Chapter 21 - Lookout For David Peters
Chapter 21 – Lookout For David Peters
Ivy stared at all the people protesting outside the building. She had rushed to her office as soon as she had received Kira's call. She knew something was wrong when she heard Kira's panicked voice on the phone. But she never expected such a crowd outside her office. Since she couldn't enter the building from the front entrance, she took the back gate. All the employees and staff members were distressed looking at the commotion outside. On interrogation, Ivy found out that they were David Peters supporters. They had come to create a ruckus in front of the building as News4U was the first news channel to broadcast David's video. They had been informed by David's men that the channel had released a fake video to increase their ratings. The angry mob, without even thinking twice, had rushed to the news agency to fight for their leader. Though the guards were preventing the people from entering the building, it looked like in no time the crowd would make it inside.
Ivy searched for Max. He was not in the group looking at the scene happening in front of them. She walked around looking for Max, starting with the conference room. As expected, he was inside busy looking at a video. His face did not show any anxiety or nervousness. In fact, he looked quite calm and cool.
"Ivy come take a look at this video," Max called her when he saw her standing silently by the door. "What is it about?"
"See it yourself." Max pushed his laptop towards Ivy.
Ivy gasped looking at the video. It was a video of David Peters involved in human trafficking. Many teenage boys and girls were kneeling in front of him, with their hands and legs tied and their heads covered. The video was of good quality and the entire scene was captured perfectly. Though there was no audio, it was still clear of the illegal activity David was doing.
"Bastard." Ivy could see other men standing beside David and she recognized two of them from the library.
"How did you get this footage?"
"Someone anonymous sent me this. They have told me that this will curb the commotion outside our office." Max shrugged his shoulders. "Also we have received reports from the Video Authentication Agency. We can release both the news together."
Ivy nodded absent-mindedly. She was wondering who the anonymous sender was and why did he send it to Max. Though she could not get her answer, she was relieved as they now had a solution to their problem.
"Ivy, this time I want you to cover the news," Max said, looking at her.
Ivy raised her eyebrows. "Max I can't and I won't. That is not what I do."
"Ivy I have a reason for asking you to do this. The previous reporter who released David's news was attacked outside her house. And now she is still in the hospital. Nobody else is ready to cover this segment. You can do it as you have fighting skills and you also know the art of disguise. You can easily fool people around you."
"What about you? You can do this right?"
"Did I forget to mention that we are doing this together?"
"But why?" Ivy's mouth opened. The one thing she hated was to show her face on the camera. Now Max was asking her to do the same.
"I have my reasons. Now get ready. We are gonna start in ten minutes."
"Ten minutes. But it isn't the time for any significant news to be released."
"We cannot delay this news further, Ivy." Max sighed.
Ivy looked dejected. She had no choice other than to accept Max's order. "Okay."
After ten minutes, Max and Ivy met at the reporting room. Max was dressed in a black suit while Ivy was wearing a maroon shirt and black trousers. Her hair was tied in a neat ponytail. For the first time, she was dressed differently from her usual attire. All her co-workers stared at her in awe. She looked quite dashing in her new look. Max cleared his throat to bring back his colleagues from their wonderland. He was not surprised by their behavior, in fact, he too was astonished by Ivy's professional look.
"Are you ready?"
Ivy nodded. Although she was nervous, she knew it was important to reveal the true colors of that scoundrel.
"Let's go then." Max pulled Ivy with him and handed Kira a document. She smiled at him and walked towards the entrance. It was quite late, yet many people were outside, protesting with banners. She walked towards one of the guards and whispered to him a few words. He listened to her and immediately ran off to follow her instructions. After a few seconds, he came back and told her that the job was done.
Kira stood at the entrance and shouted. "Listen to me, everyone. I know why you are angry and I also know what you want from us. But we are only a news agency, working to reveal the things happening around us, around you. It is our job to let the public know the truth and we are doing it. You doubt that the video about Mr. David Peters was fake. I suggest you watch the news that will be broadcasted in ten minutes. You might get your answers. Now everyone, please look at the projector screen." She had got a projector and a screen. The projector was connected to her laptop. She then adjusted the brightness and the volume. After a few minutes, Max and Ivy's face appeared on the screen. It was a live telecast of the news.
The people stared in confusion at the beginning, not knowing what Kira was up to. Yet they concentrated on the screen. As soon as they saw the authenticity of the video was revealed, their jaws dropped in horror. The videos were tested by a well-known and trusted agency which many people among the group knew about. So, they could not find any fault in it.
All hell broke loose when the next set of videos was released. It was a video of David sitting in front of teenagers. The leader whom they had trusted, had turned out to be a criminal. The people couldn't take this blow. Everyone became agitated at once when they realized that they had been used. They started to curse him and demanded the police to get him executed. But when they heard the next lines from the screen, the crowd became silent at once. Even Kira was shocked when she heard Ivy's voice.
"We have received news just now that Mr. David Peters has escaped from judicial custody and the police are on the lookout for him."