Do You Want to Know a Secret? (44 page)
Read Do You Want to Know a Secret? Online
Authors: Mary Jane Clark
“Never, ever take
more than one of these. Too much of this medication can cause potentially fatal arrhythmias.”
That’s what the doctor had said.
Four of the pale green, half-milligram pills. All together, two milligrams. That should do it. The pills were pulverized and carefully placed into the Fiorinal casing. The green
Fiorinal capsule covered the new green powder very well. The untampered capsules were discarded.
Once the pills were in Eliza’s bag, it would only be a matter of time, given the frequency of her headaches.
The sooner the better.
If this plane
goes down it will change the face of television news as America knows it, Eliza thought as she made her way to her seat. The commercial flight from New York to Houston was packed with newspeople and delegates from the tristate area on their way to the national convention. They were easily distinguished. The delegates wore WINGARD FOR PRESIDENT buttons and had the air of people who were on their way to a party. The journalists looked as though they were going to work.
Heading down the aisle of the 737, Eliza recognized Dan Rather sitting in first class. So, CBS was still springing for the expensive seats for their anchor. KEY was not. Eliza felt a little better when she saw that the public television anchor was sitting in coach, too. There were many other familiar faces in the cabin. Several print journalists were sprinkled about the broadcast passengers. Eliza noted ironically that the reason she recognized the newspaper reporters and columnists was that they often appeared as panelists on the television talk shows.
KEY News
was heavily represented on the flight from LaGuardia. Range was already in his seat, with a very attentive Louise Kendall sitting beside him. Those two must really have something going for Range to have asked her to accompany him to the convention. The executive producer was known for being all work and no play on a big remote.
Eliza wished Mack was taking this flight but he would be coming down later.
Finding her place, she stowed her canvas shoulder bag underneath the seat in front of her and sat down at the window. She was adjusting her lap belt when Yelena Gregory sat down beside her. The older woman seemed pleased to see Eliza.
“What a nice surprise! You never know who you’re going to get stuck with for three hours.”
Eliza grinned. “I must say, I’m impressed. The president herself sitting in the back with the rest of us. I thought for sure you’d be sitting up front with the big boys.”
“That’s the whole idea, my friend. I’m setting a good example for the troops. We’re all in this together, and all that. They’ll love me for it.”
Eliza recognized the truth in Yelena’s words. The news staff liked the brass and the stars mingling among them. It made the off-camera team feel they were all part of a powerful team. A plane ride like this was a good chance to strengthen morale.
As the jet gathered runway speed and pressure built in the cabin at takeoff, Eliza noted that Yelena held onto the armrests so hard that her knuckles turned white. Funny, she had never envisioned Yelena as the type who would be afraid of flying. Then Eliza recalled a story on a fear-of-flying class that she had worked on. The students were a real cross-section of life. A business executive, a housewife, a doctor, a waiter, two grandmothers and a dress designer were enrolled in the class, united in their terror of flying and in their determination to deal with it. Add the first woman president of a television news division to the list of phobics. It wasn’t until the plane had ascended and the seat belt sign flicked off that Yelena let go of the armrests.
Yelena turned to Eliza, a weak, embarrassed smile on her face. “Not very macho, I’m afraid. It’s not something I’m very proud of, but I’m scared to death of flying.” Yelena changed the subject. “How’s your little girl?”
“Janie’s fine. There were fewer tears this time. I think she’s getting used to my traveling. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.” Eliza’s smile was bittersweet.
Yelena reached out and patted Eliza’s arm. “I can only imagine how hard it is. I have no children. It’s the major regret of my life. I had a hysterectomy back in the early eighties. I envy you your little girl.”
Eliza wasn’t sure how to respond. She nodded. “I know I’m lucky, blessed really, to have Janie.”
The flight attendant brought lunch and the conversation ended. By the time the plastic plates of creamed chicken, rice, and cucumber and tomato salad were cleared away and the tiny tray tables were refastened to the seat backs in front of them, Eliza had decided to bring it up.
“Did Jean White call you the weekend before she died?”
“No,” Yelena lied.
Eliza put her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.
“God, I wish I’d paid more attention. Something about Bill’s computer notes.”
Yelena didn’t seem very interested.
“Look, we’ll try to figure it all out when we get back to New York. Now, Eliza, you’ve just got to concentrate on your convention assignments. Give those all your attention.”
Yelena excused herself. Taking the opportunity to schmooze along the way, she made her way toward the lavatory at the back of the plane, stopping to chat with every KEY face she recognized. Pete Carlson sat with Mary Cate Ryan, poor Mary Cate looking none too enthusiastic. Range and Louise sat holding hands.
Eliza turned back around in her coach seat and pulled a copy of the current
Newsweek
from her carry bag. The cover story was Haines Wingard and the convention that was to begin Monday. The latest polls indicated that if the election were held tomorrow, Wingard would probably beat the incumbent President Grayson. Eliza had finished the seven-page article when Yelena returned to her seat.
“Eliza, will you do me a favor and not mention my fear of flying to anyone. It’s not that I think it’s anything to be ashamed of, really, but it doesn’t quite fit the strong image that I would like to project. Let’s face it, we’re still operating in a man’s world and vulnerability is viewed as weakness.”
Eliza felt camaraderie with the large, plain woman. Yelena always appeared completely in control, so strong, so invulnerable. That her boss had another, struggling side made Eliza like her even more.
“Absolutely, Yelena. I understand. Maybe when we get back home from Houston, you’d like to come over for dinner some night with Janie and me.”
“That’s the best invitation I’ve had in quite a while.”
Yelena was feeling increasingly guilty about Eliza Blake.
The bundled aides
, Secret Service agents, and journalists aboard the chartered Wingard jet traveling to Houston watched stunned as their usually reserved candidate aisle-surfed down the middle of the plane. Haines Wingard stood in a little rubber tub, the kind usually reserved for bathing babies, and swooshed down the aisle in a clearly exuberant mood.
Going into the convention, the major polls predicted a very bright future. President Grayson was making one mistake after another. Wingard, on the other hand, could almost do no wrong. His ideas on taxes, health care, crime and gun control, and education were finding a receptive audience in the American electorate. The AIDS Parade had appealed to the national imagination. Americans were rallying around the man who had made the eradication of AIDS a real cause. Haines Wingard had taken on the aura of a hero.
Even the intense Nate Heller had allowed himself to feel the excitement of the day. But he kept it in check, knowing that good generals never let up. He would always be on guard. He did think it was okay, though, for Win to at least appear to lighten up before the troops. The planned aisle-surfing was part of the new exuberance.
Joy also made her way around the plane, radiant with the flush of adrenaline. She continued to be surprised by how much she now enjoyed the campaign. And though she tried not to, more and more she thought about what getting to the White House would actually mean in her life. Not long ago, she had been deeply depressed by her childlessness, the condition of her marriage, the definition of her life as “the wife of Senator Haines Wingard.” Today, it looked most likely that she would be the next first lady of the land.
If nothing went wrong.