Sherif Dewey walks right past her, standing with his arms crossed over his chest near the cameramen.
“I was told there might be a shitshow going down today, so I’m just here to witness the events and make sure they’re recorded accurately, on account that they so obviously weren’t the night of Bons.”
Eva’s mouth gapes open, her cigarette falling to the grass.
“How am I looking?” Norma Jean asks, and the assistant brushes her hair away from her face.
“Looks like you’ll get a better interview than you thought, and it’ll be live, so no editing.” Meghan gives Eva a sickeningly sweet grin. “Roll it!”
Hillary’s face contorts from anger to panic. “Don’t you dare—”
“Might Be Meghan here, reporting from Bons, which is the site of the unfortunate debacle between Ali Kat Carter and Rose Mitchel.”
She goes straight into introductions, introducing Ali and her family and friends, then Brett and Rose, who look like deer caught in headlights, Hillary, and finally, Irene and I. I give a small wave, regretting how this must look to Ali.
“Over the past week, we’ve done a considerable amount of investigative reporting, headed by none other than Jenna Slocum,” Meghan gestures to the assistant, “and Irene Flint.”
My head snaps in Irene’s direction, and I see her beaming with pride. Then I turn to Ali and see that her face has gone white like a ghost. Apparently, I’m not the only one caught off guard.
“Irene, take it away.”
“Thank you, Meghan.” My sister walks over to Eva. “Mrs. Crosby, it is to my understanding that you invited cameramen out to Saturday Bons that night that you accompanied Ali Kat Carter to the event.”
“That-that is not true.” Eva looks to Hillary.
“We purchased footage from the locals,” Hillary says.
“You mean, you purchased roughly six seconds of video?” Irene asks. “After most of the action went down?”
“It took the bystanders a minute to get their cameras up.”
Irene smirks for the cameras. “Well, a picture that I took with Ali, that will be up on the website titled‘Ali Kat Carter was framed [dot] com’shows a man in the background, and after doing a little research, we found out his name was Donald Allen Franks, who you might recognize because he’s standing right over there, behind that camera.”
We look over at a stunned cameraman.
Irene continues. “We’ve spoken to all the local bed and breakfasts, and as it turns out, they had an uptick in patrons the day Eva arrived, if we find out anything criminal has transpired, it’s possible for us to obtain a warrant and find out just who was staying in town that day. And if they were Chatter employees, but moving on…”
Hillary clears her throat and stares directly into a live camera. “I just think that everyone should know that the woman making these accusations is a disbarred attorney.”
“Oh, all that information is available on Ali’s new website,” Irene says without missing a beat. “Moving on.” She turns to Brett and Rose. “As you can see,” she points to a couple suited men standing by a van, “a small team of lawyers has accompanied us with the intention that their client does not get slandered in any way. Do either of you know what the definition of slander is?”
Rose and Brett stand there, mouths ajar.
“Let me help you—it’s making a false statement that could disparage a person’s reputation. I have a feeling Ali’s lawyers are going to be busy tonight. Have you in any way been pressured to make a false statement?”
Eva steps between the Mitchels and Irene, glaring daggers at my kick-ass sister. “You do not know the can of worms you just opened.”
“Actually, I know more than you think,” Irene says, and turns to Hillary. “Hillary, if there’s anything you’d like to share with the audience, I’d do so now. If not, well, that’s your decision, but I can almost guarantee you that you’ll be subpoenaed in the coming weeks.”
Sweat drips down Hillary’s forehead, her once confident demeanor reduced to a gut-grabbing, jittery weasel.
“Well?” Irene presses.
“That’s it,” Hillary finally says. “I’m out of here—I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Hillary!” Eva growls.
“Before you leave,” Irene says, “I want you to know that we will be speaking with your boss to find out whose idea it was to air the cherry-picked clip of Ali Kat Carter, and why they misrepresented the story. I’m sure you know there will be a warrant for the rest of the footage.”
