14 - The Twitter Crush
What Irina is Hiding
Zoom Recording - Book Development Session
Date: February 18, 2016 | Duration: 47:22
Participants: Jackson Reed, Irina Sterling
[RECORDING BEGINS - Irina Sterling visible in frame, hotel room background. Jackson Reed's video is off, only profile photo visible]
JACKSON: Okay, we're recording. This is for chapter three, about your early years and what molded you into the woman you are today.
IRINA: [adjusting her hair, slight smile] Jackson, you always hide behind that little profile photo. How do I know you're even wearing pants?
JACKSON: [laughs] Very professional, I promise. So, you mentioned traveling extensively as a child?
IRINA: Yes. Moscow, Prague, Monaco, Dubai. My father was... in international business.
JACKSON: What kind of business?
IRINA: [pause, looking directly at camera] Import, export. Various ventures.
JACKSON: That's pretty vague for the book. Readers want specifics. They want to understand where you came from.
IRINA: [leaning back] I don't want this in the book. We need to dance around it. My father was not a law-abiding man. This is why we traveled so much. This is why I had luxury.
JACKSON: But you've said you started from nothing. That's a key part of your narrative.
IRINA: [sharp laugh] Starting from nothing doesn't mean being poor, Jackson. It means having nothing that's yours. Nothing you earned. Nothing you can keep.
JACKSON: Can you elaborate on that?
IRINA: There are things I can't or won't say. But his assets went to... other people after he died. Not to me. If I had tried to claim any of it, I wouldn't be here.
JACKSON: You mean you'd be in legal trouble?
IRINA: I mean I wouldn't be here. [touches her throat] Breathing.
[Long pause]
JACKSON: That's... intense. We can work around the specifics. Maybe focus on how that instability shaped your drive for independence?
IRINA: [smiling again] You're very good at this. Steering the conversation. You must be excellent with women.
JACKSON: I try to be respectful and—
IRINA: [interrupting] Oh, please. You know you don't have to play this role for me. The sensitive male feminist. I see you. My father taught me to see right through people.
JACKSON: I'm not playing a role.
IRINA: No? Then tell me, Jackson - when you write these books for all these women, do you believe any of it?
JACKSON: [pause] I believe women deserve equal opportunities and—
IRINA: [laughing] Such a politician! You should run for office. "Women deserve equal opportunities." Very safe. Very marketable.
JACKSON: You're paying me to help you write a marketable book.
IRINA: I'm paying you because you're the best at what you do. You can make any woman sound profound. Even me.
JACKSON: You don't need my help sounding profound.
IRINA: [leaning toward camera] Now that sounded almost genuine. See? You do have real thoughts in there.
JACKSON: Let's get back to your father. You said he taught you to read people?
IRINA: [settling back] He had to. In his world, misreading someone was fatal. He taught me to watch hands, not faces. To listen to what people don't say. To understand what they really want, not what they claim to want.
JACKSON: I can see how much you loved him.
IRINA: [smile fading] Loved him. Feared him sometimes. He was... I would not exist without him. It is very complicated.
JACKSON: Fathers always are.
IRINA: Yours too?
JACKSON: We're not writing my memoir.
IRINA: But we could. "The Man Behind the Women: Jackson Reed's Rise to Fame." I'd buy it.
JACKSON: [laughs] Nobody would buy that.
IRINA: I would. I'm very curious about you. There's a story there.
JACKSON: The story is I'm good with words and I need to make a living.
IRINA: And you chose this? Helping women like me pretend we have answers?
JACKSON: You do have answers. You've built something from—
IRINA: From nothing. Yes. We established that. [pause] Can I tell you something off the record?
JACKSON: We're still recording.
IRINA: I know. But you'll edit it out. Won't you?
JACKSON: Depends what it is.
IRINA: [moving closer to camera] Sometimes I feel like a fraud. All these women buying my courses, reading my posts, thinking I have some secret. The only secret is that there is no secret. Just survival. Doing whatever it takes.
JACKSON: That's actually profound. We could use—
IRINA: No. That's not marketable. Hope is marketable. Transformation is marketable. "I survived by any means necessary" is not marketable.
JACKSON: You'd be surprised what resonates with people.
IRINA: Would I? You're the expert. What resonates with you?
JACKSON: [pause] Honesty.
IRINA: [laughing] Honesty! From the man who makes a living creating fictional memoirs.
JACKSON: They're not fictional. They're... curated.
IRINA: My whole life is curated. Even this conversation. Even this face. [touches her cheek] Everything is performance.
JACKSON: That sounds exhausting.
IRINA: [softly] It is.
[Long pause]
JACKSON: Should we continue with chapter three or—
IRINA: Do you ever wonder what would happen if we met in person?
JACKSON: We will. At the book launch.
IRINA: That's not what I mean.
JACKSON: [clearing throat] I think we should focus on—
IRINA: You're blushing. I can hear it in your voice.
JACKSON: You can't hear blushing.
IRINA: I can hear everything. Your discomfort. Your interest.
JACKSON: And I can hear you get flirty every time I touch on a sore subject. Your father teach you that too? He was a wise man, I see.
IRINA: [sudden seriousness] He was a monster, Jackson. But he was my monster. And now he's dead, and I'm here, talking to you. Life is strange.
[Long pause]
IRINA: [looking directly at camera] You see too much, Jackson Reed. That's dangerous.
JACKSON: For who?
IRINA: [smiling] For both of us, maybe.
[RECORDING ENDS]
The Marcus Experience - Unaired Footage
File: VEGAS_DAY3_HOTEL_RAW.mp4
Date: May 19, 2017 | Duration: 18:47
[SCENE: Bellagio hotel room. MARCUS CONLON addresses camera directly, then moves to desk with laptop]
MARCUS: [to camera] Alright, we're rolling. This is day eight of the Charlie Stine investigation. Quick update - Charlie's mother gave us access to his Google account yesterday. Since his phone is missing - wasn't in his apartment, still haven't found his car - we're going through his Google account on his laptop. Everything syncs to the cloud, so we can see all his texts and calls right up until he disappeared.
[Marcus moves to desk, camera follows. JACKSON REED is already seated with the laptop]
NANCY (behind camera): Getting good light here.
MARCUS: Jax, pull up April again. Start from Irina's book launch.
JACKSON: April 18th. That's when Charlie's podcast dropped. The one where he said he had "receipts" on her startup money.
MARCUS: [leaning over Jackson's shoulder] And boom. Look at this. April 19th, the very next day. New number starts texting him.
JACKSON: [reading] "Hi Charlie. Loved your latest episode. My name is Phoenix. I have information about Irina Sterling you need to see."
MARCUS: Phoenix. Not her real name, obviously. But look at that profile pic. Holy shit.
[Camera zooms in on the screen, showing a slender woman with tanned skin and dark hair, wearing a red cocktail dress and heels]
JACKSON: [scrolling] She says... here: "I used to work with her. We were both escorts. She went by Inka then. Moscow Elite agency, 2011 to 2014."
MARCUS: Inka?
JACKSON: Yeah, she said that was her childhood nickname in the book. [continuing to read] "I'm disgusted watching her pretend to be some old-money aristocrat when I know where her money really came from. Men. Rich men. Married men."
NANCY: And Charlie believed this?
MARCUS: Look at his responses. He's eating it up. [reading over Jackson's shoulder] "This is incredible. Can you prove it?" And she says "I have photos, emails, even old client contact info. But I need to know you're serious about exposing her."
JACKSON: Here's where it gets interesting. April 20th. The texts turn flirty. Phoenix writes: "I saw your YouTube videos. You're cuter than I expected."
MARCUS: And Charlie's practically drooling through the phone. [reading] "Would love to meet you. Drinks after we talk business?"
JACKSON: And she says yes. With a kissy face emoji. For fuck’s sake. They arrange to meet on the 22nd. .
MARCUS: [to camera] April 22nd is the day Charlie disappeared.
JACKSON: [reading] "Starbucks on Durango. 2 PM.
JACKSON: Keep going.
MARCUS: [reading] "I see her. She's here. ABORT." Then Charlie writes back: "Just saw her too. Getting out now." Then Phoenix: "Meet me at my storage unit instead. Centennial Hills Storage, unit 47. I have everything there - photos, client lists, everything about her escort days."
JACKSON: [sitting on bed] Centennial Hills. That's way out north of Summerlin.
MARCUS: Twenty-five minutes from the strip at least. [continues reading] "Please hurry. I'm leaving Vegas after this. Too dangerous."
JACKSON: 3:47 PM. Charlie's last text. [reading] "I'm here. Where are you?"
**[Long pause]
MARCUS: No response. That's it. That's the last activity on his phone. [turning to camera] We checked with Metro PD. Charlie's car hasn't been found. Now I can’t get his phone records. PIs can’t do that and Charlie was the only authorized user on his account. So I can’t see if his phone is on or pinged any towers. Would be awful nice if Metro would participate in this little shindig, but apparently not.
MARCUS: Jax, look at this. April 20th. One of Phoenix's previous messages: "We worked for the same agency. Moscow Elite. Her pimp was mobbed up."
JACKSON: [standing up] Russian mob?
MARCUS: That's what it says. [reading] "Dimitri Volkov. He ran girls in Dubai, Monaco, yacht seasons. When girls tried to leave, they had accidents. Irina got out but she ripped him off. A lot. That's how she funded her first book."
NANCY: No way she ripped off the Russian mob and put her face all over the internet. Gotta be BS.
JACKSON: [agitated] Maybe. But maybe not. When I was ghostwriting her book, she was vague as hell about her background. She had lots of stories, but was slippery on dates and locations. Wouldn’t even say what her dad’s name was in case people could track down the rest of her family.
**[Pause]
JACKSON: Fuck, I just remembered something. The way she described her relationship with her dad was… it was a lot. I thought maybe that was just how they did it in Russia. But maybe it wasn’t her father she was describing. Maybe it was her “daddy.”
NANCY: Her pimp.
JACKSON: [nods] We need to find that storage unit.
MARCUS: [pulling up Google Maps] Centennial Hills Storage. It's real. Shit, it's... [zooming in] Jackson, look at this. Street view.
**[Both lean toward screen]
JACKSON: It's abandoned.
MARCUS: Scheduled for demolition looks like. They’re building more condos.
JACKSON: So either Charlie met Phoenix there and something went wrong...
MARCUS: Or Phoenix was a honeypot.
**[Long silence]
NANCY: Should I keep rolling?
MARCUS: [to camera] Yeah. We're going to that storage facility.
JACKSON: Marcus—
MARCUS: If Charlie was there, there might be evidence. That’ll be enough to get the cops off their ass.
**[Camera moves as Nancy stands]
NANCY: Guys, if she actually has Russian mob connections—
JACKSON: We don't know that for sure.
MARCUS: We don't know anything for sure. But Charlie's missing, and this Phoenix character was the last person talking to him. Real or fake, we need to—
**[Loud knock on door. Everyone freezes]
VOICE FROM OUTSIDE: Housekeeping!
**[Nervous laughter]
MARCUS: Jesus Christ. No thanks! We're good!
VOICE: Okay, thank you!
**[Footsteps receding]
JACKSON: [quietly] If this turns into mob shit, I’m out.
MARCUS: [to camera] You ain’t lyin’. Alright. Let's go to Centennial Hills. Nancy, bring the good camera. If we find something...
NANCY: Got it.
[END OF FOOTAGE]