Do You Want to Know a Secret?

by Mary Jane Clark

  Chapter 71

  Eliza and Janie spent Sunday afternoon at the children’s zoo. Janie had wanted to see the monkeys for the umpteenth time. Knowing it was good to get out for a few hours, Eliza had forced herself to go. When they got home, the light was flashing on the answering machine. Eliza knew who it would be.

  “Eliza, it’s Mama. Just wondering how you were. Give me a call if you feel like it.” Click.

  Eliza listened to her other messages. Mary Cate saying that she had editing time in the morning for a piece they were working on, would Eliza please plan to record her track right after KEY to America went off the air? Range suggesting that she come to see him on Monday, he had something he wanted to talk over with her. Harry Granger announcing raspily that she should be prepared for a substitute in the morning, he was losing his voice.

  She called Harry first.

  “What’s with you?” Eliza was concerned.

  “Oh, it’s just some sort of bug or something. I don’t feel rotten enough to be declared really sick, but my voice is not going to cut it on the air.”

  “I’ll say. You sound pitiful!”

  “Thanks.”

  “You know what I mean, Harry. Anyway, what can I do for you? Is there anything you need?” Eliza knew that Harry lived alone. She hated the idea of him sick with no one watching over him.

  “Just don’t have better chemistry with my substitute than you do with me. I kinda like my job.”

  Eliza loved working with Harry and really didn’t like the idea of doing the show with a stand-in. She felt a pang of annoyance. Just the start of another week in paradise.

  You ingrate! Do you know how many women would happily trade places with you?

  Feeling duly ashamed, her brain decided to really wallow in guilt. She thought about her mother. She knew from experience that she would bug herself until she eventually returned the call. She might as well do it. Eliza pushed her speed dial and in three seconds was connected to Rhode Island.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hello, dear. Did you get my message? How’s Janie?”

  “Yes, Mom. That’s why I’m calling back. Janie’s just fine. How’s it going?”

  “I wanted to tell you, I didn’t like the outfit you wore on Tuesday, the skirt was much too short. And I don’t like the way they’ve been fixing your hair lately. Tell them you want to have it fixed the old way. It looked much better than that crazy way they did it this week.”

  “Anything you did like, Mom?”

  “Well, to tell you the truth, I switched to the Today Show, and I like Katie’s clothes and hairstyle much better than yours.”

  “Great, Mom.”

  “Now, Eliza, don’t be mad at me. I’m only telling you these things because I want what’s best for you. Don’t you know that?”

  Eliza had found that stopping and counting to ten really did help.

  “Eliza?”

  “Yes, Mother?”

  “Do you have to interview those authors with the horrible ideas? They are nothing but Communists and you shouldn’t give them any attention.”

  “Mom, the Cold War is over.”

  “That’s what they want us to believe.”

  “How’s Daddy?”

  “He’s fine. He’s down at the gas station.”

  “Well, tell him I said hello. I’ll talk to you next week.”

  “Fine, dear. Goodbye.”

  She knew where they were hidden. The emergency supply. Appearing on national television every day, having trash printed about her in the tabloids, knowing the secret that a network anchorman had an affair with the next president’s wife, and suspecting that her psychiatrist had been murdered because he knew too much—what these pressures had not succeeded in doing, talking to her mother did. She found them, fought for thirty seconds and gave in. She parked Janie in front of the television and rolled the Barney tape. She went down the hall to the bathroom, locked the door, sat on the edge of the tub and lit up a Marlboro Light.

  Chapter 72

  Range peered at Eliza over his bifocals, a scowl on his face. His desk was cluttered with papers and she noticed that the ever-present Turns bottle was almost empty.

  “Eliza, I’m concerned about you. The ratings are down. That could ultimately be good for you. Now, of all times, you have to be strong. This is not the time for you to cave in. Your career depends on it.”

  “Range, it’s a little hard for me to focus on my career right now.”

  “Well, you better.”

  That happy salutation completed, Range told her that Joy Wingard would be coming to KEY later in the week to tape public service announcements for the AIDS Parade for Dollars. Range wanted Eliza to do a story focused on the candidate’s wife as fund-raiser.

  She felt she had to tell him. Maybe as Bill’s best friend, he knew already.

  “I happen to know that Bill and Joy Wingard were having an affair,” she said.

  “And how do you know that?” he asked calmly.

  “A confidential source. A confidential, reliable source.”

  His face remained expressionless. Eliza could not tell if her statement had surprised him or not. He stared at her for a few long moments. When he finally spoke, Eliza knew in no uncertain terms what his position was.

  “I am not going to ask you again how you know because, frankly, I don’t care. If Bill Kendall and Joy Wingard were involved, that was their business. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t have anything to do with Haines Wingard’s ability, or lack thereof, to govern this country. As you know, Bill Kendall was my best friend. If information less than flattering about Bill, but crucial to the national interest, were at stake here, I like to think I would report it regardless of Bill’s memory. But this is a private matter. Each of us is entitled to some privacy and I’m going to respect that. We will not be reporting on the Evening Headlines that our deceased anchorman and our probable next first lady slept together.”

  Range stared at her as Eliza took in the power of his words. His next words made her feel he could read her mind.

  “Of course, you can go to Yelena with this. That’s up to you. She may or may not override my decision.”

  Chapter 73

  Daily Campaign Schedule for Joy Wingard

  NEW YORK CITY

  7:15a

  Today Show, NBC,

  Live Interview

  7:45a

  Good Morning America, ABC, Live Interview

  8:15a

  CBS This Morning, Live Interview

  8:45a

  KEY to America, Live Interview

  10:00a

  AIDS Public Service Announcements Taping

  Noon

  Lunch, Private Time

  NEWARK, NJ

  2:00p

  Tour, AIDS Program, Children’s Hospital

  3:15p

  Tour, Boarder Babies Program, UMDNJ

  4:30p

  Tour, AIDS Clinic, St. Michael’s Medical Center

  6:30p

  Wheels up, Newark Airport, for Washington

  At 6:00 A.M., Eliza sat in the red leatherlike barber’s chair in the makeup room off the KEY to America studio. While Lucille was brushing her out, Eliza read Joy Wingard’s itinerary for the day. Joy sure was moving fast. She was relieved that Harry was back and scheduled to conduct the Wingard interview on the broadcast this morning. Eliza just wanted to concentrate on observing Mrs. Wingard today.

  Since her conversation with Range Bullock, Eliza had been debating with herself. Never in her career had she felt so torn. She agreed with Range that the individual’s right to privacy was essential. Yet news was news. If you defined news as information that people had an interest in, the Kendall-Wingard story would certainly qualify. But if news was knowledge that people needed because it was important to their lives, Eliza wasn’t sure that the affair would fit the bill. On the one hand, she felt that Range might be letting his friendship with Bill Kendall color his decision and, on the other hand, she herself kn
ew what it was like to have one’s private life splashed across the headlines.

  She wondered if watching Joy over the next twelve hours would help her decide how to proceed. But afraid to leave a decision of this importance to herself alone, she had scheduled a ten o’clock appointment with Yelena Gregory.

  Eliza planned to devote the day to Joy and the piece that Range wanted on the candidate’s wife as the AIDS fundraiser. After her meeting with Yelena, Eliza would look on as the end of the public service announcements was taped and then travel with the pool press assigned to the candidate’s wife’s trip to Newark.

  Taking a last gulp of coffee, she tilted her face upward for Lucille’s makeup application and listened to the makeup artist nag her about drinking more water. Eliza silently cursed the financial cutbacks at KEY. She wanted her own KEY News crew to accompany her as she followed Joy but, to save money, the networks increasingly depended on designated pool camera crews to cover campaign events. One cameraman’s tape would be dubbed or fed to the other networks. Consequently, in a situation like today’s, the available pictures of Joy Wingard would be the same for CBS, NBC, ABC and KEY. The reporter’s script and the soundbites selected became the unique elements of the news piece.

  Eliza preferred to have her own crew. Inevitably, there would be some opportunity to get that extra video impression that would distinguish a story visually. A good crew would recognize and seize those special images. A mediocre crew could at least be directed to record a moment that she wanted captured. If you didn’t have a crew of your own, you had to depend on the pool crew’s getting it. Their job was to get the basics for everybody. They weren’t interested in special instructions from individual correspondents or producers.

  A nattily dressed Harry Granger loped toward her, coffee cup in hand, New York Times tucked under his arm. He carefully lowered himself into the chair next to Eliza’s. His skin was unusually pale and he looked tired.

  “Your tie looks great, but you sure don’t.”

  “Thanks, I like you, too.”

  Eliza laughed. “I’m sorry, Harry, but you don’t look too good. Aren’t you feeling any better?”

  “My voice is back, but I must admit I’ve felt peppier in my day.”

  “Don’t say that too loud, my friend. TV is a young man’s game, you know. They’ll start looking for your replacement.” Eliza’s eyes twinkled.

  Harry smiled wryly. “Good, I was feeling guilty about the favor I was about to ask, but now I don’t.”

  “Why do I have a hunch I won’t like what’s coming?”

  “Actually this makes some sense, seeing as you are doing a story on her. Would you do me a big favor and do the Joy Wingard interview this morning? I’ll owe you one.”

  Eliza looked hard into Harry’s face. “You must really feel lousy. You never give up your air time. Sure, I’ll do it.”

  Harry brightened and looked relieved. “Hoping you’d say that, I took the liberty of bringing the research packet with me.” He unfolded his newspaper revealing a manila folder resting inside. He handed the folder to Eliza.

  She opened it and began to peruse the newspaper and magazine articles inside, recognizing most of them as ones she had already read. She preferred not to do this interview, but she said yes because she wanted to come through for Harry. Now that she was committed to asking Joy Wingard questions, she might as well make her questions count.

  Chapter 74

  “Wake up, Janie. Time to get up, my little faerie.”

  The big blue eyes opened slowly and sleepily. Mrs. Twomey leaned over and kissed the top of Janie’s head, gently patting the back of the quilt-covered child.

  “Come now, love. I’ve made your favorite french toast this morning. Come now, while it’s still hot.”

  Janie sat up quickly and Mrs. Twomey guided her feet into fluffy bunny slippers. The pair made a quick stop in the bathroom and were just arriving in the kitchen when the phone rang.

  “Hi, Mrs. Twomey. It’s me. Everything okay?”

  “Sure it is, Mrs. Blake. Janie’s just after getting up and she’s about to eat her breakfast. Do you want to talk to her?”

  “No, don’t interrupt her. It’s you I really wanted to talk to, Mrs. Twomey. I’ve left my notebook home and I need it today. I’m sending a courier over to pick it up.”

  “Where is it?”

  “In my bedroom, on the night table. Please get a yellow legal envelope from my desk in the den and put the notebook in it, seal it and mark my name on the outside of the envelope. You can leave it with the doorman, or if it’s easier for you, just have the doorman instruct the courier to come up.”

  “Fine, Mrs. Blake. I’ll see to it right away.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Twomey. Don’t forget, I’m going to Newark this afternoon and I’ll be getting home later than usual. Take good care of my sweetheart.”

  While Janie concentrated on her syrupy french toast, Mrs. Twomey went to Eliza’s room, finding the notebook just where it was supposed to be. Idly flipping through it, she recognized many of the names that were so much in the news these days. Mrs. Blake had such an important job and Mrs. Twomey was proud to work for her. Imagine talking with movie stars and presidential candidates just like they were regular people!

  As the housekeeper went to the den to get an envelope, she came to a page headed Bill Kendall. Listed underneath was the name Joy Wingard and, in parentheses, the word affair.” Beneath that was the name Leo Karas next to which there were more parentheses around the word “psychiatrist.’ There was another notation, “DQ,” with a question mark.

  The intercom buzzed. Mrs. Twomey guiltily snapped the notebook shut and went to the box next to the front door.

  “Send the courier up, please.”

  Quickly sliding the notebook into the envelope and marking the front Eliza Blake, KEY News, she wondered at the thought of Bill Kendall being mixed up with the presidential candidate’s wife. How the ladies at the Irish-American Club would love that piece of gossip! But she wouldn’t say anything. Having the momentary importance of being able to tell that news wasn’t worth risking the long-term prestige of working for Eliza Blake.

  Handing the envelope to the courier, she locked the front door and made her way back to Janie. She sat down on a kitchen chair and rubbed her swollen ankles.

  “Good, my little faerie! You’ve eaten your breakfast all up!”

  Chapter 75

  It was front page news in the Star Ledger that Joy Wingard was going to be in town that day. Father Alec noted with interest that she was touring AIDS facilities. How ironic, but how opportune.

  He had the day to himself, the first time off in over three weeks. Every day and night were filled with cathedral duties and archdiocesan meetings. He knew that business was important, but he worried that he was spending more time on the mechanics of the Church than on its mission. He wanted more direct connection with people who needed help.

  He never forgot that he had taken a vow of obedience. He intended to honor that sacred promise. He carried out the assignments he was given capably and diligently. His superiors were pleased. Maybe too pleased. He kept getting more and more administrative jobs.

  Studying the picture of the beautiful woman on the front page, Father Alec turned his attention from thoughts about his ecclesiastical career to something else that had been bothering him. Joy Wingard. Did she know that Bill Kendall had had AIDS?

  Father Alec hadn’t been sleeping well at all over the last several weeks, tossing and turning and having strange, disturbing dreams. He knew what he was grappling with. His conscience was bothering him. He felt that he was bound to stay out of it, with Bill’s confidentiality at stake. Yet if Joy was HIV-positive, she should know it. Early medical treatment might make a difference. Not to mention the possibility of spreading the infection. Experts said it was seven times less likely for a woman to transmit the virus to a man than vice versa, but it did happen. Haines Wingard could be the next president of the United States. T
he priest closed his eyes, not wanting to contemplate the consequences.

  He had briefly toyed with the idea of writing to her anonymously and suggesting that she get tested. But he decided that was the coward’s way out. It also occurred to him that even letters marked Personal and Confidential might first be opened by the Secret Service. She might never get to see the letter.

  Was God providing this opportunity? It would be easy for Father Alec to show up at St. Michael’s this afternoon. A priest at a Catholic hospital would go virtually unnoticed. Perhaps he could pull her aside and talk to her. He was increasingly sure that he had no other choice. She had to know that she was at risk. It would be wrong not to tell her. He hoped that God and Bill Kendall understood. After all, he rationalized, Bill hadn’t talked about Joy under the seal of confession. Even though the anointing he gave Bill carried with it a forgiveness of sins, Bill had never actually gone to confession to him.

  His mind made up, Father Alec didn’t quite know how he was going to talk to Joy Wingard, but something inside him made him confident that he would be able to complete his mission.

  Chapter 76

  Joy handled herself impressively. She had studied hard about AIDS and it paid off. She fielded questions of the anchorpeople on the morning shows with ease, grace and earnestness. She had been somewhat surprised that no one had raised the Bill Kendall bequest at the first three shows. Then she got to KEY.

  The interview started out routinely enough. Eliza Blake asked her about the status of the fund-raising effort. Joy was proud to report that the American people were being enormously generous. The contributions were flowing in to the AIDS Parade for Dollars Washington post office box.