The Billionaire They Buried

Chapter 5: No Bail

Keys rattled against the bars, pulling me out of a restless half-sleep. "Hayes. On your feet. You've got a court hearing."

For the first time since my arrest, I let myself hope maybe the judge would see there wasn't enough evidence, maybe I'd walk out while the investigation continued. I followed the guard through the station past officers who glanced at me and whispered to each other, and I understood, somewhere in the walk, that the news had already spread. To them I wasn't Ethan Hayes anymore. I was the man who killed his own grandfather.

Reporters had taken over the courthouse entrance by the time we arrived, cameras flashing before the van even stopped. Ethan! Did you kill Charles Hayes? Did you poison him for the company? Do you have anything to say to the Hayes family? I kept walking. There was no point answering nobody wanted the truth, they wanted a headline.

The courtroom was packed. Journalists filled the back rows, board members from Hayes Group sat together whispering, and Ryan looked away the second our eyes met. Victoria sat beside him in black, not even acknowledging I was in the room.

The judge entered. Everyone stood.

The prosecutor rose first. "Your Honor, the State requests that Ethan Hayes remain in custody while the investigation continues. The accused was the last person seen alone with Chairman Charles Hayes before his death. Poison was found in the victim's wine, and physical evidence recovered from the study links Mr. Hayes directly to the crime." Every sentence tightened something in my chest.

"Counsel?" the judge asked, looking toward the defense table. No one answered. He frowned. "Who represents the defendant?"

I looked around at the empty chair beside me. No lawyer. No legal team. No one.

"Mr. Hayes, do you have legal representation?"

"No, Your Honor."

A murmur spread through the room, and the prosecutor didn't waste the opening. "Given the defendant's wealth, influence, and access to significant financial resources, the State believes there's a serious risk he may interfere with witnesses or attempt to flee." I almost laughed flee, when I was fighting for the chance to clear my name, when running would only confirm every headline already written about me.

The judge was quiet for a moment. "Considering the severity of the charges and the evidence presented bail is denied."

The officers led me back toward the holding area beneath the courthouse. "Ethan." Benjamin Brooks was hurrying toward me, looking like he hadn't slept either. "I've been trying to find you."

"What happened?"

"I contacted every attorney I know. They all refused either too busy, or they backed out after initially agreeing."

"Every single one?"

"I'm certain someone threatened them."

My stomach tightened. Whoever was behind this wasn't just framing me they were making sure I had no way to defend myself. Benjamin reached into his briefcase and handed me a business card. Isabella Carter.

"Isabella?"

"She returned to New York this morning, the moment she heard about Charles's death."

"I didn't know she was back."

"Neither did I, until she called." Benjamin held my gaze. "If anyone can expose the truth behind this conspiracy, it's her. She's one of the most respected corporate lawyers in the country an investigator too, someone who's spent years exposing corruption in powerful companies. She isn't afraid of people with money or influence. She follows the evidence."

"Will she believe I'm innocent?"

"That depends on whether the evidence tells the same story your grandfather believed." A court officer stepped over before I could ask anything else. "Time up," "I'll speak to Isabella today, Benjamin said. Don't give up yet." Then he was gone, and I was alone again with a name on a business card and no way to know yet what it would mean.

That evening I was transferred to the county detention center, colder somehow than the police station had been. The intake officer flipped through my file. "Ethan Hayes. So you're the billionaire everyone's talking about." Someone behind him laughed "Guess money can't buy everything" and I let it pass without a word while they searched me head to toe, stripping my watch, my wallet, my belt into a plastic tray.

Then an officer reached into my pocket and pulled out the brass key.

My heart nearly stopped. He turned it over a few times, studying the faded tag, and for a long second I was certain he was about to read the words engraved on it and end everything before it had even started. Then he shrugged. "Looks like junk," and tossed it into the tray with the rest.

I clenched my jaw and said nothing as he locked it into a locker. "We'll return your property when you're released." I stared at that locker,the only thing connecting me to whatever my grandfather had been trying to protect, now sitting out of reach behind a number I didn't control.

A guard nudged me forward, deeper into the detention block, where the noise hit before anything else did shouting, metal doors slamming, laughter that sounded more like a threat than anything friendly. We stopped outside Cell 27.

Inside, a large man sat on the lower bunk reading an old magazine, tattoos covering both arms and a long scar tracing his jaw. He looked up, studied me for a moment, and grinned. "So... you're Ethan Hayes. The rich kid who poisoned his grandfather."

"I didn't kill anyone."

"Maybe." He shrugged, then his smile widened. "Or maybe prison's about to teach you that the truth doesn't matter."

The cell door slammed shut behind me, and for the first time since my arrest I understood that clearing my name wasn't my only problem anymore. First, I had to survive the men who already decided I was guilty.