Chapter 2

• I've been here for two days now. I haven't been allowed a phone call, appointed a lawyer, or allowed any visitors.
• Just me in a jail cell. It's quiet—too quiet. All I can hear is the air conditioner cooling.
• After the detectives questioned me, an officer brought me to a cell and locked me in here ever since.
• The first night here was hard. I had to sleep on the iron bench, and my back hurts.
• I couldn't sleep. I could only replay my interview with the detectives and think of Cassidy.
• The letters from the photo are burned into my mind. They are all I can think about.
• I've been questioned again, but this time, it was just Detective Dan. He was much calmer this time and asked if he could get me anything.
• Dan is a lot younger than Nathan; you could tell by the way he dressed and styled his hair.
• He was a white man with blue eyes and a moustache, not as tall as Nathan, but he was just as muscular.
• He asked me for the truth, and I told him, but he said he couldn't help me if I didn't tell him where her body was.
• A police officer comes to my cell and tells me my lawyer is here to see me, and that's when I see Carl coming in through the door, and I don't think I've ever been so happy to see him before.
• "Manuel,” he greets me.
• “Hey Carl, when can you get me out of here? I asked.
• Carl is the lawyer for the escort service I work for. I've seen him around a couple of times. He's a balding old man, probably in his early 50s. He gives me the creeps, but he's my only hope of getting out of here, so I push my feelings aside.
• “I don't know, Manuel. I'm working on it,” he admits.
• I took a step back from the cell door, raked my hands through my hair, and took a few deep breaths.
• “Try harder, Carl." I muttered
• “I've been here for 3 days now." I yell
• "Okay, hang in there; I'll see what I can do, " he gives me a small smile and leaves.
• A few hours later, he's back with a police officer who opens the gate and tells me I'm free to go for now.
• Carl tells me I've been released on bail due to insufficient evidence and the fact they arrested me without a warrant, so I'm free to go for now.
• He tells me to get a real good lawyer because he's not a criminal lawyer. He got me out as a favour to my boss.
• We leave the police station, and as soon as we open the door, the media start taking pictures, the cameras start flashing, and the reporters are asking so many questions.
• Carl whispers for me to keep my head down and not say a word as we hurry down the steps and into his car, fleeing from the media.
• Carl drops me a few blocks away from my apartment and tells me to go see Nick, my boss, when I have a chance and wishes me good luck before he drives off.
• What a dick, but at least he got me out of jail.
• I can't help but think about the picture of the hotel room the detective showed me.
• There was blood everywhere on the side; Cassidy was lying down when I left. Blood splattered on the wall, the mattress soaked with blood, and blood pooled on the floor beside the mattress.
• The pictures are horrifying, like the pictures from a murder documentary.
• It's horrible that someone would kill another person in such cold blood. What about Cassie's husband? I don't know if she had any kids. She never really talked about her family.
• Has he been given the news?
• I need to figure out what I'm going to do, my next move, and which lawyer I'm going to hire. I also need to find out what happened to Cassidy after I left her.
• So many things rush through my mind on the walk home. Just a few days ago, I was a male sex worker with a happy life, and now I'm being charged with murder.
• What a twist of fate!
• I take the steps one at a time until I'm at the door. I fish the spare key from under the plant pot and enter the apartment.
• I look at myself in the mirror; my black hair looks like a bird's nest, and the bag under my eyes looks so bad, as does the stumble on my face from the past few days.
• I take a long shower to wash away the stress of the past few days and the jail smell from my body. I fix up a plate of food and turn on the TV when Michael walks in.
• “Hey man,” he rushed over to my side, giving a hug.
• “I came to the police station a couple of times, but they wouldn't let me see you,” he admits.
• “It's fine I'm okay, but I'm going to need help. You know I didn't kill her,” I tell him, maintaining eye contact.
• He asks me about that night, and I tell him everything that happened and he sighs.
• “The story is all over the news because of Cassidy's husband; I guess he's some big shot,” he stated.
• Yes, he is .Cassidy's husband, Daniel Jones is the owner and CEO of the record label Jonzing World.They manage and produce some of the biggest artists in the music industry.
• The news comes on; it's an interview with a lawyer. She’s being asked about my case. I turn up the volume.
• “The defendant is being prosecuted wrongly, majorly because of his job as a male prostitute, but there's a possibility he didn't kill her. I suspect foul play here, the whole thing makes no sense. The DA’s office wants a fast conviction because of who the partner of these deceased is. This case is right up my alley, and something doesn't add up; it's the truth,” she acknowledged.
• Michael looks at me, and I look at him, and we both look at the TV together.
• “Right there is your ticket out of this mess; she's your only hope." Michael stated, pointing at the TV.
• “Now all you have to do is find her and beg her to take this case, " he added.
• And I was going to do just that: find this woman and convince her to take my case.
• My whole life was riding on this, my future hanging in the balance.