Rise To Stardom - Chapter 241

Chapter 241: Concrete Proof
“Erasing scandals, manufacturing alibis, sabotaging rivals, controlling the press, disposing of ‘problems’, orchestrating cover-ups… the list goes on and on.” a bulky, gruff-looking, middle-aged man with a buzz cut in casual wears, placed his crossed legs atop the table as he casually stated, the lawyer from across him, sifting through the images.

His name, was Guy Cruise, and, he was the Private Investigator Oliver had had hired while also being one of the many connections the agent had made over the years in Hollywood.

“My goodness…” Camille gently covered her mouth in disturbed shock, the expression on her face, reflecting just how uncomfortable what she was seeing on the monitor, made her feel.

“Yeah. It’s bad.” Oliver, standing behind her, commented, every bit as disturbed as she was despite viewing it for the second time today.

It was currently late evening and the orange sun was peeking through the blinds to softly illuminate the agent’s modernly furnished office, a stark contrast to the disturbing receipts of things they were viewing.

Sure they could have met at their general office but Kyle, unwilling to let this entire scenario blow out of proportion, especially when considering the unrest it could cause, both for his team and on set, decided against it.

The less people knew about the Fixer, the better.

That said…

“He looks unfazed.” Guy casually pointed to the seemingly tired young man with dark circles underneath his eyes whom was similarly standing next to his agent and behind Camille whom was seated on the couch.

“Curious…” the PI added with a tone of interest, the edges of his lips curling into a crooked smile.

“Question. How did you get this much evidence so fast?” Kyle inquired in a composed demeanor instead, unbothered by Guy’s attempts to prod into his psyche.

To that, both Oliver and Camille, similarly raised their gazes from the screen, the curiosity and possible hints of skepticism written on their features.

Considering Hollywood Fixers, in the rare cases, were either so powerful they couldn’t be touched or, as they typically were, remained invisible and anonymous while burying the industry’s darkest secrets, it was a given that getting any sort of information, even with a private eye, would be a daunting task.

So the fact that the man before them, albeit specialized in the art of private investigation, gathered so much evidence that ‘Adam Shaw’ was in fact bad news within such a short time, was still a tad bit suspicious.

“Ah… about that…” Guy on the other hand, mused aloud, stroking his rough grey stubble with a thoughtful gaze as he readjusted his crossed boots atop the table.

“Well, he’s left way too many footprints in recent memory…” he continued musing to himself, earning squinted, thorough gazes from Oliver and Camille.

Kyle on the other hand remained unfazed, his arms gently folded across his chest as he listened;

“Typically, it should’ve been a hell of job to find out anything about Vercetti. He’s quite the skilled and illusive fixer after all.” Guy spoke properly this time, his expression serious as he continued;

“But for the past year, especially during the Hollywood strike, a repeated strings of sabotages here and there became a bit too organized to call it a coincidence for the deeply observant eye.”

“And that’s when Vercetti’s name came up again. At least to those working in the industry’s underbelly.” the PI gestured to the trio, not done yet as he further explained;

“Now after the strike, he seemed to have laid low for a while… disappeared once again even…”

“…that was until earlier this year when a few ‘persuasions’, bribes and favorable contracts were made to— and here’s the interesting part— get you to lose out on your Grammie awards.” Guy pointed to Kyle, the same crooked smile, forming on his lips.

The agent and the lawyer on the other hand, widened their eyes in bewilderment instead, albeit Oliver could already guess whom must’ve been responsible for it.

“So, when Oliver here contacted me, telling me he needed to investigate some ‘Adam Shaw’ and sent his picture, well, you could say tracing everything back, now that I had a face to work with, became that much easier.”

“The, end.” Guy gestured with spread arms, his inky-black irises seemingly asking the trio if they had any more questions.

Considering they did in fact have none, and were more worried about what this so-called illusive fixer was up to, the PI then asked, his question directed to a reserved Kyle whom had never for once broken his demeanor all through the revelations;

“So what do you plan to do?”

To that, Camille and Oliver, turned their heads to face Kyle who remained composed, his mind calm as he replied;

“Nothing…”

In response, Camille was almost about to blurt out a ‘What?!’ in concerned disbelief, unable to understand why Kyle would allow a criminal like that to roam free.

But as swiftly as the urge came, she reeled it in with discipline as her thoughts, tinkered on trying to see things from Kyle’s angle instead.

He was an actor on set, the movie’s executive producer and their boss who probably didn’t want to send everyone into panic.

But at the same time, she, Oliver and Guy, seemingly realized the young man had something in his mind as his sapphire irises, reflected a fiercely determined glint as he continued;

“… at least not yet.”

“Vance is up to something. Something big.” Kyle stated, a thoughtful expression on his features.

“But I have a very strong feeling, he won’t get up to anything drastic until we’re nearing the end of filming. Post-production after all, would be the best time for him to hit us hard and also, easily get away with it like the ghost that he is.” his voice trailed off slightly, to which he then continued;

“But that also works in our favor ’cause I really don’t want the ambience on set to be disrupted if possible.”

“Now, I might be tethering on the edge of a very risky move here but,” the young man gestured to the trio in the room, his gaze, focused on Oliver and Camille especially.

“If it means ensuring that filming goes smoothly till the very end, then I’d rather wait and stay on high alert till he makes his move.” Kyle concluded, his expression resolute.

But for Oliver and Camille whom he had trained his gaze on especially, it became clear to the duo that Kyle’s intentions were far more than simply prioritizing and protecting the safe atmosphere on set.

Rather, he needed Vance unaware because, despite all the evidence laid bare that he was in fact bad news, there was one thing that Kyle still needed cogent proof of.

Atlas International, or more specifically Lex Harlow’s involvement in all this.

Sure the information Guy had given them today, pointed to the fact that he was indeed involved but, there wasn’t anything concrete in the PI’s investigation that specifically linked both parties to each other.

One that could be considered irrefutable proof without any loopholes whatsoever if at the end of the day, Kyle needed to take the industry juggernaut or its manipulative CEO to court.

And unfortunately for Kyle, he’d pretty much figured that the only person whom would in fact, have such proof, was Vance Vercetti himself.

That, exactly, was why he still needed the fixer oblivious to the fact that he knew what he was up to.

At least until he caught him in the act.

After all, Kyle hadn’t simply decided on a whim to start staying over at his studio every night for the past week now, solely because shuttling between home and work was becoming a hassle to his efficiency on set.

* * *

(The next day…)

“We’re slowly nearing the end of filming, aren’t we?” Sharon spoke to Lily whom was on set today.

Considering most of the scenes she was involved in were flashback scenes, all of which had been filmed in New York, save for one more brief scene she was yet to film that did in fact require a bit of heavy CGI, the lady wasn’t particularly required to be on set these past few weeks.

As of today though, it had already been booked down for her to come shoot that very last scene of hers.

“I guess we are…” the lady replied, a light smile on her lips as she watched the hustle and bustle on set with Kyle, Clint and Adam, standing in the middle and getting ready for a scene as the stunt team hooked them all with the necessary cables.

“In other news though, Jasmine’s currently in Canada for a modelling gig she and I were invited to…” Lily glanced over to Sharon who arched a curious brow.

“There’s gonna be an after party gala so, if you’re feeling interested in mendin-”

“I’ll go.” Sharon gave her response, her smile heartfelt as she angled her gaze over to the dark-blonde and added;

“Thank you, Lily.”

“It’s the least I could do for a friend.” Lily replied in kind, her smile gentle as she watched Xavier, gesture for the necessary checks, the crew responding by returning his hand gestures.

Following from the third scene of the fourth act, the next scenes after would then show Malakai and Nathan, working tirelessly with practically little to no breaks to fix the formula of the nano-serum’s unstable isotopy and reverse engineer it.

In between, Nathan would receive a text from his gramps, reminding him to dress properly for his matriculation in a few days, which coincidentally, merged with the third day the cyborg would come over to receive the serum.

Responding favorably to the message, the young man would then proceed to get back to solving the formula alongside Malakai whom would comment that Nathan didn’t have to be here.

In response, Nathan would simply respond that he did in fact, want to be here as doing this, was something that could potentially save the lives of many.

With that, Malakai would briefly remain quiet before giving a small nod of appreciation and informing his student that his mum would be very proud of the man he had become.

And just like that, the bond that had been built up over several issues in the comics, was incorporated into the live action adaptation in a similar yet fresh new direction.

Owing to that, as both parties tirelessly worked to stabilize and reverse engineer the serum, a seemingly strong sense of camaraderie between teacher and student, blossomed…

…only to be stripped away in the scene that came immediately after.