This Child of Mine by Darlene Graham

Author:Darlene Graham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

IT WAS HOT. It was noisy. It was dumb.

But Mark tried to remain professional. To remain objective and impartial and accurate. But these people were so damn irritating.

Take the tennis balls. Police barricades had been erected in anticipation of the crowd, which was considerable, keeping them at an ineffective distance from the White House. But the main body of protesters had come prepared for this tactic. They’d brought fluorescent-colored tennis balls, ink-markered with potent messages. They lobbed the balls past the barricades and over the chain-link fence beyond in a periodic rain of lime green, neon yellow and hot orange. It was a media moment for sure. A great visual stunt for the cameras. Smart. No doubt a Kitt trick.

Kitt had done a heck of a job stirring these people up, that’s for sure. Joan of Arc against the evil media beast.

He smiled, remembering the surge of love and pride he felt as he watched her perform before the massive crowd, a diverse mixture of parents, educators, pediatricians, psychologists, social workers, concerned churchgoers, along with a large contingent of teenage activists who’d been bussed in from schools affected by recent violence. Gun control activists had shown up as well, which had in turn drawn the “right to bear arms” crowd onto the opposite corner. A smattering of videogamers were there with signs, protecting their “right to excitement.” And on the periphery, a collection of outcasts Mark couldn’t identify. All assembled with banners and signs on the Ellipse, ready to march on the White House…or against each other.

“Ms. Stevens!” He’d signaled from the back tier of the press bleachers. When he got her attention, he’d briefly enjoyed her shocked look of recognition—his reward for not telling her he’d be covering her rally. “Now that you’ve focused so much media attention on your cause, Ms. Stevens, what are your plans after this rally?” The double meaning of his question was entirely intentional. Her plans after the rally included him, of course.

She stared at him and her face shot red, became mottled in fact, but her voice was steady as it echoed out over the sound system. “We intend to continue to take this issue directly to the American public,” she said without once faltering. “And keep it there. This rally is only the beginning of what we hope will be a cultural reversal. We will use whatever means necessary to restore decency and common sense to our media. For example, we’ll boycott sponsors of violent, lewd programming. We will not give up this fight for the protection of our children’s hearts and minds!”

The crowd roared at that and the cameras rolled obligingly. His love and pride quadrupled later, when he saw her mingling with the protesters as they lined up to march. People responded to her leadership, huddled around her, hung on her every word. She really knew how to do her job.

And so did he. Ever picky about facts, and wanting to get the messages on the tennis balls verbatim, Mark pushed through the crowd, determined to retrieve one for himself.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.