"From the twenty-first of December through to the twenty-third, I endured three separate attempts on my life. That’s the reason I decided to continue publishing my exposés over the Christmas period. If they didn’t think I should see another holiday, why should I care about them?"
Newell straightened up at something that was fresh news. "They tried to kill you?"
"They did."
"There have been no police reports filed—"
"No. My private security handled it." I shrugged, lying with ease. "Even with the identities of the Sparrows slowly being released, there are still so many who are flying under the radar, and there’s no way of knowing who was truly behind the attacks against me.
“These crimes were perpetrated by nameless, faceless men who wished to see me dead. Unfortunately for them, I’m not so easy to kill."
"How many more exposés will you be publishing?"
"I can’t put a number on something I don’t know."
"You don’t have an exact amount?"
"No. Aren’t you listening to me?"
His nostrils flared. "Why don’t you just give them to the police?"
"Because the police can’t be trusted." I tipped my head to the side. "Haven’t you realized that yet, Jason?"
His mouth tightened. "The current NWS members, such as the Chief Justice and the Head of Homeland Security, have been arrested under The Patriot Act. Don’t you believe that the FBI will use those same laws to gather all the information you have?"
"What information? I’ll never reveal my sources and it’s not as if I have a USB drive for them to take. I’m protected by the First Amendment, Jason. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1968 decision in Pickering v. Board of Education proves that.
"Anyway, they can raid my apartment, take my computer, try to hack their way into my emails, all under The Patriot Act, but there’s one thing they’ll never take away." I smiled at him. "My voice."
His eyes narrowed. "That’s all well and good, but—"
"But nothing. I will not be silenced, Jason, because behind me, there are hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of women, who were victimized and traded like their bodies were fruit at a market.
“I will not be silenced, because that meanstheyare once again voiceless. I won’t allow that to happen." The camera panned in on me, and to the city, the country, and the rest of the world, I declared, "Wewill not be silenced."