Wrongfully Accused

Chapter Sixteen

Squall wasted no time tracking down Chant. Standing in the white receptionist's area he preoccupied himself by staring at the Benson's & Son's logo. It hadn't taken him long to track down the building, it was after all one of the largest in Deling, however considering he'd never been there before he'd still had to ask for directions a few times. Not his finest hour.

"I'm sorry sir, but Mr Benson snr is not in at the moment. He's currently in a very important meeting. I can see if Mr Benson jnr is in if you wish."

Squall just nodded. He waited patiently for her to finish contacting what he assumed would be Benson's personal secretary.

"...................Yes I know that Mr Benson is not seeing anyone without an appointment, it is a Mr Squall Leonhart that wishes to see him......... Ah ha.... All right......" She put down the receiver and spoke directly to Squall. "Someone will be here in a moment to escort you sir."

Again Squall simply nodded. Moment's later a tall, dark haired woman wearing a feminine black business suit stepped off the elevator.

"Mr Leonhart, this way sir." Squall said nothing as he stepped into the elevator. Generally only a fool would be seen in a place like this if they were trying to work undercover, but as convenience would have it Benson & Son's law firm worked closely with Balamb Garden on many occasions, so Squall knew the family of lawyers quite well.

Walking down a long carpeted hallway he finally found himself standing in front of a large wooden double door entrance with the words 'Mr Samuel Benson jnr, Senior Board member' inscribed on a gold plate set about eye level on the left door.

"You may go right in sir, Mr Benson is expecting you."

With actions characteristic to his personality Squall walked in, completely ignoring the woman who had escorted him. He stepped into the large room and walked straight over to a large mahogany desk set in front of the large window that seemed to replace the back wall. He was immediately greeted by a young man in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties, with a warm handshake. A gesture he did no return.

"Ha, Squall you haven't changed a bit. I must say this is a pleasant surprise. I knew you wear in town but I did not expect to see you until the banquet tomorrow night. What brings you here."

"I'm afraid I'm here on business. Balamb Garden requests your assistance."

"Of course, I'd be happy to help. You and Cid have helped us out numerous times, it's about time we had an opportunity to return the favour."

"The case you handled recently, the sale of Mertax computer company. Did you handle that directly?"

"Yes, but privacy laws prohibit me from releasing any information to you, so if that's what your asking for I'm afraid........."

"No, that's not it. The previous owner of the company, John Mertax, hired SeeD recently to complete a mission. However we'd heard recently that Mertax had been forced to sell because of outstanding debts, and that he only just managed to break even. So what we want to know is...."

"How did he manage to pay for a team of SeeD's."

"Several team's."

"What was the mission for."

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Of course you're not. Why should Garden care where he gets the money from."

"Garden cannot have anything to do with illegal practices." Squall then gave a crooked smile. "At least not any that we didn't start."

"Hahaha, well, what do you need."

"Information on Mertax's current financial standings and any transactions he may have made with the bank."

"And what makes you think I have that information. My work is on the business, now that it's been sold off Mertax is out of the picture." Squall raised his right eyebrow. "You know me too well. Ok, give me a minute. We keep that sort of information in an external filing system. It will take a while to find."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Ok, I'll be back in 10 minutes."

'More than enough time.' As soon as Samuel was out of the room Squall jumped over the desk and sat himself in front of the computer. He silently thanked Hyne that Samuel never allowed security cameras to be put up in his office. The password was easy enough to get around, but it went downhill from there. Finding a single file without knowing the database was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Precious minutes passed before he found what he was looking for. The firm was careful to keep accurate records of all business dealings, both financial and otherwise. This of course was essential for an enterprise of such magnitude. Squall checked his watch before reading on. Six minutes had passed, but he was almost finished.

On June 16th (two days before they were to be declared bankrupt) a large amount of capital was placed back into the business. A total of 32 million. 28 million of this was supplied by a F. Morris. 'I'm guessing Morris is Chant. I knew he would have used an alias, but I didn't know it would be so damn obvious. Why put it all under one name, why not several. Maybe he's not as much of a professional as I thought.'

Searching again he found details for F. Morris. Many information fields were left blank, but there was still a contact number. 'This is all too easy. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe Morris isn't Chant. Well, I've got nothing to loose.' He memorised the number and any other details before exiting the program. He jumped back over the desk just as Samuel reentered the room.

"Here is the information, all on disc. Shall I print it out for you?"

"No, I'll take it as it is."

"Now hold on, I can't just give you this. I need some sort of...... insurance."

"You have my word, if this information is found you or your father had nothing to do with it."

Samuel physically relaxed. "I shouldn't have doubted you. Forgive me."

"Don't mention it." Squall said as he took the disc from Samuel's outstretched hand.

"I shall see you at the banquet tomorrow then. Oh, and you know what to do with that disc when you are finished with it?"

"Of course."

___________________________

"I can't take this anymore. Why can't people just give me a straight answer."

"Calm down Rinoa, how can you expect someone to tell you what you need to know if you keep yelling at them." Selphie yawned.

"Your point?"

"This isn't like the time you couldn't get the VCR to work. These are people you're dealing with, simply hitting them won't work this time."

"Oh I only hit one person, and he deserved it."

"Maybe so, but Squall did say we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."

"Screw what Squall said. It's 10:30 and we still have no idea where Quistis is. Oh Selph, what if she's lying dead in a ditch, or some crazed lunatic has kidnapped her and is torturing her as we speak. What if........."

"Hey, isn't that Danny?"

"Who?"

"You know, Danny, we met him about six months ago. He used to be a student at Balamb Garden."

"Oh right, Quistis' friend. Where did you see him?"

"Over there, across the road.. Danny! Hey DANNY!! OVER HERE!!" Selphie yelled as she jumped up and down, waving her arms trying to get his attention. The confused officer turned around but returned Selphie's enthusiasm when he saw them. "Come on." Selphie dragged Rinoa to where he was standing.

"Hey, long time no see girls. I didn't know you were here."

"Quistis didn't tell you?" Rinoa asked, trying to catch her breath. "I thought she would have contacted you when we got here."

"Well, I knew she was here, but she said nothing about you guys."

"I'm not surprised, Quistis never was one for making a fuss." Selphie stated. "Besides, we've been so busy with all the meetings and interviews and OUCH!! Rinoa! What's the big idea?!" She said rubbing her shin."

"Sorry Selph, I didn't mean to kick you so hard, but don't we have a job to do."

"Oh right, hey Danny, you haven't seen Quistis around have you."

"Well, yeah I have. Why? What's up."

"Oh nothing, we just need to track her down...to do some...err, shopping. Isn't that right Rin?"

"Umm, sure, that's right."

"Selphie? What's going on?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Shit, Quistis always said she never could keep a secret from you." Selphie began rubbing her neck as she chose her words carefully. "Quistis has been missing for some time. The hotel receptionist said she left around midnight. No one has seen her since."

At this Danny paled. He started running his hands quickly through his short curly hair while avoiding eye contact with the two girls.

"Danny?" Rinoa asked. "Are you ok?"

"This is all my fault."

"What's all your fault?" Selphie asked.

"I called Quistis last night and asked her to come down to the station. She'd told me about the mission and asked me if I could keep an eye out."

"Shit, what time did you call her?" Selphie asked in a panic.

"Can't remember exactly, but it was some time just before 12am I think."

"The times fit." Rinoa noted.

"Anyway," Danny continued. "We talked about..... Ummm..... Certain pieces of evidence, she then said she was going to question someone, a link to the case. I haven't seen her since."

"Shit, who did she say she was going to talk to."

"Didn't say, but you might know him, he's linked to Garden somehow. Quistis said he's been living in Deling for some time now."

"Damn, Selph do you have any ideas?"

"No, but Squall might. Thanks Danny, give us a call at the hotel if you find out anything." Selphie yelled as she and Rinoa ran down the street, back towards the hotel. Danny breathed a sigh of relief, glad they did not question the matter any further. He wanted to tell them everything but didn't want to break a promise to a friend. But still, her safety came first, so he decided that if they had not found her by tomorrow, he would tell them everything.

_____________________________

Seifer paced the living room floor, checking his watch every ten minutes. It was 11:00pm and Quistis was still asleep in her bed.

"It doesn't make sense. I was certain she'd be out of here by now. Gone off to tell her SeeD buddies that I'm here."

"You sound disappointed?" Raijin yawned.

"Of course not. It's just not like her."

"Wanna know a secret?"

"..............."

"She won't be goin anywhere for a few hours ya know."

"..............?"

"Let's just say I gave her a very relaxing mix of my personal stash."

"You drugged her?!"

"Just with sleeping pills, damn strong ones though. Doc's used em to knock me out when I fractured my collarbone."

"Shit Raijin," Seifer laughed. "You didn't."

"Take a look." He said, pointing towards the bedroom door. Seifer slowly walked over and looked inside. Sure enough there she was, sprawled across the bed, blankets covering her legs and her arms dangling over the side. Seifer laughed again. "That's a sight you don't see every day."

"I'm glad you're amused and all, but we have to figure out what we're gonna do know."

"We?"

"I told ya, I'm in this with you till the end ya know."

"Thanks Raijin, but you've done enough." Seifer walked back over and sat opposite Raijin on an old recliner. "I've gotta take care of this myself."

"Now you're startin to sound like Squall."

"I'm gonna ignore that."

"You are, 'I gotta take care of myself. I can't rely on you. Leave me alone'......"

"All right, you've made your point. But what else am I supposed to do?"

"You could tell me what you have so far. Sneakin out nearly every night, I don't know where you go but you've gotta be on to something."

Without saying a word Seifer pulled out the gold cigarette case and threw it at Raijin.

"What's this?"

"Open it."

Raijin opened the case and looked inside. "Deva's. Nice brand. Expensive."

"No, I mean open it."

Raijin ran his fingers along the edge of the case until he came to the back hinges. Finding a hidden latch he snapped open a small hidden compartment. A small flat object that looked like a key card fell to the ground. "What the...?"

Seifer leant forward to pick the small piece of plastic up. "It's a key," He said referring to the magnetic strip on the back. "although I don't know what it's used for."

"Where did you get it?"

"The nightclub, but it wasn't what I was expecting."

"............?"

"That hidden compartment used to hold names, codes, dates and anything else a lowlife would want to keep hidden from the cops. But it would appear that things have changed since......." Seifer stopped suddenly. He'd come too close to saying something he didn't want to say.

"Since?"

"I need to find out what this is used for, a door, a computer, anything."

"Doesn't it say?"

"No, it just has these numbers on it." Seifer handed the card over to Raijin, who examined it closely.

"454 557. Phone number?"

"Doubt it, but even if it was we couldn't just call it up."

"Well, what do you suppose we do with it?"

"The police have ways of finding out what these things are used for. So I figure whatever the police can do, someone else on the streets will be able to do the same."

"You got a point, but who?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't be asking you."

"What about Quistis?"

"What about Quistis?"

"She's got connections."

"You're shittin me right? She'd hang me up by my balls before she helped me."

"She did say that she wanted to help."

"Yeah, I've heard that before."

"Seifer...."

"I said no. We are not getting her dragged into this, even if we can trust her. It's just too risky."

"Just tryin to help ya know. Hey, what about that BJ person. Didn't you say he could help, I mean, those people that attacked Quistis did work for him right?"

"I don't think that's an option anymore. He's the sort of guy that has no problem finding you but when you need him it's like he doesn't even exist."

"So you think he's gone."

"Nah, he'll resurface eventually. He always does. But I'm not going to sit around and wait for him."

"I hear ya. Ok, I'll start asking round town tomorrow to see what can be done about this then." Raijin said holding up the card. "But I want you to lay low. No point in me doin this work if your just gonna get yourself arrested again ya know."

"Yeah, point taken. Just don't get yourself in trouble ok."

"Hey, don't worry bout me. All right that's that taken care of. Now, what do we do about sleeping beauty back there."

Seifer just stared blankly at the wall. His eye's wondered over to the bedroom door and stayed there for quite a while.

"Seifer?"

"We can't decide on anything until she wakes up." Seifer said, not taking his eye's off of the door.

"Right, well I gave her a double dose around ten this morning, and one of those could knock me out for about eight hours, so I imagine she should be up and kicking early tomorrow morning. We'd better make sure we're up before then."

"Right, well I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, tomorrow." Raijin left the room, turning off the lights as he went. Seifer continued to stare at the bedroom door.

'What am I going to do with you?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, here it is. I spent an hour rewriting this chapter and I still don't like the way it came out. Oh well, the next one will be better.

frost you are absolutely right. I am avoiding scenes with Seifer and Quistis. That's why I made sure she was unconscious in this chapter :P. But I promise that there will be lots of scenes with those 2 together in later chapters. Just don't stop giving me ideas for this story. I have a general idea of where it's going but that's about it.

Also thank you to everyone who's been reviewing this story so far. If it wasn't for you guys I don't think I would have gotten past the first chapter.