by Bill Evans
Live on TV3 Palm Springs
by Bill Evans
© opyright 2018 Bill Evans
ISBN 978-1-63393-659-1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters are both actual and fictitious. With the exception of verified historical events and persons, all incidents, descriptions, dialogue and opinions expressed are the products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
Published by
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Virginia Beach, VA 23451
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Acknowledgments
1
TOM PRESTON HEARD Jennie Neeley introduce him from the news anchor desk.
Three . . . two . . . one . . .
“Tom Preston is on assignment outside the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Palm Springs. TV3 has uncovered a major Ponzi scheme involving some very high-profile business people and educational leaders from our desert communities.”
“Jennie, that’s right. I’ve been working on this story for the past three weeks—”
The television monitor suddenly went blank.
Jennie and the TV viewers couldn’t see the pandemonium and chaos erupting on Palm Canyon, the street in front of the Hyatt Hotel. The TV3 live truck had exploded, spewing metal, shrapnel, and bodies everywhere.
“Shit, what happened to our live shot? Our truck is dead.” The TV3 production control room scrambled to figure out what went wrong. “Get Tom on the phone.”
“Somebody find out what’s going on out there!” Johnny Johnson shouted.
JJ, as he was called, was the news producer and commanded the troops. He reported to the news director, the head person in the newsroom. He was like a sergeant in a foxhole, taking orders from his lieutenant and keeping his control room calm as everyone scrambled around trying to find out what had happened. JJ cued Neeley and told her to get them into a commercial break.
Losing a live shot was not all that uncommon for a small-market television station in 1987. However, TV3 had fixed most of their technical problems over the years, and people in the know thought they were a technically sound station. Their problem tonight was beyond any technical issues they could have imagined.
Outside the Hyatt, the scene looked like something from a Third World country. First responders—police, fire, ambulances—poured onto the scene. TV3’s main anchor, Tom Preston, had been doing a rare standup, anchoring his investigative story on location. He was found on the ground unconscious, his shirt splattered with blood and cuts on his head. There was a second body facedown about a hundred feet away. It was Terry Lynch, the photographer responsible for running the live truck and camera for Tom Preston’s story.
Glen Barnes was the first detective on the scene from the Palm Springs Police Department. Sandi DiSanto, his partner, arrived moments later. The police were quick to cordon off a half-block radius for their crime team. Tom drifted out of his unconscious state just in time to watch the EMTs perform CPR on his photographer. Tom tried to get on his feet and over to where Lynch was dying. He wasn’t able to stand, collapsing only to have his fall stopped by one of the attending EMTs. Tom slipped back into unconsciousness.
Neeley sat on the anchor desk inside the studio trying not to be pissed. She took it personally whenever something like this happened. The main anchor was the face of the station. It was easy to be mad at her engineers and the loss of the live shot. The station had been promoting the story for two days, and it was disappointing to everyone involved in tonight’s newscast. The live shot was the whole story.
Jack Router, TV3’s news director, rushed into the news production control room. “What happened to our live shot?” he screamed.
Jack was a serious newsman; he pushed his newsroom kids to take their game to a considerably higher level than what a television station in market 163 should be performing at.
He called to an assistant. “I’m going out to the Hyatt. Keep Jennie in the anchor chair. Roll the other live truck and let’s get some more reporters down there. We need to figure this out on the run until we know what’s going on. Call everyone in and see if we have someone close to the scene.”
Jack ran out of the control room, out the station door and to his station vehicle in the parking lot.
TV3 reporter Andy Nixon was in the area near the explosion when his pager went off. It was the assignment manager calling. The call didn’t last long, and Andy was able to get over to the Hyatt in five minutes. He called JJ’s hotline number in the news control room and was put on speaker.
“JJ, you can’t believe what I’m seeing. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Andy, we are going live to you right now. Stay calm and describe what you’re seeing.”
It wasn’t a live shot but rather the next best thing—a phoner. JJ immediately cued Jennie on the anchor desk to take the call. It was radio, but on TV.
“We have TV3 reporter Andy Nixon on the phone. Andy, I understand you’ve just arrived at the Hyatt in downtown Palm Springs.” There was a pause and then some static. “Andy, can you hear me?” asked the anchor.
Nixon’s voice was shaky. “Jennie, I’m at the Hyatt where only a few minutes ago our TV3 live truck exploded. I don’t have any details at this time, except to tell you that this looks like a war zone.”
“Nixon, describe to us what you are seeing.”
“Jennie, all I can tell you is that our TV3 live truck is in several pieces and scattered out over much of Palm Canyon.” Andy’s voice was quivering but still in control, at least for a moment. “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
“Andy, what is it? Take a breath and tell our viewers what you’re seeing.” Jennie calmly tried to coach him through his report. He tried to focus on his reporting.
“I see Tom Preston. The paramedics are with him right now. It looks like he’s unconscious.” Nixon’s eyes then found Terry Lynch, the TV3 photographer being given CPR by firefighters at the scene. “Debris is scattered everywhere. The TV3 news van was completely destroyed.” Nixon paused to gather his thoughts. The seasoned news anchor knew her reporter was stuck. Jennie turned her attention to her audience, looking directly into the camera.
“We have crews rolling to the scene in downtown Palm Springs. We are going to stay on the air for as long as it takes while we sort this story out. We’ll be back in two minutes while we try to gather ourselves so we can give you as much information when we come back from our break.”
By now, the Palm Springs police, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office, and a small group of FBI officers were arriving on the scene.
Coming out of the commercial break, Jennie ad-libbed.
“Tom Preston’s investigation for TV3 has uncovered what appears to be a giant Ponzi scheme, where high-profile community figures have used their influence to bring others into the pyramid. Here’s what we know right now. The pyramid scheme was called the Gift Exchange Program and involved
possibly as many as a thousand people.”
Graphics Preston prepared earlier appeared on her viewers’ screens to outline what the anchor was telling her audience.
“The initial investment asked people to contribute two thousand dollars with the promise to make sixteen thousand dollars back. Our very own Tom Preston talked to the attorney general’s office, who released this statement.”
The television screen filled up with text of the statement, and Neeley read it.
“We are currently reviewing TV3’s investigation, as well as their undercover video showing community leaders participating in the Gift Exchange Program. We have not made any determination at this time of this being an illegal activity, and I can’t comment on an active investigation.
“The attorney general was very vague in his response to TV3’s request for any information regarding an investigation by their office. At eleven o’clock we will show Tom Preston’s undercover video and name the community leaders that are suspected to be involved in this pyramid scheme.”
Neeley had done a great job laying out the story, considering she didn’t have much to work with. She couldn’t go back to Andy Nixon at the scene. He was obviously having a very tough time being out there. Nixon was only in his second year and at his first station.
Jack Router got to the scene as fast as he could. The station’s second live truck pulled up a few minutes later. The NBC station had arrived as well. TV3’s news director rushed to check on Terry Lynch. Jack ran up to the medical team working on Terry, whose body was limp and lips were blue. Jack had a Vietnam flashback. He didn’t need anyone to tell him that his photographer was dead.
Terry had been twenty-three and was only at the station seven months. He was from Washington State and came to TV3 after graduating from the University of San Diego.
Detective Glen Barnes was standing over what was now a suspected murder scene. He knew Jack Router because of the relationship that the news had with all law enforcement.
“Jack, can we talk?”
Router felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. No one in his newsroom had ever died while working a story. Tears welled on the tough guy’s face.
“Of course, Glen, but I’m afraid I really don’t know anything.”
“Has the station been receiving any threats? Or has Tom Preston received any that you know of?”
“The station hasn’t received any that I am aware of. I don’t think Tom has, or I would have known about those as well. No, no threats,” Jack said softly.
“Why was the station here at the Hyatt tonight?”
Jack was almost in a trance. Detective Barnes asked the question a second time. “Jack, why were you guys here tonight? What was the story? Why was Tom Preston on location?”
“Uh, Tom was going to do the first part of a new investigative piece he had been working on . . . and where is Tom? Is he okay?”
“Jack, Tom is being examined right now. It looks like he’ll be okay. There was some distance between him and the live truck. Tell me about the story he was doing tonight.”
Jack fidgeted. He brushed his hair back, took a couple of deep breaths, and tried to give a coherent answer.
“Tom’s been working on a story about some high-profile local community people involved in a major Ponzi scheme. He was going to name some of the names tonight.”
“Who were the people he was going to name?”
“Glen, I don’t know. It was his story, and he was playing this tight to his vest.”
Glen lowered the notepad to his side. “I need to talk to Tom immediately.”
The paramedics were still working on him. Tom had regained consciousness, but he was delirious. The detective sped toward him. Jack Router was close behind.
“How is he? Can I talk to him?” Glen asked the medical team.
“Not right now. We need to get him to the hospital.”
Tom was on a stretcher and hooked up to IVs.
“Let’s get him loaded up and go,” the lead medical attendant said
“I’m riding with him.” Jack Router climbed into the back of the ambulance. “Glen, I’ll call you as soon as Tom can speak.”
Jennie Neeley and the rest of the TV3 news team stayed live with local news for the next hour, disrupting Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
Tom Preston was somewhat conscious in the ambulance. Jack sat next to him and held his hand, leaning down to whisper into Tom’s ear.
“Tom, are you alright? Tom, listen to me. Do you have your notes about tonight’s story somewhere? I want this to be your story, so we need to protect the information before the police talk to you. Where are your notes?”
Tom pulled his hand from Jack’s, slipped it into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small notebook. He gave his notes to the news director.
“Look for the names. Look at the names.” Tom seemed to drop out of consciousness as he made every effort to talk to Jack.
“Sir, you need to move away, please.” The medical attendant checked Tom’s vitals again. “We need to step on it. We’re losing him.”
The ambulance arrived at the hospital and backed up to the emergency room door. A doctor and nurse moved him into the emergency room as quickly as possible. The physician on duty shouted instructions to his team. The anchor was obviously in trouble. Jack felt helpless as he watched everyone trying to keep his news anchor alive. The patient on the gurney and the medical team disappeared behind doors.
Two minutes later Jack’s silence was interrupted by Detective Glen Barnes’ voice.
“Jack, how is Tom?”
The news director was shocked by how fast the detective had gotten to the hospital.
“He’s in trouble, it looks like. No one is saying anything. They just rushed him into emergency.”
“Was he able to tell you anything?”
Jack measured his response. “No. He never spoke.”
His pager went off, giving him the perfect excuse to move away from his new “best friend.”
“Hello, this is Jack Router.”
“Jack, this is Dick Thomas.” Dick was the station’s general manager. “Fill me in.”
“We really don’t know too much right now. Something happened to our live truck. There was an explosion.” Jack was cautious not to say bomb. No one knew at this time what caused the explosion. “But it’s not good. Terry Lynch, our news photog, was killed. I’m at the hospital with Tom Preston. Not sure what his condition is. I’m waiting for the doctors to tell me something.”
“Jack, what is this about? Live trucks don’t just blow up.”
“I honestly don’t know. I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything about Tom.”
“I need to call Terry’s family,” said the saddened general manager, his voice trailing off as he hung up.
Instead of returning to finish his conversation with the police detective, Jack stepped around the corner and down the long hall. He found the men’s restroom, entered one of the stalls, and took out his anchor’s notebook. He didn’t want to take any chance on the detective finding Tom’s notes until he had a chance to go through them first, but Jack didn’t expect to find anything. Chances were this was a gas explosion or something like that. He was sure there was a logical explanation.
Tom had kept his news director up on the details of his investigation, but not even Jack knew about some of the people involved in this story. Holy shit, Jack thought. There were twelve names of very high-profile business and educational leaders from the community in Tom’s notes.
Jack read Tom’s notebook while remembering the past three weeks. He thought about his conversation with Tom when they first talked about this story.
“Tom, what we do and say on our local news can change someone’s life. We have to get it right. We’re calling this guy a sex offender. If we’re wrong, we’ve ruined a good person’s life, and we can’t ever take it back. You understand what I’m telling you here, Tom?”
As the lead anchor for the ABC-affiliated
station, Tom Preston had heard this speech several times over several years. He knew how important it was to get the story right, and that was never more important than now. Tom was working on what some might consider the biggest story of the decade, at least in the California desert. And telling this story would have serious implications for a lot of predominant business people in the Coachella Valley.
“Jack, I get it. I know I have to get this story right. It could have serious implications for several community leaders. I do understand. Have you told Dick about this yet?”
The station general manager didn’t like being surprised. He was hands-on and wanted to know about things before they showed up on his station’s airwaves. Knowledge helped him protect the station and his reporters and helped Jack as well as sales avoid disaster.
“I’ll let Dick know when you have some real evidence to where this becomes a real story. I don’t want to go down that road until we have something concrete. Right now, this story is just a lot of speculation.”
Jack thrived on the adrenalin of leading a TV newsroom; he was a serious news director who lived and breathed local news. He had the experience to be a major market news director and had worked in Chicago and Los Angeles. Despite all his major market experience, Jack Router liked being in a mid-size television market. He enjoyed developing talent that would one day go onto jobs in big cities or national networks. He felt he had some real impact on training the newspeople of tomorrow.
“If things work out tonight I could have names as well as footage to go with our story. Jack, there are some serious community leaders involved in this, and once I verify everything, then we have to do the story.”
“You better be careful. Who’s your source? I hope it’s someone you trust. The story seems pretty farfetched right now, but if you’re right, this will be devastating for some of these people. What is the plan for getting inside the meeting tonight?”
“I’m going to send our photographer, Terry Lynch. He’s new to the area and hasn’t really met too many people. No one will suspect anything. We’re putting a camera in his hat. I also have a couple of other sources on the inside. I know some of them, and then there are a couple that I don’t know. I’ve done enough background work to know this story is real.”
