Assignment

Marco shows his hand and balckmails Helen into getting Stacy and Kimberly involved in a very dangerous stunt.

 

Assignment

 

 

Fortunately, the rain ended before noon and a soft wind had set in to ease the humidity. Helen took her stroll down the River Walk and they were able to get all of the outdoor shots done before the sun set. The sunset was the backdrop for Helen’s lead in on her special and Marco could not have ordered a better setting. As they edited the film in the trailer, Marco knew he had the makings of an award-winning documentary here. Helen would get him where he wanted to be. She was great in front of the camera. 

 That evening they spent planning the interviews and Marco took one more shot at winning Helen’s affection. He told her he had sent flowers to the girls at school that day. Helen was surprised he had done that. She knew that Marco had no use for children at all. He had said so many times when she wanted to leave work and spend time with her girls.

 “You really sent flowers to my girls?” What on earth for?”

 “Well, I thought that maybe it was time to show them a little attention as well”, Marco replied. “They did deserve them after coming in first and second in the district meet the other day, don’t you think?”

 “Well, that may be, but their Dad had flowers for them after the meet, or did you miss that? I really don’t like the idea of you sending flowers to my girls. That’s a little too intimate, don’t think?”

 “I didn’t miss a thing, and it may have been a bit premature to send them flowers, but there is something I need them to do for us as well though. I thought the flowers might soften them up a little.”

 “You need my girls? What on earth do you need my girls to do for you?”

 “For us, darling. I need them to do something for us.”

 “Well, are you going to tell me or what?”

 “You are direct, aren’t you?”

 “These are my girls you are talking about, Marco I’m still the mother of two young girls and you want them to do something for you. I’m going to know, so spill the beans.”

 “Well”, Marco began his intricate lie. “The network wants a new approach to promoting the regional qualifier for the Junior Olympics team this time around. I have submitted our station as the station to tape the promo and I want your girls to be the stars, so to speak. We can’t pay them a dime, but they could get a donation to their Olympics team for their efforts.”

 “I’m sure they would love that. They love to do anything to help their sport. What approach are you taking to promote the regional?”

 “Texas’s Top Olympic Heroes! We are going to do a live event on top of one of the tallest buildings in Houston, the Texas Commerce Tower. The whole event will be live with no delay, open air and right on top of the building. We need the girls to do the promotional spot and your daughters are the perfect ones to do it. The network loved the way they stole the scene the other day at the district. They are perfect!”

 “I’m really not sure I can agree to let them do that. Houston has some really bad winds on the top of those buildings. Remember trying to land the helicopter last week? We almost bought it and had to set down at the airport instead.”

 “We’ll take every precaution to insure their safety, but I have to get this going pretty quick. The regional is just three weeks away and we have to have the promo ready to air in 7 days.”

 “I can’t say I’ll approve of this. I think it is way too dangerous and I don’t like the idea at all.”

 “You haven’t a choice my dear.” His expression changed and his tone was quite menacing. “I had some friends follow you not too many nights ago and what they saw was very interesting.” 

 “You did what!”

 “Oh, did I strike a nerve? You know, most people would say that they were just blowing off steam if they stop off at a bar for a beer or drink. Women always get upset when their men do that, don’t they? What do we call it when a married woman and a face Houston would just love to find a fault in, leaves her kids and hubby at home and spends time at a redneck bar?”

“I’m not sure what you mean”, Helen tried to defend herself.

           “Maybe this will help you to remember”, Marco turned on the video player.

            Helen could not believe what she was seeing. She remembered the night pretty well. She was upset with Kevin and had left to go to the station to do research. Instead, she went to a country-dance club and had a couple of drinks before going to her downtown office. The tape showed Helen’s face very clearly and she was showing off a lot of leg and cleavage as well.       To anyone who might see this tape, the woman on that tape was looking for some action and getting plenty. 

            “Get me your girls, or I air this tape”, Marco challenged. “I have a few copies of these, and if you want to get your hands on them all, then produce those girls of yours and get them to do this promo.”

            Marco left her room and went to make his phone calls. He was going to L.A. on the strength of the current documentary and the upcoming promo for the gymnastics regional. He had Helen where he wanted her and she would get him the job he wanted, and he would ruin her completely. He would ruin her the same way she had ruined his mother and sister. Her high school pranks would come home to roost.

            His favorite “Star Trek” line ran through his head as he closed the door behind him. When Kahn faced Kirk once again, he had said, “Revenge is a dish best served cold” and Marco’s blood was indeed very cold as he walked down the hall to his room. He made a few very quick phone calls and checked to see if his surprise had been delivered to Helen’s girls. Satisfied that he had carried out his plan, he decided that he needed some female attention. There was a young production assistant that seemed to have ambitions of climbing the media ladder, and he could help her decide that climbing into his bed would get her further up that ladder.

            Helen could not believe what had just happened. She was not proud of what she had just seen on the tape. Airing that tape would turn her public against her and she would be ruined in the media forever. If she could turn back the clock a few days, she would have never left Kevin that night and Marco would not have this ammunition to use against her. She was very ashamed of her actions that night, but she had done nothing really wrong. She had not gone to bed with anyone and she had not done anything illegal at all at that club. 

            She had however, grabbed one cowboy’s crotch and danced very seductively with two or three others and Marco had that action on tape. She had wanted to turn some heads that night, but now she could barley hold hers up. She looked at herself in the mirror and had to look away. She had never done that before in her life, and the words her husband lived by were now haunting her.

            “I can get up and look at myself in the mirror every day and know that I have made a difference in someone’s life.”

            Helen had made a difference all right, but one she was sure no one would approve of at all. She didn’t approve of what she had done and there was no way she could ever expect Kevin to understand the contents of that video.   Helen fell on her bed and cried into her pillow. It had been so long since she had cried; she had forgotten what it felt like. The feelings were so deep now, she could not stop the flood of emotion that swept over her and racked her body with the heavy sobs.

            The sound of Helen’s crying had not gone unnoticed. Gloria, her production assistant was in the next room and was able to hear the sounds very clearly.  She had been watching Marco’s plan from a distance and he was bent on destroying a person she genuinely admired and a man whose integrity was unquestionable. Helen was Gloria’s hero in many ways, and Marco was not going to win this battle. 

            She gathered some of her notes and went to Helen’s door. A quiet knock and Helen opened the door to her after what had seemed an eternity. She knew that Helen had been crying from the sounds through the walls, but her face would have taken away any doubt. The redness was very prominent in Helen’s eyes. Gloria was shocked to see Helen so shaken up.   

            “Helen, I’ve got some ideas for that promo that Marco does not really care to look at. Would you take a look at them for me and tell me what you think? I’m concerned about these safety nets for the girls.”

            Her sincerity never doubted, Helen looked at Gloria for some sign of deception, but at this point, she could not trust her instincts at all. She was desperate for some help. Gloria had been a friend through many of Helen’s early days and troubles. She needed this friend to stay true to her. 

            “Sure, Gloria. Thanks for watching out for me. Let’s see what you have.”

            Together they looked over the notes and location of the safety nets, safety crews and the rescue teams when Helen realized that Kevin and Laura would be covering the medical and rescue portion of the event. That had to be Marco’s doings, but Helen had no idea how he had managed to get his company to cover the event. She also realized that the event was so secret, that the crews knew only that the event was to be a stunt of some sort. No safety briefing was scheduled for the crews at all. It became clear to Helen that Marco had indeed set this up very elaborately and if it went off well, the event would boost him to the LA market and take him out of Houston.