Private Scandals (27 page)

“I’m not letting anybody out, except in a body bag.”

“She’s just a kid, Elmer. Your wife probably likes kids.” Christ, he hoped so. “If you let her go, she’ll hear about it, and she’ll want to talk to you.”

“It’s a trick.”

“I’ve got a camera right here.” He glanced toward Curt. “Is there a TV in the bar in there?” he called out.

“What if there is?”

“You can watch everything I do. Everything I say. I’ll have them put me on live.”

“Then do it. Do it in five minutes, fucking five minutes, or you’re going to have another body in here.”

“Call the desk,” Finn shouted. “Patch me in. Set up for live now.” Then he turned back to Jenner.

“You’d make a pretty good cop—for a reporter.”

“Thanks.” He handed Jenner the bullhorn. “Tell him to send her out while I’m on the air, or I go to black.”

In precisely five minutes, Finn faced the camera. Whatever his inner turmoil, his delivery was calm and well paced, his eyes cool. Behind him was the shattered exterior of the restaurant.

“This morning in Chicago’s Greektown, this family-run restaurant erupted with violence. Three people are known dead in the standoff between police and Elmer Johnson, a former mechanic who chose this spot to take his stand. Johnson’s only demand is contact with his estranged wife, Arlene.”

Though he sensed activity behind him, Finn’s eyes stayed fixed on the camera’s light.

“Johnson, well armed, is holding five hostages. In his appeal to—”

There was a scream from behind him. Finn shifted instantly to give Curt room to tape.

It happened quickly, as if all the waiting hours had been focused on this one moment. The child, trembling and weeping, stepped outside. Even as the shadow of the awning fell over her face, a wild-eyed man sprinted out, screaming as he hurtled toward escape. The rash of gunfire from the restaurant propelled the man forward, off his feet. It was Jenner, Finn saw, who scooped the child aside even as Johnson stumbled to the door.

The sniper’s bullet plowed through Johnson’s forehead.

“Oh man.” Curt kept repeating the words over and over under his breath as he held the camera steady. “Man, oh man, oh man.”

Finn only shook his head. The burning in his left arm made him glance down curiously. Brows knit, he touched the hole in his sleeve. His fingers came away sticky with blood.

“Well, hell,” he murmured. “I got this coat in Milan.”

“Shit, Riley.” Curt’s eyes bulged. “Shit. You’re hit.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t feel any pain yet, only dull annoyance. “You just can’t patch leather, either.”

On Monday, as soon as the morning show was taped, Deanna stood in the center of her office, her eyes glued to the TV screen. It seemed unbelievable that she could hear Finn’s voice supplying the details over the special report.

She saw the scene as he had, the shattered glass, the bloodied body. The camera bobbled and swung as the sniper fired. Her heart jerked as she heard the pop and ping of bullets.

Through it all, Finn’s voice remained calm, cool, with an underpinning of fury she doubted any of his viewers were aware of. She stood, a fist pressed to her heart as the camera zoomed in on the child, weeping in the arms of a rumpled man with graying hair.

“Deanna.” Jeff hesitated in the doorway, then crossed the room to stand beside her.

“It’s horrible,” she murmured. “Unbelievable. If that man hadn’t panicked and run out that way, if he hadn’t done that, it might have turned out differently. That little girl, she could have been caught in the cross fire. And Finn . . .”

“He’s okay. Hey, he’s right downstairs. Back on the job.”

“Back on the job.”

“Deanna,” he said again, and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“I know it must be tough for you. Not only knowing it happened, but actually watching it.” He walked over and switched off the set. “But he’s okay.”

“He was shot.” She whirled away from the blank screen and struggled for composure. “And I was in Indiana. You can’t imagine how horrible it was to have Tim come into the ballroom and tell me he’d seen it on the limo’s set. And to be helpless. Not to be there when they took him to the hospital.”

“If it upsets you this much, and you asked him, he could get a desk job.”

For the first time all morning she gave him a genuine smile. “Things don’t work that way. I wouldn’t want them to. We’d better get back to work.” She gave his hand a quick squeeze before rounding her desk. “Thanks for listening.”

“Hey. That’s what I’m here for.”

“Everybody stays late tonight,” Angela announced at an emergency staff meeting. “Nobody leaves until we lock in this show. I want a panel, and I want it hard-line. Three from this white supremacist group, three from the NAACP. I want radicals.” She sat behind her desk, her fingers drumming on the surface. “Make sure each side gets at least a dozen tickets, so they can seed the audience. I want to blow the roof off.”

She stabbed a finger at her head researcher. “We’ve got some statistics here in New York. Get me some of the relatives.”

“Some of them might not be easy to persuade.”

“Then pay them,” she snapped. “Money always turns the tide. And I want some tape, as graphic as possible, from rallies. Some witnesses to racially motivated crimes, perpetrators would be better. Promise that we’ll protect their identities. Promise them anything, just get them.”

When she fell into silence, Dan gave a nod that signaled the end of the meeting. He waited until the door was closed again.

“You know, Angela, you could be walking on thin ice here.”

Her head snapped up. “You sound like Lew.”

“I’m not advising you against doing it. I’m just suggesting that you watch out for the cross fire.”

“I know what I’m doing.” She’d seen Finn’s report, as had nearly every other American with a television set. Now she was going to outdo him as well as Deanna. “We need something hot, and the timing couldn’t be better. The country’s in an uproar about race, and the city’s a mess.”

“You’re not worried about Deanna Reynolds.” He smiled, knowing he had to defuse the tantrum he saw building in her eyes.

“She’s climbing up my back, isn’t she?”

“She’ll slip off.” He took her rigid hands in his. “What you need now is a boost in publicity. Something that will focus the public’s attention on you.” He lifted her hand, admiring the way the sun dashed off the diamonds in her watch. “And I’ve got an idea how to do it.”

“It better be good.”

“It’s more than good, it’s inspired.” He kissed her hand, watching her over her knuckles. “The American public loves one thing more than they love hearing about graft and sex and violence. Weddings,” he said as he drew her gently to her feet. “Big, splashy weddings—private weddings dotted with celebrities. Marry me, Angela.” His eyes were soft. “I’ll not only make you happy, I’ll see to it that your picture’s on every major newspaper and magazine in the country.”

The flutter of her heart was quick. “And what would you get out of it, Dan?”

“You.” Reading her clearly, he lowered his head to kiss her. “All I want is you.”

On the second Saturday in June, Angela donned a Vera Wang shell-pink gown of silk, encrusted with tiny pearls. Its sweetheart neckline framed a flattering hint of her rounded breasts, its full, elaborate skirt accented her tiny waist. She wore a wide-brimmed hat with a fingertip veil and carried a bouquet of white orchids.

The ceremony took place in the country home she’d purchased in Connecticut, and was attended by a stellar guest list. Some were pleased to be there, drawn either by sentiment or the notion of having their name and photo included in the press releases. Others came because it was easier to accept than to face Angela’s fury later.

Elaborate gifts crowded the large parlor and, under uniformed guard, were on display for the select members of the press. No one seeing all this, Angela thought, would doubt how much she was loved.

The reception spilled out into the rose garden, where a champagne fountain bubbled and white doves cooed.

When the event was buzzed incessantly by helicopters crammed with paparazzi, she knew it was a success.

Like any new bride, she glowed. The sun glinted off the five-carat diamond gracing her left hand as she posed with Dan for photos.

She told the reporters, regretfully, that her mother, her only living relative, was too ill to attend. In reality she was tucked in a private clinic, drying out.

Kate Lowell, looking young and fresh in a billowing sundress, kissed Angela’s cheek for the benefit of the cameras. Her long red-gold hair flowed down her bare back, melted copper over sun-kissed peaches. She had a face the camera worshiped, ice-edged cheekbones, full lips, huge gold eyes. The image was completed by a sinuous body, killer legs and a rich infectious giggle.

Kate Lowell could have become a star on the sole basis of her glorious physical attributes. She certainly had done her share of commercial endorsements. But she had something more: talent and charm that burned every bit as hot as her box-office appeal. And ambition that seared through both.

She enchanted the photographer by shooting him a dazzling smile, then turned the other cheek for Angela. “I hate your guts,” she said softly.

“I know, darling.” Beaming, Angela slipped her arm around Kate’s waist, fingers digging ruthlessly into flesh as she turned her best side to the camera. “Smile pretty now, show why you’re the number-one female box-office draw.”

Kate did, with a smile that could have melted steel at five paces. “I wish you were dead.”

“You and so many others.” She hooked her arm through Kate’s and strolled off, two bosom friends stealing a private moment. “Now, is it true that you and Rob Winters are considering scripts for a TV movie?”

“No comment.”

“Now, now, darling.” Angela’s voice was a purr, deadly feline. “Didn’t we agree to scratch each other’s backs?”

“I’d like to scratch your eyes.” But she knew she couldn’t. There was much too much at stake for her to indulge herself quite that blatantly. Still, there were other weapons. Tilting her head, Kate studied Angela’s face. “That’s an excellent tuck, by the way. Barely noticeable.” Her smile was quick and sincere when Angela bristled. “Don’t worry,
darling,
it’ll be our secret. After all, a girl’s got to do everything necessary to maintain the illusion of youth. Especially when she’s married to a younger man.”

Behind the flirty little veil, Angela’s eyes were as hard as marbles. It was her day, by God. Hers. And nothing and no one would spoil it. “A script’s come my way, Katie dear. I think you’ll find it fascinating. And I think you’ll be able to pique Rob’s interest as well. The two of you have been pals for years, and it would be a friendly boost if you persuaded him to do it. After all, he doesn’t have a great deal of time left to pick and choose, does he?”

“You bitch.”

Angela gave a trilling laugh. Nothing could have pleased her more than seeing Kate’s smug smile fade. “The trouble with actors is they need someone to write that clever dialogue. You’ll have the script by Monday, darling. I really would consider it a favor if you’d read it quickly.”

“I’m getting tired of your favors, Angela. Other people might call it blackmail.”

“I’m not other people. It’s simply a matter of my having certain information that I’m more than happy to keep to myself. A favor to you, dear. In return, you do one for me. That’s called cooperation.”

“One day you’re going to cooperate yourself right into hell.”

“It’s just business.” With a sigh, Angela patted Kate’s flushed cheeks. “You’ve been around long enough to know better than to take everything so personally. We’ll discuss terms when I get back from my honeymoon. Now, you’ll have to excuse me. I can’t ignore my guests.”

Although Kate’s imagination didn’t run to dialogue, she had no trouble with visuals. As Angela glided away, Kate saw the frothy silk splattered with blood.

“One day,” she whispered, yanking a rose from a bush and crushing it in her hand. “One day, someone’s finally going to get the guts and do it.”

“She looks wonderful.” Lolling on the couch in the cabin, Deanna studied the front cover of
People.
“Radiant.”

Finn drummed up the energy to glance over. They had finally been able to synchronize a full three days off, together. If the phone didn’t ring, the fax didn’t shrill and the world didn’t collapse within the next twenty-four hours, they would have made it through.

“She looks like one of those prop wedding cakes. All fancy fake icing over the inedible.”

“Your vision’s skewed by malice.”

“Yours should be, too.”

She only sighed and flipped through to the cover story. “I don’t have to like her to admit she’s lovely. And she looks happy, really happy. Maybe marriage will mellow her.”

He only snorted. “Since this is her third time at bat, that’s doubtful.”

“Not if this is the right one. I don’t wish her bad luck, personally or professionally.” She peered over the top of the magazine. “I want to whip her butt on merit.”

“You are whipping her butt.”

“In Chicago, and a few other markets. But this wedding’s bound to shift the tide at least for a time.”

He stretched his arms over his head, muscles rippling. Deanna could see the faint scar where the bullet had sliced through.

“Why do you think she did it?”

“Oh come on, Finn, give her some credit. A woman doesn’t get married so that she can get her picture on a few covers.”

“Kansas.” Amazed that she could still be so naive, he took the magazine from her. “When you’re slipping down the ladder, you grab hold of any handy rope.”

“I think that’s a mixed metaphor.”

“You think this is for love?” Laughing, he sent the
magazine sailing. Angela, the happy bride, landed facedown. “She’s had six weeks of free publicity since the day her secret engagement mysteriously leaked.”

“It could have leaked.” She gave him a friendly shove with her stockinged foot. “And even if she planted it, it doesn’t change the bottom line. She’s a beautiful, vibrant woman who fell for a gorgeous, magnetic man.”