Chapter 14

Dave Page was at his desk going through the tips that were continuing to come in suggesting people and things to investigate. There were an equal number of requests for dates that were also being sent in. Several of these requests had pictures attached of good-looking women. He wondered if the picture attachment was in fact of the woman who submitted the request for a date.

Answering his phone, Dave heard Dan Fagan’s executive assistant say that Dan wanted to see him in his office.

Walking into Dan’s office he saw Dan and Burt Radisson sitting there along with an attractive lady.

“Dave, I want you to meet Jill Douglas. She is a VP of the largest advertising agency in Austin. She stopped by to drop off some promos for that upcoming fundraiser to support the camp for disadvantaged kids. She says she has been watching your segments on the news and thinks you are hitting home runs,” said Dan.

Dave walked up to Jill and shook her extended hand saying it was nice meeting her.

As Dave was taking a seat, he heard Jill say, “I do enjoy your segments, and I just had to meet you. Can you tell me what the next story you are working on?”

“It’s just in the investigative stage now but I am glad you are here since I was going to phone you. I wanted to ask you about advertising agencies that are avoiding paying taxes by underreporting the advertising fees they are receiving from their clients.”

His remark caused an immediate silence in the room and a shocked look on all the faces.

After a few seconds had passed Dave said, “Relax, I am only joking. I am now going through the tips to see if there is anything there worth investigating.

Jill, seeming to be a little relieved said, “I will say you are quick on your feet with the remarks you make.”

There was more talk of a general nature of how things were going before Dave excused himself and left Dan’s office. He couldn’t help but have some thoughts about Jill. She had a style and there was a classiness to her that intrigued him. She had to be intelligent because of her VP position. He chuckled to himself thinking she would be a good date along with how he would like to see the date end with them being in bed.

Burt Radisson could see that Jill Douglas had an attraction to Dave by how Burt interpreted her body language. He would admit that Dave looked better in person than he did on television and that was saying a lot. It would be nice if Burt had Dave’s looks but he didn’t. Bedding someone like Jill Douglas would be a dream come true for Burt. He, however, was a realist and faced the fact that something like that would never happen. He was content and maybe in a way lucky that he had someone like Tessa. She was a good fit for him and he wouldn’t want to lose her. Maybe he should pop the big question to her was something he would be giving more thought to doing.

Dan Fagan also noticed the effect Dave Page had on women. For sure, hiring Dave to attract women viewers was a good move and it should show up in the ratings. Dave’s good looks were a gift and at times possibly a curse, thought Dan. He wondered if Dave would like to be an average-looking and not have these women chasing him. Laughing to himself, he thought you needed to take the good with the bad and he wouldn’t mind having Dave’s exceptional good looks.

Back at his desk, Dave read a tip that contained specific information about the environmentalists who were going to Dubai to attend a conference on global warming. This tip was very specific as to the number of private planes and the large carbon footprint that was going to be put into the atmosphere by these alleged environmentalists. This tip suggested that if these people were so concerned about the atmosphere, they should be doing this conference virtually and setting an example.

In thinking about what he had just read, Dave thought that other than people saying they are, there were very few true environmentalists existing in the world. To him, that would be someone who doesn’t fly, drive or ride in vehicles, doesn’t use electricity, and doesn’t have or use any product that contains plastic. There were only a few true environmentalists as most everyone are doing these things or using these products which are the result of activities that affect the environment.

Dave did consider doing a report on this environmental meeting but concluded this was something that was more in Paul Connors’s bailiwick than Dave’s. He would pass this tip on to Paul for his consideration.

There was a tip that caught Dave’s attention. This was a tip on a State Senator that said he had fabricated his background. Dave in googling this Senator found his bio on the web. Listed were his service in the Army along with the medals he was awarded and the degrees he received from two universities. Dave still had some friends in the service that could check this Senator’s DD214 record that would indicate the Army service and medals awarded. Phone calls to the universities should confirm the degrees. He picked up the phone and started making calls.

After a week had gone by it turned out that this tip was in the money. While this Senator was in the service, he held the rank of corporal and was never a major. He also was never deployed to Iraq. There were no medals awarded to him. One university acknowledged his attendance but said they never awarded him a degree. The other university said he never attended.

Having compiled this information, he gave a call to the Senator’s office to make an appointment to speak with him. Dave’s name must have caused whoever answered his call to recognize Dave and what he did. Dave’s call was put through immediately to the Senator.

“What is it that you want to talk to me about,” asked the Senator.

“It’s just an interview I want to do with you, as I have several questions that I want to ask you.”

“I think I know the questions you want to ask and I am not about to go on camera and comment on them. I would ask you to look further into what I have done and how well I am representing my constituents. I think you will find that I am doing an excellent job in doing that,” and he ended the call.

Reading the few stories that were posted on the internet, Dave had to acknowledge that it seemed the Senator had been doing a good job, but if he lied about his background, what else had he been lying about? Dave discussed this with Burt who said despite what the Senator said, this was news, and the voters needed to know the truth about the Senator.

Dave did a segment on the news about the Senator’s bio and what his investigation found. That resulted in the Senator resigning his position saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. It also resulted in Dave receiving some email threats. The threats concerned him and reminded him to continue to do his “packing,”