The Evening News (60 page)

"That won't be my decision, but I'd say it's likely
.”

When the questions ended, Cooper concluded with some thoughts he had
discussed with no one else, but had considered carefully the night
before
.”
As well as looking for the kind of advertised buildings I've described
,
I want you to use the chance, with those three months of newspapers in
front of you, to look at every page and be alert for anything unusual
.”
Don't ask me what that might be because I have no clue myself
"But remember this: Those kidnappers we're trying to track down have been
lurking in this area we reckon for at least a month, probably two. In
that time, no matter how careful they've tried to be, possibly they've
done some small thing which left a trace behind. The other possibility
is that that small thing may somehow have found its way into print
.”

"Sounds pretty chancy
,”
someone said
.
Teddy Cooper nodded agreement
.”
You could say it's a chance in ten
thousand that something happened which got reported, and another
long-shot chance that one of you will find it if it did. So okay, the
odds are against us. But don't forget that someone always wins the
lottery when the odds are a million to one
.”
All I can tell you is think, think, think! Look hard, and look
intelligently. Use your imagination. You were hired because we think you're smart, so prove us right. Yep, search for our first target-the ads for premises-but watch out for that other long shot as you go
.”

At the end of his remarks, to Cooper's considerable surprise, the young
people facing him rose to their feet and applauded.

Earlier that morning, as soon as businesses were open, Harry Partridge
had telephoned his contact, the lawyer with organized crime clients. The
response was less than cordial
.”
Oh, it's you. Well, I told you Friday
I'd do some discreet checking and I've already done that twice with no
result. What I don't need is you climbing on my back
.”

"I'm sorry if I
Partridge began, but the other wasn't listening
.”
What you newshounds never realize is that in something like this, it's
my goddamn head that's on the block. The people I deal with, my clients
,
trust me and I intend to keep it that way. I also know that one thing
they don't give a shit about is other people's problems, including yours
and Crawford Sloane's, however bad you think they are
.”

"I understand that
,”
Partridge protested
.”
But this is a kidnapping and
. .
.”

"Shut up and listen! I told you when we talked, I was sure none of the
people I represent did the kidnapping or were even involved. I'm still
sure. I also conceded that I owe you and would try to find out what I
could. But I have to walk like I'm in a minefield and, second, convince
anyone I talk to that it's to their advantage to help if they know
anything or have heard rumors
.”

"Look, I said I'm sorry if
.
The lawyer pressed on
.”
So it isn't something to be done with a bulldozer
or an express train. Understand
?
”

Inwardly sighing, Partridge said, "I understand
.”

The lawyer's voice moderated
.”
Give me a few more days. And don't call
me; I'll call you
.”

Hanging up, Partridge reflected that while contacts could be useful, you
didn't necessarily have to like them.
Before his arrival at CBA News that morning Partridge had reached a
decision on whether or not to reveal on the National Evening News that
a known Colombian terrorist, Ulises Rodriguez, had been linked
conclusively to the Sloane family kidnap
.
His decision was to withhold the information for the time being
.
Following the session with Cooper's recruits, Partridge sought out
special task force members to inform them. In the group conference room
he found Karl Owens and Iris Everly and explained his reasoning
.”
Look at it this way: Right now Rodriguez represents the only lead we
have and he doesn't know we have it. But if we broadcast what we know
,
chances are strong that Rodriguez himself will hear of it and we'll have
tipped our hand
.”

Owens asked doubtfully, "Does that matter
?
”

"I think it does. Everything points to Rodriguez having been under cover
,
and the effect would be to drive him further under. I don't have to tell
you how much that would lessen our chances of discovering where he
is-and, of course, the Sloanes
.”

..I can see all that
,”
Iris acknowledged, "but do you really think
,
Harry, that a red-hot piece of news like this, already known to at least
a dozen people, is going to stay conveniently under wraps until we're
ready? Don't forget every network, every newspaper, every wire service
has their best people working on this story. I give it twenty-four hours
at most before everybody knows
.”

Rita Abrams and Norman Jaeger had joined them and were listening
.”
You may be proved right
,”
Partridge told Iris, "but I think it's a risk
we have to take
.”

He added, "I hate to sound corny but I think we should
remember once in a while that this news thing we do is not some holy
grail. When reporting endangers life and liberty, news has to take second
place
.”

"I don't want to seem stuffy either
,”
Jaeger put in
.”
But in that, I'm
with Harry
.”

"There's one other thing
,”
Owens said, "and that's the FBI. By
withholding
this from them, we could be in trouble
.”

"I've thought about that
,”
Partridge acknowledged, "and decided to take our
chances. If that bothers any of you, I'll remind you I'm the one
responsible. The thing is, if we te
ll
the FBI, we know from experience
they're as likely as not to discuss it with other news people, then we'll
have blown our exclusive that way
.”

"Coming back to the main issue
,”
Rita said, "there are precedents for what
we'd be doing. I remember one at ABC
.”

Iris prompted, "So tell us
.”

"You recall the TWA hijack-Beirut, 1985
?
”

The others nodded, reminded that during the mid-1980s Rita had worked for
ABC News; also that the hijacking was a terrorist outrage, holding world
attention for two weeks during which a U.S. Navy diver, a passenger aboard
TWA Flight 847, was savagely murdered
.”
Almost from the beginning of that hijack
,”
Rita said, "we knew at ABC that
there were three American servicemen aboard that plane, in civilian
clothes, and we believed we had the information exclusively. The question
was: Should we use it on the air? Well, we never did, believing that if we
did, the hijackers would learn of it and those servicemen would be as good
as dead. In the end the terrorists found out themselves but we always
hoped, because of doing the decent thing, we helped two of those three
survive
.”

"Okay
,”
Iris said, "I suppose I go along. Though if no one's used the story
by tomorrow, I suggest we take another look
.”

"I'll buy that
,”
Owens agreed, and the discussion ended
.
However, because of its importance Partridge decided to share his decision
with Les Chippingham and Chuck Insen
.
The news president, who received Partridge in his paneled office, merely
shrugged when told, and commented, "You're the one making task force
decisions, Harry; if we didn't trust your judgment you wouldn't be there
.
Thanks for telling me, though.,
,
The National Evening News executive producer was in his presiding seat at
the Horseshoe. As he listened, Insen's eyes
b
rightened. At the end he nodded
.”
Interesting, Harry; nice piece of research. When you give it to us, we'll run it top of the show. But not until you say so
.”

Which left Partridge free to resume telephoning and he settled down in
his temporary private office
.
Once more he had his blue book of names and phone numbers, but unlike
last week when his calls were directed mainly at U.S. sources today
Partridge tried to reach contacts in Colombia and the countries
immediately adjoining-Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Panama and Peru-plus
Nicaragua. In all those places, from where he had frequently reported for
CBA News, there were people he knew who had helped him, and for some of
whom he had done return favors
.
Something else different today was having the positive Rodriguez lead
,
which translated into a double-barreled question: Do you know of a
terrorist named Ulises Rodriguez,- if so, have you any idea where he is
or what he's reputed to be doing?
Although Karl Owens had talked on Friday with Latin American contacts
,
as far as Partridge could tell there was no overlapping-a fact not
surprising since producers as well as correspondents cultivated their own
sources and, once they had them, kept them to themselves
.
Today, responses to the first part of the question posed were almost
entirely "yes
”
and to the second portion, "no
.”

Confirming Owens's
earlier report, Rodriguez seemed to have disappeared from sight three
months ago and had not been seen since. An interesting point, though
,
emerged from a conversation with a long
time Colombian friend, a radio
news reporter in Bogot
a
.”
Wherever he is
,”
the broadcaster said, "I'd almost guarantee it isn't
this country. He's a Colombian after all, and even though he stays out
of reach of the law, he's too well known to be in his home territory for
long without word getting around. So my bet is, he's somewhere else
.”

The
conclusion made sense
.
One country Partridge had suspicions about was Nicaragua, where the
Sandinistas, despite an election defeat, were still a strong presence and
continued their long antagonism to the United States. Could they be
involved in some way with the
kidnapping, hoping to gain from it an advantage yet to be di
sclosed? The question didn't m
ake a lot of sense, but neither did much else. However, a half-dozen calls to the capital, Managua, produced a consensus that Ulises Rodriguez was not in Nicaragua, nor had he been there
.
Then there was Peru. Partridge made several calls to that country and one
conversation in particular left him wondering
.
He had spoken with another old acquaintance, Manuel Le6n Seminario
,
owner-editor of the weekly magazine Escena, published in Lima
.
After Partridge announced his name, Serninario had come on the line at
once. His greeting was in impeccable English and Partridge could picture
him-slight and dapper, fashionably and fastidiously dressed
.”
Well, well
,
my dear Harry. How excellent to hear from you! And where are you? In
Lima, I hope
.”