a shouting match with Ted Nelson over the Courier giving what he called kid-glove treatment to a conservative Christian group that had been accused of questionable business practices. At the time Jim had agreed with Blackwell, but he wasn’t dumb enough to buck the system that much. The day Chet came back to the office he was told to clean out his desk. And no one ever mentioned his name again.

  That’s what happens when you mess with management.

  Jim spent his lunchtime reflecting on what he had done and what might happen to him. He knew the situation wouldn’t be swept under the rug. That was for certain. Gary Keating was too image-conscious and Ted Nelson had too much personal integrity to let something like this just slip by. No, he was going to have to pay for this one. The question was how much.

  After lunch, all he could really think about was the meeting. To keep his mind off of his impending doom, he asked Tammi if he could write some news briefs for her. Since brief writing was the bane of any reporter’s duties, she gladly handed over the work. So for the next hour and forty minutes, ace reporter and columnist James T. Mitchell basically typeset press releases about community arts and crafts classes, youth sports tryouts, and church yard sales and bazaars.

  —

  2:38 p.m. Tuesday

  Jim checked his watch as he finished typing the last news brief. His meeting with Gary, Ted, and Dan was coming up soon, and he had no idea how long it would last. Jim dedicated himself to preparing his defense. He knew he had little, if any, justification for his actions. After some mental brainstorming and occasional note writing, he had come up with three main points.

  First, he was wrong. He knew he had to admit that much. It was an error in personal judgment and professional standards. His next point addressed his intent, which was not to do harm. He had gotten caught up in the story itself and had no designs on botching the reporting. His final point was a defense of his skill as a reporter. In he end, he would argue, his intimate connection to the story did not bias or slant his reporting. He offered fair and balanced coverage, and had not been swayed by his family affiliations. Once he got the gist of these points down on his notepad, he looked at the wall panel of clocks. 2:53 p.m. He turned off his computer and left the newsroom heading for the publisher’s office.

  Michelle Downing, Keating’s administrative assistant, informed the publisher via intercom that Jim had arrived. As he walked in, he noticed Ted and Gary were seated and Dan was slowly pacing back and forth. Everybody knew Dan Palms paced when he was anxious. Why was Dan so anxious?

  Dan took a seat when Jim did, but he continued to lightly tap his foot. Jim originally had planned to keep quiet unless he was asked a direct question, but changed his mind just a few minutes before. Perhaps an early apology would help diffuse the situation.

  “Gentlemen, before you rightly yell at me for doing something very, very foolish, can I say something?”

  Gary nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Jim took a deep breath before speaking. “I wanted to start by apologizing for my actions. I know I was wrong for not telling you about the connection I had to the story. But you should know my only goal was bringing Jeremiah Harmon down because he was a lying killer who abused his authority to steal people’s money and have his way with women. Even when I got that death threat back in October, I wasn’t going to let it stop me either.”

  Dan’s head snapped. “You got a death threat? When was that?”

  “It was an email from a Yahoo! account with a fake name, unless ‘Richard Nixon’ really didn’t like our article about Ed Hartley. I’m guessing it was Jeremiah, but I couldn’t be sure. Whoever it was said ‘Somebody might take matters into their own hands if you keep digging up the past’. It seemed pretty vague so I just printed it out and stuck it in my file with the other threats I’ve gotten over the years. It’s a pretty thick file.”

  Ted entered the discussion. “So, let me get this straight— you were willing to follow a story even when you had a conflict of interest and had received a threat that probably came from the source of the investigation?”

  “I suppose.”

  Dan shook his head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me about any of this?”

  “Would you have kept me on the story if I had.”

  “No way.”

  Jim shrugged. “Exactly.”

  “You wanted this story so bad you were willing to jeopardize your own safety to get it?”

  “Jeremiah Harmon was scum and he thought he was smarter than everybody else. He thought he could charm his way out of anything and he didn’t care who he hurt, or killed, in the process. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.”

  No one spoke for several moments before Gary broke the silence. “Jim, to be honest, I have t
o say I am quite shocked by some of what I have heard today and it only reinforces what we were already considering.”

  He glanced down at some notes as he continued. “First I want to express how disappointed I am in your actions. You are an excellent reporter who doesn’t hesitate to give his best for this paper. The readers appreciate that and have supported your good work with their hard-earned dollars. What you have done not only hurts the reputation of the Courier, but it also let down our readers.

  “I also want to emphasize that the details of this event and its repercussions are not to be made public. Ted will brief Ken Flaherty and Melissa Jenkins separately on the bare bones of what we discuss here. What I’m basically saying here, Jim, is keep this to yourself.” He nodded at Ted to continue the meeting.

  Ted adopted a dispassionate and lecturing tone. “When you revealed your little secret this morning, I have to admit I was pretty angry. I know what a good reporter you are, and I couldn’t believe you would do something so foolish as report on something with which you were intimately involved. You got too close to the story. You were so obsessed you didn’t even tell us you had received a death threat. You broke the most important rule of journalism: objectivity. I might expect this out of a rookie, but not you. I know you, Jim, and I know that’s just not like you.

  “As you know, the Courier is a paper that firmly believes in journalistic integrity. If we don’t have that integrity, we don’t have anything. If people can’t trust your judgment as a person, they won’t want to read your stories. And if they’re not going to read you, there is no reason for us to keep you here.”

  What is he getting at?

  “Now, what you did was clearly wrong, there is no doubt about that. But what we should do about it is not so clear. Based upon what you’ve shared with us today, it seems best you receive an internal rather than public reprimand. You’re not being fired. That’s the good news. Even before we heard about the threat, some of us were in favor of a harsher punishment. Fortunately for you, cooler heads prevailed and I see no reason to change that decision.”