2

One Month Earlier

WOW, THIS GIRL can fuck! the journalism professor thought wistfully as he watched the long-legged, silhouetted brunette pick up her bag and head out his door for the last time. The college professor couldn’t believe his luck that his student had actually lived up to the deal he struck with her four years ago when she entered his classroom.

Lisa Addelson, at twenty-five, was embarking on her move to the beautiful resort area of Palm Springs in Southern California. Palm Springs, known as the playground of presidents and Hollywood stars, was now the city where this ambitious beauty would begin her broadcasting career. Climbing into her convertible Mustang bought by daddy, she was ready for the three-day drive on Interstate 10. The drive would take her through the deserts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and then into California.

The only thing on Lisa’s mind was starting her job as the new reporter for TV3, the ABC affiliate.

Jack Router had hired the Texas beauty based off her looks alone. He really didn’t pay too much attention to her audition reel. Jack had been at the station three years. In the beginning he was the main anchor and news director. Now Jack’s sole responsibility was running the entire news department. He recognized good young talent and could develop them to move on to bigger television markets. Lisa knew this because she had done her homework. Her game plan was simple; put in two strong years for Jack and move on, to Vegas or Tucson, even Phoenix, or maybe San Diego. Jack Router could help get her there if she played her cards right. Lisa knew how to play cards with men in power, as was evident with her journalism professor.

Lisa’s parents were wealthy and able to provide her with a bevy of life experiences. She wasn’t easily fooled. She knew her beauty gave her an advantage and that if she worked it properly, the world would be hers. Her education, training, and watching her father conduct business gave her an edge that few young people had at this stage in life. Lisa was one of the lucky young people entering the workforce equipped with all the tools she needed to succeed.

The three-day drive was uneventful except for the occasional flirting with the truck drivers lucky enough to have Lisa’s convertible pass them. Normally she controlled her flirtatious side, but toying with truckers broke up the boredom of such a long monotonous drive.

She had arranged to share an apartment with Kristen Nesbitt, the morning anchor at the station. Kristen had been in Palm Springs just shy of a year. Jack paired the two together knowing Kristen was looking for a roommate. Normally Lisa wouldn’t take a roommate, but she wanted to do this move on her own, without the financial help of her dad. She appreciated her parents, but she no longer wanted to be daddy’s little girl. This was her time to figure out how to succeed on her own. She exuded confidence.

Pulling up to the Villa Apartments on Country Club Drive, she noticed a lot of emergency vehicle activity. The entry gate was open, so she headed to her new home, apartment 210. As she approached she saw police, fire, and ambulance crews congregated at her building.

Lisa parked her Mustang in the nearest visitor spot and headed to the center of the apartment complex. On the stairs a policeman stopped her to ask her where she was going. Lisa explained that she was going to number 210 to meet her new roommate. The police sergeant let her pass and she found herself standing in the doorway, watching the paramedics work over a bloodied body in the center of the living room.

A second policeman noticed the pretty brunette standing in the doorway. “Can I help you, miss?”

“What happened? Who is the girl?”

“Who are you, please?”

“Oh, I’m Lisa Addelson. I’m supposed to be moving in here with Kristen Nesbitt. Is that Kristen?”

“Are you a relative?”

“No. I just told you. I’m the new roommate.”

“That is Kristen Nesbitt. Does she know you?”

“We’ve never met. I just arrived in town.” Lisa wondered what the hell she had gotten into. “Can I talk to her?”

“John, can she talk to the victim for a minute?” the policeman asked the paramedic.

“Give us a minute. Maybe before we take her to the hospital.” These words weren’t all that comforting to the desert’s newest resident. Kristen was on the stretcher ready to be taken to the ambulance.

“Kristen, I’m Lisa, your new roommate. Is there anyone I can call?” Lisa took Kristen’s hand and squeezed it as if to say, I’m here for you.

“Call Jack Router, the news director. Your keys are on the counter.”

“I’ll call Jack and then meet you at the hospital.”

The paramedics took Kristen down the stairs as carefully as possible. Her face was bruised, but that was all Lisa could see. “What happened?” she asked the policeman at the door.

“We don’t know too much right now. There was a 911 call, and by the time we got here Ms. Nesbitt was on the floor. It looked like she was attacked.”

Lisa located Jack Router’s number in her purse and asked to use the apartment phone. “Mr. Router, this is Lisa, Lisa Addelson.”

“Hi. I didn’t expect to hear from you until this weekend. You get to town already?”

“Yes sir. I’m over at Kristen’s apartment. There’s a problem. Kristen’s been attacked and she’s on her way to the hospital.”

“Lisa, what happened?”

“I’m not sure. I just got here. The police and ambulance people were here working on Kristen. She’s on her way to the hospital.”

“What hospital, Lisa?”

Lisa asked the officer standing near her. “Mr. Router, she’s being taken to Eisenhower Medical Center. I’m going over there as soon as the police are done here.”

“Okay. I’m going over there right now. I’ll see you when you get there.” Jack hung up and out the door he ran. Jack felt like a father figure to a lot of the kids in the newsroom. He felt responsible for them.

The police were at the apartment another twenty or thirty minutes taking pictures and fingerprints. They also interviewed a few of the neighbors to see if there were any eye witnesses. Before the police left they gave Lisa their cards and told her they would be in touch. Lisa grabbed the apartment keys that Kristen had left for her. The police officer gave her directions to the hospital.

Lisa arrived at Eisenhower Medical Center within ten minutes. Jack Router saw her in the hallway. He recognized her from her audition reel. “Lisa, Jack Router. Sorry we’re meeting this way.”

“Does this kind of thing happen a lot?”

Jack was impressed at how in control his newest reporter seemed, especially after such a dramatic welcome. “No, it doesn’t. Tell me what happened. No one here is saying anything.”

“I really don’t know much. The police said they got a 911 call and when they showed up they found Kristen on the floor beaten from an attack. I don’t know anything more than that.”

A doctor from the emergency room approached the two while they were talking. “Are you here with Ms. Nesbitt?” The two nodded.

“She suffered a severe beating. She’s going to be all right, but we’re going to keep her overnight. I’m afraid, though, that she lost the baby.” The doctor obviously didn’t realize that Lisa and Jack were not family. “You’re not going to get to see her right now because she’s resting, and we’ve medicated her. She’ll be able to go home tomorrow.”

The doctor walked off before either one could speak.

“Baby?” Jack said. “Lisa, did you know about a baby?”

“How would I know about any baby? I’ve never met Kristen before today.”

“I thought she might have said something while the two of you were talking the last couple of weeks. Maybe she didn’t know she was pregnant.”

“Do you know if she was seeing someone?” asked Lisa.

“I wasn’t aware of her dating anyone seriously. She was always busy with her career, it seemed. Look, I know you’re new and everything, but you can’t talk about this to anyone. Excuse me for a minute. I need to make a call.”

Jack walked to a private part of the room where he knew no one would hear his conversation. “Dick, its Jack Router. I thought you should know that Kristen Nesbitt was found beaten and she’s in the hospital. I don’t have more details than that right now. I thought you’d want to know.” Jack hung up and returned to Lisa.

“Lisa, are you going to be okay at the apartment tonight? I can arrange for you to stay in a hotel until Kristen gets out of the hospital if you want. In fact, you may not want to stay with Kristen at all after today’s incident.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. I will see you Monday morning. Tomorrow I’ll come back to the hospital and take Kristen home. Does she have any parents or relatives that we should call?”

“No. She is pretty much alone. Her parents are dead and there aren’t any brothers or sisters. As far as I know there isn’t anyone to call. Look, I’m going to call one or two people from the station and have them call you. Maybe someone can show you around the town over the weekend. I’ll have someone contact you later tonight.”

“Mr. Router, you don’t need to do that. I’m okay.” The conversation ended as the two got to the parking lot. Jack left to go back to the station while Lisa got in her Mustang and drove back to her new apartment.

***

“Dugan, I need you to do some checking for me. Kristen Nesbitt is at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. Get ahold of our people there and find out what happened to her. Check with our police friends and see what they can tell you. I want a full report as quickly as possible. Find out if the baby is all right.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Simpson. I’m on it.”

Stewart Simpson owned Madison Broadcasting, and his ABC station in Palm Springs was one of six television stations in the group. Dick called Stewart with the news about his morning show anchor as soon as he had hung up with Jack. The general manager never wanted the owner reading or hearing news about his station, or the people that worked for him, from any source other than him. What Dick didn’t realize was that Stewart Simpson had a lot of people feeding him information. Dick’s was the second call that the station owner received about the morning anchor’s condition.

***

Lisa got back to the apartment and started cleaning up from the altercation. She didn’t own furniture, but she had arranged for Rent-A-Center to deliver a bedroom set the day before she arrived. The two-bedroom apartment had the perfect layout for the two newspeople. The bedrooms were large, and each had a full bathroom.

Nielsen ranked Palm Springs 172 in size out of 210 television markets in the country. And there was a lot of money in the Coachella Valley, where Palm Springs was located. That fit Lisa’s ambition to a tee.

Palm Springs was known as the golf capital of the world, but the city itself had just one public nine-hole golf course and one dilapidated country club. All the growth had gone down-valley to Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells and La Quinta. The desert had the opposite of wealth as well. Four cities made up the part of Palm Springs no one wanted to recognize; Indio and Coachella were on the eastern end of the valley and Desert Hot Springs to the north. Cathedral City, known as Cat City, was located between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage.

It was four o’clock in the afternoon when there was a knock on the apartment door. Lisa didn’t answer right away. She looked through the peephole and asked, “Who is it?”

“Lisa, its Greg Simmons. I’m one of the photographers at the station. I’ve got Terri Randall, one of our reporters with me. Jack Router wanted us to come by and check on you.”

Lisa opened the door and found two very good-looking people standing on the doorstep. Greg was barely thirty, Lisa guessed. He was the top photographer, putting him in charge of all the cameramen. Lisa knew from her journalism professor’s private instruction that having the right cameraman could make all the difference for a reporter. She would want to know Greg very well.

Terri Randal was a tall, long-legged, twenty-nine-year-old brunette beauty who was a dayside reporter at the station.

“I’m Lisa Addelson.”

Greg shook her hand, but Terri quickly turned the handshake into a full-on hug. “Guess you’ve had an exciting day already.”

Lisa smiled.

“Mr. Router wanted us to come over and invite you to join us this evening. We have one of the many Palm Springs charity events to go to and we’ve got an extra ticket. We thought it might be a good way for you to see the community.” Terri’s bubbly enthusiasm was hard to resist. “Come on. Say you’ll join us.”

“When is it?”

“We need to leave in about twenty or thirty minutes. Go ahead and clean up and we’ll get something to drink while we wait for you.” Greg’s comment about Lisa needing to clean up made her question whether or not she could get ready in thirty minutes. She would do her best. Besides, it beat sitting around her new apartment her first night.

“Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready.” Lisa disappeared into her bedroom. It was almost exactly thirty minutes when she came out. Greg and Terri’s jaws pretty much hit the floor when they saw her. Lisa was as pretty as any girl in the desert.

“So, what’s the game plan?”

“Palm Springs is a little different than anywhere you’ve ever been. Tonight, we’re going to a grand opening of our new mall in Palm Desert.” Terri smiled. She knew the idea of going to a “grand opening” of a mall probably sounded extremely small town to Lisa.

“What do you mean the grand opening of the mall?” Lisa asked.

Greg jumped in because he considered himself somewhat of a historian on the Palm Springs market. He might have been trying to impress his new coworker as well. He would find out later just how out of his league she was.

“Ernie Hahn is a major developer and he decided he was going to build the desert a big new mall. He could have put it in Palm Springs, where everyone thought he would put it. Instead he built the mall in Palm Desert. One hundred and thirty-five stores and Palm Springs lost out. Some in the desert think this will be the death of Palm Springs.”

Greg didn’t know how true his words would prove to be. Palm Springs would never recover this retail loss. Not even Sonny Bono would be able to save the city from Mr. Hahn’s choice.

“Fantastic. We’re going shopping. I love it.”

“Not exactly,” Terri stated. “There is no shopping tonight. Only window-shopping because the stores won’t be officially open until tomorrow.”

“Get out of here.” Lisa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Then why even have an opening if we can’t shop?”

“This is the desert. Tonight’s event is a fundraiser. They sold seven thousand tickets for tonight’s opening, at twenty-five dollars each.” Lisa’s eyes widened in wonder as they continued to explain. “This is how things are done here. Big events are put on all the time and usually to benefit local charities. Tonight will be a big one.”

Greg drove one of the station news cars because he was going to shoot some footage tonight. Lisa took it all in as the news vehicle pulled into the Palm Desert Town Center parking lot. The mall had four main anchor stores and each one had valet parking for tonight’s special premiere. Lisa was blown away.

“Valet parking? No shit?” Her choice of words made Greg and Terri laugh.

Terri was pretty, but Lisa was drop dead gorgeous. When Lisa exited the news vehicle, it was to the delight of the valet parking boys, who couldn’t help but notice both ladies’ legs. Greg handed two tickets over as they entered the mall. He wouldn’t need a ticket because he was working press.

Lisa had seen bigger malls with nicer stores but never an opening like this one. Strolling musicians played on both the upper and lower levels. Red and white wine flowed as waiters and waitresses walked up and down the mall with endless glasses to offer the seven thousand guests.

“And no one is shopping,” Lisa said as she took a glass of chardonnay off the tray.

Terri took a glass of red and lifted it to toast the newest employee. “Welcome to your new home.” Greg didn’t have a glass. He took video of the toast to document Lisa’s arrival.

By 8:30, the three new friends had managed to walk both levels at least twice. Terri and Greg arranged to meet some of their station coworkers from the newsroom at Las Casuelas, a very fun Mexican Restaurant and bar in Rancho Mirage. The restaurant had a great outdoor patio, and it was a perfect late June evening for sitting outside. When the three arrived, three others were already waiting at the table.

There was Ron, another photographer. Bob Warren was the other co-anchor on the morning show. He looked to be in his twenties. Another very attractive person, Lisa thought. She was beginning to see a trend for the on-air people in this resort town.

The third person at the table was Andy Nixon, one of the reporters and, it appeared, everyone’s friend. Terri made the introductions, and everyone greeted Lisa with enthusiasm. She had obviously gotten the three gentlemen’s attention.

Margaritas were ordered, and the station stories began. Everyone at the table wanted to know what happened to Kristen. They would soon learn that Lisa wasn’t the typical newsroom gossiper. Anything they learned about Kristen they would have to find out on their own.

Lisa already had her one glass of wine for the night. She was disciplined, and this was something she would take with her through her career. In her mind, it wasn’t worth her career to ever be out of control. She would be the one calling the shots in her life, and that was a truth that was absolute, as far as she was concerned.

Lisa couldn’t wait until Monday when she would report to the station for her first day. The night at the restaurant flew by under the stars over the open patio. Lisa loved hearing the crazy stories from her new coworkers. One of the other surprises for Lisa was the entertainment, provided by legendary Hispanic singer Lalo Guerrero. Lalo called Las Casuelas a second home.

Tonight was a perfect introduction for Lisa. Greg drove back to Lisa’s apartment by way of Frank Sinatra Drive. He wanted to show the valley’s newest resident Sinatra’s home, as well as that of former ambassador Walter Annenberg, who had a huge estate at the corner of Frank Sinatra and Bob Hope Drive. The Annenberg Estate was easily recognizable because of the giant pink wall outlining the property.

Lisa made mental notes, taking it all in. Frank Sinatra was one of her longtime idols, thanks to her mom and dad’s influences. That evening she told herself that she would make it a point to meet Mr. Sinatra and maybe get invited to his home. That was a goal she would reach sooner than even she thought. By the time her head hit the pillow that night, Lisa had a million ideas running through her mind. This was going to be a great place to launch her career and follow in the footsteps of her 1980s news idols, Joan Lunden, Linda Ellerbee, and Jessica Savitch.

***

Lisa got up Saturday morning around nine so she could get over to the hospital to hopefully bring her new roommate home. Kristen was alert and ready to leave when Lisa walked into the private room.

“Kristen, I’m—”

Kristen cut her off.

“I know who you are. You’re Lisa, my new roommate. Come over here and give me a hug.”

Lisa wondered what was with everyone always wanting to give her a hug. Is this a desert thing? She did as she was asked and the two hugged.

“The station must have really good health insurance if you get a private room,” Lisa said.

“I guess. I really don’t know. This is just what they gave me.” Kristen still had some bruising on her face, but Lisa could tell that here was another very striking, beautiful person. She was five foot six, with long blond hair and a face that lit up the room, even if it was bruised and beaten.

The nurse arrived with the wheelchair to take Kristen down to the exit. Lisa had the car ready, and within fifteen minutes the two were walking into their apartment.

“You want to talk about it?” Lisa asked. It was an awkward way to start their new relationship, but Lisa wasn’t afraid to speak about the elephant in the room. “The doctor thought I was part of your family and mentioned that you lost the baby. You should know that Mr. Router also heard that.”

Kristen didn’t react. She got a glass of water and sat on the couch.

“The police came and talked to me this morning. I told them what happened. The guy who did this works for the NBC station. He’s one of their reporters. We dated a few times and when I wouldn’t put out he got mad.”

“So, was he the father of the baby?” Lisa again spoke the words as she thought them. She’d have to work on that.

“No, never. The father was a mistake and he doesn’t know about any baby. And please promise me you’ll never bring it up again. No one needs to know about this. Promise me,” Kristen pleaded.

“Not to worry,” Lisa reassured her roommate.

For the next hour the two sat in the living room talking about the Palm Springs area, the TV station, and living together. Kristen was the morning anchor, which meant she left the apartment around 2:30 in the morning and worked until 11 or so. She would then do her running around and chores and hopefully end up going to bed by 8 or 9 at night. This was the perfect schedule for Lisa because she was scheduled to work from 2:30 in the afternoon till 11:30 every night. Jack knew when he put the two together that they would seldomly run into each other. The perfect scenario for the two roommates.

Lisa spent the day moving into her new place and getting to know her new roomie. Kristen Nesbitt was a Southern California girl who had graduated from USC. She moved to Palm Springs for the morning anchor job at the ABC station. Jack had recruited her much like he did Lisa. Looks were his top priority for hiring, only because he knew that if he hired beautiful women, viewers of the Coachella Valley would follow. He was confident that he could work with almost anyone, training them to be better communicators. Good looks you couldn’t teach.

The Riverside sheriff’s office was the agency in charge of the investigation involving the morning news anchor. They needed to talk to Dave Yaegar, the NBC reporter Kristen named as her assailant. She gave them a vivid description.

Two officers went to the station, but because it was the weekend, there wasn’t anyone there that could help them. It would be Monday before they got around to arresting him.

***

Monday arrived quickly. Lisa woke early in the morning. She was going to the station to meet with Jack Router, her news director and boss. She would spend time in the business office to take care of all her new employee paperwork. She didn’t go on the clock until 2:30, but she wanted to hit the ground running.

The television station was located on a dark side street in Cathedral City and surrounded by auto garages and a few paint shops. Not exactly where she thought a TV station might be. TV3 was in an old building where it had been located for fifteen years. Cars were double and triple-parked in front of the building. So, you want to be in show biz? she thought as she got out of her car.

Lisa entered the building. The downstairs was the studio and the newsroom. Upstairs was sales, the traffic department, the business office, and the general manager’s office. She caused quite a stir just walking into the station. Word had apparently spread about the new girl and how hot she was. Lisa introduced herself to the receptionist and asked for Mr. Router.

Jack emerged in the lobby within minutes to greet his newest employee. Meeting her on Friday at the hospital didn’t seem to make a difference in terms of impact—he was captivated once again. Let’s hope she can read and talk, he thought as he reached out.

“It’s good to see you again. Thank you for taking such great care of our Kristen. How’s she doing?”

“She’s much better and anxious to get back to work.”

“Follow me,” her new boss said.

The newsroom was a small open bullpen with thirteen desks crammed together. There were two file cabinets with each desk. This allowed two people to share the same work space, each with their own cabinet.

There were only a few people working in the newsroom at this time in the morning, but the ones that were there noticed Lisa as she walked through. Once they got to the news director’s office, Jack shut the door. His office sat a few feet above the ground-level newsroom and had two large windows so he could always watch over his news operation.

“Lisa, it’s nice to have you here. We’re excited you are joining our team. I’ll take you up to the business office after we spend a few minutes together. How was your drive out here from Texas?”

“It was a pretty easy drive. It helped that I had great weather the whole way.”

“I got a call last Thursday from your journalism professor, who couldn’t say enough about you. He was very complimentary about your work and he thought you had a great future in this business. I was a little surprised, because I don’t usually hear from the teacher.” Jack watched for any expression that might tell him something about her.

“That was very nice of him to call you on my behalf.” Lisa didn’t tell her new boss that this was part of the deal she made with her professor for having sex with him.

“Lisa, let me tell you some things about the Palm Springs market and this ABC TV station. We’ve been number one in every news program for the past fifteen years. The NBC station across town is a dog of a station, and we literally kick their ass in local news. We don’t want that to ever change. In fact, we want to continue to distance ourselves from them as much as possible.”

Lisa nodded as Jack continued to fill her in on what she already knew through her own homework. Everything he said she knew to be true. Then the lecture began.

“It’s very easy to get caught up in the wrong things in this market.” Jack’s words took her by surprise.

“Mr. Router, what do you mean?”

“This valley has a lot of celebrities who live here, or at least visit. There are events that you will have to cover, and because of the way you look and your position as a reporter, you will be given the opportunity to run in some very fast circles.”

“I understand, sir, but, you won’t have to worry about me.”

“That’s great, and I hope you are right, but I still want to lay out some ground rules as long as you are working for me.”

Jack took the next thirty minutes to list his rules for reporters. He took his time with Lisa to make sure he stressed his most important rules.

“If you get caught taking advantage, in any way, of your position at this station—”

Jack stopped. He could see that Lisa had no idea what he was warning her about.

“Look, the bottom line is that you are going to be offered free dinners or lunches at restaurants. You’re going to be asked if you want free tickets to attend events. You need to understand that to do your job effectively, and be unbiased in your reporting, you can’t accept any freebies. As soon as you take something for free, the perception will be that you owe them something. You would never be able to do a hard story against someone you took favors from. It is that simple.”

“I understand, Mr. Router. You don’t have to worry about me. I get it. No favors from anyone.”

“Okay. Now I’ve got a special assignment for you if you feel up to it. Tom Preston, our main anchor, is working on an investigative piece and he needs someone to go undercover.”

At the word undercover Lisa wondered if she was ready for something like this on her first day. Jack read her thoughts.

“Lisa, there is absolutely no danger in this story. What I mean by going undercover—we just want you to crash a meeting and wear a micro mini camera to record what is going on inside. Do you feel up to doing something like this?”

“What kind of meeting are we talking about, Mr. Router?”

“We think some community people are involved in a Ponzi scheme. A pyramid scheme would be a better name for it. It may not be anything. But because you’re so new, no one is going to know you. And you have the look that will fit right in with this crowd.”

Before hearing another word and without any hesitation, Lisa agreed. “Absolutely, Mr. Router. When and where is the meeting?”

“We will let you know. Tom is waiting on the information. You can’t tell a soul about this. The reason we are asking you is, like I said, because you are so new that no one will know that you are associated with TV3. For you, it’s perfect timing.”

Ten minutes later, Lisa exited the news director’s office. She would be back at 2:30 for her first shift. That was when her professional broadcast career was supposed to begin. But she was about to find out how fast the news business worked.