Realise - Real Lies

Unraveled

Check it out here as well: https://jaderoxx30892.wixsite.com/reallies/post/chapter-6-unraveled

Jade's POV

I woke up groggily. Ever since waking up in Mistissini, I was afraid of falling asleep. I realized I had a lot to do. I got freshened up and went downstairs. First I would need to meet Johnson and tell him my theory. Next I would go to the repair center and  ask them to recover the data on the phone. I went downstairs and Phil was sitting in the dining room. "Hey good morning," I said. He seemed to be jolted out of some trance as he took some time to respond back, "Oh hi. Yes Good morning." "Where's Jessy?" I asked. He looked at me uncomfortably, "She had to go back. Something came up at Aurora and since both of us are here, one of us had to go back." Normally I wouldn't have thought much of it, but it just seemed odd that she left without saying goodbye. However, I did not have the time to think about it. "Going somewhere?" Phil asked.
"Oh yes. Meeting Johnson. I just thought, it made sense to wrap this up as soon as possible," I said. "Of course. I'll get going then. I just wanted to say that I have to go. I didn't want to leave you guessing where we were," he said quietly. "You can stay Phil. Its not a big deal," I said. For some reason, the thought of being alone in the house seemed very daunting. Phil seemed a bit uncertain, "I wish I could Jade. It's just that my mind is on the work back home. I don't know if Jessy can handle it you know?" "Oh. I understand," I said. I couldn't ask them to drop everything especially since there was nothing that they could do being here. He stood up and walked towards the door and stopped, "I hope Richy is found soon Jade." I nodded, "Thank you for checking on me. Can you say thanks to Jessy too?" He gave me a tight smile and nodded. Moments later I heard the front door close leaving me all alone.
I brushed off the feeling of loneliness and called Johnson's office. Janet picked up. I told her that I would be dropping by, but she said that Johnson wouldn't be in until late in the afternoon. He said he had some other commitments to work on. That left me to go to the repair center. I had chosen to go to the one a few towns over. I was still worried that I had picked it up from a crime scene and had not told anyone about it. Well I was going to tell Johnson today but that got pushed so I had to do this on my own. I drove to the address of the repair center. It took me almost 2 hours to get there. I walked into the store where a woman was seated at the counter. She didn't even notice as I opened the door and walked in, "Umm excuse me. Hi, I was wondering if you could help me recover data of my damaged device?" She looked up at me as if I was disturbing her by talking to her. Then she groaned and said, "What device?" I showed her the phone which in a zip lock. She glanced at it and rolled her eyes, "What did you do? Microwave it?"
"Close. Tossed it in the barbecue," I said jokingly. She shrugged and whispered, "Dumb women." "Excuse me?" I asked. "Nothing. I will need to take a look at it," she said. I handed her the zip lock. She gingerly removed the phone and looked at it for half a minute and shrugged, "Can't be done." "What?" I responded. "Lady. If this phone was a steak then it would be way past well done. So I don't think anyone except Jesus could recover the data off it," she said sarcastically. "So what can be done?" I asked. "I suggest throwing in the trash. Trash can is right there," she said pointing to the trash can in the corner. "Thank you so much for your suggestion," I snapped sarcastically and walked out. The next few stops I had were also unyielding. I was feeling more and more helpless. The only thing I could do next was to meet Johnson.
I drove to his office. I was seated at his desk. Janet told me he would join me shortly. Johnson walked in quietly and sat on his chair. He looked extremely exhausted. "Long day?" I asked. He shook his head, "You have no idea. So what did you have to talk to me about?" I relayed to him the inferences I had drawn last night. He looked at me with a wide eyed expression. "Why were you carrying your father's drive with you on a road trip?" The question startled me. Of course I couldn't tell him that Jake had given me the drive. I racked my brain for an excuse, "Umm I thought it would be safer on me. Was it in the car?" "No, the police did not find it. Who set up the biometrics?" he said. "Richy did," I said quickly. "Richy seems to be very resourceful, don't you think?" He asked suspiciously. "Yes, that's Richy," I said.
"Jade is there something you need to tell me?" He asked. "What do you mean?" "Since when did you know that Reginald Davis had hired a private investigator to look into his brother's disappearance?" He asked. I gulped, "Since the night I got back from Mistissini." "And you didn't think it was important to mention that?" He asked. "I didn't really think.." "You never really think nowadays at all, do you?" He snapped. "Care to change your tone?" I snapped back. i was really getting annoyed with the way everyone was talking to me today.
He stood up. "Sure. How about you answer this question. How long have you and Richy been sleeping in separate rooms?" He asked. "What?" "Don't look surprised. Were you both fighting before the trip?" He continued. "What? No. We were not.." "Then why were you sleeping in separate rooms?" "Its personal. We.." "We what? Hated the sight of each other?" He asked. "No thats not true." "Were you cheating on Richy?" He asked. "No of course not..." "Ok then. Care to explain who this is?" He said slamming pictures in his desk. The picture wasn't very clear, but it was me in it. Kissing Jake. Another picture. Me and Jake on the marina hugging. The pictures were taken meticulously. Jake's face was hidden or blurred out, but my face was visible clearly. "Do not dare say that this is Richy, Jade. You and I both know its not him." Johnson slammed another picture on the desk, "This was taken on the same day this picture was taken. This is Richy at his office party. So the guy with you is definitely not him." I stared at the pictures. We weren't as careful as we thought we were. "How did you get these?" I stammered.
"I didn't. An anonymous tip was given to Reggie to find these pictures. So Jade who is this guy?" He pressed. I didn't answer. I didn't know what to answer. "Fine don't answer that. Tell me what happened? Did Richy find out? Was he mad? Did you guys fight over this and you did something to him?" Johnson asked. "What? Are you crazy? No it was nothing like that." "What was? You not doing anything or him not knowing?" He asked. I shook my head, "I would never hurt Richy." "Alright. Say I believe that. Did the other guy know you were involved with Richy? Living with him? Do you think he did something to Richy? Because that is quite plausible. He left you safe but took Richy away," Johnson asked. "No no no. He can never do that," I screamed. "Who is he Jade?" He asked. "I don't know." "So you were just kissing and hugging a random guy? God. Jade do you know the extent of what this entails?" He asked.
I kept silent. Right now the less I spoke was better. "Jade, understand this. Reggie is going to the police with this tonight. This gives the police probable cause and you a motive to harm Richy. You were the last person he was seen with. You were drugged but there is no way of determining how you were drugged. It could be self administered or the random guy gave it to you. The question is: are you an accomplice or a victim?" He asked. "Okay Johnson, stop jumping the gun. This guy had nothing to do with this and neither do I," I said stubbornly. He sat down and took a deep breath, "Jade you are not listening. This is bad. You are in deep shit. If you want to get out, then you need to tell me who is this guy? Why were you kissing him? Where can we find him? And did he have anything to do with Richy's disappearance?" Silence. "That's it. I can't do this Jade. No I can't. I am going to ask you one last time. Are you going to answer the questions?" Johnson asked. I couldn't. What could I say? Conclusions were already drawn. I couldn't say anything without revealing Jake. And though I wasn't cheating on Richy, since he wasn't my boyfriend, for everyone else, these pictures said otherwise. "No I can't answer your questions."
He sighed, "Then I am sorry. I can't be your lawyer anymore. I just can't deal with this anymore. You need to find a different representation." I let it sink in and then stood up quietly, "Thank you Johnson for your time." I walked towards the door as he spoke, "Jade. The police will have an arrest warrant for you by tomorrow. A word of advice. Plead the fifth." I nodded and walked out knowing well that I was truly alone.