Chapter 26:
The Villains’ Plan is Thwarted!
Lionel growled in fury as he stared at his computer screen, watching his
exclusive story unfold before his eyes… at the press conference the Backstreet
Boys had held earlier that day. He had
just finished the article when he got the email from his supervisor, telling
him he had better stream the video ASAP.
At first, Lionel had been crushed to see the boyband telling a room of
reporters everything that had happened over the last few days, from AJ’s binge
drinking to Brian’s suicide. Now, he was
outraged. His story was no longer
exclusive, and the promotion he’d been expecting on a silver platter was now
only a fantasy.
Curse those Backstreet Boys! he thought, his eyes narrowing at their blurry
images on his monitor. This was all
their faults! It was because of them his
career was going to stagnate! He could
have gone so far, if only they’d waited a few more days. But no, they’d just had to go and spill to
the press before he could get his story out.
Now he had nothing good to report on.
But wait, he thought, a
light bulb going off in his head. Maybe I can get more for an article…
something exclusive… pictures, perhaps.
I can call that nurse, Tricia, and get her to take some of AJ in the
hospital. They’d be exclusive photos,
printed in Teen Beat first!
Lionel’s dark eyes gleamed with
excitement. This would be perfect! Now all he had to do was call Tricia…
If only he knew what was to come…
***
Tricia was sitting at her coffee
table, cackling as she meticulously drew black Xs over the eyes of each of the
Backstreet Boys in the pictures that filled the book she’d found about them on
the clearance racks at K-Mart, when her phone rang. Setting down her permanent marker, she
reached for the phone. “Hello?”
“Miss Tibbles? Lionel Rodriguez, Teen Beat magazine,” came the brusque voice she’d become familiar
with over the last few days.
“Lionel,” she said, her voice
flat. “It’s over. The Backstreet Boys already held a press
conference and broke their story.”
“I know. That’s why I’m calling. I need new material for my next article…
something exclusive, something the rest of the media won’t have. What can you get me? I was thinking pictures, photographs… of AJ
in particular. Can you take some
pictures of him in the hospital?” Before
Tricia could get a word out, Lionel went on quickly, “They say a picture’s
worth a thousand words, Miss Tibbles.
Well I can tell you, in our case, a picture’s worth a thousand dollars…
or more. Get my point?”
He would make a great car salesman, thought Tricia. He sure
sounded like one. “I get your point,”
she answered, “and I’d love to provide you with the pictures you need, but… I
can’t. I got fired from the hospital.”
“What??” his voice rose sharply.
“Yeah… I don’t know how they found me
out, but those fucking Backstreet Boys somehow reported me, and I got fired for
breaking confidentiality. Not only that,
but they now have a restraining order against me… I’m not supposed to set foot
in the hospital again,” Tricia lamented, holding the phone with her shoulder
while she uncapped her marker again and scratched another pair of Xs over AJ’s
sunglasses.
“Damn, damn, damn!” chanted Lionel.
“I’m sorry,” Tricia offered. “Believe me, I wish I could give you what you
want too… I need the money, especially now that I’m out of a job. I’m going to have a hard time getting hired
at another hospital after this…” As a
fresh wave of rage washed over her, she suddenly hurled the marker across the
room. It left a jagged mark on her wall
as it bounced off and rolled under a chair.
“God, I wish I could get those fucking Backstab Boys back!!”
There was silence on the other end at
first, and for a moment, Tricia was afraid the reporter had hung up. But then she heard his voice, lower and
shadier than ever. “Maybe you can. I just had a brainwave… are you listening,
Miss Tibbles?”
Her eyes lighting up with interest,
Tricia clutched the phone closer to her ear.
“I’m listening, Mr. Rodriguez…”
If only she knew what was to come…
***
