Hollow Weekend

Chapter 7

POV: Brad Miles

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that guilt wears a thousand faces. The trick is choosing the one that fits the moment. Today’s treat was concerned best friend. Slightly dishevelled. A crease in the shirt, no tie, and brow furrowed just enough to look troubled but not ashamed.

I looked like the kind of guy who’d been losing sleep over his friend’s arrest, not the guy who set the trap.

The front desk officer at the detention centre barely looked up as he processed my visitor pass. They’d moved Jaden to a private holding unit after the media circus exploded. I was told I had twenty minutes.

I stepped into the sterile white visitation room, heart steady, smile rehearsed. The moment I saw him through the glass, I knew this wouldn’t be easy.

He looked different, tired, sunken. His jaw was tight, his eyes darker than usual. Still Jaden, but dimmed.

He sat down slowly, not touching the phone yet. Just staring.

“You finally show up,” he said, no warmth in his voice.

I picked up the receiver. “I’ve been trying to reach you, man. They froze access and said only approved visitors.”

“Bullshit,” he snapped. “Melanie got in. You didn’t even try, Brad.”

I forced a frown. “Come on, J. You think I’d abandon you? You were arrested for r**e, the whole city’s burning down with your name on it. I was trying to stay quiet, protect whatever’s left of your reputation.”

“You stayed quiet because you’re a coward,” he shot back, eyes locked on mine. “You vanished the second I got cuffed. That’s not what best friends do.”

My throat tightened, but I leaned into the act. “You think this is easy for me? Watching everything fall apart from the outside? Not being able to help?”

He looked away. “You’ve helped yourself before.”

That one stung. Because he was getting close to something he didn’t even know.

I was about to respond when the door opened behind him. He turned first, and I followed his gaze.

Melanie.

She stepped inside with a middle-aged lady dressed elegantly in a corporate black suit, right behind her, both of them dressed like they meant business clean lines, dark colours, and no-nonsense posture. The lady looked very much like a legal personnel. Melanie’s eyes flicked to me briefly, it looked to me like surprise, while the lady’s didn’t acknowledge me at all.

Jaden stood up, motioning for them to join us. The guard checked with the officer at the door and gave a reluctant nod.

And suddenly, the four of us were crammed into a space too small for all the secrets between us.

“I didn’t expect a team meeting,” I joked, trying to break the tension. “Guess I’m the last to know things now.”

Melanie didn’t smile, neither did Jaden or the lady who had a name tag clipped to her expensive looking blazer. Naomi Clarke – Public defender. I instantly knew my joke wasn’t welcomed, I kept quiet.

The lady sat beside Melanie, she had a folder which she opened immediately.

“We’ve started mapping connections,” Naomi said, addressing Jaden but fully aware I was listening. “There are inconsistencies in the timeline and possible manipulation in the complaint sequence.”

“Any luck yet on who’s behind it?” Jaden asked sharply.

“We’re close,” Melanie said. “We’ve started building a pattern. Texts, motives, possibly even a financial trail.”

My heart skipped. “Texts? Financial trail?”

I kept my expression neutral, but my hands clenched slightly in my lap. They were further along than I expected.

“Does Camila know you’re onto her?” Jaden asked.

“Not yet,” Naomi said. “We’re keeping it quiet until we have confirmation, her legal counsel are declining every interview with her, claiming she’s not in the right frame of mind.”

I nodded slowly, pretending to process it all. “You think she was… paid?” I asked, playing dumb.

Melanie’s eyes flicked toward me. It was quick, but I caught the suspicion in it.

“As far as we know, she’s not doing this alone, we’ve looked into her records, there’s no way she’s individually capable of the strings she’s pulling” Naomi said carefully.

And in that moment, I realized something dangerous: they weren’t just chasing Camila, they were circling the force behind it – in other words me.

Luckily, I had picked the right day to show up. I had to shift gears, fast

I stood abruptly. “Look, this is a lot to take in. I’ll give you three some privacy.” I fumbled for my phone, even though I knew I couldn’t use it here. “Just… let me know if I can help in any way.”

Naomi glanced up at me with the faintest curve of a smirk, like she already knew.

As I walked toward the door, I slowed slightly when I heard Melanie mutter:

“I don’t trust him.”

Jaden didn’t respond.

I clenched my jaw and kept walking.

Outside the visitation room, I pulled out my real phone the second I passed security.

One new message.

Camila: Heard anything? Things feel tense. I’m getting nervous.

I didn’t reply immediately.

“They know someone is behind this, but their leads are faint, they’re not on to anything yet, for now we stick to the plan” I typed quickly, constantly keeping my eyes moving to see if anyone was close by, but there wasn’t.

I took a deep breath, adjusted my silky grey shirt before walking back to the visitation room. Immediately I got in, I was greeted with a question from the public defendant, who kept a mean straight face “Mr Brad… you’re Mr Jaden’s best friend from all I’ve been able to gather, what’s your say in all of this?”

I greeted her stern look with a calculated smile. “I don’t know, but I regret it… I regret not going with him to the bar that night. All the while I haven’t shown up, it’s because I blame myself, maybe if I hadn’t let him be alone that weekend, things would’ve been different” I spoke, voice sharp but shaky at the end, like I really felt sad but the joy within me, seeing my plans materialise knew no bounds.