Read Online The Best Laid Plans by Sidney Sheldon - Free Book Online
Authors: Sidney Sheldon
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coffee, Mrs Chambers."
"We're striking!" Friday night, at one minute past midnight, under Joe Riley's direction, the pressmen attacked. They stripped parts from the machines, overturned tables full of equipment, and set two printing presses on fire. A guard who tried to stop them was badly beaten. The pressmen, who had started out merely to disable a few presses, got caught up in the fever of the excitement, and they became more and more destructive. "Let's show the bastards that they can't shove us around!" one of the men cried. "There's no paper without us!"
"We're the Star!"
Cheers went up. The men attacked harder. The pressroom was turning into a shambles.
In the midst of the wild excitement, floodlights suddenly flashed on from the four corners of the room. The men stopped, looking around in bewilderment. Near the doors, television cameras were recording the fiery scene and the destruction. Next to them were reporters from the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Gazette, and several news services, covering the havoc. There were at least a dozen policemen and firemen.
Joe Riley was looking around in shock. How the hell had they all gotten here so fast? As the police started to close in and the firemen turned on their hoses, the answer suddenly came to Riley, and he felt as though someone had kicked him in the stomach. Leslie Chambers had set him up! When these pictures of the destruction the union had caused got out, there would be no sympathy for them. Public opinion would turn against them. The bitch had planned this all along.... The television pictures were aired within the hour, and the radio waves were filled with details of the wanton destruction. News services around the world printed the story, and they all carried the theme of the vicious employees who had turned on the hand that fed them. It was a public relations triumph for the Phoenix Star.
Leslie had prepared well. Earlier, she had secretly sent some of the Star's executives to Kansas to learn how to run the giant presses, and to teach nonunion employees cold-type production. Immediately after the sabotage incident, two other striking unions, the mailers and photoengravers, came to terms with the Star.
With the unions defeated, and the way open to modernize the paper's technology, profits began to soar. Overnight, productivity jumped 20 percent.
The morning after the strike, Amy was fired.
On a late Friday afternoon, two years from the date of their wedding, Henry had a touch of indigestion. By Saturday morning, it had become chest pains, and Leslie called for an ambulance to rush him to the hospital. On Sunday, Henry Chambers passed away.
He left his entire estate to Leslie.
The Monday after the funeral, Craig McAllister came to see Leslie. "I wanted to go over some legal matters with you, but if it's too soon "No," Leslie said. "I'm all right." Henry's death had affected Leslie more than she had expected. He had been a dear, sweet man, and she had used him because she wanted him to help her get revenge against Oliver.
And somehow, in Leslie's mind, Henry's death became another reason to destroy Oliver.
"What do you want to do with the Star'?" McAllister asked. "I don't imagine you'll want to spend your time running it."
"That's exactly what I intend to do. We're going to expand."
Leslie sent for a copy of the Managing Editor, the trade magazine that lists newspaper brokers all over the United States. Leslie selected Dirks, Van Essen and Associates in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
"This is Mrs. Henry Chambers. I'm interested in acquiring another newspaper, and I wondered what might be available...."
It turned out to be the Sun in Hammond, Oregon.
"I'd like you to fly up there and take a look at it," Leslie told McAllister.
Two days later, McAllister telephoned Leslie. "You can forget about the Sun, Mrs. Chambers."
"What's the problem?"
"The problem is that Hammond is a two-newspaper town. The daily circulation of the Sun is fifteen thousand. The
"We're striking!" Friday night, at one minute past midnight, under Joe Riley's direction, the pressmen attacked. They stripped parts from the machines, overturned tables full of equipment, and set two printing presses on fire. A guard who tried to stop them was badly beaten. The pressmen, who had started out merely to disable a few presses, got caught up in the fever of the excitement, and they became more and more destructive. "Let's show the bastards that they can't shove us around!" one of the men cried. "There's no paper without us!"
"We're the Star!"
Cheers went up. The men attacked harder. The pressroom was turning into a shambles.
In the midst of the wild excitement, floodlights suddenly flashed on from the four corners of the room. The men stopped, looking around in bewilderment. Near the doors, television cameras were recording the fiery scene and the destruction. Next to them were reporters from the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix Gazette, and several news services, covering the havoc. There were at least a dozen policemen and firemen.
Joe Riley was looking around in shock. How the hell had they all gotten here so fast? As the police started to close in and the firemen turned on their hoses, the answer suddenly came to Riley, and he felt as though someone had kicked him in the stomach. Leslie Chambers had set him up! When these pictures of the destruction the union had caused got out, there would be no sympathy for them. Public opinion would turn against them. The bitch had planned this all along.... The television pictures were aired within the hour, and the radio waves were filled with details of the wanton destruction. News services around the world printed the story, and they all carried the theme of the vicious employees who had turned on the hand that fed them. It was a public relations triumph for the Phoenix Star.
Leslie had prepared well. Earlier, she had secretly sent some of the Star's executives to Kansas to learn how to run the giant presses, and to teach nonunion employees cold-type production. Immediately after the sabotage incident, two other striking unions, the mailers and photoengravers, came to terms with the Star.
With the unions defeated, and the way open to modernize the paper's technology, profits began to soar. Overnight, productivity jumped 20 percent.
The morning after the strike, Amy was fired.
On a late Friday afternoon, two years from the date of their wedding, Henry had a touch of indigestion. By Saturday morning, it had become chest pains, and Leslie called for an ambulance to rush him to the hospital. On Sunday, Henry Chambers passed away.
He left his entire estate to Leslie.
The Monday after the funeral, Craig McAllister came to see Leslie. "I wanted to go over some legal matters with you, but if it's too soon "No," Leslie said. "I'm all right." Henry's death had affected Leslie more than she had expected. He had been a dear, sweet man, and she had used him because she wanted him to help her get revenge against Oliver.
And somehow, in Leslie's mind, Henry's death became another reason to destroy Oliver.
"What do you want to do with the Star'?" McAllister asked. "I don't imagine you'll want to spend your time running it."
"That's exactly what I intend to do. We're going to expand."
Leslie sent for a copy of the Managing Editor, the trade magazine that lists newspaper brokers all over the United States. Leslie selected Dirks, Van Essen and Associates in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
"This is Mrs. Henry Chambers. I'm interested in acquiring another newspaper, and I wondered what might be available...."
It turned out to be the Sun in Hammond, Oregon.
"I'd like you to fly up there and take a look at it," Leslie told McAllister.
Two days later, McAllister telephoned Leslie. "You can forget about the Sun, Mrs. Chambers."
"What's the problem?"
"The problem is that Hammond is a two-newspaper town. The daily circulation of the Sun is fifteen thousand. The
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