Got to move away from the Mercer house and catch up on the absent Mercer brother! :) Let me know what you think, please!
Legal statement still count for this one...
Chapter 10: Jeremiah's Future
Jeremiah sat at the table in front of the board or representatives that had been brought together to decide the fate of his project. The panel consisted of a group from the city council, the District Attorney's office, and the zoning board. He had been making phone calls, and talking to the loan officer about reinstating his redevelopment loan. He was confident he could get his project back on the ground and get back to work on it. It was his life on the line here, his family, and his dreams. Everything that mattered to him hung in the balance, and he couldn't lose this opportunity.
Green sat next to him, on his left. The detective had filed numerous reports with each office represented before them, outlining the truth behind Victor Sweet's connection to Councilman Douglas, and the true reasons the project had been shut down and blackballed to begin with.
Robert Bradford, his mother's lawyer, sat on his right, representing him now, and willing to financially back him, at least partially, to help him get his crew and equipment back up and running. The man had also submitted his own personal statements to the individual offices, outlining his own firsthand knowledge of the circumstances leading up to Jerry's project being shut down. He not only had heard what Evelyn had told him, but she had given him some critical documentation to hold onto, documentation that proved everything about Jeremiah's business was legal, and if anything, above the normal standards. Jerry had no idea how his mother had managed to obtain the copies of all of the documents he'd filed for permits, and for his loan, but most of it had been a matter of public record, that was how Sweet had gotten a hold of the same papers, soiling them with his filthy hands and screwing up his life. Thank God Evelyn Mercer had obtained copies of them before Sweet and had enough sense to give them to Robert Bradford, who would know what to do with them when the time came.
He glanced at the white haired man next to him, thankful his mother had found someone who had been so good to her, and had been willing to take up her fight after she was gone. He didn't have to be there with him now, he could have washed his hands of the whole situation once Evelyn was dead, but he hadn't. He'd approached Jeremiah with all of this information, and had made this hearing possible. If not for him, Jerry Mercer would be up shit creek.
Bless his mother, she was taking care of him even now, after her death, and he loved her even more than ever for that. She had managed to make sure that once all of the bullshit was done and over with, that he would have what he needed to get his life back together. He only wished that he had a way to thank her for that.
Behind the three men sat Evan, an old friend who had been intimidated into to working for Sweet, and some of Victor Sweets other men who had fallen into the same trap. Jerry had promised good paying jobs to all of them, and they were there to offer testimony as to the truth behind how Sweet had shut Jerry down, in a way as to not connect any of them with the death of the man of course. Jerry had sat in his seat and listened as each man spoke, supporting the fact that Jerry was clean, and his business was legitimate.
Robert Bradford leaned over towards Jerry, as they were waiting for the panel of nine people to read over the documents before them. "Where are your brothers? They could bring some very important information to light."
Jerry raised his eyebrows and looked at the man. "You really think they need to be here? I didn't tell them any of this was going down, man. This is my business, and I don't want to drag them into it. They've got enough going on at home; they don't need to be dealing with this." He spoke quietly, "Besides, can you picture Bobby sitting in here?" He let the corners of his mouth turn up slightly.
Robert's right hand drifted to his stomach around the area where Bobby had smacked him the night they had broken into his house. "Well, that may have been a good judgment call on your part." He nodded his head and cleared his throat quietly.
Green looked over and laughed at the remark. "I believe that was a damn good call." He shook his head.
Jerry smiled. "Yeah, man, I know my brother." He looked at the table of men and women in front of him. "What is taking them so long?" He glanced from Bradford to Green.
"They need to look over everything we've given to them." Bradford sighed.
"They were given all of the documents yesterday, right? Shouldn't they have gone over them then?" Jerry asked. He felt anxious, and frustrated. He was so close to getting his life back, getting his pride back, and having everyone know that he was not a hoodlum.
"Calm down Jeremiah." Green leaned forward on the table. "You clean up real nice by the way." He laughed, referring to the tie and dress slacks the man was wearing.
"Yeah, my Mama raised me with some class." Jerry grinned and glanced up at the men and women seated at the larger table, each reading through the papers and leaning towards each other, whispering comments and nodding or shaking their heads.
Robert Bradford smiled. "Yes, she was a woman of class." He sighed and seemed to drift off into his own thoughts.
Jerry looked at the man. "Don't be starting that talk now man. I ain't ready to hear how classy she was from you. No offense, but you are talking about my Mama." He was thankful Bradford and Green were there with him; his fears of being driven back into the ground would be eating away at him at that moment if they hadn't been there. He did wish his brothers were there, but he didn't want to share his plans with them until he was certain he could give them good news. He could offer them all a cut in on the business and turn it into a family operation. That would be perfect, his brothers working beside him, all of them together again. He had missed that the years they had been apart. He had missed knowing they were there to watch his back, and he'd missed celebrating good times with them. He knew that if Bobby had been around when he'd first started up the project, that Sweet never would have gotten close to him; Bobby would have stopped him before it got as far as Evelyn Mercer losing her life for him.
He had to make this work, to honor the woman who had raised him, and taught him, and had stood by him when the rest of the world was beating him down. He owed it to her.
The chairman, Mr. Peters from the zoning board, was sitting at the center of the table in front of them. He cleared his throat and looked in their direction as the papers were all passed back to him. He looked at Jeremiah and drew in a deep breath. "Mr. Mercer, this board has reviewed the documents; we have heard the testimony, quite convincing testimony as to the circumstances that have brought you before us today." He drew in a deep breath. "Our concerns here seem to stem from one central focal point." He glanced down his left side at the members of the panel, and then to his right. Each person nodded their heads in agreement. "You have shown quite convincing evidence that your legitimate dealings were tainted by some very influential criminals, and that your business was shut down by means of false records and unsubstantiated accusations. What is to prevent this from happening again?"
Robert Bradford stood, with his briefcase in his hand, and rested it on the table in front of them. He opened the case and pulled out files. He started talking, and reading off of the legal forms he had in his hands, quoting precedence that had had been set in court for situations similar to this one.
Jerry tried to listen to the argument Bradford was presenting, and the words that were passing back and forth between the lawyer and the panel of men and women that were to decide his fate. But his mind was busy thinking about all of the reasons these people could come up with for keeping him shut down, for preventing him from making something good of his life. His juvenile court records were sealed, so they didn't have access to those files, but he'd gotten into some scrapes after he'd turned eighteen. He'd been caught doing some shit that left him with a reputation that he was not proud of. Like his brothers, he'd spent a few months behind bars, and at the time, it had seemed like the normal way for his life to play out. Now though, he was a grown man, he had a family, he had a lot of responsibility, and he had some pride. He wanted to move on, not continue to be shoved back to that life. He needed to get past it. If he could get past it, then maybe his brothers could get past it, and they could all be better for it.
He felt his face growing hot with the tension building inside of him. He felt Green's hand pat him on the back, and brought himself out of his thoughts. There were smiles on Green's and Bradford's faces. Bradford was returning his files to his briefcase, and Green was standing up.
"Okay, what just happened?" Jerry felt embarrassed to have to ask the question. He'd missed what had been said.
"You fool, you got the go ahead." Evan spoke from behind him.
Jerry let a smile creep onto his face. "I got it?" He stood, looking at Bradford. "I got it?"
"Yes, Mr. Mercer." Mr. Peters spoke from his seat at the table at the front of the room. A smile crossed the man's face. "You got it." He moved to gather up the papers in front of him as he stood. "Just one thing for you to keep in mind," He looked back to the man. "If there are any inclinations that your business is being funded by any unsavory characters, you will be shut down, again." He warned. "Merry Christmas."
Jerry grinned wide and turned to the men behind him, and to Bradford and Green. "Thank you all." He felt his heart rate increase as pure joy filled him. "Man, y' all have done so much to make this happen." He let his eyes scan each of them. "I won't let y' all down, I won't."
"We know that Jerr'." Evan grinned and gave his friend an easy pat on the back.
"I'll be checking up on you man, so if there is anything, any one contacts you that could cause trouble, you make damn sure you let me know about it." Green pointed a finger at the man.
Jerry nodded his head. "You and Bradford will be the first to know." Jerry looked over to Robert Bradford. "Man, you were great. You bailed my ass out. Thank you." He spoke with as sincere a voice he could. He truly owed his future to the man. He was tempted to give him a hug, but thought twice about it.
"I'm more than happy to do this, for Evelyn." Bradford smiled a small smile. "Be in my office in the morning. We can get the wheels in motion and get your business back in operation."
Nicholas Peters pulled his car into the drive of his home. He felt as if a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. After so many years of living in fear of what Victor Sweet would do to him if he didn't follow his orders, he had finally been able to do something right, do his job the way it was meant to be done. He no longer had Sweet hanging over him, controlling his every moved, each decision he made. No more worries about his wife finding out about the mistake he'd made over a year ago. It had only happened once. It had only been one night, and he'd felt so guilty. He loved his wife, he loved his life, and finally he was free of the bullshit that one mistake had brought down on him. Yes, this was going to be a good Christmas, and the start of a wonderful new year.
The man pulled the car into the garage, and hit the remote clipped to his visor to close the door. He got out of the car, and headed for the entrance to the house. The shadows on the back wall caught his attention, alerting him that he wasn't alone, and he turned towards the lowering garage door in time to see three men ducking in. The shock prevented real fear from taking form at first. The fear didn't hit him until two of the men had him pinned to the wall. The third man stepped into view with a wide smile on his face.
"I have cash, take anything you want…" Peters spoke quickly.
"Shut up." Jessup Winston laughed. "We aren't going to rob your ass. We aren't here for that." He sounded calm as he spoke. "Your wife isn't home, is she?"
Peters shook his head from side to side. "She's out of town actually." He informed the man with a tremor to his voice. Was this man after his wife? Oh thank God she wasn't there. Thank God her mother had needed surgery and his wife was sitting by her side in Seattle at that very moment.
"Let's go inside and talk." Winston still smiled.
"What do you want?" Peters cried out.
Winston sighed, and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out an envelope. "I think this would be better inside, but if you want to conduct business here, in your garage, then so be it." He sounded pleasant as he thrust the envelope out towards the man. "My name is Jessup Winston, and I have a business deal for you Mr. Peters. I'm sure you are familiar with the terms of a deal such as this. The terms would follow along the same lines as the deal you had with Victor Sweet."
Peters felt his heart sink. He was supposed to free. "I don't know what you are talking about." He spoke with a weak voice. Hell, he knew exactly what this man was saying.
Jessup Winston kept the envelope held out towards the man, a knowing look spread across his face. "I truly believe you will find this new arrangement more to your tastes though, Mr. Peters."
Peters reached out and took the envelope. He opened it up to reveal a large bundle of money, as well as a photo copy of a picture of Peters with a young brunette, in a not so innocent position. Peters looked at Winston, Sweet had never included money on their deals, and this was starting to look like an improvement to his previous contract with Sweet. "How did you get this?" He held up the paper holding the copied picture.
"That is nothing for you to be concerned about. Just know that if you fail to meet our terms, the picture will be printed in the morning edition of the Detroit News." Winston smiled.
"This has to do with Jeremiah Mercer." Peters was no idiot. He could put the pieces of the puzzle together.
"Very good, sir," Jessup nodded his head. "Now, could we please discuss this in a more civilized way? We aren't here to cause you any worry. We want to make this deal as beneficial to you as to ourselves." He motioned to the entrance door of the house. "The least you could do would be to offer us a drink."
The two men holding onto Peters let go of him. The man glanced down at the cash in the envelope, and then drew in a shaky breath. He should just let the man release the photograph to the press. He should let it all come out, and deal with it. He knew that. He knew it would be best to end this here and now. Then he thought about his wife and his family. They didn't need to have their personal lives revealed publicly. They didn't need the embarrassment, or the scandal that it would all cause. It would come out that he had been working for Sweet; against his will perhaps, but he'd still been working for him. How could he ever go on with his life having all of that revealed to the world? He couldn't handle that, his life would be over, his career would be over. He would lose everything.
His conscious nagged at him for a long moment. He would be taking away another man's chance at becoming something. He knew he'd be killing another man's dream, and probably ending his life as he knew it. Jeremiah Mercer had done nothing wrong, and he'd felt so good about being able to correct his own misdoing. Now he was right back to where he'd started. Of course, the money in his hands was also doing some talking.
"There is more money where that came from, so long as you do right by us." Jessup Winston could see the man in front of him battling between making a choice. He could also see that the money was pulling Peters in his direction.
Peters closed the envelope and stuck it into the breast pocket of his suit coat. "Let's go inside gentlemen. We can discuss this business over a drink." He could have sworn he heard a trap door closing behind him, but he ignored the feeling of dread that was trying to overpower him.