One Man Band System

Once Julian took his seat, neither of them spoke right away. The quiet diner created a slightly suffocating atmosphere. Shortly after, the waitress brought over a cup of coffee, seemingly already familiar with Julian and knowing his usual order. After Julian offered a quick word of thanks and the waitress walked away, he looked across at Eric and Emma.

"And you are?" Julian asked, looking at Emma.

"This is Emma, my fiancée. Is it alright if she stays?" Eric asked.

Emma turned to look at Eric with a smile. Beneath the table, she gave his hand a tight squeeze. Even though she knew Eric was just saying that so she had a legitimate reason to stay for the meeting with Julian, hearing those words still made her heart flutter.

"Fair enough, I understand. Let’s get straight to the point. Is it true that you were the one who rescued your sister, Ruby Watts, from her apartment when she was targeted by five men while drugged?" Julian asked.

"That’s correct, sir," Eric answered.

"Did you know any of the five men who attacked your sister?" Julian asked.

"I only knew one of them—a guy named Chad. He’s a classmate of my sister and Emma," Eric answered candidly.

"Hmm... I see. So what you’re telling me matches what you gave Detective Norman," Julian noted.

"Of course, sir, because that’s exactly what happened," Eric replied.

"Alright, I understand. Apologies for reopening an old file, but there’s something I need to show you and ask you about," Julian said.

Julian unclasped his folder, pulled out a photograph, and set it on the table, sliding it forward toward Eric and Emma. Eric’s eyes widened instantly—he recognized the man in the photo as the very same guy who had threatened the landlord and security guard during the incident. Julian carefully observed the reaction on Eric’s face.

"Judging by your reaction, it looks like you recognize him," Julian said.

"He’s... the guy I beat up that night, sir," Eric replied.

"Correct. His name is Tyrone, twenty-two years old. He’s an extortionist, rapist, and drug dealer. Most of his victims are teenage girls around your sister’s age," Julian said.

Eric was stunned. Up until now, Norman had only mentioned that an older ringleader was pulling the strings and had since been arrested, he had never disclosed his name or the extent of his crimes until today. Eric felt a profound wave of relief that Ruby had managed to escape from a monster like Tyrone. Bringing his focus back, Eric looked straight at Julian.

"So why did you need to get a statement from me, sir? Isn’t he already behind bars?" Eric asked.

Julian didn’t answer right away. He observed Eric and Emma sitting across from him, then took a sip of his coffee. Setting the cup back down, he spoke.

"I asked to meet with you not just to get your statement. I need access to your younger sister for her own safety. The three men who broke into her new apartment yesterday were working for a boss we’ve been investigating, and Tyrone works for him as well," Julian said.

Eric flinched in shock upon hearing that. He finally had confirmation that the break-in at Ruby’s apartment was directly linked to her abduction and drugging at the previous place. But he was eager to know who this boss was.

"Who is their boss, sir?" Eric asked.

"His name is Tony Malini. Tyrone spilled everything and he’s terrified now, asking us for protection. We’ve been investigating an illegal human trafficking and drug ring for a long time that leads right back to this Tony Malini, and recently... I stumbled across an interesting piece of information," Julian answered.

Eric stared at Julian, waiting in silence for him to continue the story, while beneath the table, Emma kept holding Eric’s hand tightly.

"An interesting piece of information?" Eric asked, a sinking feeling settling in his gut.

"Yeah... Tony Malini has a partner. He doesn’t live in this city, but rather in the neighboring town. He has ties to Watts Enterprise, because we traced financial trails linking that company directly to Tony Malini’s operation," Julian answered.

It felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck Eric’s mind. Watts Enterprise was his former family’s company, the very empire his father had built from the ground up. Everything instantly clicked into place. Jason had been embezzling company funds to finance his underground business with this guy named Tony Malini. Now it made perfect sense why Jason had targeted Ruby, orchestrated his father’s murder, and tried to cast him aside ever since he was a kid.

"So... this is what Jason was actually planning all along, and no wonder he was so hellbent on getting Dad’s inheritance," Eric muttered in front of Julian.

Emma, sitting beside him, looked deeply anxious as she watched Eric. She pressed herself closer to him and squeezed his hand beneath the table even tighter than before. Julian studied Eric’s changing expression and smiled slightly.

"Alright, that confirms it. You’ve known all along who was tied to Tony Malini and bankrolling him this whole time," Julian said.

"Yeah... my brother, Jason," Eric said.

"May I get a statement from you regarding your brother?" Julian asked.

"I’ll help and answer as best as I can," Eric answered.

After that, Julian began firing off various questions at Eric, and Eric answered whatever he could with complete honesty. When the subject turned to the attempt on Martin’s life, Eric handed over screenshots of the evidence Melissa had given him. Julian noted that Melissa had provided the exact same data during her own interview. Then, Julian fixed his eyes on Eric with a grim intensity.

"The three men who broke into your sister’s apartment have been apprehended. Two of them are keeping their mouths shut, but we managed to break the third. Their objective was to kidnap your sister, and the man who put them up to it was your brother. All three work for Tony Malini, just as I mentioned earlier. Furthermore... Tyrone also confessed that he was instructed to target a specific girl by that same individual, though he didn’t mention a name," Julian said gravely.

"So... that’s how it is, sir," Eric replied.

"Precisely. That’s why I need you to bridge the gap so I can speak with your sister. Her life is in danger as long as she’s being targeted, and we can put her under official protection," Julian stated firmly.

"What about my father?" Eric asked.

"I’ll be speaking with your father after this as well. I need to clarify whether he was aware of the financial documents bearing his signature, and whether those signatures on the company files we retrieved are authentic," Julian answered.

"Is... my father a suspect too?" Eric asked.

"As of right now... yes, because we haven’t received confirmation from him yet. But aside from your father, there’s another individual: David Watts, your uncle. His signature as co-owner also appears on several of those documents," Julian answered.

"I see," Eric muttered.

"You don’t need to worry, you and your sister will be placed under our protection," Julian replied.

"Thank you, sir. But there’s one thing I’m curious about—what kind of business has my brother been running with this guy named Tony Malini, and since when?" Eric asked.

"I can’t disclose the details to you, but based on the paper trail and money movements, they likely started working together about two years ago," Julian answered.

"Two years, huh... right around the time he was planning his wedding with Melissa," Eric said quietly.

"And there’s one more witness under our protection, a young woman named Vivian, who happens to be your brother’s ex-girlfriend. She has already provided a statement on what she knows, and she was even brought along to meet Tony in person, so she knows what Tony actually looks like," Julian said.

Eric raised his head and stared at Julian. Hearing Vivian’s name dropped sent a wave of mixed feelings through him, not because he wanted to get back together with her or forgive her, but because someone he originally thought was naive and clueless had turned out to be tangled up in Jason’s suspicious affairs. But something suddenly clicked as he processed Julian’s words.

"Hold on, sir... do you not know what Tony Malini looks like yet?" Eric asked, intrigued.

Julian went quiet for a moment. He didn’t answer right away, but instead pulled a document from his folder and displayed it to Eric. Eric’s eyes widened as he scanned the spreadsheet. Across numerous past cases and arrested suspects, the name Tony Malini kept popping up from their confessions, but his profile status was listed as unknown because no one by the name of Tony Malini existed in the official citizen database.

"So... this person you’re hunting down... is like a ghost?" Eric asked.

"Yeah... which is precisely why we’re going after his partner, your brother, and why this case has turned so dangerous," Julian answered frankly.

Silence fell over the table once again, heavy and suffocating. Eric and Emma finally realized that they were now dragged into a deadly game that went far beyond a mere family feud.

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