Whirlwind

18

Dallas, Texas

“They’re complete strangers. I never saw them before in my life, but the woman seemed kind of forward, kind of infatuated with Caleb… Then we saw them in the center, I mean they were just there in all the craziness…”

Kate pressed the pause button, stopping the interview she’d recorded at the shelter earlier that morning with Jenna Cooper. Her fingers raced over the keyboard as she transcribed quotes for her story.

It was 2:45 p.m. and Kate needed to finish writing before starting her night shift at the bureau, per Dorothea’s instructions. The thought of it made her angry, but Kate had pushed all the crap over the Mandy Lee incident aside and concentrated on Jenna Cooper’s tragedy.

Reviewing the circumstances, she considered the little more she’d learned about the helpful mystery couple, their demeanor, appearance and actions. Kate also considered the general points listed about a missing-persons investigation noted in the brochure from the Missing Person Emergency Search System that Frank Rivera had given her. And she drew on her own experience as a seasoned crime reporter. These facets had fed her growing belief that there might be more to Caleb Cooper’s disappearance than first thought.

What if these people had kidnapped the baby? Or maybe they were disoriented and wandered off? It was all just a little strange.

Kate removed her earbuds and went to Dorothea’s office. The editor stood at her desk.

“There you are. Good,” Dorothea said. “Here’s a list of what I want. Tommy’s working on it, too.”

Kate scanned the items on the page Dorothea gave her, all information, data and stats on tornadoes.

“Graphics? You want me to gather content for graphics?”

“Our subscribers around the world can’t get enough. And once Chuck gets in, we’ll talk about what happened this morning and our concerns.”

“You mean with Mandy?” Kate glanced around the newsroom, saw Tommy Koop, the news assistant, looking at a wall map, pretending not to hear them, but didn’t see Mandy. “Will she be there, too?”

“No. She’s still out on assignment. I’ve already spoken to her.”

“Okay. I have a strong follow-up story coming on Jenna Cooper, the woman still searching for her baby. The possibility of a kidnapping has not been ruled out.”

One of Dorothea’s arching eyebrows arched higher. “Kidnapping? Do you have police on the record saying this?”

“No, not yet. No one’s really investigating a criminal case. At this stage the baby is considered missing in the storm, like so many other storm victims.”

“Well, we already have a lot of heartbreaking stories coming in. Your focus is graphics.”

Kate looked at the sheet and the requirements for a breakdown of the ten biggest tornadoes in U.S. history by death toll, property damage, tracked path and total financial burden. She couldn’t believe she was being tasked to do this kind of junior-level work. She went to the kitchen and fixed herself a large mug of strong coffee. Returning, she saw Dorothea in Chuck’s office doorway, waving for her to enter.

Chuck was standing at his desk, cell phone to his ear, finishing a conversation concerning upcoming visits to the damaged areas by the Governor and the President. Dorothea was sitting on the corner of his desk, her arms folded, pen twirling in the fingers of one hand.

“All right,” Chuck exhaled. “What’s this again, Dorothea? You had concerns about Kate?”

“Kate went to the flea market site and a shelter this morning without telling us and began reporting.”

“Yes, so?”

“It’s unfair to the other candidates.”

“Unfair, how? It shows initiative. The others are free to show it, if they choose.”

“There’s also an aspect of insubordination. I gave Kate explicit instructions that her shift was to start at three in the bureau and she disobeyed.”

Chuck glanced at the time.

“It’s three now and she’s here. Is there another issue, Dorothea? Because we both know Kate’s worked in newsrooms across the country. We can trust she knows what she’s doing.”

“There’s also the issue of liability, her working when not assigned might void insurance coverage for employees, or temporary ones in her case.”

“Not really. News is a 24/7 job, and if a UFO landed at two in the morning we’d expect staff to work without being assigned. She’d be covered. So long as she is not misrepresenting the company in an unlawful or unethical way. Did she do that?”

“No.” Dorothea grudgingly acknowledged the fact. “I wanted to raise these matters to ensure the fairness and safety of the candidacy competition for our reporter position.”

“I agree it must be fair.” Chuck’s phone rang and he answered. “I’ll call you right back.” Then to Dorothea he said, “So what have we got Kate doing this evening?”

“She’s helping Tommy collect content for graphics.”

“Did you call Burt or Sabrina at the J-schools and get students in here to help with that? We need our reporters reporting. We’re going full tilt on the search-and-rescue efforts, recovery efforts, the financial toll, the VIP visits and finding the best human-interest stories. New York’s demanding everything. Kate, did you find any news when you were out this morning?”

“I have a follow on the mother who lost her baby boy in the storm.”

“I like that story. The picture you got before was great. Did we get a new photo?”

“Yes.”

“Write it up now, and starting tomorrow I want you to follow it through to the end, until this young mother finds her baby. What are the chances this baby was abducted?”

“That’s been raised, but nothing’s surfaced to warrant a criminal investigation.”

Chuck shook his head slowly. “Still a terrible story, because if he’s dead, sadly, we have another tragedy reflecting the toll exacted by the storm. If there’s a miracle and he’s found alive, we have a huge story of hope. And we all know that people prefer the latter.”

“I want your story in an hour,” Dorothea said, then left, walking the walk of someone defeated, for now.

Kate returned to her desk, her head spinning with wonder at what had transpired. Why had she been present for what was clearly a knock-down, drag-out battle between her two supervisors? Relieved by the outcome, she struggled to get back into her notes and the flow of the draft she had going on Jenna Cooper.

“Excuse me, Kate.” Tommy Koop stood at her desk.

“Yes?”

He lowered his voice. “I just heard that you’re not helping me with graphics, and that’s cool. I thought it was weird that you were. But anyway, the night crew is ordering pizza tonight-are you in?”

“That would be great, thanks.” She glanced around, thinking. “Tommy, wait. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What’s the deal between Dorothea and Chuck?”

“You don’t know?”

Kate shook her head.

Tommy leaned closer and almost whispered. “They hate each other. They fight a lot in front of everyone. Dorothea’s out to get Chuck’s job as bureau chief. By the way, Dorothea and Mandy Lee are BFFs and some of the reporters say that Dorothea’s trying to make sure Mandy gets the job so she can start building her empire here. They say she has her eye on Washington.”

Kate nodded slowly, all the pieces coming together.

“And something’s up with Chuck,” Tommy continued. “There’s a rumor that he’s got some kind of big personal crisis going on. No one really knows what it is, but Dorothea might be exploiting it to get his job.”

“Wow, quite a soap opera. I like Chuck… He’s a good editor.”

“Everybody likes him. I’ll come back to get your order and cash later.”

Now that she’d been enlightened, Kate turned back to her work, somewhat relieved to know that, like most newsrooms where she’d worked, this bureau was a viper pit.

She flipped slowly through her handwritten notes on Jenna Cooper and went back to Frank Rivera’s brochure, noticing the point she’d circled on the investigator’s checklist: “Always ask people close to a case what they think happened.”

Again, Kate went back to the asterisks in her notebook concerning the helpful mystery couple who had so far, to Kate’s knowledge, not been found. Helpful. Kate considered the word and her notes. The woman seemed infatuated with Caleb… Then they were just there in all the craziness…

Kate recalled a story she’d done in San Francisco about a newlywed couple who went hiking in the Rockies. The bride had fallen to her death. Kate had reached a retired Ranger who shared the investigator’s manual concerning fatal wilderness accidents: “First, always assume criminal intent,” it said, something that had stayed with Kate. Grizzled detectives often told her that things are not always what they seem to be at first. It turned out the groom had pushed his bride during an argument about her former lover.

Again, the words in Kate’s notebook almost cried out to her.

Infatuated with Caleb… Then they were just there…