Innuendo Read Online Free

scene—and this is potentially a big, big story”
    “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
    “Listen, I knew the guy who was murdered. I met him a few times. He was only seventeen.” He paused not only for effect, but to make sure no one else could overhear. “And he was gay, which is why I want to do the report from another scene.”
    There was only an instant of silence. “Let me check this with Craig.”
    Todd was parked on hold while Steve went to confer with the ten o'clock producer. It took all of five seconds.
    “Okay, I'm sending Mark,” said Steve. “He's already on his way out the door.”
    “Great.”
    “Just don't leave until he gets there.”
    “Of course not.”
    That was one thing you never did, leave a site like this unattended, not at least until it was cleared. It might be hours and hours before the police left, but who knew what might happen during that time, and so you sure as hell didn't want to miss any shots. Or worse, leave something for one of the other stations to get.
    “So where are you going?” asked Steve.
    “I knew where this kid used to hang out. I want to get some footage from over there.”
    “Okay, so what do you want to do, a VOSOT?”
    No, thought Todd. A voice-over-sound-on-tape would require that at least part of the sound—say, an interview—would be married to the videotape. But Todd couldn't guarantee that, not with so little time. All that he could hope for was a simple voice-over.
    “No, let's just do a VO.”
    “Sure.”
    Todd hung up, then searched the crowd for Bradley, finally spying him, camera on his shoulder, as he photographed the crowd. Todd wasted no time in working his way over there.
    “You got it all laid down?” he asked.
    “Yep, and then some,” replied Bradley, who was sure to have gotten extra footage. “The cops, the crowd, the real estate—all just like you asked.”
    “Great. Let me take the tape over to the truck. You stay here.” In a low voice, he added, “We got another photographer on the way. As soon as he gets here, we're leaving.”
    “Just say when.”
    “Cover the front door in the meantime.”
    “You bet,” replied Bradley, handing Todd the tape then loading another.
    Todd wound his way through the crowd, a growing group of gawkers who were simultaneously stretching their necks and gossiping in whispers. As he neared the street, he saw that the ENG truck's mast, a towering pole with a microwave dish atop, was already fully raised. Even though they weren't all that terribly far from the Golden Valley station, everything would have to be bounced off their downtown antennae.
    Todd came to the rear of the truck and knocked once. Jeff, the technician, immediately opened the door. A young guy with short red hair and a pasty complexion, he had a mountain of energy, which was usually what it took to get into this business. And last more than a few months.
    “Hey, Todd.”
    “I want you to feed this back to the station right away. We're going to do a VO, so they're going to have to edit it. I want fifteen of cops, ten of real estate, and ten of the crowd.”
    “Sure, thirty-five seconds in all.”
    “Right, and as soon as you've sent that, I want you to pack up and go to this address,” said Todd, taking out a pen and paper and writing it down. “Park across the street so we get full angle. And don't make any big deal about getting out of here either. Just do it as quickly as you can. We'll shoot live from there.”
    “Yep.”
    Todd turned back to the crowd, studied the scene, tried to get the story rolling in his head. Seeing a clump of neighbors gossiping, he thought he should drift over there, see what they were talking about, glean what they might know.
    “Hey, Todd.”
    He turned to see an attractive woman with big blond hair and a big fake smile. She wore a puffy olive parka that made her slim body look all the trimmer, gray pants, and black shoes. Todd bristled immediately.
    “Hi, Cindy.”
    Not so very long ago, during his days