The motherfuckers concocted a story according to which, he went to his commander’s office, saw the lieutenant there and proceeded to rape her on the spot.  The commander, along with his friend, were coming back to the office to pick some documents when they encountered the situation and tried to stop him, at which point he assaulted them.  With all three of them singing the same story and the young lieutenant pressured by the base commander to protect his ‘buddy’, the blame was shifted successfully to Mike.  However, to avoid having the matter blown in the open and a more serious investigation that could unveil the truth conducted, instead of being sent to jail, Mike was let off with a dishonorable discharge.

Mike tried his best to expose the truth, but to his surprise, not even his team buddies took his side, distancing themselves instead from him to avoid the shit splattering on them too.  Only his platoon chief stood by his side, but to no avail.

So, there he was, out of uniform and with no prospects.  A dishonorable discharge made difficult to find and hold a job so his savings kept diminishing without any way to reverse the trend.  Then everything changed…  His platoon chief contacted him and told him that a friend of a friend, ex-delta, was looking for trusted people and that he wanted to meet with him.  Without any other prospects on the horizon, Mike flew to the meeting and thus met Carl.  Carl already knew his story, but asked Mike to tell him in detail.  This caused a pair of beers to magically appear, then another pair, then more…  By the time the meeting was over, the office was full of empty bottles and Mike had a job.

Carl explained to Mike what he needed and offered him a hefty salary, going so far as to front him money to rent an office.  During the years of working together, their relationship evolved from employer and employee to buddies. Later, Mike met the love of his life, and Carl was there to congratulate him.  His wedding gift was to pay for half the cost of buying the house; Mike knew that Carl would have gladly paid the whole thing if he didn’t know Mike enough to realize that he would not accept it.  When Mike’s first child was born, Carl sent flowers along with the start of a college fund for the child, ditto for the second one.  Mike was not the type of guy that would forget loyalty for a friend, especially after his experience with his team buddies…

What cinched the deal, however, was a story that a common acquaintance, who once served with Carl, told him one afternoon over a beer.  How Carl, then stationed in turkey and attached to LANDCOM, accidentally stumbled over some pimps ‘training’ their newly acquired girl against her will during one of his well-known brothel tours.  How he beat the shit out of the pimps and their bravo, brought the girl to the hospital, and after hearing that she had no family, arranged for her a visa and a flight ticket and sent her to live in the states along with the major part of his savings, just to give her a chance.

He might not like his plan to have sex with the girls, but at the very least he knew that Carl would do anything in his power to make them happy.  Good enough…

He reached his destination, the same country club where Jack use to hang out, and made his way inside without issues.  The ‘friendly” janitor that helped with Jack’s DNA sample had already informed him that the mayor was present and alone, lazing about.  After a quick look around, he found the man sipping coffee and reading a newspaper at a table in the open terrace bar.  Without saying a word, he moved to the table and sat down in front of him.  The mayor raised his head and upon seeing a tank-built man sitting in front of him, arched an eyebrow.

“Do I know you?”, he asked,

“Good day, mayor Wycliff.  No, you don’t know me, but I know you.  I hope you can give me five minutes of your time.”

The mayor scoffed,

“It’s my day off.  If you have something to talk about with me, please make an appointment like everybody else.”

“Ah, but I wonder, does anybody else have enough proof to destroy your life and career?  Out of respect, I decided to approach you privately rather in your office.  After all, I am sure that you would prefer for me to be discreet…”

The mayor laughed,

“Get lost before I have you kicked out!”

“As you wish.  I only hope that you don’t regret it when the video of you gangbanging a woman along with the chief of police, a senator, and the woman’s father, all while discussing how to get your hands on some other girls via illegal means, becomes public…”

The mayor’s face pales and the hand holding the newspaper trembles.

“I have no idea what are you talking about.”

“Oh?  Well, then, let me refresh your memory.”

As Mike says so, he takes out a tablet and passed it to the now sweating man.  The mayor, gingerly takes it and starts the paused video.  In seconds, he stops it again and place it face down on the table.

“What… what do you want?”

“Oh, mister mayor, relax.  If I wanted to destroy you, I would already have done it.  that is not all I have either.  I also have two dozen marriage certificates to inexistent persons with your signature as the registrar and your friends as witnesses.  Not only I could destroy you, but I could probably send you to jail for a loong time…”

The mayor whimpers,

“Please, I have money…”

“As I said, relax.  Things are not so bad as you think.  You see, the person behind me is really angry.  After all, you were caught on tape gangbanging his wife while talking about how to get your filthy paws on his daughter.  I believe he would gladly rip your balls off if he had the chance.  Fortunately for you, his hatred toward his father in law his stronger than his desire to kill you, so you get to keep your miserable life.”

The mayor looks at Mike in shock.

“You mean the one behind you is…”

“Indeed, he is the ‘sucker’ that you were disparaging that night.  He would have come to you in person, but he figured that he wouldn’t have been able to keep his hands off your neck, so he sent me instead.  Now, before we begin, let me make something clear.  I am ex-Seal, he is ex-Delta force and he can easily gather a few dozens like me.  I have lived here for a while now, and while you might know the movers and shakers, I know what moves in the dark.  You get any funny ideas, like hiring someone to ‘take care’ of your problem, and not even the secret service will be able to save you or your family.  I believe that you have a young daughter.  Wouldn’t it be poetic justice if my boss were to do to her what you wanted to do to his?”

At this point, the mayor is utterly terrified.

“Please, there is no need… tell me what you want.”

“It’s pretty simple actually.  You cut all ties with Jack Roman.  From today he is a pariah.  You will not meet him, accept his calls or help him, in any way or stead.  Also, Jack already told you that all the money he gave you all these years came from my boss’ pocket, so to make it up to him, you will transfer your shares of the school to him.”

Saying so, Mike takes out an envelope with the act of transfer and slides it across the table.

“Oh, that publisher you wanted to pressure?  He is now your best friend.  Make sure that he is happy and my boss will be happy.  Also, I would appreciate it if you don’t alert your friends to our chat.  I intend to visit them as well and it would be annoying if they were forewarned and tried to avoid me.”

The mayor can only nod fast and repeatedly like a chicken picking up grain.

“Of course, don’t worry.  I will not say anything to anyone.”

“Good, one last thing.  If one of your friends or Jack balks to our terms, you will all be exposed.  It is not as if I can erase a person from a video after all, so in that case, I will contact you.  I will expect you to do your outmost to convince them.  It is for your benefit after all.”

Without another word, Mike left him alone and went to his car.

  One down, two to go…