Media Blitz

Ethan sat on the edge of a recreation area seat, his manila envelope gripped in his shaking hands. The recreation area was abandoned, the sun setting and creating long shaded areas. He glanced around, his eyes looking for risk toward each path. His suspicion wasn't uncalled-for - with each bit nearer to reality, he was a greater objective.

"Ethan."

He whirled at the voice, easing a fraction when he saw Lisa Monroe, a battle-hardened investigative reporter known for taking on dangerous stories. She walked toward him, her gaze darting to scan for curious ones.

"You weren't followed?" Ethan asked as she settled in beside him.

Lisa flashed a dry smile. "Always the cop, huh? No, I wasn't followed. Let me see what you have."

Ethan handed over the envelope. "It's all there. Reports, photos, testimony up to and including sending Calloway, Whitaker, and Gregson down."

Lisa opened the envelope, flipping through the items. Her face grew serious as she retained the information. "This is big, Ethan. I've covered corruption before, but this? This could bring down an empire."

"That is the goal," Ethan replied unceremoniously. "Be that as it may, you need to move fast. They're already onto us.

Lisa looked up and flashed her worried eyes at him. "Your implication could be a little clearer."

"Two attempts on my life, Maria's abduction, Derrick's threatening messages they'll go after you too once they know you're involved," Ethan said.

Lisa exhaled slowly, reaching for the envelope to put it in her backpack. "I've dealt with dangerous people before, but this is an unprecedented scale. I'll get started tonight, but Ethan… you should be prepared for them to fight back with all their might."

"I know what they're capable of," Ethan replied. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

Lisa gave him a tight smile. "Cautious doesn't break stories, Ethan. But I'll watch out."

Sometime later, Lisa sat in her midtown office, the glow of her computer screen illuminating her determined expression. She painstakingly arranged the evidence, setting it up to be publicized. Every morsel of information depicted the corruption that had seeped into the city.

Her colleague, Maggie, poked her head into the room. "You've been working on that for an awfully long time. Mind if I order some food?"

Lisa shook her head, eyes fixed on the screen. "Thanks, Maggie, but I just want to get this finished."

Maggie hesitated. "Okay, but don't work too late. The streets are awfully quiet tonight. Gives me the heebie jeebies."

Lisa barely knew her as Maggie left, taken by the severity of the story.

Meanwhile Ethan paced the safe house, obvious tension everywhere. Maria and Derrick sat around, looking on in complete silence.

"Do you believe her?" Maria finally asked.

"Lisa? Absolutely," Ethan responded. "She's one of the finest investigative journalists out there. If anyone can find this out, it's her."

"Be that as it may, suppose they catch her?" Maria squeezed.

"They won't," Ethan said immovably, yet his demeanor sold out a glimmer of uncertainty.

Derrick inclined forward. "What's the plan B on the off chance that they do?"

"There isn't one," Ethan conceded. "We are all in."

Before the discussion could proceed, Ethan's telephone hummed. Seeing Lisa's name, he addressed right away.

"Lisa?"

"They know," Lisa's voice came through, tight with tension. "Whitaker's guys broke into my office. They wiped my computers clean and trashed the place. The papers are gone."

Ethan's gut did a nosedive. "And the hard copies?"

"I had one set of copies at my house," Lisa said quickly. "But there's more to this, Ethan. They're trying to scare me off."

"Are you scared?

Lisa hesitated. "No, but you should be. They're not just after me — they're after us all."

The next morning, Ethan doubled back to Lisa.

"They've escalated," she said. "There was a black car parked outside my building overnight. It's gone now, but I don't think this is over."

Ethan clenched his teeth. "They're trying to intimidate you. Don't let them."

"Far from simple or easy," Lisa replied. "But I'm not pulling it. I'm going with it live tonight. If the story's out there, they can't touch it."

That night, Whitaker made his move.

Inside the server room of the paper's headquarters, men in dark suits worked with ruthless efficiency.

"Erase everything," Whitaker ordered, his voice cold. "The story dies here."

One of the experts stumbled. "Sir, this is illegal. If this gets traced back —"

Whitaker's stare was lethal. "If you get caught, you'll deal with the consequences. Now do as you're told."

Within minutes, the entire company was hacked. Lisa's history was deleted, her files sealed, and her work trashed.

Ethan pounded his fist onto the table in anger when he received the news.

"They threatened her?" Maria asked, her voice trembling.

"Yeah," Ethan retorted. "They're laying it all on the table."

Derrick shook his head. "They're scared. That means we're onto something big."

Ethan paced, his mind racing. "We need to find another way. If the media's in their pocket, we'll take this straight to the people."

"How?" Maria asked, her voice full of skepticism.

"Social media," Ethan said. "We'll upload everything to every platform-Twitter, Instagram. They have no censorship over the internet."

Derrick shrugged. "It's a long shot, but it might just work."

Maria frowned. "And what if they trace it back to us?"

Ethan turned to her. "We'll be ready."

As Ethan and Derrick uploaded the evidence, Ethan's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, his blood running cold.

It was a video…Lisa bound to a seat, wounds denoting her face, blood dribbling from a cut on her brow. A misshaped voice, cold and threatening, got through the telephone.

"Stop now," the voice snarled. "Or then again she kicks the bucket."

Ethan's hands shook as he turned the telephone toward Maria and Derrick. His throat fixed as the weightiness of the circumstance hit him.

"They have Lisa," he whispered, the words like a kick to the gut.

Maria's face went pale. She doubled over and covered her mouth. "What do we do?"

Ethan's mind raced, but his resolve hardened. He balled his fists, jaw clenched with menace. "We don't stop."

Maria's eyes were wide with dread, but there was no faltering in Ethan. This wasn't just about unearthing the truth anymore; this was about saving lives, starting with Lisa's.

"We see this thr

ough," Ethan said in a low, unyielding tone. "And we make them pay.".