Chapter 177 - The Case
Chapter 177 – The Case
On hearing Harry's condition, Jade raised a brow, "Why should I do that?" She asked flatly.
Harry picked up his phone and without her knowledge, and clicked on his voice recorder, "That is the only way I can be sure that you won't be yelling at me later, saying you didn't ask for my help," Harry pointed out.
Like the logical lady she was, Jade considered his request for a moment. She did need all the information he had already as well as all the information he could help her get with his connection. And yes, she also needed him around, not because she couldn't protect herself if push came to shove, but because she would feel less scared if she had someone with her, especially someone as capable as him. She had to admit that since he showed up on her doorstep she had forgotten about her fears and neither had she had the chance to think about what happened earlier that morning.
Jade swallowed hard, "I need your help. And I want you here with me," she admitted, looking him squarely in the eyes.
"Woah! I didn't expect you to agree to that so easily," Harry exclaimed, looking at her in surprise as he stopped the voice recorder.
Jade's lips twitched in amusement at his reaction, "Why not?"
"You seem like the very proud and stubborn type. I didn't think you'd be able to swallow your pride to ask for my help," Harry explained with a shrug, and Jade giggled.
"Well, I may be proud and stubborn, but I'm not stupid. I'm smart enough to know when I need help, and although it hurts my pride to admit it, I do need your help," Jade said as she raised her wineglass to her lips and took a sip from it.
Harry grinned at her, "I'm glad to offer my help then," he said as he played the recorded speech of what she had just said.
Jade raised a brow when she heard her voice coming from his phone, "You recorded that?"
"Yep. I'm dealing with a lawyer, so I need to have my evidence. Whenever you start acting up, all I need to do is remind you that you asked for my help," Harry said with a wink.
Despite her amusement, Jade shook her head as she pushed the meal away from her while nursing her glass of wine, "So, can you ask your men to find out what the private investigator is up to?" She asked, returning his attention to the subject.
"Sure. Excuse me for a moment. I need to make the call," Harry said as he pushed away from the table, wanting to stand up.
"That won't be necessary. Why don't we leave instead? I'm done eating, and it's not like you have any plans to touch yours anyway," Jade pointed out as she gulped down the wine and also pushed away from the table as she signaled to a waiter, "Please pack this up," Jade said, referring to Harry's untouched meal.
Harry watched her in amusement, surprised that someone like her would care about something like that, "You want us to leave with that?" Harry asked incredulously after the waiter left to do as he was told.
"Didn't we pay for it? You didn't touch it, so unless they're going to refund the money, we should leave with the food. I have nothing in my refrigerator, so this could serve as your dinner," Jade explained reasonably, making Harry chuckle.
"I'm surprised."
"Why? You seem to be forgetting that my brothers are the wealthy ones. I'm not at their level yet," Jade pointed out as she stood up and took the food from the waiter.
"Sure," Harry said as he stood up, and took out his wallet. He dropped some dollar notes on the table before walking away with Jade.
They walked out together and once they got to the car, Harry walked over to Jade's side of the car and held the door open, making her raise a brow, "You're actually a gentleman in deeds but not in words, aren't you?" She asked in amusement seeing how he had helped her with the car door despite her mood when they were leaving the house earlier, and also how he had pulled out a seat for her at the restaurant.
Harry grinned at her, "Going forward I will be more mindful of my words around you," he promised her as she got into the car, and once he shut the door he went around the car and got into his seat.
Once he was seated, Jade watched him curiously as he took out his phone and dialed a number before raising it to his ear, "Hey, Boyd! You mentioned earlier that members of the Legion gang picked up the private investigator, didn't you?" Harry asked, and nodded when the man said something.
"Good. Have one of the men on his tail. Find out who he is searching for, and report back to me as soon as you find anything," Harry instructed before hanging up the call.
"Done," he said as he turned to look at Jade.
"Thank you," Jade said with clearly impressed smile, "So who will be looking after the company in your absence?" Jade asked curiously.
"Your brother. Unless you want him here with you while I return to look after the company," Harry suggested playfully.
"You'd probably still be the one doing everything from that end. He says you're very reliable," Jade said with a small smile.
No longer feeling very comfortable with the small talk, Harry cleared his throat as he turned on the car's ignition and drove off "Uhm… Can you go on with the story. Tell me all I need to know about the case," Harry urged her, reminding her that she had been about to tell him about the case she was working on before he interrupted her.
Jade pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Okay… I started working on this case about three years ago when a group of teenage boys Od'd on a hard substance…" Jade started, and then stopped when Harry turned to look at her in confusion.
"I mean overdosed. Their bodies were found alongside the illegal substance they had sniffed. Investigations started, and we found out that the kids were testers…"
"Kids? Why would anyone give hard substance to kids?" Harry asked, looking rather perplexed.
"I know, right? A member of the legion group had cooked up the drug and had given it to one of the street kids to try it out. Unfortunately for them he tried it out with a couple of friends at a party, and one of the kids present there happened to be from quite an influential family… And so the case was followed up seriously…"
"Oh, yeah! I think I know the case you're talking about. It was all over the news back then, but it wasn't announced on the news that any of the kids was from an influential family, and I also didn't know that you were in charge of that case," Harry said, remembering how that news had made waves for several months.
"You don't expect any respectable family to put out such a dirty detail to the public, do you? They tried to hide it as best as they could while also trying to ensure that the case wasn't swept under the rug. And yes, I wasn't in charge of the case at first… As a matter of fact, our law firm wasn't in charge of the case. The law firm which was working on it withdrew from it without giving the family any tangible reason, hence our firm was brought in to take over. I volunteered to take up the case when everyone else seemed to be too scared to fight against the cartel. That was the first major case I handled, and I guess my superiors let me do it because they probably believed a rookie like me didn't stand a chance against the gang."
"I'm sure you proved them wrong," Harry said with a proud smile.
"You bet I did! I proved them wrong and was promoted above my colleagues after I won the case," Jade said with a grin.
"If I may ask, why did you accept the case when everyone else was too scared to take it up?" Harry asked curiously, and Jade looked away for only a moment.
"I guess I wasn't scared to die at the time. Or maybe I needed the distraction, and I didn't mind death," she said with a shrug, and Harry realized that it was around the time after her fiance died.
"So if you won the case already, why are you on it again?" Harry asked, returning her attention to the subject as he didn't want her to think about the past.
"The first case was about getting justice for the family of the dead kids, and the only person who was sentenced was Jero. He took the fall for the gang as he was the one who gave the kid the hard drug even though it was on the orders of the kingpin." Jade explained.
"I see."
"Yeah. The case I'm working on at the moment involves the kingpin of the cartel. Three members of the gang defaulted in making their payments, and two among them were killed in cold blood. The third escaped but not without getting evidence against the gang. He reached out to me some days ago but has now gone missing. As if that's not enough I went to the correctional facility where Jero was being held a few days ago, and I found out that he's no longer there," Jade explained, and Harry's brows creased with a frown.
"Perhaps the cartel got him out?" Harry asked thoughtfully.
"They didn't. I suspect they tried to get rid of him, but he escaped," Jade with a sigh.
"Isn't all of this too dangerous for you? I understand that you wanted to die three years ago, but what about now? Why are you risking your life?" Harry asked, turning to spare her a glance.
"I handled it the first time, so it's only fitting that I take care of it again. This has nothing to do with me wanting to die," Jade explained, and Harry gave her a nod.
"What would be your plan B if we find out that your only witness is dead?" Harry asked her thoughtfully with his gaze fixed on the road.
Jade looked at him with a worried frown, "Why are you asking me that? Do you know something? Is he dead?"
Harry turned to spare her a glance, "I'm just asking. You need to always prepare your mind for the worst-case scenario," he reminded her.
"Sure. I hope he's still alive… But if he isn't, then I would have to try out my other options," Jade said thoughtfully.
"And what are the other options? Maybe we could start checking those out while still searching for him," Harry suggested.
"I need to find Jero's baby mama. She testified against him at his last trial, and I know that if he escaped from prison, he is likely going to be looking for her. To find Jero, I need to find her first, and maybe I can convince Jero to testify against the gang," Jade said thoughtfully.
"What is the name of this baby mama you want to find?" Harry asked curiously.
"Her name is Candace.. Candace Roberts."