Scandalous Desires

Chapter 24

His laughter was so hard that it echoed in the room, it perked her up a bit, making her hopeful that this would go smoothly. But that usually wasn't ever the case.

Banking on things not going too well, she decided to throw one of her biggest cards on the table… the video Alex sent her. She grabbed her phone, scrolled to the video and pressed play, and turned the screen towards him.

She watched as he viewed the scene in front of him. The vanished laugh lines and widened look in his eyes told her she had played her card right. He had no clue the video existed until now.

"I hope you don't mind me asking a few questions?"

"Where'd you get this!?" His face turned red, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Does it matter? It doesn't really bother me that you engage in… odd s****l activities. But I'm sure the press would. I'm not here for this though, I want to know about something else."

"So you're blackmailing me?"

"Perhaps we can call it "added insurance" for this much needed conversation?" She was so very nervous on the inside but tried to hold a poker face on the outside. She hoped it was working.

Russell paused to look at her. This time instead of gauging the fastest steps needed to get her undressed, now, he was trying to figure out her character, her inner workings.

After a pregnant pause and a sip of his drink he finally said…"You've got guts coming in here trying to blackmail a City Official…." his tone was not malicious but almost complimenting.

All she could do is look at him straight on. She was determined. "I'm… intrigued by you. What do you want to know exactly?"

Micah almost cracked a smile, but tried to reserve her neutral expression.

"The South City water scandal… "

"What about it?"

"For the record," she pointed to her phone which was recording them. "Are you being framed for something you didn't do or are you a part of it?"

"I wouldn't say either one," he answered matter of factly as he took another sip.

"So why is your secretary, who, not coincidentally, is the daughter of a major stakeholder in this whole fiasco blaming you for everything?"

"They blame me because they can, and they will run over anyone who gets in their way." The bitter laugh that followed was followed by another sip of his drink.

She wondered if he was being vague on purpose as she watched him drink. Micah wondered if it was Brandy in the glass. He raised the drink as if to know if she wanted but she declined with a nod of the head.

"What are you getting in the way of?"

"Let me put it this way: What if your cohorts planned an elaborate, billion dollar making scheme, and needed your help to pull it off, but you decided not to involve yourself?"

"I'm sure they'd be upset…?"

"Right."

"I'm not following any of this. What billion dollar scheme?"

"Prime Real Estate is the scheme. Because it's a slum, property in South City is cheap. They want to take over the city, build high rises, even a stadium…

"Basically turn it into another North or Central City…."

"Right."

"But what's wrong with that? Wouldn't it raise the quality of life for South City residents?"

Russell let out a laugh. "South City residents wouldn't be able to afford to live there."

"So we're talking about gentrification… displacing residents?" She thought about the conference earlier that day and the mayor's offer to put people at Boundaries.

"Gentrification is only one of the ways to get rid of them…"

Micah took a sharp intake of breath.

Get rid of them? Was he implying what she thought he was implying…?

"Are you saying the toxic water was a means to an end?" She looked down at her phone still recording. "For the record."

He looked her straight in the eyes as he said, "Off record. I'm saying exactly that."

"So… poison the residents and whoever survives is taken out of South City and placed at the Boundary?"

He took another sip of the drink and nodded. Micah couldn't believe what he was saying.

"I couldn't do it. So now they have me as the fall guy."

"But this sounds like it's been in the works for at least two years…" said Micah.

She knew it! Her thoughts about the housing project being built 2 years ahead of the toxic water problem meant they knew they'd be moving people there. It seemed odd at the time but now it started to make sense.

"Two years of me trying to work behind the scenes with a few others to end this quietly, without success," he explained. His brows furrowed again. He looked mentally exhausted as if he didn't know what to do.

But there was another piece to this puzzle that she didn't understand. The fake wife….

"What about the infidelity part of this? She claims you cheated on your wife?"

"That's the claim,"

"But if she's not even your real wife, doesn't that put you at a disadvantage to make people think that you're married?" His eyes widened again, like they did when she showed him the video.

"You're a well researched woman, I'll give you that," he smiled and tossed the rest of the drink down his throat.

"Well… I have no choice but to be. Especially when I have a cutthroat coworker making you think my research was his," she replied.

"Hmm… looks like I'm not the only one in the room with a battle on her hands."

"Indeed…" she said. "So why the fake wife?"she said, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"I like women, and I shouldn't be judged for who I choose to be with, whether she's an escort or not. This whole cheating thing is just a slow reveal to reveal my secret about her being a fake wife. Simply put, it's just another way to have the public question my character."

"Let me help you bring this to an end…" Micah said. She leaned forward and grabbed his hand in reassurance. "Let's take them down!"

Russell let out another laugh that even made the two way mirror shake. "These are powerful people we're talking about. If you write an article about their plans that will only put a mark on your back. They'll take you through the ringer like they're doing to me. You don't want that."

Micah knew that he was right. A group of wealthy elites plotting a mass poisoning for real estate profits would be a major story. But if Russell couldn't get them off his back what would that mean for her?

Think, Micah, think….

Micah grinned wide as she looked at Russell pouring out another glass of what definitely was Brandy. It only took a moment for her to come up with a solution but it would take further work from Russell.

"I have an idea…" she said.

Moments later there was a lot of noise at the door. Micah could hear yells and screams in the hallway just before Alex burst through the door.

"Micah!" Alex looked disheveled and out of breath. She had Micah and her purses in her hands. "We've gotta get out of her…now!" Her voice was desperate and pleading.

"What's happening?" Both she and Mr Russell looked at each other, alarmed.

"We're being raided by the police!"

"What…!?" Russell grabbed Micah's arm and gave a knowing look. "You think it's because of….?"

"I wouldn't put it past them."

"Guys, If we don't go now they'll arrest us," she said. "They're at the front. I know another way out, come on!" She waved her hands motioning them both to follow her.

Micah grabbed her phone to leave. Before she could stand up Russell shook her hand with a nod confirming that they had a deal. He was in on her plan. They quickly exchanged numbers and she moved towards the door.

"Aren't you coming?"

Russell laughed. "I'll be ok," he continued to sip his drink.

"I guess his rep can't get any worse if the press finds out he came here," said Alex with a shrug. The two went quickly down the hall leaving Russell behind.

*****

The next morning…

"Now for this morning's news Headline: Howards, the private and prestigious gentlemen's club in Central City was raided last night by the police. Apparently, they received an anonymous tip about underaged drinking at the club, and indeed, two young men under the age of 21 were arrested, along with several of Howard's employees. More details about this after this morning's weather and traffic reports…."

Micah chewed on her toast as she watched the morning news in shock, thinking back on the events of the night before. Everything was unbelievable; from the lap dance to the candid interview with Russel, and now this!?

The underaged drinking surprised her, especially because she was there and she didn't see any men who possibly looked underage. Plus, Alex mentioned that it was a prestigious club, only members were allowed in. They required a detailed screening process before even being allowed to be a member.

If Russell was correct that the raid was linked to him being there, then the whole thing was staged…? Did that also mean Russell was being tracked, and even worse…bugged by these same people who had plotted a mass g******e on South City…?

A mass g******e…?

It made Micah shiver to even think of it. She looked at the file on her computer screen, she made sure to make a copy by transferring the recording to her desktop. Clicking play on her computer she played back the entire recording and then paused just after the part of the interview where he confirmed the corrupted plans.

It felt like a dream that she had gotten a chance to speak to Russell who had been open and willing to share the truth. Not only that, but he'd agreed to follow her plan to expose the truth. A plan that she hoped wouldn't implicate either of them. Her plan required him to email her first, which she still had yet to receive.

Come on Russell.

She hoped he made it out of there last night and wasn't detained at a precinct somewhere… or worse, that he changed his mind. Either way she had to head to work.

"Hey Mi…" A groggy Alex walked past her and went straight to the pot of coffee in the kitchen. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Why are you up?" Micah asked, looking at the time. It was Seven in the morning, "I thought you'd be resting up for tonight's shift?"

"I just got a text saying Howard's is closed for the rest of this week. That's three days without pay. I need to get up and get a head start on looking for something else, just in case."

"I'm sorry Alex. Last night was a big mix of amazing and crazy. But I definitely did get the scoop I needed. Thank you…" she hugged Alex tightly.

"You're my best friend…of course."

"Maybe they could use someone at my job, or even Belle Mag. I know someone who works there. I'll look into it today." Micah grabbed her stuff and headed out the door.

When Micah got to work she was 30 minutes early. It was just enough time to finish up the article she wrote about the corrupted plans for South City. She planned to present it that morning to Hearte, but she just needed Russell to do his part before anyone could see the article.

Her story would expose all the players in the plot to hurt South City residents, it was a story that would completely turn over anything that Rick may have written about. But, it definitely put her at risk if things didn't go well. If it didn't, her job and possibly her life was at stake. It was a chance she was willing to take…

…or was she?