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http://today.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=7956727
CHAPTER FOUR
Lisa needed to think. She knew something bad had happened to Karl and wondered who might have something to do with it. She had to track him down. Drawing on her experience on secondment to LAPDs robbery and homicide unit she called the manufacturers of Karl’s Rolls Royce, knowing they would have a tracking device on it. One minute later, she’d got a trace on the car. It had been abandoned by Circular Quay. Meanwhile Cam and Georgie were on the set, taking her and Karl’s position and clearly enjoying themselves. Could they have been behind Karl’s disappearance?
She grabbed her coat and hurried out the door, wondering when she was going to be back.
CHAPTER FIVE
Karl struggled desperately in his bonds using all the de-knotting skills he’d learned in the boy scouts as he was slowly lowered inch by inch towards the gaping jaws of the crocs.
One croc leaped from the water, razor-sharp teeth snapping and Karl had to yank his legs up gymnast-style to avoid being taken.
At the same time the knot suddenly came free, and he bounced off a set of croc jaws, and then using all the skills he’d picked up in the Moscow Ballet, he danced across the jaws of the other crocs before swan-diving into the water, swimming through the trapdoor and out the other side. He could hear the crocs coming in behind him, only inches from his feet, and his lungs were bursting, but still he kept going, knowing he was swimming for his life, and in one rapid movement he grabbed the side of the pool and leapt out.
He was in a room with high ceilings and no doors, and a single window twenty feet up. He was going to have to get up there somehow, and fast, because one of the crocs had climbed out behind him.
But as he ran over to the wall, he smelled something strange. He looked around. Thin plumes of smoke were pouring out of the air vents.
Oh no! Poison gas!
He might have got out of the pool, but he wasn’t out of the water yet!
CHAPTER SIX
The sun was rising as Lisa stood on Circular Quay- seen of many a great night out over the years- looking at Karl’s abandoned Rolls Royce. Karl himself was nowhere to be seen. This was bad.
Then she noticed a security camera up on an adjoining building. It was pointing down towards the car.
Immediately, she had an idea.
She rang on the building’s door and it was answered almost immediately by an elderly night watchman. ‘Lisa Wilkinson,’ he said, surprised. ‘Why aren’t you entertaining generations of Australians on the Today programme?’
‘Karl’s missing,’ said Lisa grimly, knowing she needed all the help she could get. ‘And right now you’re my only hope. I need to see footage from that video camera,’ she added, pointing up towards it. Do you keep the tapes?’
A minute later, they were in the watchman’s office watching footage of a powerfully-looking man in a mask carrying the prone body of Karl out of the car before slinging him roughly into the back of a white van.
Lisa gasped, noticing that the man’s right arm hung loose by his side. So, Georgie wasn’t the culprit then. But that still left plenty of suspects. She checked the time on the security footage. 5.05 am. That gave her a clue.
It was time to get back to the studio.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Karl ran for the wall, the croc in hot pursuit, and then using all the skills he’d gained in his days as a professional rock climber, he grabbed his trusty swiss army knife from his pocket, flicked open the blade, and taking the wall at a running jump, he shoved the knife into the wall, using it to propel himself upwards, propped a foot on the handle, finding it hard to breathe now as he made a final jump, got hands to the window sill and somehow managed to crouch up on it.
Damn! The window was locked.
Using his experience gained years ago as a trainee fireman, he used his elbow to punch a hole in the glass, then another, then another, until half the window was gone. He breathed in fresh Sydney air, choking on the gas, then leaped through the hole he’d made, not knowing what was below him.
It was a fifty foot drop to the dark, foreboding waters of Sydney harbour, but making use of his experience as a school junior freestyle diving champion, Karl did three mid air somersaults before striking the water in a perfect swan dive, leaving hardly a ripple.
He surfaced, taking a deep breath and looking around for help.
Which was when he saw the fin gliding through the water towards him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
While Cam and Georgie whooped it up on the Today set on the screen above her head, Lisa checked the times that each person had arrived at the studio. She knew that even driving fast, it was ten minutes to the studio, so anyone arriving before 5.15 was automatically exonerated from involvement in Karl’s kidnapping.
Cam had arrived at 5 on the dot. Early for him. He liked to cut it fine. That made him innocent.
She already knew about Georgie, who’d also arrived at 5. Hmmm, that was interesting, but not something she could dwell on now.
She checked Richard Wilkins on the computer screen. He was 5.10. That exonerated him.
And Steve had arrived at 3.30, but then that was typical of him. He was a well-known insomniac who hadn’t had a good night’s kip in years.
Which meant they were all innocent.
Something wasn’t adding up.
And then suddenly Lisa remembered something from earlier. Something that filled her with shock and fear!
She had to act fast.
CHAPTER NINE
The shark bore down fast on Karl as he swam rapidly through the choppy harbour waters, the bridge and the Opera House looming up in the distance. Karl swung round to face the beast as it lurched out of the water towards him, mouth opened wide, its flinty black eyes seeming to stare him out.
Karl moved fast. Feigning to one side, he grabbed the shark round the body, and then using the experience he’d gained as a high school wrestling champion, he struggled with the five metre fish before flipping himself round so that he was sitting astride its back and clinging to its dorsal fin.
The shark thrashed angrily but couldn’t shake him off, and together they hurtled across the bay.
Karl didn’t know for how much longer he could hold on. Wet, exhausted and in pain, he was fading fast.
And then he saw it- approaching fast in the distance- a police boat! Thank God!
He yelled out, trying to wave and almost falling off the thrashing shark in the process, and then just as the beast flicked its huge tail, and knocked him flying, the police boat spotted him, changed direction, and bore down on him.
Karl flew through the air, narrowly missing the shark’s jaws, and landed slap bang in the middle of the boat.
‘Karl Stefanovic!’ cried one of the startled cops. ‘Why aren’t you at the helm of Australia’s favourite TV programme, the Today Show, knocking them dead with your stunning wit and repartee?’
‘I need to get back there fast, guys,’ gasped Karl, knowing that he didn’t have time to tell the cops his story. ‘It’s important.’
‘No problem,’ said the cop. ‘We’ll call in one of our helicopters. Because you’re worth it.’
Two minutes later and Karl was back at the channel 9 studio. He rushed into the building, fighting off his exhaustion, and then saw a friendly familiar face.
‘Karl, what’s happened?’ asked Rowdy the floor manager.
‘It’s a long story,’ Karl answered. ‘Just get me to the studio. I’ve got a show to co-present.’
Together they ran down the hall, and Rowdy flipped open a door. ‘Pop in here and I’ll get you some dry clothes,’ he said. ‘We can’t have you presenting like that. You’ll catch a nasty cold.’
‘Thanks Rowdy,’ said Karl appreciatively, thinking what a nice man Rowdy was.
In fact, he was thinking that right up until the moment, Rowdy came in behind him and closed the door, before producing a wicked looking Colt .45 revolver with silencer attached.
CHAPTER TEN
‘Rowdy, what are you doing?’ demanded Karl, exasperated, as he stared at the gun.
Rowdy regarded him almost sadly. ‘I’m sorry, Karl. Its nothing personal. It’s just business. ‘Now put your hands up and turn round very slowly.’
That was when Karl saw that Rowdy’s arm hung loosely by his side where Karl had hit him earlier in the car. ‘So it was you! How could you, Rowdy, you traitor.’
‘It was for the money, ‘came a voice from outside the door, and as it opened, they could see it belonged to Lisa.
Rowdy frowned but before he could react, Lisa unleashed a stunning karate kick that took the treacherous floor manager’s legs from under him. His gun flew across the floor and Karl picked it up, feeling its heaviness in his hand.
‘Hands up, Rowdy,’ demanded Karl.
Rowdy did what he was told, regarding them sadly.
‘I knew it couldn’t be one of the team who kidnapped you, Karl, ‘ said Lisa, ‘because they all had alibis. But I saw footage of the man who did it, and he had Rowdy’s build, plus he’d hurt his arm. Then I saw that Rowdy had hurt his arm too when he came in the studio, and I put 2 and 2 together.’
Karl smiled. He knew he could rely on his glamorous co-host. They’d been through a lot together. ‘Thanks, Lisa,’ he said, fighting back the tears that stung his eyes.
‘That’s okay,’ she replied. ‘I also worked out that whoever kidnapped you wanted to be your replacement.’
Karl frowned ‘But Rowdy would never replace me. He’s too handsome for TV, and the floor would be chaos without him.’
‘I know,’ continued Lisa. ‘So he was doing it on behalf of someone else. Who are you working for, Rowdy?’
‘He was working for me,’ said a voice from the doorway.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Richard Reid, Today’s flamboyant Hollywood-based gossip reporter, stood there, gun in hand and pointed it at Lisa’s head. ‘Drop your weapon, Karl,’ he said, ‘or your co-host gets a ventilated head.’
Karl had no choice. He dropped the Colt to the floor.
‘Richard, my old friend,’ said a shocked Karl. ‘How could you do it?’
‘I’m no friend of yours, Karl. Frankly you sicken me. You swan round on the set when I could do your job far better.’
‘But you’re based in Hollywood.’
‘Yeah, but I’m a true blue Ozzie at heart. I want Manly Beach, not Venice Beach. I want to be home. And I want this job. And I’m going to do everything I need to, go get it.’
‘Including murder?’
‘I’m sorry, Karl, Lisa, but I’ve got no choice. You’re in the way. That’s all there is to it.’
‘Not so fast,’ said Lisa. ‘I think you’ve underestimated us. Look up at the camera on the wall.’ She pointed up to where a security camera was filming them. ‘You’ve made a big mistake, Richard. You’re currently live on air.’
Richard looked up in shock. ‘What?’
‘It’s all over, Richard,’ said Lisa. ‘Your brutal plan’s been foiled.’ A second later, the cops were in the room, and Richard was having his hands cuffed behind his back.
He growled angrily at Karl and Lisa as he was led away, but said nothing.
It was time to put Plan B into action.
THE END
Best selling crime writer Simon Kernick was the studio this morning writing a thriller based on TODAY in just over two hours…Here is how the story evolved throughout the morning…
http://today.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=7956727.
CHAPTER ONE
The moment Karl climbed into his car that Monday morning, he knew something wrong. It was a sixth sense he’d honed during his years in Special Forces, and a brief half-glance in the mirror revealed the shadowy, masked figure looming up in the back seat. Karl was usually fast- lightning fast- but he’d had a late night watching his cherished Prisoner Cell Block H DVD box set, and the tiredness cost him a valuable second. He twisted in his seat and launched a lethal left hook, but the figure dodged it, and Karl only caught him on his upper arm. The assailant yelped in pain but managed to shove out his good arm and caught Karl in the shoulder with a hypodermic needle.
Karl felt dizziness overcome him, but summoning his reserves of strength, he yanked off his assailant’s mask.
‘You,’ he gasped.
And then everything went black.
CHAPTER TWO
Lisa paced the floor of the studio. Where the hell was Karl? They were on in less than five minutes and there was no sign of him.
At that moment, the rest of the team came into the studio led by Rowdy.
‘Crikey, where is he?’ demanded the usually unflappable floor manager.
‘I don’t know,’ Lisa admitted. ‘I was going to ask the same question. It’s not like him to go missing.’
‘We need a replacement fast,’ said Rowdy.
‘I can do it,’ said Steve the weatherman. ‘I’ve already predicted the weather for today. It’s going to be 24 degrees and sunny, with just a small chance of precipitation coming from the west.’
‘I think it should be me, said dashing Richard Wilkins, the equally charismatic entertainments editor. I’ve got that elusive X factor.
‘If anyone’s got the X factor, it’s me, purred Georgie Gardner, Today’s glamorous and enigmatic newsreader.
‘And if anyone’s got the experience, it’s me, said Cam, the rugged, powerfully built sports editor. If we don’t want this ship to sink then we’re going to need a steady dependable hand on the wheel. I am that hand.
Lisa looked at them each in turn, suddenly seeing them in a new light as they jostled for position like hyenas picking over a fresh carcass, and suddenly she had a worrying feeling that one of them knew more about his disappearance than he or she was letting on.
CHAPTER THREE
When Karl work up, for a moment, he didn’t know where he was. It took him a few seconds to realize he was in a cavernous and unfamiliar room, suspended from the ceiling by a rope that was bound tightly round his wrists, his feet dangling ten feet above a swimming pool.
‘Ah, so you’re back amongst the living said a diguised robotic voice, coming from a speaker on the wall. But not, I’m afraid for long. Your time’s up, Karl. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long long time. The voice let out a hideous chuckle. Why don’t you look in the pool, Karl?
As he looked down, Karl saw a trapdoor opening under the water and a moment later three huge shapes slithered out. Crocs. And big ones too. They rose to the surface, looking up at him hungrily, their immense jaws opening wide.
Goodbye Karl, crowed the voice, and Karl’s heart leaped as he realized he was being slowly lowered down towards the waiting crocs.
It was grimly ironic, he thought, that after so many years of entertaining Ozzies over their breakfast, unless he acted extremely fast, he was going to become breakfast himself.
He had thirty seconds.
Best selling crime writer Simon Kernick was the studio writing a thriller based on Channel 9’s TODAY program in just over two hours.
In the ultimate race against time Simon wrote The Replacement using the TODAY team as the characters.
Watch behind the scene footage to see how the drama unfolded…
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