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Sylvia put the empty box under the table, then turned her attention to Naya. “You here to join us? The city council won’t miss us today, that’s for sure.” She crossed her arms. Her lips turned down. “Ingram. You decide to come to the good side too?”
“Just tagging along with a friend.” Ingram placed her arm around Naya’s shoulders.
“Actually, we had a few questions we were hoping you could answer.” Naya smiled.
Sylvia huffed. “She works for Ethos. Why not get details from her?” She pointed to Ingram.
Interesting. Naya raised an eyebrow. She didn’t want to reveal Ingram had told her about Sylvia working for Ethos, but the woman must know she couldn’t prevent others from finding out that information.
“I like to go to sources who I wouldn’t have bias toward. Make sure I get the full story.”
Sylvia huffed. “I don’t know what I can offer you.”
“As an employee of Ethos, I’m sure you have valuable insight.”
Sylvia’s eyes widened. “I will not?—”
Naya interrupted. “I’m curious about your involvement with both groups.” Naya needed to change tactics if any answers were to come from this conversation. “It’s noble of you to want to preserve the environment. Are you getting information to present reform ideas to the Ethos staff?”
Naya refrained from pulling out her recorder or paper. She needed to build trust with the woman first, not make her think she was being interrogated.
Sylvia’s eyes darted left and right, then she leaned over the table. “Something like that. But I can’t share anything here.” She leaned back and motioned to Ingram. “Can you watch the table while I go talk to your friend?”
Ingram turned to Naya and pursed her lips.
I’ll be fine,Naya mouthed.
They were in a highly populated area, so it would be silly for someone to pull a stunt now.
“Let’s go chat by those trees.” Naya pointed to the shaded area by a fence. It would be out of earshot but still visible.
They made their way over, and Naya kept her back to the fence just in case. There was no point being caught off guard.
She turned to face Sylvia. “What are you hoping to present to Ethos?”
“Proof of malicious intent.” Sylvia sneered.
They were jumping right in. Naya swallowed. “That is quite the claim. How so?”
“I have sources that say the environmental group is causing the destruction by dumping chemicals into the water. Then they try to blame it on Ethos!”
“Have you gathered any evidence to support the hearsay?”
“I’m trying!” She huffed. “It takes time to build people’s trust. They want to make sure you’re one of them first.”
“In the meantime, people are getting hurt.”
Sylvia set her hands on her hips. “I’m doing the best I can.”
“But it’s all to benefit Ethos.” Naya didn’t condone Sylvia’s approach, but she understood. “If the environmental group is doing it, how are they going about it without anyone finding out?”
“They have a drop-off point, but I haven’t been able to figure out where it is yet. Everyone knows money is at the root of this problem. Government funding is assisting those who are sick. Insurance companies are winning too. The faster this group can make claims against Ethos, the more money the organization gets to ‘support the environment.’” Sylvia used air quotes for the last part.
Naya read between the lines. The group was getting monies that would benefit its agenda, even if they didn’t say it outright. Although, the insurance company’s involvement piqued Naya’s interest. How were they winning?
Surely an insurance company would be more likely to conspire with a large company like Ethos over a local environmental group.
She stowed the thought away for later. Right now, it seemed more like quibbling than someone causing the problem in order to cash in.