Scandalous Desires

Chapter 25

If Micah's thinking was correct then she didn't have much time. They were preparing the paper to go to print with Rick's story on the front page… a story that barely scratched the surface of what she knew about the toxic water scandal.

It was eight in the morning and most of the writers were at their desks typing away or discussing some part of a story on the phone. Either talking to a lead or setting up interviews. She was just putting the finishing touches on her story but without Russell her article came off as a conspiracy theory full of speculation rather than an exposeé.

"Hey, girl!" Micah almost jumped at the sound of Melissa's voice behind her. She quickly minimized the article on her computer screen, and swiveled her chair around to face her.

"Oh Melissa, you scared me!"

"Why are you so jumpy this morning?"

Micah shrugged her shoulders. Aside from the multiple cups of coffee she had to drink to keep her up throughout the night, she knew exactly why she was so jittery. "I'm just waiting on a lead to get back to me with some documents." Which was actually true.

She glanced at her phone notification. The plan was for Russell to send her all the meeting recordings, emails that implicated the elites who plotted and carried out the heinous crime. He was to send it through an IP address that wasn't linked to him.

"Oh, working on a new story already? I thought you were jumpy because today's staff meeting hyped around Rick's cover story, which he seems to have single handedly put together with no help from his partner, i.e. You."

"Ha! Is that what he's saying?" Micah shook her head with disbelief. If not for last night's events, she might have been more pissed off that her hard work was being co opted by the CEO's son. Luckily she had a better plan, one that she kept quiet. She had learned her lesson.

Melissa gave her a knowing look. "I hate to say this, girl. But I did warn you…."

"You sure did. I admit I was naive, he said he wanted to help me get my article approved by Hearte. I told him thanks but no thanks. I accidently left the folder with all my research in his office. He pitched the idea as his instead…." she shrugged.

"He did what!?" Melissa froze, "Wait a minute…" Melissa stared hard at Micah. "Why don't you seem as upset about this as you should be, what's up?" Melissa was perceptive.

"What time's the staff meeting?" Micah raised her eyebrows.

"Uh… in 45 minutes," Melissa raised her eyebrows back. "And… I will be front row and center with my popcorn ready because you're about to do something…." Melissa stomped her feet in excitement. Micah smiled and put her finger to her mouth.

"Shhh…"

"You got it," Melissa kept a tight lipped smile as she did a zip across her mouth. She then high fived Micah and left.

That's when she heard the ping go off in her phone. It was a notification. An unknown email had sent her a file. It was a zip file titled, "Watergate Too Scandal File."

Micah laughed at the name. Russell had come through. She made sure to open it on her phone and not the office computer. When she clicked on the file there were several audio, video, and picture files.

She didn't have much time… she quickly checked the pictures first. They were screenshots of emails on a group list of people, some of the same names she recognized from her searches of board members for the main companies involved.

One particular email was a report to Mr. White, the board member of the major chemical company that was over the company that leaked the chemicals into the water and he was also a board member of the water bottling company that wanted exclusive access to the freshwater. The report was on the South City death toll due to the toxic water. What was revealing about it was that the question posed was, "Has our quota been reached yet?" In regards to the death toll.

The person who replied seemed to be in liaison with a few of South City's major hospitals, where it seemed doctors were paid money for every death that they put, "due to exposure to toxic water," as the cause of death. Micah was sickened to her stomach over it. She couldn't believe the levels they went to just to make profits… was it really about money if these people already had money, though?

Opening video and audio files, it seemed White was at the lead of most of the emails and recorded meetings. Minutes to meetings were also in the file summarizing the plan, and it was laid out just as Russell explained.

Names of attendees were confirmed in the minutes too. That's all the info she needed in preparation for this meeting, which would be starting in 10 minutes. Micah knew because an alert popped up on her screen as a reminder, with the room location.

Micah printed out her story and made her way to the staff conference room. It was her first staff meeting. She'd never seen the inside of it before.

Micah looked around. The conference room was a completely glass room with a huge glass table in the middle. There were enough seats around the table for at least 50 people. At the head was a large flatscreen smart TV, and along the sides were counters with breakfast foods, and hot and cold beverages.

Micah was impressed with the space. She also was a bit nervous, considering what she was about to do, and the fact that this was only her fourth day of work. Most of these people didn't even know she worked there. Some of them were already seated and chatting or on their phones, while more began to trickle in.

Looking around the room she gave a nod and a wave to those present and then Micah positioned herself near the head of the table.

Eventually the seats began to fill up and among the last to arrive was Hearte, Dickson junior, and… Dickson senior.

Micah was extremely nervous now. If this wasn't presented well she could definitely lose her job.

As the three of them made their way to their seats at the head of the table, Micah couldn't help but stare. This was her first time seeing Dickson senior in person. It was just like the photo in Rick's office. Rick Dickson looked like an exact replica of his father, except Jack Dickson had grey hair, and a charcoal suit that fit him like a glove. He was in good shape. Had he dyed his hair, he could easily be mistaken for Rick's brother instead.

Jack Dickson took his seat at the head of the table while Rick and Kathleen sat on his right and left. As similar in appearance as they seemed, Micah noted the differences in their demeanor. Jack Dickson's face seemed pleasant, one could even say jovial, even though he wasn't smiling. Rick, on the other hand, looked quite the opposite. He looked bothered, almost pissed off. Kathleen was indifferent. Her eyes glued to the screen of her phone more than anything else.

Rick fidgeted, adjusting his collar as his father cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Glad everyone could make it this morning," Micah could see Jack scanning the room full of staff members. All seats were full and even some people were standing.

Micah could see Melissa near the breakfast table. She winked at Micah, as if waiting on the sidelines for the drama to unfold. She then motioned her head towards the door.

Micah looked to see Elliot making his way in quietly as Jack spoke.

"And… Elliott Hearte from Belle!" Apparently not quiet enough. "What a pleasant surprise. Wasn't expecting you at a Daily Times meeting," belted out Jack. Elliott gave a wave and smiled as he took his place in a corner off to the side.

So Melissa called him… maybe for moral support? Micah didn't mind. She could use all the support she could get.

"As most of you know we called this rare and unplanned staff meeting, rare because I'm never here to lead these meetings, they are usually held by our Chef Editor, Ms.Heart," he gestured over to her and she nodded in reply. "... And unplanned due to a special edition paper we want printed asap."

"We have an exclusive breaking story, uncovered by Rick," he gestured over to his son who gave a curt nod.

"His research contains some significant findings concerning the toxic water scandal in South City, and we all know the importance of moving a story like this out to print before any other media outlet."

Micah waited for eye contact from Rick, who had been scanning the crowd as people gave him fist pumps and thumbs up. When he finally caught her eye she grimaced at him, and strategically used her middle finger to scratch her temple. He coughed in response.

"So with that in mind, we need all hands on deck because we intend on printing this story… today." There were gasps heard around the table. Which implied for Micah that this scenario was unprecedented.

Whispers around the table with the general thought of 'how were we going to pull that off' could be heard. But with a raise of his hand, the room became silent again.

"Kathleen has already had a meeting with heads of each department who will task assignments to each person…" he continued. "We expect everyone to quickly and effectively execute your part so that we can get this done," he added with force to quelch any ideas that it couldn't be done.

Then he said the words Micah had been waiting for…"Any questions about what I have said so far?"

Micah looked around the room. It was now or never. She only took a breath before raising her hand.

"I have a question!" said someone at the back of the room who she didnt recognize. He wore suspenders and a bow tie. Micah rolled her eyes.

"Yes, go ahead."

"By what time today are we going to print?"

"We want this on the stands before the evening news, which means we have the next…" he looked at the clock on the wall, "six hours to get it done…." The room was met by more gasps and clusters of chatter.

Jack raised his hand again and waited until the room got quiet. This time Micah stood up before asking her question to ensure no one went ahead of her.

"I have a question," she said. She gave a stern look to Rick before she switched to address Jack. Rick began fiddling with his collar again.

"And who are you? I dont think Ive seen you before… have I?"

Before Micah answered Kathleen chimed in. "She's a new hiree. Entry level. Micah Rae."

"Well Ms.Rae… what is the question."

Micah took another breath, "What if the toxic water scandal was only the tip of the iceburg on an even bigger scandal going on in South City?"

Micah heard a few whispers. She was sure Kathleen and Rick's facial expression were dramatically changed but she was not concerned. She kept her gaze locked on Jack, whose jovial disposition shifted to a very blatant frown.

"Bigger scandal! What bigger scandal…? Rick, do you know anything about this?" Jack turned to Rick expecting him to speak. Micah dared Rick to say anything. He opened his mouth, but the look on Micah's face was muderous. He couldn't say anything.

The only thing Rick knows is how to steal other people's research and try to play it off as his own! -That was what Micah wanted to say but instead she said….

"If you please Mr. Dickson," she placed her a folder with the hard copy of the article on the table. "My research is solely based on a whistleblower's account, which was shared earlier this morning. No one else would know about this but me."

There were more whispers in the room. She watched as Jack leaned towards Kathleen to ask her a question and all she did in response was shrug her shoulders.

"Micah, what exactly are you implying about the water scandal?" said Kathleen.

"It's all here in this exposeé that I've written," she passed the folder down, there were only about five people separating her from Kathleen. "Essentially, the toxic water was a deliberate scheme to get SC residents out so that private corporations could come in, flip properties, and build expensive housing that the average SC resident could never afford.

"What do you mean by deliberate scheme?"

"I'm saying exactly what you think I'm saying, Ms. Hearte," Micah's voice was very direct, "We're talking about g******e for profits."