Loving You is Killing Me
Chapter 22
“We placed a bug on Rodney’s desk.” Sir Walter explained now that we were finally in the car.
I didn’t get it at first. I thought he might be talking about a caterpillar, a lady bug, or something of that nature. Then I saw the glint in his eye and immediately knew what he meant.
The tiny device that he hid in his pocket, the distractions, it all made sense now.
“We did WHAT?!” I screeched. What the heck did he mean by ‘we’? I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even know he was going to do that.
“Relax; he’s not going to find it.” He assured me.
He was telling me to relax?! Really?! Gooseness! He was so infuriating!
“That’s not even it! It’s an invasion of privacy!!” I yelled exasperatedly.
How could he do this without even telling me? This was beyond terrible.
“I told you that you had to get your hands dirty. That’s what investigating is. You were great during the interview, but there’s only so much that it told you. Even then, how do you know he wasn't lying? Bugging is the only way to find the truth." He explained. "And it’s your job to write about it.”
I took a deep breath and counted to 10 in my mind. I've heard that doing that can stop you from strangling people when you're mad.
“To be a reporter you need to do whatever it takes. You need to really want it.” He reminded me.
Those words evaporated my fury. I did want it. I wanted to inform people about what was going on in the world and I wanted to make a difference.
“Alright.” I mumbled.
I knew I was going to regret this but it wasn’t as if I had much of a choice. Everything I tried up to that point had ultimately failed. This was my last chance at getting it right.
So what if I didn’t agree with the methods? The result would probably be worth it. Maybe.
Sir Walter grinned at me and then kept driving until we reached an empty alley. He parked on the side of the road and took out the bigger part of the device that he bought earlier.
“Get my laptop out, would you?” He asked pointing to the trunk.
I did what he asked partly because I was curious and partly because I was alone with him in that alley. Sir Walter was all kinds of crazy. Who knew what kind of things he could do?
He hooked up the device to his laptop and a small screen popped up asking him if he wanted to hook up to the device. He clicked accept and an even smaller screen popped up asking him if he was sure. He clicked accept again and the screen was filled with a very familiar image.
It was Rodney’s office. He was sitting there completely unaware as he filled out some papers.
Nothing extraordinary happened for about 25 boring minutes and then, the inexplicable happened.
I guess someone went in his office because a voice began talking. Since the camera was focused directly at Rodney’s desk, we could not see who it was.
“We shouldn’t add any more.” The voice hissed.
“Shut the door, you idiot!” Rodney growled.
I heard the click of the door and then Rodney began speaking again.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because nobody suspects anything yet and we shouldn’t give them a reason to. It’s perfect the way it is.” The voice replied.
Suspects anything about what? Confusion swept through me once again.
“Nobody’s going to find out. People can stop chewing it whenever they want now, they aren’t completely addicted. Adding more nicotine to the wrappers will make it so nobody can ever stop. It’s a business and it was my idea. I’m sorry to say this, but you have no say whatsoever on this matter.” Rodney said firmly
Believe it or not, I still had no idea what they were talking about.
“Having just a slight residue of nicotine on the wrappers makes plenty of people crave them. It goes by undetected since what the safety companies check out is the simple stick of gum, not its wrapper. Your initial idea was brilliant but adding more would be a huge mistake.” The voice argued.
I understood now.
I spit out my gum and looked at Sir Walter in disbelief.
This could not be happening.
“Leighton,” Sir Walter began.
He cleared his throat and grinned at me.
“You just found your story, kiddo.”
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Author's Note:
I'm really grateful for my editors, especially Cerisito. Thank you so much for everything! :)
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