(18+) RED (Complete)

Ch. 45: A skeleton or three

"William? It's me, Michael. Have you found something yet?"

"Ahh! Mr. Jackson," he exclaimed, sounding a bit taken aback by my abrupt question. Truth was, I didn't care. He was my private investigator and I paid him to find a way to ruin that asshole Ryan's life, the same way he did to Mia. Or worse. Problem was that both his parents were lawyers, and pretty good ones too, so it was harder than we first expected.

"I've good both good and bad news for you, sir. Which one would you like to hear first?"

"The bad ones."

I heard him clear his voice nervously.

"Okay, so we have a few witnesses. Mia's friends."

"And?"

"They are all declared unreliable because they were under the influence of alcohol. Mr. Roxwell even dug up an incident where one of them had smoked weed, and claims that he's a drug addict. But that's on the side of the case. Bottom line is that we can't use their statements in court, because Ryan's parents claim that they're trying to frame him for something Benjamin did."

"Benjamin? But he was the one who saved her!"

"I know. But it's his words against theirs, and that's how it is. But!"

He made a short pause.

"Their statements have given me a better understanding of what happened."

I was about to comment on that, but he beat me to it.

"And then we have the good news. There's a tape..."

"I know about that. It's useless," I grumbled.

"Are you sure about that?"

I rolled my eyes. Why did I get the feeling that I knew more about the case than him? Was he really that useless?

"Yes, I'm sure. I haven't seen it myself, because I fear for the lives of people around me if I do. But according to what Benjamin said, it's not possible to prove that it's Ryan. Mia on the other hand..."

I cursed under my breath.

"In addition to her braids, you can see a short clip of her face... Fuck! Are you sure you don't have anything more? If you can't find anything on Ryan, then dig up some old dirt about his parents. Anything."

"But, sir... I've already tried that. There's nothing. Those two have either paid themselves to a clean past, or they've just been extremely..."

"Bullshit! Everybody has some skeletons in their closet. Find them!"

I didn't bother to say goodbye. I just hung up. We would meet in a little while anyway and I would apologize then, but right now I was too angry to even hold a normal conversation without snapping at everyone. And the entire helicopter ride to Sacramento I prayed that my two lawyers had a little more luck than William.

<><><>

"Mr. Jackson? What brings you to Sacramento?"

"Are you here for a holiday, sir?"

"Do you have any comments on your latest tour?