Realise - Real Lies

Catch-22

Check it out here as well: https://jaderoxx30892.wixsite.com/reallies/post/chapter-43-catch-22

Jake's POV

"What do prisons have to do with anything? Why is Zeus involved with an initiative associated with prisons?" I asked. It was almost morning and it had brought many questions than answers. "Maybe I can find something about that from Yang," Ethan offered. "Wouldn't he be on the way with his family?" Jade asked. "Yeah I will still leave him a message. He will get back to us when he can," Ethan said. "I think we should go to Bern," I said. "Are you out of your mind? Liam specifically said he doesn't want to see you in Bern. And you want to go there?" Jade said. "If he didn't want me there, he would have not given me the clue at all. Why else would he specify that?" I asked. "I don't know Jake but I don't have a good feeling about it. Whatever we found out, it seems too shady for us to get involved," Jade said. "I just need to speak to him, even if he doesn't want to acknowledge anything, I still feel he knows about Richy's murder. Have you forgotten that? You are still being accused of that," I said. She kept quiet. Ethan piped up instead, "Whatever is the reason Jake, I can't let you do that. The people are dangerous and I can't put a prime suspect of one case who is not even from this country and what I can only imagine to be a civilian at risk."
"Oh yeah, what about when you were ready to put Jade at risk last night?" I said angrily. "That was different. I had to save Yang and we didn't have a choice. Seeing how everything is progressing I think the Interpol chief should handle this," Ethan replied. "I don't think the Interpol police will care about solving a murder case which is not in their country would they?" I asked accusingly. Ethan narrowed his eyes at me, "And you must be really high and mighty because you want to find Richy's murderer and prove Jade's innocence, correct? Are you sure that's all? This has nothing to do with the abandonment issues you are facing because of Zeus?" I glared back at him, "Of course you would say that. At least I am not running away like a coward." "This has nothing to do with being a coward. You need to at least think of when the odds are stacked against you, you don't make rash decisions. Please Jake, try to understand," Jade said. "In or out guys? I know Zeus. He would never give me a clue without a reason. Whatever this is.....Liam knows it and he wants me there. Whether this is a trap or not we don't have an alternative," I pressed. Ethan and Jade looked at each other. "Fine. But we do this my way. You are not running away like you did last night," Ethan said. "Deal," I responded.
We got into the car. Ethan drove. None us spoke anything. Ethan's phone broke the silence. He put the phone on speaker, "Hello?" "What the fuck did you do Ethan? You had Jade in your custody? Were you out of your fucking mind? You were the one who abducted her in the first place weren't you? How dare you lie to me?" Valdifiori's voice boomed through the speakers. "Did you know your friends had abducted Yang?" I snapped back. "Ethan I vouched for you. I stuck my neck out for you.." "I don't care. Answer me Sylvia, did you know?" "Oh I knew, and I was the one that told them that if there was anyone you would confide in, it would be him," she said smugly. "They hit him you stuck up bitch and also killed an innocent man.." "I don't care Ethan. You asked to be in and now you are backing off when the going got a bit rough. You need to have a stronger stomach than that. And collateral is evident when you climb the ladder. Tell me. Don't you want it, Ethan? All you need to do is hand Jade over," Valdifiori's crazed words stunned us all. Ethan took a deep breath, "You are sick." "Think it through Ethan. Your sign is on the documents regarding Jade's arrest, remember? You have nowhere to go. Either you hand Jade over or the Interpol Chief gets to know that you are the one harboring a fugitive. For you information, the whole Interpol has been advised to not cooperate with you pending an investigation. Your choice. You have 1 hour to get back with an answer," Valdifiori said menacingly. Ethan angrily shut the phone. "So that's a dead end now? Getting any information from Interpol is no longer possible," Jade said. Ethan picked his phone again and dialed Yang. A few minutes later, Yang's groggy voice answered the call, "Hello?" "Yang. Its Ethan. I want a favor. Off the records. Valdifiori has shut down my access and I am under investigation.." "That bitch." "Yang, I need you to dig everything you can on the BLAMED initiative. It has been approved in the Bern regional prison. We haven't been able to find out any details on it," Ethan said quickly. Yang sounded excited, "Hang on. Let me get to it. Ok Bern prison has a release statement. Dammit. The files are redacted.I guess they haven't gone fully digital." "Any contact in Bern prison who can give us this information?" Ethan asked. "Let me check. Umm. Joshua Cross. He is from the filing department. He may have some information," Yang said. "Will he talk to me?" Ethan asked. "Yes he is reliable but you might want to meet him somewhere away from the prison office. I will set that up and I will call you in a while," Yang said. "Yang. Do you know if Liam has any homes in Bern based on your research," I asked. "Hang on. Bern. Bern. Bern. Nope no houses in Bern. He does have a few scattered around in Zurich," Yang said. "That's a shame. Anything that Liam has in Bern or he is connected to?" I asked. "Well, this is weird. A few days ago he became part of a board of a new company. That company has a warehouse address in Bern," Yang said after a few minutes. "What's the address?" I asked. "Sending it to you now," Yang said. I looked at my phone - Ragwort LLC. I showed it to Ethan and Jade. They looked extremely nervous. "Hello?" Yang sang. "Thanks Yang. Get back to me when you have the meeting details," Ethan said and hung up. "Split up?" I asked. "No fucking way," Jade said angrily. "We will cover more.." I started. "I said no Jake," she said. Ethan sighed, "Let's think about it when we get there." The rest of the journey was filled with an awkward silence. 2 hours later we got to the city of Bern. Yang had texted us with the details of the meeting spot with the Joshua person. We were now at the crossroads. One way went to the warehouse, the other to the cafe where Joshua would meet Ethan.
Ethan seemed deep in thought. "You can't take both of us to meet Joshua. He will get suspicious. And if I am right, Liam could be at the warehouse and I am sure he won't let anything happen to me," I said. "That's a big if. Besides he told you to stay away remember?" Jade said angrily. She then looked at Ethan, "Please tell me you aren't agreeing to this." Ethan sighed, "I don't want to. And this is the riskiest thing to do. I don't know. I don't know what to do." I looked at my phone and checked the distance from the warehouse to the cafe. It was around 15 mins. "Give me an hour. You drop me to the warehouse. You and Jade meet Joshua and pick me up within an hour. I promise just to get in and out. I will not talk to Liam until you come back, just look around," I pressed. "NO!" Jade screamed. "Jade tell me it doesn't make sense," I said. "Of course it doesn't. We do this together. That way we have each other's backs. Stop being an idiot," she said, her voice pleading me. "Ethan? What does your gut say?" I asked. He sighed again and looked at me, "You have one hour, Jake. We talk through the phones. If I don't hear from you, I am storming the place. It's either that or I am sure he is going to slip away again. I am sorry Jade I have to side with Jake on this."