Jack Cavanaugh - Death Watch

“Clap for Mommy,” Hunz said to Stacy, bouncing her up and down.

Stacy clapped happily.

Skip Hirshberg crossed the floor to Cheryl’s podium. “May I?” he said, placing a hand on her belly before she could respond.

Cheryl smiled, though Sydney could tell she was uncomfortable with the master of ceremony’s presumption.

“You do understand, don’t you, that if you deliver the baby during the next hour, the child automatically becomes the official property of Wonder Wheel!”

Skip flashed an enormous grin, playing to the cameras.

Cheryl forced a smile. Sydney admired her for it. Had she been in Cheryl’s shoes, she probably would have decked him.

“And now, America, let’s play Wonder Wheel!”

Skip Hirshberg returned to his podium, which was but a few steps away. Sydney remembered her reaction the first time she saw the size of an actual news studio in Iowa City. It was much smaller than it looked on television. This set was just as compact.

The three contestants stood in a row behind a podium bearing his or her name and two electronic displays, one for category and another for winnings to date. The three studio contestants faced the master of ceremonies.

Appearing between the contestants and the master of ceremonies on the back wall, suspended by wires against a black backdrop, was the Wonder Wheel—three stationary concentric circles with flashing lights that moved in alternating directions. Beneath the wheel was a display with ten digits for area code, prefix, and four-digit telephone number.

The Wonder Wheel came alive, the outer and inner circles flashing clockwise, the middle circle flashing counterclockwise. It had a mesmerizing effect.

“Round and round she goes!” Skip cried. “Each contestant will get a chance to answer a question and earn big money depending on the alignment of the Wonder Wheel. The outer wheel determines the question value with a number from zero to ninety-nine. The middle wheel determines the category of the question. And the inner wheel determines the difficulty factor, from zero to nine. The question value and difficulty factor are multiplied together to determine the dollar value of each question. The greater the difficulty, the more money a contestant wins for a correct answer!

“The contestant who spins the. highest dollar value goes first. A right answer wins the money. A wrong answer and the dollar amount will be deducted from the contestant’s score, and a call-in contestant will be given a chance to win his money, so get ready, America!

“The Wonder Wheel will select tonight’s area code and prefix. So television viewers, if you see your area code and prefix displayed, be the first person to call and you can win!

“And remember, contestants. This isn’t your grandmother’s game show! Wonder Wheel rewards only the best! It’s winner-take-all. One of you will go home tonight with everything, while two contestants will leave with only the fond memory of having once shared the stage with Skip Hirshberg.”

He paused so the audience could laugh.

“Light up the wheel! It’s time to play Wonder Wheel!”

Applause.

“Contestants! The wheel’s in motion. You have five seconds to lock in your selections!”

The Wonder Wheel theme music began. The colored lights on the three concentric wheels began to accelerate. The studio audience was deafening.

Junior hit his contestant button quickly, locking in his choices. Barb was next. Cheryl stared at the flashing lights. She looked confused. The music was coming to its conclusion.

“Choose quickly, Cheryl,” Skip encouraged her.

Cheryl hit the contestant button on the podium an instant before the computer locked it out.

The results appeared on the contestants’ podiums.

“Barb, you scored the highest dollar value with a question value of eighty-two and a difficulty factor of four for a total of $32,800. The category is Say Ahh, anatomy for amateurs. Do you wish to play or pass?”

Barb Whitlock winced. “Ouch,” she said, which got a laugh. “I never was good at anatomy, Skip. And though it’s hard to pass up that kind of money, I think I’m going to have to pass.”

“Junior, you’re second highest with a question value of fiftysix and a difficulty factor of five for a total of $28,000. Your category is Singing for Your Supper, famous actors in musical theater. Play or pass?”

“Oh, man,” Junior groused. “Musical theater? Now if the category was about supper, I’d have a fighting chance. Pass.”

“Well, Cheryl, that brings it down to you. You scored the lowest total value with a question value of twenty-two and a difficulty factor of three for $6,600. A rookie mistake. The Wonder Wheel favors the bold, Cheryl, but it looks like things may have worked out for you this time. Your category is Rocks of Ages, history set in stone. Will you play, or are we going to give our first caller of the night a chance to win some money?”

Cheryl fidgeted, but only for a moment. “I’m going to play, Skip.”

“Your question is: Which of these presidents does not have his likeness carved in stone on Mt. Rushmore? (a) Thomas Jefferson, (b) Franklin D. Roosevelt, (c) George Washington, (d) Theodore Roosevelt.”

Cheryl didn’t hesitate. She smiled and said, “B. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”

“It looks like the schoolkids of Evanston, Illinois, are in good hands,” Skip shouted. “Franklin D. Roosevelt is correct, and Cheryl McCormick is our first contestant on the Wonder Wheel board tonight with $6,600!”

Amidst the applause, Sydney’s cell phone rang. Studio personnel within earshot looked alarmed, then angry, cocking an ear to locate the intrusive chirping.

“Sorry.” Sydney pulled her phone from her pocket. “Sorry, sorry.” She skulked to the back of the studio, under the unforgiving glare of the floor director, cameramen, and sound technicians. “I’ll turn it off,” she mouthed to them.

She pressed the answer button to stop the ringing but didn’t speak until she was well out of earshot.

Pressing the phone to her ear, she heard, “Syd? Syd? Are you there?”

“Hello?”

“Syd? Josh. We have to talk.”

“Yes, we do,” she said, instantly angry at hearing his voice. She hadn’t forgiven him for selling her out in Helen Gordon’s office. Cori may have been the mastermind behind it, but that didn’t excuse Josh for being part of it.

“Where are you?” he asked.

She told him.

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. I have to talk to you.”

“What? Now? Josh, we can talk in the morning.”

“No. I really need to talk to you now, Syd.”

He sounded strange. Upset. Well, he should be upset, she thought. That makes two of us.

“Promise you won’t leave until I get there,” he said.

Sydney hit the disconnect button, then programmed the phone to silent mode. She really didn’t want to talk to Josh tonight; there was already too much going on with getting Cheryl to the airport and chauffeuring Hunz.

Grateful for pink packing peanuts, Billy Peppers slouched against the side of his four-by-four-by-four wooden traveling compartment. At times the ride was rough, tossing him around as easily as the peanuts. Three times he slammed his head against the top of the crate. Now, pulling the jacket tight around him, he tried to stop shivering. Frozen fingertips clutched an angel figurine.