Illusion Of Control: Clean Hands

By Makitia Thompson

Under the Mic Season One: Illusion Of Control
Episode One: Clean Hands

Before Cole King went independent, there was Quarry 14.

In 1983, a routine review of environmental transport logs led investigative journalist Cole King to a quiet inconsity, one truck listed publicly, two trucks logged internally. What began as a documentation question quickly expanded into something far more volatile: manipulated compliance reports, averaged chemical concentrations, and whispers of after-hours reroutes to an abandoned limestone pit north of town.

Voltaire Environmental Systems insists on regulatory clearance.
Community leaders urge calm.
The paper that employs Cole urges caution.

But when independent lab results confirm elevated solvent contamination at the unlicensed site, the story stops being about implication and becomes about exposure.

As lawsuits mount and corporate pressure intensifies, Cole must choose between institutional protection and independent truth.

Under the Mic blends cinematic prose with documentary structure, presenting the first investigation that redefined Cole King's career and revealed how power responds when scrutiny refuses to retreat.

Power doesn't collapse.
It recalibrates.

And sometimes, it erodes

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GQZ8DSJ9
• ISBN13: 9798250525473
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 154 Pages
• Weight: 0.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"