Chapter 6 - The Information Warfare
By Monday morning, San Diego was a warzone of media speculation. The audio leak at the gala had made the front page of every newspaper in the state. Eleanor had barricaded herself inside the La Jolla estate, refusing to speak to the press.
But the Sterlings still had one card to play. They owned a major local news network. At noon, the network began running a highly edited, slanderous special report painting Maya as a violent, drug-addicted schizophrenic who had manipulated Julian and forged the audio tapes.
Maya sat beside me in the safehouse, watching the television. She was healing, the swelling on her face going down, but seeing her abuser play the victim on national television made her cry.
"Mom," she whispered, her voice breaking. "People are going to believe them. They always win."
I placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "They haven't met me, sweetheart. Watch."
I nodded to Collins.
"Releasing the kraken, Colonel," Collins grinned.
He hit the enter key.
We didn't just leak a statement. We hijacked the digital feeds of every major social media platform, news outlet, and digital billboard in San Diego County.
The slanderous news report on the television suddenly glitched, cutting to black.
When the picture returned, it wasn't a reporter. It was the high-definition security footage from the hospital corridor—the footage Eleanor had paid to destroy. Collins had recovered it from the hospital's deleted cloud servers.
The video clearly showed Julian grabbing Maya, shaking her violently, and shoving her into the wall before the nurses intervened. It showed the dark bruises on her arms. It showed Eleanor handing an envelope of cash to the Chief of Medicine in the hospital parking garage.
Then, the video cut to the recorded confessions of the mercenaries in FBI custody, naming Pierce Sterling as their employer for a kidnapping plot.
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The internet exploded. The hashtag #SterlingCartel began trending globally within ten minutes. The public outrage was swift and biblical. Protesters began gathering outside the gates of the Sterling estate. The news anchors who had just defended Julian were forced to backpedal live on air, their faces pale as they realized they had just defended a domestic abuser and a cartel money launderer.
"You see, Maya?" I said softly. "The truth doesn't need to be loud. It just needs to be undeniable."
