Emerald Chains

10. Bail

Richard was sitting patiently at the bail hearing, arms folded across his chest. He hired one of the best lawyers he could to ensure his bail was approved. Money was never an issue for him. The criminal activities he was involved in would more than pay for any bail amount requested.

On the surface, he was just an average middle-aged man with a wife and two children but that was just a facade. He hid is private life well. Nobody knew how deep his connections went which would work in his favour. They would never expect him to be a flight risk due to his fake family but once he got out of here he was going after Ethan and he was going to make him pay.

He saw the charges that were against him and they paled in comparison to what he was actually involved in. They only listed the money laundering and fraud charges at $100,000. Yes, he syphoned off the money from the company into his own pockets. Who wouldn't in his position. The $100,000 was nothing compared to the amount that went in and out of his hands.

His lawyer mentioned the charges could lead to up to 10 years in prison but with his clean history, he was likely only looking at 2 years. Little did the lawyer know that he was no going to prison at all. Once he was out on bail he would go into hiding and eventually disappear. Not before he had Ethan on a platter.

Ethan has destroyed his cover and his boss would not be pleased. He would take pleasure in watching him scream.

"Bail is set at $500,000," the judge said, slamming the gavel down. Richard smirked, getting up and giving his lawyer a handshake.

"Get that money sent over immediately, I want to be out of here within the next hour," said Richard.

"Yes, sir," replied the lawyer who immediately took out his phone and started making phone calls.

Only 15 minutes had passed before his bail was posted. The second he got out of the courtroom his driver pulled up. He hopped in and immediately pulled out his phone.

"I want Ethan found and I want him found now. I don't care how many resources you put on it, just find him," he barked out orders down the phone.

"Take me to see Deimos," he said to his driver.

***

Ethan was all packed and ready to go when Erica knocked on the door. He didn't have many belongings as he moved around quite a bit so he picked up his suitcase and duffle bag, took one last look around his apartment and opened the door.

"Ready to go" asked Erica, standing there with her sunglasses on to block the glare from the mid-morning sun.

Ethan walked out the door, passing one of his bags to Erica and turning around to lock up. "Where am I off to this time? Please tell me you've redeemed yourself for the last location." Ethan furrowed his eyebrows thinking on the last time he was forced into hiding. He remembered being in a pretty rough part of Anniston in Alabama. He was broken into three times in the month that he spent there. Once he was in the house at the time. Luckily he was capable of looking after himself.

"I promise, you'll like this one. Kane felt bad about getting your cover blown so he forked out a bit more this time," replied Erica.

Ethan and Erica proceeded to Erica's car. "It wasn't his fault. Did he find out what happened?"

"Apparently some paperwork mix up. The cops case file dates were switched with the times you were being brought in. Kane fired two people over the incident. Guess you can't really account for human error."

Ethan passed over his set of keys to Erica. "Can you put the car and furniture in storage for the time being. I have everything else I need. Apartments lease is up in a couple of weeks anyway so I've cleared up the paperwork. You just need to take care of the moving"