“I’ll need another day or two to set up surveillance and prepare a mission,” I tell Margot. “He can’t know that I’m on to him, though.”
“What can I do?”
“Answer his calls; appease him. You don’t have to fully support what he’s doing, but let him think you’re complying, that you’ve got his back. In the meantime, as far as he knows, I’m still out there, crazed and looking for Clara.”
She gives me a curious look. “What will you be doing?”
“What I do best.”
I’ll be hunting the most powerful man in the county. By the time I get to him, he won’t even know what hit him. One way or another, I’m getting my family back.
The next morning,Jace and I join Damon outside the district court. Our lawyers moved quickly, giving us the opportunity to deliver a devastating blow to one of my father’s closest cohorts—Elizabeth.
“How’s Margot holding up?” Damon asks me.
“She’s good, as good as she can be, anyway.”
“And Clara? Matty?” Jace asks, his brow furrowed with understandable concern.
“So far, they’re both okay. We’ll get to them. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll get to them. We just need to?—”
“Be smart about it,” Damon interjects. “I understand. I don’t have to like it, but I understand.”
“I’m surprised you moved up the court date,” Elizabeth says as she comes up the stone steps of the courthouse.
Her lawyer is right behind her. He’s a scrawny, little man with beady eyes and round glasses. His suit is custom tailored to fit his nimble figure, and the gold-plated cuff links he’s wearing tell me he’s well paid for his services. He also looks a tad familiar.
“Elizabeth,” Damon says with an expressionless face, “glad you could make it.”
“As soon as we got the call, we prepared for this,” the lawyer says.
“We’ve met before,” I reply, looking right at him.
He gives me a wry smile. “We have. I work for Mr. Lockwood.” He extends a hand. “John Hobbs of Dawson, Hobbs & Partners.”
“Figures,” Jace chuckles dryly.
Elizabeth seems giddy and pleased with herself, quite confident, too, as she looks around and smiles. “Where’s your lawyer, Damon? Don’t we have a hearing in twenty minutes?”
“We could have a hearing in twenty minutes, or we could just have a quick conversation out here until you figure out how bad your strategy has been from the very beginning,” Damon calmly replies.
“What are you talking about?” Hobbs cuts in, holding up a folder. “We’ve got everything we need right here to overturn the previous judge’s decision.”
In response, Jace pulls out a folder, as well. Only his is thicker, loaded with copies of financial records, screenshots, and surveillance photos. He hands it over to Hobbs with a confident grin.
“Have a look at these first,” he tells the lawyer.
“What is this?” Elizabeth asks, visibly confused.
Damon scoffs. “Did you really think you’d win, Elizabeth? Just because you’re screwing the richest man in the county doesn’t mean anything. It certainly doesn’t mean I won’t do everything in my power to protect my daughter?—”
“Ourdaughter!” she snaps.
“To protectmydaughter from you,” he continues, unshaken by her outburst. “You crossed a line one too many times.”
“Oh, dear,” Hobbs stutters as he hurriedly flips through the folder’s content. “These…where did you get these? They couldn’t have been obtained legally.”
“They were all taken on public domain,” Damon says.
