“I’m not signing a release,” I told him as I held my hand up to the camera.
“Well, this is public property,” he said. “I can film freely on public property without a release. You’re familiar with media law, you know that.”
He was technically right, but his premise was shaky enough I could still win a lawsuit against him if I wanted. By now a crowd was forming on the street around us, and I saw a couple of cell phone cameras pop up. I sighed. I was going to have to handle this.
“So do you or do you not support SB 1110?” he yelled.
There were boos and cheers some crowd members had definite opinions on the proposed legislation. Honestly, I had been so busy chasing down murderers and defending senile coots and their tigers, I hadn’t had time to turn on the local news.
“I’m not familiar enough with the bill, so I can’t give you an honest opinion one way or another,” I said.
“Oh,” he mocked, “an ‘honest’ opinion? That’s right. Hide behind semantics and fancy shades. That’s what lawyers do, don’t they? You can’t give an ‘honest’ opinion because your opinions are all ‘dishonest.’”
I rolled my eyes and kept walking. His self-satisfied laugh implied that he had somehow gotten one over on me by finding hidden meanings in my word choice. I just shook my head. Whatever helps you sleep at night, bud.
“Well, do you support Marvin Iakova?” he yelled. “That’s something you should be able to give an ‘honest’ opinion on.”
I kept walking. The block seemed so much longer today.
“We have you tied to him on no less than five occasions,” he said. He pulled a crumpled note paper out of his pocket, and his attempt to read, yell at me, and film all at the same time was both comical and commendable.
“You served with Iakova on Alister O’Brien’s estate,” he accused. “You were connected to him as a business partner for Coconino Brew, and you’ve been spotted in the company of Earnie Green, his longtime business associate and early investor in Starbright Media…”
He paused as he interpreted the notes in his hand. Everything he said was totally true, and I had never had any intention whatsoever of hiding any of that. We were nearing the office now, and I wanted to shut this down.
“I consider Earnie Green to be a good friend,” I started.
“Oh, really?” he was delighted by this statement. “Are you aware that after the story broke about Iakova supporting SB 1110, Earnie Green cashed in his stock and moved to Tahiti?”
I was aware of this, but it had nothing to do with any kind of news story. Earnie’s best friend and lifelong business partner had just died, and he figured it was as good a time as any to cash out and retire to Tahiti.
“Earnie Green’s retirement was for personal reasons,” I said. “He went to Tahiti to mourn the loss of a great friend, and that should be respected.”
“That ‘friend’ was Alister O’Brien,” he accused. “Do you know what went on in his personal life? Do you know that he supported polygamy? Is that what you support? Polygamy?”
“I have no further comment,” I said.
I was at our office door and slipped inside. He stood out on the sidewalk and through the glass I heard him yell, “You can run, but you can’t hide from the truth. The truth will find you. The truth is being exposed.”
“What is that?” AJ stood in the window.
“I see you,” he yelled. “You can’t hide.”
He stood in the street and filmed through our windows.
“Get away from the window,” I barked to AJ.
“Oh, my god,” Vicki’s eyes were wide as she watched him from her desk.
I popped my head out the door. “Sir, you’re going to have to leave--”
“This is public property,” he said. “I can--”
“I don’t care,” I said. “If you don’t leave now, I’m going to call the cops, and you can argue media law all the way to jail. Now, leave or I’m calling the police.”
“Alright,” he held his hands up in surrender. “But you’re about to get exposed. Your kingdom and Iokava’s kingdom are coming down. You just watch.”
“Is he bothering you, Mr. Irving?” a cop showed up on the sidewalk.
I smiled. It was Bernice, a petite black woman that I had worked with on a handful of occasions.
“Thanks, Bernice,” I said. “Yeah, can you get him out of here?”
“Jerry,” she yelled. “I’m not going to tell you again.”
I went inside, and the three of us tried not to gawk while Bernice tried to get Jerry to leave.
“What the hell was that all about?” Vicki said as she sorted through the takeout bag.
“Iakova,” I sighed. “Apparently he’s a controversial figure right now.”
“I don’t doubt it,” she said.
“What do we know about SB 1110?” I asked.
“SB 1110?” Vicki asked. “What’s that?”
I sighed. “Apparently it’s some kind of legislation to do with media law. Iakova’s on board with it, and now we’re taking some heat by association.”
“Is that what that was?” she asked. “The guy with the camera?”
“Yeah,” I said. “His name is Jerry Steele, Steele Productions, is the name of the company. I guess he’s trying to do an expose on Iakova?”
“Again,” Vicki replied, “How could you possibly try to bring down Starbright Media by using media?”
“I have learned,” I said, “that with the crazies in this town, there is no logic.”
“Okay,” AJ piped up. “I’ve got it about SB 1110.”
“Shoot,” I told her.
“It’s a state bill having
