From A Producer To A Global Superstar

Michael arrived for the recorded interview at 10:17 a.m.

His lawyer had told him to arrive through the side entrance. Michael ignored that and used the main one. Not because he wanted the cameras. He did not. But he refused to look as if he was being hidden.

Reporters were already outside the building.

There were fewer of them than at MM Label, but they stood closer together, held tighter by barriers and police tape. Some had cameras on tripods. Others held phones and microphones over the shoulders of the people in front.

Michael stepped out of the car in a dark suit and walked beside his lawyer.

The questions came before the car door fully closed.

"Mr. Erickson, are you here because of Nadia Bellamy?"

"Will you deny the coercion allegation on record?"

"Did you ask anyone to locate the claimants?"

"Did you try to access complaint files after the preservation demand?"

"Are you still in contact with MM Label staff after your suspension?"

His lawyer, Victor Hale, kept a hand near Michael’s elbow without touching him. "No comment. Mr. Erickson is attending voluntarily and will cooperate through counsel."

Michael kept his face steady.

The word voluntarily annoyed him.

Voluntary was a soft word for a door that closed behind you if you refused to walk through it.

A reporter near the front shouted louder than the rest. "Did your office remove Nadia Bellamy from artist development after she refused you?"

Michael turned his head slightly.

Victor spoke before he could. "No comment."

They entered the building under security escort.

Inside, the noise dropped at once. The lobby had polished floors, a reception desk, and two uniformed officers standing near the lift. Michael had been in government buildings before, usually through private rooms and arranged meetings. This felt different. Nobody moved aside as if his name mattered. Nobody hurried to soften the process.

A woman at reception checked his identification even though everyone in the room knew who he was.

Victor signed them in.

Michael waited with his hands at his sides.

The receptionist returned his ID and said, "Interview room four. Investigator Halley is waiting."

Victor thanked her.

Michael did not.

They walked down a corridor with plain walls and closed doors. At the end, a young officer opened interview room four and let them in.

Ruth Halley sat on one side of the table. Peter Iles sat beside her with a folder already open. A recording device rested near the center, beside a stack of documents and two sealed evidence sleeves.

The room was small enough that Michael had to choose where to look.

He chose Ruth.

"Mr. Erickson," she said.

Michael sat down across from her. Victor placed his briefcase beside his chair and opened a notebook.

Ruth turned on the recorder and stated the date, time, location, and names in the room. She said Michael was attending voluntarily with personal counsel present. Then she looked at him directly.

"We’ll begin with Nadia Bellamy."

Victor leaned forward slightly. "My client denies any wrongdoing. He is here to assist where appropriate, but we will object to questions that assume facts not established."

Ruth gave a small acknowledgment and opened the first folder.

"Mr. Erickson, when did you first meet Nadia Bellamy?"

Michael folded his hands on the table. "I do not remember the exact date. She was one of many session vocalists and development candidates around MM Label."

"So you do remember her."

"I remember the name now because it is in the news."

Peter placed a document in front of him. "This is an executive scheduling entry from the period in question. Ms. Bellamy was scheduled for a private meeting connected to your office. Do you recognize the format?"

Michael glanced at it, then at Victor.

Victor said, "You may answer if you recognize the format, not the contents."

"It looks like an internal schedule entry," Michael said.

"Would a session vocalist normally be scheduled through your office for a private evening meeting at a hotel?"

Michael did not answer immediately.

Victor spoke first. "We object to the characterization. ’Private evening meeting’ is not a category my client has accepted."

Ruth did not argue. She wrote something down and asked again with different words. "Was it standard for your office to schedule artist-development candidates outside MM Label premises?"

"It depended on the project, market, and executive availability."

"Was Nadia Bellamy attached to a project requiring your personal involvement?"

Michael looked at the document again. "I don’t remember."

Peter opened another page. "Three days after that meeting, her name was removed from the development candidate list. The note says, ’Do not advance without executive clearance.’ Whose clearance would that refer to?"

"There were several executives."

"Were you one of them?"

"Yes."

"Did you give that clearance?"

"I do not recall."

Ruth let the answer sit before moving on.

The next document was a message from an assistant. Redacted in places, but not enough to hide the shape. Nadia’s name. A room number. A change in pickup time. A note saying Michael preferred no additional staff present.

Michael read it once and slid it back.

Victor watched him closely.

"Do you recognize the assistant?" Ruth asked.

"I recognize the office tag."

"That was not my question."

"I would need the unredacted document to answer properly."

"We can provide it through counsel."

"Then provide it."

Ruth did not react to the tone. "Did you instruct staff to arrange meetings with Nadia Bellamy without artist-development personnel present?"

"No."

"Did you ever suggest to Ms. Bellamy that access, studio time, or a future deal depended on personal availability to you?"

"No."

"Did you threaten her after she refused you?"

"No."

The clean answers came too quickly.

Victor shifted in his chair but did not interrupt.

Ruth opened the next folder. "Why was Ms. Bellamy’s name later placed in a risk folder connected to complaint handling?"

Michael’s eyes moved to Peter.

Peter was already watching him.

"I don’t know," Michael said.

"Did your office use containment tags for artist complaints?"

"Legal used many internal categories."

"Mr. Erickson, did you or your office refer Nadia Bellamy’s situation to legal as a containment issue?"

Victor raised a hand. "Do not answer that without reviewing the document."

Ruth accepted it and marked the objection.

The questions continued for over an hour.

Nadia’s meetings.

Nadia’s removal.

Nadia’s messages.

The hotel records.

The voice note her lawyer had provided.

Michael denied the parts that required denial and claimed not to remember the parts that could trap him. Victor objected when the questions pressed too close. Ruth kept returning to dates.

Peter said little at first. When he began, his questions were about records.

"After the first preservation demand was served, did you instruct anyone to access or review complaint archives?"

"No."

"Did you ask Clara Dane to contact Harold Finch?"

Michael paused.

Victor stepped in. "We need the basis for that question."

Peter slid over a call log summary and a written note from legal describing the request.

Michael looked at the page.

His face stayed calm, but something in him hardened.

"I asked for historical file review," he said. "There is nothing improper about understanding old records when false claims are being made."

"Were you aware that the preservation demand prohibited movement, alteration, export, or reclassification of relevant records?"

"My lawyers were handling that."

"Were you aware personally?"

Victor interrupted. "He is not here to interpret preservation language without the full document in front of him."

Peter turned the page. "Did you ask anyone to find Marissa Cole, Nadia Bellamy, Elena Voss, Caleb Rourke, or any unnamed claimant?"

"No."

"Did you contact any private security provider regarding the location of Nadia Bellamy?"

"No."

Ruth looked up from her notes. "Mr. Erickson, we have call records showing contact with a private security consultant after Ms. Bellamy’s article was published."

Michael leaned back slightly. "Calling someone is not the same as asking for a claimant location."

"What did you ask for?"

"Media risk. General background. Who was coordinating the attacks."

Peter made a note.

Ruth opened another document. "Let’s discuss the leaked office recording."

Victor’s pen stopped moving.

Ruth read from the transcript. "You were recorded saying, ’I ended those careers for a reason. They were warned.’ Which careers were you referring to?"

"The clip was edited."

"We are not asking about editing yet. We are asking what you meant."

"It was taken out of context."

"Then give us the context."

Michael looked at Victor.

Victor said, "My client will not answer questions about an illegally recorded workplace clip without review of the full recording."

Ruth nodded once and marked the refusal.

That annoyed Michael more than argument would have. She did not fight for the answer. She simply wrote down that he had not given one.

The interview moved from Nadia to the wider complaints, then back to Nadia again. Ruth did not let the center drift. Every time Michael tried to speak about old rivals, jealous artists, public pressure, or coordinated attacks, she returned to the same point.

Nadia Bellamy had been scheduled through his office.

Nadia Bellamy had been removed after the meeting.

Nadia Bellamy’s file had gone into risk handling.

Nadia Bellamy’s lawyer had provided messages, records, and a voice note.

By the time the recorder stopped, Michael’s shirt collar felt too tight.

Ruth closed the folder in front of her. "We may request a further interview. You are not under arrest at this time. You are expected to remain available through counsel."

Michael stood before Victor could stop him.

"At this time," he said.

Ruth looked at him. "Yes."

Victor placed a hand on his briefcase. "We will receive further requests through my office."

Peter gathered the documents. "You will also receive a formal request for clarification on communications made after the preservation demand."

Michael turned toward the door.

Victor followed him into the corridor and waited until they were out of earshot before speaking.

"That went badly."

Michael kept walking. "You said that before we went in."

"I said it would be difficult. I am saying it went badly. They have documents, they have witness statements, and they have your calls. If they have the full recording from your office, the clip issue becomes worse."

Michael stopped near the lift.

Two officers were speaking at the far end of the corridor. Neither looked at him.

"That woman asked questions like she had already written the answer," Michael said.

"She asked questions like she had documents."

Victor pressed the lift button. "Do not contact anyone connected to this. Do not call Clara and demand anything. Do not call old contacts. Do not contact Silas."

Michael looked at him.

Victor’s voice lowered. "Yes, I know enough to say that. Whoever you think can help you right now cannot be seen helping you."

The lift arrived.

Michael stepped inside.

Victor joined him, then continued before the doors closed. "You are not under arrest, but that can change. If you run, refuse, threaten, or move records, you make it easy for them."

Michael faced the doors.

"I heard you."

Victor did not look convinced.

Outside, the reporters were still waiting.

Security moved Michael and Victor through a side corridor this time, and Michael allowed it. He had no interest in giving them another image today.

****

Felix called Dayo just after noon.

Dayo was at JD Records, sitting in a small conference room with two campaign folders open in front of him. Sharon had been briefing him on Luna’s acoustic clip release when Felix’s name appeared on the phone.

Dayo excused himself and stepped into the hall.

"Done?" he asked.

"Interview ended," Felix said. "No arrest."

Dayo looked through the glass wall at Sharon, who was still speaking with Alice inside. "Expected?"

"After Warren, yes. Silas is being careful. He wants pressure, not a rushed explosion."

"Did Michael talk?"

"He attended with counsel. From what I can see, Nadia stayed central. They asked about her development file, the hotel schedule, containment, the archive access, and his calls."

Dayo leaned against the wall. "Any movement from Silas?"

"Quiet. Too quiet. He did not push arrest after the package reached Warren. That means he is thinking."

"That is worse than him panicking."

"Yes."

Dayo watched a staff member walk past carrying a stack of printed schedules. The office around him was normal, almost too normal for what was happening elsewhere.

"Keep the victims protected," he said.

"Still clean. Nadia moved again. Marissa is with counsel. Elena and Caleb are not public with locations."

"Good."

Felix paused before adding, "Michael leaving the interview free will frustrate people online. They’ll think power protected him."

"Power is protecting him," Dayo said. "Just not in the way they think."

Felix did not argue.

"Do we push anything?" he asked.

"No."

"Not even the above-Michael packet?"

"Not yet. If Silas shuts the door, we open it. Until then, let them look at each other."

Felix understood. "I’ll keep watching."

Dayo ended the call and stood in the hallway for a few more seconds before returning to the meeting.

Inside, Sharon looked up. "Everything okay?"

Dayo sat down and picked up his pen. "For now."

Alice studied him briefly but did not ask.

The meeting continued.

****

Silas received the interview summary in the late afternoon.

Michael had attended.

He had denied.

He had avoided.

He had not been arrested.

That was the correct outcome, at least for now.

Arresting Michael too quickly after the Warren packet would have been satisfying but stupid. A man who felt buried might drop everything at once. A man walking free, watched and restricted, could still be managed.

Silas sat alone in his office with the summary printed on the desk.

Nadia Bellamy’s name appeared twelve times.

That did not surprise him.

Nadia was the public center now. Her allegation was clean enough to understand and ugly enough that no one wanted to be caught softening it. The investigators knew that too. They would build through her, then widen into files, money, communications, and authority.

Michael would understand some of that.

Not all.

The problem was the package.

Warren Castellano had the copy, or enough of one to make danger. He had not published, but he had prepared protection. Michael had done what he needed to do. He had made Silas slow down.

Silas did not like being forced into caution by a man he had placed.

He turned one page of the summary and stopped at the notes on post-preservation contact. Private security. Political contact. Media owners. Michael had been told not to call those people. He had called them anyway.

A desperate man did not only threaten enemies.

He made records.

Silas reached for his phone, then stopped.

There were still intermediaries he could use. He could keep tightening Michael’s legal position. He could encourage the board to go further. He could let investigators take the next step if Michael refused. But none of that changed the fact that Michael now had outside leverage.

The cleanest move was no longer only procedure.

It was conversation.

Silas disliked the thought the moment it arrived.

Still, by evening, he had accepted it.

"Prepare the car," he told his intermediary.

The man on the other end of the line hesitated. "For where?"

Silas gave the address.

Michael’s temporary apartment.

A silence followed.

"You want to go yourself?"

"Yes."

"That creates risk."

"Not going creates a different one."

"Do you want security inside?"

"No. Outside only. If I arrive surrounded, he will think I came to threaten him. I am not there for that."

The intermediary did not say that Silas was almost always there to threaten someone. He knew better.

"I’ll arrange the route."

Silas ended the call.

For the next twenty minutes, he sat without opening another file.

Michael was a time bomb now. Not because he was brave. Because he was cornered, angry, and vain enough to believe destruction still counted as control.

Silas had built parts of his life around men like that.

He had also removed them when needed.

Michael returned to the serviced apartment after sunset.

The building was quiet. No reporters. No visible security. That did not mean he was alone. Silas would know where he was. The investigators might know too. Felix, whoever he was, whoever had been pulling strings around the victims, might also know. Michael no longer trusted empty streets.

He entered the apartment and removed his jacket.

The interview had left him tired in a way he did not want to admit. Not because Ruth Halley had shouted. She had not. Not because the room had been harsh. It had been plain. What exhausted him was the number of answers he could not give without opening another door.

Nadia Bellamy.

Containment.

Private meetings.

Archive access.

The office clip.

They had put each piece on the table and waited for him to either touch it or refuse.

Michael poured water in the kitchen and stood there drinking slowly.

His phone had five missed calls from Victor, two from Clara, and one message from an unknown number he knew not to open yet.

He placed the phone on the counter and went to the small security screen near the door.

The hallway was empty.

For the first time that day, he let his face show what he felt.

Anger first.

Then something more useful.

Silas had not rushed the arrest. That meant Warren had worked. The package had not destroyed Silas, but it had made him careful. Michael could work with careful. Careful men left gaps because they were busy protecting themselves.

A knock came from the door.

Michael looked at the security screen.

The hallway was no longer empty.

Silas Vane stood outside the apartment door in a dark coat, alone.

Michael stared at the screen.

Then he smiled.

Not because he had won.

Because Silas had come himself.

Michael walked to the door, unlocked it, and opened it still smiling.

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