Prophet (80 page)

AT THE HUMAN
Life Services Center, Marilyn Westfall set a small portable television on the corner of her desk. She usually went home at 5 o’clock, but if she did this time, she might miss the story while she was out on the road driving, so she’d stick around the Center a little longer, along with her volunteers.

4:50 P.M.

John slipped into his suit jacket and walked around the plywood backdrop and onto the news set just as he had done so many times before. Ali Downs was already there, putting in her earpiece and concealing the cord behind her back and under her jacket. Bing Dingham the sports announcer was ready at his post and fidgeting a little. Hal Rosen was in his place on the right end of the news desk, his hands folded in front of him, ready for a friendly chat.

In the control room Susan the director sat at the console in front of the wall of monitors, paging through the script with Rush Torrance and Tina Lewis as the syndicated controversial talk show babbled quietly from the On Air monitor.

“So we open with 130, job cutbacks at Benson Dynamics . . .” said Susan.

“And 140’s out,” said Rush.

“140, Car Wash . . .” She chuckled. “Too bad. I liked that one. But okay, where’s Wendell?” She glanced up at one of the black-and-white monitors near the ceiling and saw Wendell Southcott standing in front of the main office of Benson Dynamics, waiting to do his live feed, the camera capturing the company logo on the building over his shoulder.

“Okay, he’s ready.” Susan turned to the console and started setting up the cameras on the set below. “Okay, coming up on the teaser, Camera Two, four-shot, Camera One on Bing, Camera Three on Hal. Stand by.”

RACHEL FRANKLIN GOT
off work at 4 and made it home in time to flip on the television. John Barrett was going to do a story on the whole
Annie Brewer thing? Well, that remained to be seen.

SHANNON DUPLIESE, NOW
back home, sat on the couch with her mother, just waiting for the news to come on. Her father stood behind them, his hand on his wife’s shoulder. Ever since Shannon decided to withdraw from Midwestern and return the scholarship, she and her parents had been talking—really working it through. Of course they had to deal with pain, bewilderment, and disappointment, but there were no longer any secrets.

So far two things were certain in the DuPliese home: Shannon had done the right thing in coming home and opening up about everything, and as for Hiram Slater . . . well, he would have some explaining to do to a family that had once trusted him.

4:56 P.M.

Time for the before-show teaser, right on the tail end of the syndicated controversial talk show.

Rush counted down, “Four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .”

“Up . . .” said Susan, “and . . . cue. Stand by cassette.” The On Air monitor in front of Susan showed Hal, John, Ali, and Bing sitting happily at the news desk, all looking at Camera Two as busy theme music played in the background.

John read the script mirrored over the lens of Camera Two. “Good evening, coming up on NewsSix at Five O’clock . . .”

“Roll cassette,” said Susan.

Video: The main office building of Benson Dynamics. Workers leaving one of Benson’s factories. Big airplanes under construction in a hangar.

John’s voice over the video: “A big cutback in orders could mean a big cutback in jobs at Benson Dynamics.”

Wipe to video: Cops coming out of a small house in a low-rent district. Yellow plastic tape stretched around the house. Flashing red and blue lights. Bags and bags of white powder.

Ali Down’s voice over the video: “Police who thought they were breaking up a local crack house found more than they bargained for . . .”

Wipe to video: Some shots of a red pickup truck, upside-down and mangled.

John’s voice over the video: “And a high-speed chase ends in a spectacular and fatal crash.”

Camera Two, all four.

John intro’d Hal Rosen. “And a cooler but cleaner Tuesday?”

Camera Three, head-on to Hal.

Hal looked chatty enough as he said, “Nice air, clear skies, lower temperatures, beautiful colors, and maybe a touch of rain. Not bad for fall. I’ll tell you all about it.”

Camera Two, showing all four.

Ali intro’d Bing Dingham. “And fall is bringing out the colors on the football field as well . . .”

Camera One, head-on to Bing.

Bing was excited and bubbly. “The Tigers bring home a big win against the Cutters, and second-string quarterback Jeff Bailey played a first-string game. We’ll have highlights.”

Back to Camera Two on all four of them.

John faced Camera Two and closed the teaser. “All that and more coming up on NewsSix at Five, your Premier News Source.”

Commercial. They were off the air.

Hal and Bing took out their earpieces and left the news desk until it was their time to be on again.

John paged through his script, making little marks here and there to remind him, warn him, cue him. Strange how quiet it was on the news set tonight. Normally things were a little more chatty between the techs and the talent.

John found the Slater Cover-up Story, still safe and sound in section five, Number 540. Any minute he expected to hear Rush in his earpiece saying the story was bumped, but so far so good.

MARILYN WESTFALL WAS
ready, as were two volunteers from the center, a young mother and a grandmother, seated next to her.

But a special guest joining them for the occasion was Cindy Danforth, who’d found a comfortable perch on the arm of one of the chairs.

“Two minutes?” asked the grandmother.

“That’s all,” said Mrs. Westfall.

“Don’t blink, anybody,” said Cindy.

MAX, DEANNE, AND
all three kids were seated in front of the television again, and this time all of them were nervous about it, remembering the ill feelings that had resulted from the last time Deanne had been on TV.

“Are you gonna be on this time, Mommy?” asked young George.

“I don’t know, honey. We’ll just have to see.”

“I’m not gettin’ my hopes up,” Max said quietly.

4:58 P.M.

Susan the director set things up for the Five O’clock. “Camera Two, two-shot of John and Ali. Camera Three, head-on to John—we’ll pan for a Benson box . . . I thought I saw one in there, I don’t know that for sure. Graphics, do you have a Benson box? Cassette One is 130, Benson Cutbacks . . . Camera One, you’ll be shooting the two-shot for the DVE box to John and Ali’s left. Uh . . . no, we’re yanking the Car Wash. Yank 140. 140 is out.”

John and Ali pulled the car wash story from their scripts. John would be opening with the first story on the Benson Dynamics cutbacks, and they would be talking to Wendell Southcott as he appeared in the false frame at the left end of the news desk.

As Rush and Susan chattered away, working against the clock, Tina Lewis stood silently against the back wall of the control room, watching with an intense, brooding interest, a script in her hand.

“Okay,” said Rush, “ten seconds.”

“Here we go, everybody,” said Susan.

“Here we go,” John told the Lord, his eyes closed for a one-second prayer.

“Five . . . four . . .”

“Roll cassette.”

On the Preview Monitor, the Opening Cassette showed the numerals counting down as Rush counted out loud, “Three . . . two . . . one . . .”