It was fair to say that, based on recent events within his life, things had done nothing but go from bad to worse for Supreme Championship Wrestling star David Helms. The veteran from New Jersey had definitely had a poor run of things over the last twelve to eighteen months. He had suffered through the death of close personal friendships, had to deal with the collapse of his business empire as a result, and lately, he had seen his attempts to start afresh, from the ground up, suffer because of an irate douchebag who didn’t appreciate losing. And the irony of that wasn’t lost on David either, given the parallels to the world of professional wrestling. It was almost enough to make him laugh, or it would be if it didn’t make him want to rip the hair out of his own head, anyway...
It hadn’t needed to be this way, he knew that.
David would be the first to admit that it was no good reflecting on how hindsight was twenty-twenty, but how much of the drama in his life could have been avoided if both he and Tommy could simply sit down and be civil for more than two seconds without one of them taking shots at the other, whether that be physical or verbal? If just one of them had acted like a actual fucking adult, could all of this been avoided, that was the question that continuously returned to the mind of David as he tried to deal with each new bit of bullshit that popped up along the road to trying to start a new wrestling school of his own to replace the void left by the sale of his half of the AnteUp empire to Mr. D. And the truth was that it definitely could have been. Yes, it wouldn’t have been easy, maybe the damage would have taken a long time to truly fix, but friendships rarely ended so completely that there wasn’t something left to fix in the aftermath of whatever explosions had taken place… at least he’d always felt that was the case anyway, but now?
That simply wasn’t an option. And that’s why hindsight was such a bitch in David’s view, because while there may have been hope at one point, both he and Tommy had chosen to ignore it in a fit of stubborness on behalf of both men, which hadn’t just burned the bridges but salted the ashes and then buried them in concrete too.
But the problems he had with Tommy a year earlier were starting to pale in Comparison to the issues he had now with the douchebag business mogul, Nathan Eacott. And what a goddamn mess this had turned into, too. It was difficult for David to put into words just how ridiculous this situation had become, and he struggled to understand why this asshole would go to such lengths over one lost opportunity in a world where Eacott probably had the same opportunities several times a week! It wasn’t as if Helms was in the same league as Eacott, either, which is what made the whole thing more confusing for the pro-wrestler; yes, David did alright for himself in life and after the sale of AnteUp he had money in the bank to ensure his dreams could happen with minimal fuss had the path to them been clear… but Eacott was in another level! This guy was a billionaire, and his empire left him so high-powered that David looked like a guppy swimming attempting to swim with sharks in comparison!
And in many ways, that was what he was attempting, it seemed. Because that was an extremely fitting analogy for Eacott, the guy was a shark. And his smile, while appearing friendly to anyone who received it, was filled with razor sharp teeth that looked to tear at the soft underbelly of anyone that got in his way! David was losing all hope, he wasn’t sure how he was going to keep this up anymore, it was eating away at him slowly but methodically and he had been on the verge of giving up so many times already, before the latest upset that had been orchestrated by the scumbag property developer that seemed dead set on not only getting his own way but destroying David in the process!
And the worst part was that, there was no way of proving that the guy was doing it, either! Yeah, he had Elias Crane as a trump card for down the road, but right now if he went to the cops with his story and all he had to produce as evidence was the word of Elias, it would probably be Elias that was arrested and Eacott would no doubt get off scot free after denying all knowledge of who the guy even was.
How could he compete with a guy who operated a squeaky clean business for anyone to see, while letting others operate on his behalf in the shadows? He couldn’t! And now the guy who was supposed to do the construction work on the gym, Lyndon Allen, was in county on human trafficking charges and his assets were completely frozen pending an FBI investigation! How was he not meant to panic about all of this, especially when it came off the back of his own arrest before the charges were dropped and then a witch hunt in the trash media following that same event? He was fucked. There was no two ways to look at it right now, Nathan Eacott had Dave’s metaphorical trousers down and he was turning the situation into a recreation of that scene from Pulp Fiction!
“You need to calm down, Dave…” Helms’ attorney, Heath Mitchell, told him as they sat on couches inside of Heath’s office two days after their phone conversation discussing Allen’s arrest. Or Heath was sitting at any rate. David had taken to wearing a worn patch into the heavy-pile carpet as he paced back and forth, his jaw clenched tight as Heath poured over all of David’s financial records in preparation for having to conduct meetings with both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. “If not for your own good, then for mine. You’re putting me on edge with all of this pacing, and if you want me to actually do my job, I need to be able to concentrate,” the attorney added, causing David a moment of pause before he turned to look at him. “Please… just sit down?”
David sighed, but did as he was asked. He walked to the leather armchair next to the couch where Heath sat and took a seat. “This can’t be happening bro…” he muttered, holding his head in his hands for a second before looking back up again and for a moment it looked like he was about to bound right back out of the seat to begin a new round of pacing but he managed to hold off from doing so. “I know it is, I’ve seen the proof for myself,” he added, gesturing to the pile of papers on the coffee table before them. “But I just can’t believe it is… it’s bullshit, how can the FBI not see that?!”
“The evidence is overwhelming Dave, you’ve seen that for yourself,” Heath replied, putting down the document he’d been holding before steepling his fingers beneath his chin. “Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t know the ins and outs because we’re probably going to end up a part of this investigation, but I guess it pays off to have contacts…”
“I just can’t believe that a guy like Lyndon Allen would do something like this,” David said, gesturing to the documents that Heath had organised into various piles. “I met with the guy, and believe me, he definitely isn’t the type… it has to be Eacott behind this!”
“And I dare say it is David, but the law doesn’t rely on how someone appears, does it?” Heath asked, sounding a little frustrated. “And it’s doing neither of us any good to continue going around in circles while you struggle to get to grips with the fact that this has happened. I mean this with nothing but respect for you, as both your attorney and a friend, but you need to get a grip of yourself so we can prepare for what’s undoubtedly going to be coming sooner rather than later!” the attorney said, giving David a stern look that almost withered the New Jerseyite in his seat.
With a sigh, David’s head drooped and he rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands before sitting up straight. “You’re right bro, of course you’re right,” he grudgingly admitted. “And I know how serious this is, believe me… I’ve just had a lot happening lately and this is the frosting on the fucking cake.”
Heath nodded; while he hadn’t actually been called to the police station when David was arrested, thanks to Elias’ shenaniguns, he was aware of the arrest and the events which followed, and he understood the toll this was taking on his client all too well. “What we need to do is put the personal element to the wayside for now and concentrate on making sure that everything is prepared for when the bureau inevitably get in touch to discuss your dealings with Mr. Allen,” Heath told David, sliding the smaller stack of papers to one side on the coffee table. That stack was the various paperwork he’d been able to attain on Lyndon Allen’s arrest, which he had shown David simply to keep him in the loop but they were in no part anything to do with their own case, should they have to defend themselves during the FBI’s investigation. He instead, slid the much larger pile of papers closer towards himself and tapped a finger on them. “I have your accounts for the last twelve months here, as well as your banking documents and all the contracts drawn up on your various dealings for that same time period. Obviously we’re talking large sums of money, given the sale of Next Level assets and purchases made reflecting those sales… but all of it is above board and the FBI won’t find anything worth taking more than a cursory glance at, I can assure you of that.”
“Assuming Elias didn’t pull the same trick with my life as he did with Allen,” David said with a scoff that gave Heath a moment of pause as he considered this.
“You don’t think--” Heath started to say, suddenly second guessing his previous statement, but David shook his head.
“If Eacott is letting Elias lead the play then no, I don’t think that’s likely,” David assured the attorney, shaking his head again. “It wouldn’t make any sense for him to do that, when you think about it. Elias wants out, and I’m his meal ticket to get there… if he gets me put away, he knows I’m not going to be all that excited to help him when the time comes. Plus, he’s already gone out of his way to get me out of jail once, it wouldn’t make much sense to put me back in there, would it?”
“It would solve many of Nathan Eacott’s problems though,” Heath suggested, with David found it difficult to disagree with, even before the attorney explained why that was the case. “If the FBI investigation was to find evidence that your purchase of the property that caused this state of affairs was in some way illegal or problematic, the property could be seized and once the case was settled that could allow Eacott to swoop in and purchase as a knock down price…”
“Not going to happen,” David said with utmost confidence in his own words, even if he couldn’t exactly put into words why he was that sure of himself. “I know how Elias works… and if this is his doing as I assume it is, I’m already sure that this is nothing but a delaying tactic,” he explained, sitting a little further onto the edge of his seat. “When he pulled that similar stunt with Kath’s old man, he left just enough threats visible that when the investigation moved into the next gear, they began to untangle until it became obvious that a huge mistake had been made. If Elias is behind this, I’m convinced that Lyndon Allen comes out of this with a big apology from both the feds and from the IRS, along with compensation for lost earnings on top of that…”
“It’s a shame that the poor people working for Mr. Allen may not be so lucky,” Heath said, shaking his head. Unfortunately, as an attorney, he knew all too well what depths people were able to stoop to in order to attain what they desired, and he had dealt with a lot of depravity in his time as legal council, so this wasn’t an eye-opener for him… but that didn’t stop him considering the people who would be affected in a myriad of different ways by this insane plot put into place by Elias Crane either.
“The construction crew?” David asked, and Heath nodded.
“And the rest of the staff on Mr. Allen’s payroll, yeah,” Heath confirmed. “Lyndon Allen may come out of this without issue, but those who work for him that won’t be getting their paychecks because of this craziness? I feel for them.”
He was ashamed to admit it, but David hadn’t even considered that side of things, and that made him feel immense guilt. Had he really turned into that kind of asshole that didn’t consider the ‘little people’ in a situation? He didn’t want to think of himself in that way, but clearly he was more concerned with his own problems that those affected by them in various different ways and that left him with a deep sense of shame to say the least. “Fuck…” was all he could say as the gravity of the situation hit him like a freight train and he slumped back in his chair. “Fuck,” he echoed, though with far more anger in his voice thi time as he turned to look at Heath with fire in his eyes now. “There’s got to be something we can do about that, surely?” he asked.
Heath shook his head before throwing his hands up in resignation. “Short of trying to go to the police about everything in order to get Mr. Allen cleared sooner, I don’t think there is,” Heath told his client, with true sympathy in his voice. “The last think we want to do right now is pump money into this problem, because that will only raise more questions about your involvement David. And you can’t hire them to do the work that Lyndon Allen was to do because of the contract, which unfortunately isn’t voided despite his arrest… all we can do is hope that you’re right with your assessment that Elias Crane will have made it easy for the bureau to unravel the story once they dig deep enough…”
“Can’t we do an anonymous donation?” David asked, conscious that Heath was right about him not directly being involved with providing money for those affected by the situation, but surely there was something that could be done anonymously, something that wouldn’t make it’s way back to him?
Heath once again shook his head. “The IRS and the FBI will be investigating each and every one of Mr. Allen’s employees, David. The investigation didn’t discover evidence of human trafficking but of illegal workers too, so each of the people in Lyndon Allen’s employ will be subject to heavy scrutiny too. Short of envelopes full of cash in their mailboxes, there isn’t much you can do but hope for the best, I’m afraid…”
“God dammit!” David groaned as he stood up from his seat once again and walked away from the seated area towards Heath’s desk before turning back to face his attorney. “This whole situation is bullshit, bro… and the worst part, the worst part is that there isn’t a single thing I can do to prove that Eacott is behind any of it! If we only had something, any shred of evidence that could pin that bastard to this, we’d be able to make the whole thing go away like that,” he said, snapping his fingers for emphasis.
Heath nodded his head before looking glum. “Unfortunately, if wishes were fishes we could also feed the starving of Africa at the same speed,” the attorney said, which caused David’s eyebrows to rise, nonplussed. “What I’m trying to say is that it does no good to think about what if’s, because there isn’t anything we can do with that. We have to deal with hard fact and make do with what we do have… which isn’t much, I’ll grant you, but it’s at least enough to ensure that you’re kept out of this mess,” he said, pointing back to the documents detailing the charges laid against Lyndon Allen.
“You think I’m being stubborn don’t you?” David said, folding his arms across his chest and doing nothing for his argument that he wasn’t being stubborn when refusing to sell the gym to Eacott. “You think I should just agree to sell the building to Eacott and cut my losses so all of this can disappear, I can see it in your face bro, I know that look…”
“I think you were perhaps unwise to get into this sort of disagreement,” Heath countered, his words a little more clipped and certainly more formal than normal. “But as your friend, I understand why you’ve done it, Dave. And as your council, I suggest that at this point, there would be no point in going back to Eacott to discuss the notion either…”
“You don’t think he’d bite?” David asked.
The attorney shrugged. “I have no doubt in my mind that an offer would be made,” he explained, folding one leg across the other as he sat back on the couch. “But I also think it would be both below market value and considerable lower than what you yourself paid for it at this point… men like Nathan Eacott, they have a habit of being able to smell blood in the water and I think right now, he believes himself to be the biggest shark in the ocean…”
David didn’t need long to decide he agreed wholeheartedly with Heath, as he nodded almost right away. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he conceded, with a groan of frustration. “But I can afford to eat the loss… do you think I should take it on the chin and contact him anyway, knowing he’ll lowball me on the offer?”
“At this point, I think there’s merit to both sides of that argument,” Heath said. “As your lawyer, I can definitely say without doubt that it would be better for you from a legal standpoint, to get as far away from Nathan Eacott as humanly possible… but as your friend, I have to say that the idea of bringing down a crook like that bastard, it almost makes everything you’ve gone through so far worth it if the upshot is getting rid of him for good…”
“At least you get why I want to keep fighting this,” David said, trying to force himself to remain calm as he walked back to his seat.
He went to open his mouth to speak again, but the sound of the office door opening cut him off in his tracks before he could either talk or re-take his seat on the couch chair as both he and Heath turned to look in the direction of the door, only to see Elias Crane entering the room. “Alright David, how d’ya do?” Elias said as the door clicked shut behind him and he turned to twist the lock on the door before turning back to look at the two men in front of him. “Gotta say sunshine, you ain’t makin’ life easy on me lately, what with one thing an’ another,” he said before turning to look at Heath who sat on his couch in a deep sense of confusion over what the hell was happening in that moment. “The attorney... how d’ya do, Elias Crane,” the Brit said, stepping over and extending a hand to Heath, who took it on instinct but looked at his own hand in disgust once the handshake was over with.
“I don’t know how the fuck you can even show your face right now, Elias!” David virtually spat as Elias plopped himself down on the other end of the leather couch to where Heath was sitting, and folded his hands in his lap. “You’ve got some fucking nerve, bro!”
“How did you get in here?” Heath asked, brushing David’s comments aside as he addressed Elias directly. “My secretary--”
“Your secretary is down in the parkin’ lot, sunshine,” Elias said, interrupting Heath before he could go any further with his line of questioning. “Attempted theft of a motor vehicle, it turns out, is a hell of a distraction. Who’d have thought it, eh?” the Brit asked, smirking at David with that look that never failed to leave David with the desire to punch the bastard. “But let’s not cry over who did what… we’ve got some business to discuss, ain’t we?”
“Anything Nathan Eacott want’s to discuss with my client can be notarized by his own attorneys and delivered to me,” Heath interjected, forcing Elias to turn away from David and concentrate on him instead.
Elias rolled his eyes. “Don’t be a plank, sunshine…” Elias said, shaking his head in disappointment. “Bloody hell, I thought you were meant to be the smart one out of the two of ya… how much you payin’ this bloke Davey boy, if it’s more than a fiver an hour you should be expectin’ change,” he said, before smiling innocently. “Only kiddin’ pal, no offence meant, of course… but as it happens, I ain’t here on behalf of Nathan Eacott, it’s on my own accord that I’m ‘ere right now, as it were…”
“And you just happened to find me here, did you Elias?” David asked, sarcasm dripping off of every syllable.
Elias laughed. “Nah mate, got your whole calendar downloaded on me phone, ain’t I?” the Brit informed him, as if it was nothing. “Bloody hell, be a stroke of luck if I just happened to stumble across your motor in the parkin’ lot of this place an’ then happened to find the right room too. I’d be buyin’ a few lottery tickets at the weekend if that were the case, ‘cause I’d be the luckiest wanker this side of the Atlantic.”
“You’ve got my--” David started to say, but Elias cut him off.
“Yes mate, I’ve got the contents of your calendar downloaded on my phone,” the Brit said, as if it was nothing. “But as we both know, I’m a suspicious character who does that sort of thing on a daily basis, so let’s not beat around the bush while we pretend that you’re shocked at my behaviour an’ get to the point, eh?” he suggested, throwing one leg across the other at the knee to make himself more comfortable. “So you gonna ask me?”
“Ask you what?” David muttered, realising that Elias was right, that it was in keeping with his character to do such a thing, even if David hated to admit it. So he chose to ignore it instead.
“Are you gonna ask me about Lyndon Allen or not?” Elias asked, as if it was pleasant chat between mates, rather than discussing a man’s life potentially being torn apart by false allegations. “Christ, it’s like getting blood out of a stone with you two, ain’t it?” he added, rolling his eyes.
Heath’s jaw was clenched tightly shut as he looked at David, who appeared just about ready to swing for the Brit in that moment, but knew he couldn’t. “Fine,” David said through gritted teeth. “Well? I mean, it was you, right? It has your name all over this, let’s be honest…” he added.
Elias seemed to almost swell with pride as he looked at David with a huge smile on his face. He went to reply, before catching himself and he cast a glance at Heath on the couch next to him. “Here, everythin’ said in ‘ere’s privileged information, right? Like, attorney-client confidentiality an’ all that bollocks?”
“Attorney-client privilege only exists between an attorney and their client,” Heath said, bitterly. “The clue is in the name… I’d have thought a man of your intelligence would understand that,” he added, leaving no uncertainty over how he felt about the Brit sat next to him.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop as Elias’ demeanour changed and he seemed to almost close up. “Ah well, guess I’d better keep mum then, you know how it is. Don’t want to be puttin’ my foot in it an’ all that…”
David sighed before turning to Heath. “What’s your hourly rate, bro?” he asked, and Heath’s head snapped around to him.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at David for a second, before finally answering the question. “Eight hundred flat, per hour,” he told him. “Why?”
“Okay, as of this minute, he’s your new client, but you can bill me for the hour,” David said before turning back to Elias before Heath could complain. “Now get to the fucking point Elias, because I want to know what the hell you’re playing at!”
“Well now,” Elias said, his demeanour reverting back to normal as he beamed at David. “That’s a different kettle of fish all together, ain’t it?” he said before turning to Heath. “So that attorney-client privilege thing stands now, right?”
Heath looked like he wanted to explode in a fit of rage as he glared at David before grudgingly turning to Elias, answering through teeth so tightly clenched together that it actually changed the way he spoke. “I guess so,” he said, with left Elias rubbing his hands together in glee.
“Champion,” the Brit said, grinning. “An’ you’ve got it in one sunshine,” he added, turning back to David. “Yeah, ol’ Lyndon gettin’ banged up, that were down to me… brilliant bit of skullduggery if you ask me, took me a while to create that fake paper trail, I don’t mind admitting, but I’m bloody proud of that one, I won’t lie.”
Heath stood up from his seat and David definitely heard a string of expletives come from him, muttered under his breath as he walked towards his desk to retrieve a packet of cigarillo’s from his desk drawer. David watched him light one up before he turned his attention back to Elias. “Why?” David asked, trying his best to remain calm. “Why would you do that to the guy, when he did nothing wrong?”
“Well, ol’ Eacott don’t see it like that mate,” Elias replied, shrugging. “Nathan’s bloody pissed off with him in all honesty, said he can’t believe the old fool would sell to a wanker like you, no offence. Well, he didn’t say wanker, but it sounds better than self righteous prick. More snappy, I reckon…”
“So you ruin his life?!” David asked, his anger boiling over.
Elias simply waved the statement away with a flick of his hand, like it wasn’t important. “He’ll be out in no time at all, don’t worry about it,” Elias told him as Heath sat down on the edge of his own desk. “The trail’s so thin that even the most incompetent agent at the bureau will figure out there’s nothin’ to it in no time at all… it just had to be enough to make sure everythin’ were slowed down, that’s all. I give it a week tops before they figure out ol’ Allen’s as innocent as they come…”
“He still has to spend a week in county because of you though, you arrogant dick!” David shot back, his knuckles clenched, which only seemed to amuse Elias more.
The Brit actually chuckled to himself over David’s state of anger, before shaking his head. “Fuckin’ hell mate, you’re too sentimental for your own good, ya know that?” he asked, with another chuckle. “He’ll be fine,” Elias told him, brushing it off. “He’s bein’ looked after while in there, he’s safe as houses… which is pretty fittin’ for a bloke who runs a construction company, don’t ya think?”
“How droll,” Heath added before more muttering under his breath, but David ignored him and so did Elias.
“But as it happens, Lyndon Allen ain’t actually what’s important right now,” Elias said, with his words dropping like a bombshell on both David and Heath. The frown on Heath’s face deepended at the statement, but David’s face was thunderous, as he glared back at the Brit.
“Not important?!” he spat, enraged. “He’s in fucking jail because of you, you douchebag!”
“Yeah yeah, I’ve heard that one before sunshine, it’s old news,” Elias said, dismissing the insult thrown at him without a second thought. “But if you shut ya gob for a minute pal, maybe I can explain why…” he added, before sliding a hand into the inside of his jacket to pull out a few sheets of A4 paper, folded lengthwise so as to fit into an inside pocket, which he tossed down on the coffee table in front of him before prodding it with a finger.
“What’s that?” David asked, his curiosity getting the better of his anger as Elias sat forward and grinned up at him.
“A little taste of what I’ve been working on behind the scenes,” Elias told him as Heath walked back over to the couch and picked up the paper.
“But these are…” Heath started to say before his voice trailed off, and David walked over to see what it was that he was looking at, but all he saw was a series of numbers, and while he recognised them as a financial report or account summary, he didn’t know what the importance of them was.
Fortunately for David, Elias clearly wanted to gloat, and didn’t waste any time in explaining. “You’ve heard of the stories about the mafia always keepin’ a second set of books, right?” the Brit asked, as David looked at him blankly. Elias sighed, before trying to dumb it down as best he could. “Alright, so the mob likes to keep the old bill of their back, right? They don’t want the boys in blue or the feds or whatever, catching wind of what they’re upto… so they keep their records up to date and everything appears perfectly above board. They pay taxes and keep Mr. IRS happy and all looks normal… but they also keep a second set of books, that shows the real incomings and outgoings, which they don’t disclose. The ‘legal’ looking books and the crooked ones…”
“Okay, I’m following,” David said, before pointing at the papers. “But are you saying that Eacott is doing the exact same thing and these are from the crooked ones?!” he asked.
“Ding ding ding, we have a winner!” Elias said, applauding David sarcastically with a slow round of applause. “That right there, it’s just a snapshot of the real state of things in Eacott’s empire… couldn’t print the whole lot off obviously, as I was snooping at the time, but that right there is proof that Eacott’s cooking the books left right and centre…”
“Heath?” David asked, turning to the attorney. He wanted what Elias was saying to be true, because if it was, he was sure that they had him. That they had Eacott over a barrel and that it would back up everything that David wanted to take the the police but knew he couldn’t because of a lack of evidence.
Heath’s eyes continued to scan the columns of the paper in his hands, flicking to the second page as he continued to read before finally folding the paper back up. “This… could be used to make a case against Nathan Eacott, I won’t deny that,” he conceded, but his voice didn’t make it seem like he was overly confident in what he had just said. “But… it would be a thin argument, and probably one that Eacott’s own attorney’s could argue against without much of a problem…”
“Oh aye, I don’t doubt it sunshine,” Elias said, nodding in agreement like it was an obvious statement.
“So you brought us something that’s basically useless, expecting us to be overjoyed?” David asked, his temper flaring again.
But Elias shook his head before chuckling. “Bloody hell pal, you won’t it all an’ right away, don’t ya?” the Brit asked, still laughing to himself. “As I said, that’s just a taster, because time weren’t on my side at the time of gettin’ access to it… but…”
“But?” Heath said, his interest finally piqued now as Elias settled back in his seat and beamed up at him.
“But I’m working on much more than that,” Elias ellborated. “As in, proper access… I won’t bore ya with the details sunshine, but let’s just say that ol’ Nate’s private affairs won’t be quite so private once I’ve had a chance to implement my plans, know what I mean?”
“No?” Heath replied, and it wasn’t sarcasm, he simply had no idea what Elias was talking about. The two men, they were from entirely different worlds and while Heath understood the legal system, he didn’t understand the breaking of laws or criminal activity beyond having to defend those who took part in it.
“Christ, it's like pulling teeth with you two,” Elias said, shaking his head. “Let’s just say that right now, the books aren’t open to prying eyes, so what you’ve got there is what I managed to grab while snooping, but once I’ve had chance to get one of my tech associates to have a nosy around, things should be a little clearer for anyone who wishes to take a gander…”
“You mean you can get access to his actual accounts?” Heath asked, suddenly interested again and this time there was optimism in his voice, which caught David off guard. “His full accounts, not just screenshots like this, that any competent attorney could dismiss as forgery’s?”
“Did I stutter, pal?” Elias asked, sarcastically. “And more than just his crooked books, but his encrypted email servers, bank accounts, everythin’ he don’t want the IRS or any other interested party lookin’ at… but to do that, I need you two to keep playin’ along like you were plannin’ to do before I turned up ‘ere…” he explained, putting heavy emphasis on the latter point to make sure it hit home. “I need you to cooperate wi’ anyone who wants to talk to you about your dealings with Lyndon Allen or whatever else the bureau an’ the IRS are gonna wanna talk to you about, an’ let me do my thing… you think you can handle that?”
“You’re telling us you can actually get access to everything you just mentioned?” David asked in disbelief, almost finding it impossible to believe that Elias could pull off such a feat. But the Brit simply shrugged before nodding. “That’s fucking incredible, bro!” David added, his voice awash with excitement.
“While I admit much of it will depend on what the contents of those files is,” Heath said, a little hesitantly. “I have to agree… that could be incredible, if we get them to the right people and ensure that Eacott is taken by surprise with the investigation.”
“Well that one’ll be no problem,” Elias replied. “Old Eacott, he reckons he’s untouchable. Doesn’t think there’s an investigator smark enough to catch him out, an’ with the level of encryption he uses, it probably ain’t all that absurd to believe… but encryption only works if people don’t have the key. I plan on getting my hands on it. And when I do… that’s how we nail the bastard, and I get to ride off into the sunset, knowin’ I did my part to help a friend an’ do the world a favour by puttin’ an horrible wanker behind bars… but I need you to promise me that you’re actually gonna let me do my thing this time, and not fuck anythin’ up like you nearly did the other week!” Elias added, giving David a stern look.
His taking it upon himself to go visit Eacott had nearly jeopardised everything as far as Elias was concerned, and he needed to know that there wouldn’t be a repeat of that situation, regardless of what else happened between now and Eacott’s downfall. “Bro, you’ve got it, whatever you need, you have my word that I’m all in on this,” David insisted, and Elias looked at him skeptically.
“Regardless of what else happens between now an’ when we can nail the bastard?” the Brit asked, an eyebrow raised.
David nodded. “Whatever happens next, you’ve got my word that I won’t jump the gun or fly off the handle,” he promised, knowing that he could be making a rod for his own back with such a big promise, but he knew that he had to make sacrifices. Elias had warned him about that weeks earlier when all of this had first started and he’d offered to help.
“Champion,” Elias said, standing up and walking over to Heath. “I’ll leave that with ya, yeah?” he said, pointing at the papers. “Keep em safe an’ away from pryin’ eyes, sunshine… don’t wanna fuck anythin’ up before we get chance to make use of it, do we?” he said, once again offering Heath his hand and this time, the attorney took it and shook with a little more acceptance than before. Letting go, Elias turned to Dave and slapped him on the shoulder. “An’ I’ll be seein’ you around, sunshine… good look with the recovery,” he added before turning and heading for the door. Before either man knew what was happening, it was swinging shut behind the Brit as he left, leaving David and Heath standing there a little confused at the worldwind that had just run through the room.
“He’s… different…” Heath said, after a while and David nodded his head in agreement.
“If it helps, you never really get used to him,” David offered, laughing, but there was truth to that statement. In the years he’d known Elias, he still wasn’t sure he even liked him… but if he managed to pull this one off, he’d be willing to upgrade the guy to best friend if that was what he wanted. It probably wasn’t, but he’d be willing to do so anyway!
“I… don’t think I want to, in all honesty,” Heath replied, shuddering a little before once again looking at the document in his hand. He poured over it for a moment before walking back to the couch and sitting down, he grabbed a highlighter and started to mark up various lines of text on the columns of numbers, as David joined him on the couch. The mood in the room had changed considerably as the two men looked at the new ammunition that they had been presented with; yes, Lyndon Allen was still in jail, and yes his company and employees were still in limbo, but with Elias’ promises about how thin that paper trail was, that had lessened the guilt somewhat and if the Brit was to be believe, the end was potentially in sight for the whole torrid ordeal! And he didn’t have to explain how big that would be if it turned out to be the case… and while he didn’t want to get his hopes up, at least he had hopes. Which was more than he had when he had woken up that morning. And that was always a good place to be. Always.
YouTube Livestream
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Date: 05/01/2021
As the Youtube live stream begins, an image briefly flickers up on screen before bursting into an eye watering vision of pixels and static until the connection stabilizes enough to form a coherent picture and we finally get to see the stream as intended. And as it does, we see none other than David Helms on the screen, wearing a grey t-shirt with the Living Dangerously Dojo logo on the front and a black jacket over the top of it as he stands in what appears to be a bar or restaurant with empty chairs and tables behind him, with a fantastic view of Pittsburgh visible through the windows just beyond the tables and chairs. “Be careful what you wish for…” he muses, looking thoughtful for a second. “Pretty fucking fitting when all is said and done. In this business anyway… there’s plenty of people who should have taken that advice over the years, including me at times, I won’t deny that,” he admits, rubbing at the back of his neck with his free hand, before realising he’s doing it and pushing on.
“Let he who’s without sin cast the first stone, isn’t that how the saying goes?” Helms asks as he looks off screen briefly, deep in thought, before turning back to the phone in his hand. “I can’t claim that, can I? I mean, my own record here isn’t exactly fucking clean when you consider my entire tenure in Supreme Championship Wrestling, and I’m not an idiot, I know people can easily throw the Pinnacle crap at me if they want to score cheap points in some non-existent point scoring system,” he admits with a shrug of his shoulders. “But the answer for that one is simple; I fucked up. Yeah, sure, I made huge mistakes and paid for them because it turned out the grass wasn’t always greener, and?”
He scoffs. “All that tells me is that I actually know what the fuck I’m talking about when I stand here and say that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side!” David continues with clear belief in his words. “I’ve been the guy who thought he wanted something else, only for it to come back and bite him in the ass, so I think I’m pretty well equipped to point out that the idea of being careful what you wish for is something that people should keep in mind, because I’m living fucking proof that it doesn’t always work out how you hoped!” he informs the viewers before sighing. “And I can hear you now, probably pointing out that I got a lot out of that run, and that’s true… when I turned my back on you guys, it changed my life in a myriad of ways, and same on them were life changing. I had this gold band on my finger,” he adds, holding his left hand up to the camera to show off his wedding ring, “because of that time in my life, and I shouldn’t have to point out just how life changing that was for me, when Regan and Me finally got together…”
“But then I think about whether that would have happened anyway,” he muses, continuing his train of thought. “We’d been growing close even before I turned into the biggest arrogant douche canoe on the face of the planet, so can I really say that my own selfish actions were what resulted in me becoming the happiest man on the planet when Regan and I were wed? I’m not sure I can,” he concludes, shaking his head before shrugging. “But while it may have left me the happiest man alive outside of the ring, did that whole period in my career do the same for me inside of the ring? Did I find the satisfaction that I’d been craving? Not even fucking close. It got me titles, can’t deny that; two runs as World Tag Champ with my ex-best friend that should have left me exstatic but I look back on those runs with shame now because of what I sacrificed to get to that point!”
“I sacrificed my integrity, my morals… I sacrificed everything I’d worked hard for, all for the sake of spotlight and gold around my waist and honestly bro, that still makes me sick to the stomach to this very fucking day!” Helms states, open and honest, seeming a little more vulnerable than normal as he opens up about his past. “I lost so fucking much during that time, because I lost not just the love of you guys at home, but a large part of who I was too! And maybe I fixed a lot of that in the end, but that doesn’t change the fact that I shouldn’t have gone there in the first place. I should have known better!”
Helms shakes his head, clearly disappointed in himself. He looks away from the phone for a moment as he attempts to reign things in before being able to continue. “Sorry, I know I’m rambling at this point, talking about stuff that happened a long time ago… but that’s kind of the point I’m trying to make, because I’m trying to show that mistakes made, no matter how long ago, continue to have an impact for long after they were fucking made,” he explains with a long sigh. “Which is exactly the message that Owen Cruze needs to hear right now, whether he thinks that’s the case or not!”
“I hope you’re listening right now Owen, I really do,” Helms continues, looking right down the lens of the camera now, ignoring the chat that flies by on the edge of the screen as he shifts the focus a little. “You know what I’m talking about, kid. You know exactly what I’m talking about when I say that actions always have consequences and that they’re not always going to change things for the better! And while I’m not going to drag personal lives into the public with this thing, you’re already having to experience the negative effects of selfish decisions because you weren’t careful what you wished for when you chose to go into business for yourself instead of doing what was right!” he tells the camera, but while it’s clear that he does stand by his words, there’s almost a hint of what appears to be sympathy in his features, which comes across as a message that goes unsaid between the two.
“And it doesn’t matter what you say kiddo, you’re not going to justify to me why you did what you fucking did, so I hope I can save you the time and effort with that one,” Helms continues, his unspoken message of sympathy over as he goes back to the point he was making. “You can tell me until you’re blue in the face that you felt left behind or overlooked or that things weren’t the way they should be around this place, but none of that excuses you for what you did to Shaun and what you did to the fans of this fucking company!” he states with little to no room for interpretation whatsoever. “You may feel like your career had slipped, Owen. You may feel like you’d lost your spot or that you were lost in the shuffle, but what price are you willing to fucking pay in order to get attention, huh?! I’m going to say it now, I believe it’s better to go out there and fight with honor and loses a thousand matches in a row that it will ever be to sell your own integrity down the river for cheap wins and a shortcut to the top, and sooner or later kid, I think you’re going to realise that too!”
“I just hope it isn’t too late for you when you do,” he utters with sadness, knowing that most can find the redemption they seek in the end, much like he himself did several years earlier, but that not everyone makes it. “I hope that when you ultimately decide that you fucked up, you haven’t already burned every bridge you had, because regret is lonelier than anything else in this business, kid, and we both know why you’re already a little lonelier than you were before, and if Giovanni Aries is who you have to turn to as a shoulder to cry on then I truly fucking pity you, because I’m struggling to think of a worse situation to be in for anyone who isolated themselves from so many others all at once!”
Helms shakes his head in disappointment, leaving him standing there with his eyes closed for a moment as he stands there deep in thought. After a moment though, he turns his attention back to the camera and he shrugs his shoulders. “But maybe you don’t care?” he suggests. “Maybe you don’t actually give a fuck about those bridges, because like so many selfish asshats in this business, you care more about immediate gratification than you do about the long-lasting effects of our actions and if that’s the case then there isn’t much I can say to you kid, because you probably feel like you’re already reaping the benefits of your little decision!” he suggests, wondering just how lost Owen is in all of this, and whether there’s already anything left that could be saved.
“Or maybe I’ve just never really known the real Owen all along,” he considers, wondering if that’s truly the case. “Maybe I was wrong about you when I said that I could see the best of this business in you, Owen. Maybe I was wrong for believing you weren’t just like the rest, that the kid who asked my permission to date my daughter wasn’t all that he seems to present himself as… that the kid who came to me in a state because he had upset his friends or who was always so willing to take guidance from those with more experience from him, because he wanted to better understand everything about this business! Was I wrong about you, kid? Were you little more than a self-serving arrogant douchebag all along?!” Helms asks, but there’s no smirk, no hint of amusement at the situation. Just disappointment.
“If you were, I have to hand it to you kid, you had me fooled at least,” he admits, nodding his head as if he’s impressed, even if his facial expressions make it clear he isn’t. “And if all you wanted from this was attention then way to go dude, you fucking nailed that one, one hundred percent. The eyes of the wrestling world are well and truly on you now, so if that was the aim then props kid, you crushed it in no time at all…” Helms explains, wishing he had both hands free in order to applaud, rather than having to hold his phone in one hand in order to do the livestream. “And who knows how it’s gonna go tomorrow night, who knows whether Owen Cruze or David Helms will come out on top, when all is said and done. I won last time out based entirely on you getting disqualified thanks to your new bro giving you a helping hand that you clearly didn’t mind accepting, but all bets are gonna be off tomorrow when we do it all again…”
“And honestly Owen, if that happens then good for you… but if you think a victory is gonna make a damn bit of difference then it just goes to show that you never truly got it in the first fucking place!” Helms says, shaking his head. “This isn’t, what was it you called me, Big Match Dave was it? This isn’t just about Owen Cruze versus Big Match Dave, or whatever bullshit you want to use to label it, where the scrappy underdog faces the big name looking to score an upset. You’ve always been capable of beating the big names regardless of what direction your ego has taken you these last few weeks! But this isn’t just about a match, it’s about everything that’s wrong with this fucking business and if you think pinning my shoulders to the canvas for the count is three is going to shut me up from calling out bullshit then you never knew a damn thing about me!”
“So you go ahead,” Helms continues. “You go ahead and tell me why I’m full of shit or why I’m treating you unfairly or judging you for things that you feel is unjust, I’m looking forward to hearing it. I’m looking forward to hearing whatever crappy excuses you have to make and whatever sorry explanations you throw out to excuse yourself of any wrongdoing and justify your selfishness, but remember this kid,” he says, bringing the phone closer to his face in an effort to ensure that Owen cannot misunderstand his words. “While it only takes a moment to ruin a reputation in this business… it can take years to rebuild it. And you may have time on your side, you may be one of the youngest on the roster and you may think that if this little adventure you’re on with Gio by your side is something you can turn your back on if it proves fruitless… but if or when that happens, I hope you’re ready for the fucking work you’re going to have to put in to fix the damage you’ve done! Because those fans… the people who basically pay our salaries! They don’t forgive easily and they don’t forget quickly! Maybe in time, they will… maybe it’ll be easier for you than it was for me, who knows…”
“But that’s only the beginning, kid!” Helms explains, coming to the end of the stream. “Because fixing the broken promises and shattered expectations to the fans is going to be a walk in the god damn park compared to the work it’s going to take to fix your own pride and disappointment in yourself, and I want you to mark my fucking words kid. I want you to remember exactly what I wanted you when that day comes… because when it does, I won’t need to tell you that I told you so. That voice in the back of your fucking head is going to do it for me!” He states, as he brings the phone further away from himself the utter the final, iconic, word to the camera. “BANG!” he shouts, before using him thumb to hit the end stream button on the screen, bringing the livestream to an end.
