Chapter 30
Ryan
Forcing all thoughts of Ishika out of my head, I ride toward home. I don’t want to think of her betrayal; she had the USB for all these years. Not once did I suspect her to hold on to this information. Why didn’t she hand it over to Inspector Scooter that night?
Anger tries to suffocate me. She tricked me with her innocence. However, right now, I need her safe. The way this night is progressing, she should stay away from me, it’s for her own good.
Reaching home, I pull out my laptop and insert the USB.
It’s encrypted, asking me for a key. I try a few things for the encryption key but stop any further attempts as I might risk deleting the files.
This will be a two-minute job if I call Aariv.
My friend is a genius but he is also a stickler for rules. I decide to ask Mason for help instead.
Scrolling down my contacts, I hit call. After two rings he picks up my call and groans.
“Wassup, my man?” Mason answers.
“Got a minute? It’s kinda urgent.”
“Hang on,” he says, and I hear him shift to get off his bed. “Talk to me.”
“I found the lost USB stick.” When he remains confused, I add, “The one I stole from Principal Bolton.”
“Fuck,” Mason charges, his tone changing. “How? After all these years. I thought we lost it.”
“Do you remember I told you Ishika was in his office that night?” I remind Mason what happened.
“Your favorite chick. The one who gave you boners. That one?”
“She had it.” I ignore the pinch in my heart when he calls her my favorite chick.
“No way. Why didn’t she hand it over to Bolton or the cops?”
“I don’t know. She says she’d lost it. I don’t know if she’s telling the truth. I’m so mad at her right now.”
“So talk it out, man. Do the naked jive till the tension dissipates.”
“Everything cannot be resolved with sex, M. There’s a chance she lied to me. She kept a piece of important evidence from me. I was a fool to show her all my weakness and tell her about my dad. She listened to me yet never mentioned the USB. She broke my trust.”
“You mean to say that almost a decade ago, your chick forecasted that someday she would come to you, asking for a favor. She would ask you to be her fake boyfriend and she would use the many talents of your dick. Then when you are in love with her, she would dispose you like a rotten banana. You’re right, that girl’s downright devious, bro. ”
“You’re a rotten banana, Asshole.”
“She’s gonna find a new man. Her baby daddy is gonna be someone else if you keep this up.
Worry not, I’ll ship you a box of tissues for your tears.
But my man, we both know you’ve wanted her since high school.
You’re gonna bleed for days. I’m gonna be a true friend and send you some tampons and a goldfish too. ”
“I fuckin’ hate you sometimes. M, I have other problems.”
Mason sighs. “Hit me with your other problem then.”
“The USB is encrypted. I didn’t think I should involve Aariv. I don’t want to jeopardize his start-up plans if this turns out to be illegal.”
“Good thinking, Aariv’s not built for illegal shit. But, asshole, do you think I’m cut out for prison?”
“Well, firstly, we’re not getting caught and that’s the whole point. Second, your father is stinking rich. Third, you’ll hate me if I did this alone without you.”
“I’m gonna electrocute your nipples if you try anything without me.”
“Jeez, calm your titties. I didn’t do anything yet. So you’ll help me then?”
“You’re baking me a three-tier chocolate cake with extra cherries for my birthday, just like the one you made for Owen.”
“Done.”
“I want a sticker on your car that says: Mason Is My Brother from Another Mother.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“Once you and Ishika decide to proliferate you’ll name your spawn after my middle name.”
I smile at that. Swear to God what I wouldn’t do to make babies with Ishika. Reality is I don’t want to believe that she betrayed me. But I also don’t know what to believe anymore. “What the fuck is your middle name?”
“Gilbert.”
“That’s never going to happen. Go name your own kids Gilbert. Leave mine alone.”
“You sure? It’ll mean a lot to me.”
“How do I not know you have a middle name?”
“Because Gilbert doesn’t suit my ride. It’s not cool enough for me. I don’t use it.”
“Asshole, my kid will not have your middle name. End of.”
“Fine. Send me the file.”
An hour later, I am in my bedroom sitting across from Jake as Aariv remotely handles my laptop.
He is working from a hotel room in Boston.
I screen share with him because the file I transferred to Mason is coming up as an error and he couldn’t even open it on his end.
Mason called Aariv for his opinion and that’s how Aariv got involved.
So much for trying to keep him safe. Meanwhile, Owen called Jake to check on me.
Within minutes, Aariv has direct access to my laptop and the original file, it takes him fifteen minutes to crack open the file and spill out the secrets.
We glance at the screen in sheer shock. All four of us speechless at what stares back at us.
There are pages and pages of documents leading to a money trail from my father’s restaurant to different bank accounts.
“This looks like money laundering,” Jake says. “That’s close to twenty five million dollars. There are names and transaction records, details of cash deposits. Look at all those overseas transactions and offshore accounts,” Jake explains. “Bolton was behind all this.”
“My dad was an honest man. He lived paycheck to paycheck. He left me his debts. No, this doesn’t prove my father was guilty. Do you think Dad found out? Or what if he was involved initially, but later refused to cooperate?”
“What if your father had no choice and someone forced him to do it?” Mason frowns from my phone. We are on a video call.
“Hang on. Look, one of the names says Nigel Lance was in some kind of partnership with Billy Bolton. Isn’t he that millionaire businessman who is in the middle of a federal corruption probe for a fundraising event his company organized?
What if this is a link? The large deposits to offshore accounts.
These are all numbered accounts where the names of the account owners remain hidden.
What if Bolton was helping Lance hide the money?
” Jake says, zooming into the documents.
There are so many pages of names and numbers. So much dirty money.
“What do you wanna do next, Ryan? Whatever you decide, we have your back,” says Aariv.
“Wait, let me discuss this with my family lawyer first. Don’t touch anything ‘til tomorrow morning,” Mason says.
“I know what to do. I’m going to ask Bolton the truth. Face-to-face,” I say.
The mystery of my father’s death has gotten more complicated. He has to be a victim. The man who taught me to be righteous can’t be corrupt. The foundations of my life, the man I idolized, can’t be so hollow. My father was a man of morals and I won’t rest until I get to the bottom of the truth.