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The Cost Of Winning

Day Of Reckoning

FIANNA'S POV :

Web has his hand on my shoulder, keeping me from going over to the other table and pounding Streetwalker Barbie and that Louie DePalma knockoff with a chair, while the judge looks at them like they've just announced that they're aliens. The tubby little jackass just stands there grinning like an idiot, seeming to think that he's come up with something clever, until the judge says, "Mr. Sorenson, that is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I've heard in this courtroom, even coming from you. And considering your track record, that's saying something. Even a first-year law student knows things don't work that way. If your client would like a continuance, I'd be happy to instruct Mr. Bradshaw to make the girl available to one of the child advocates, and have them speak to her. Is that what you want to do?"

Claudia crosses her arms under her boobs and pouts, and the lawyer gives her sort of a worried look, then says, "No, Your Honor, we would prefer to get this matter taken care of today, so Ms. Nguyen can have her freedom back, and get on with her life."

"Then that negates your opportunity to obtain the girl's testimony, so I suppose that we should continue."

Web finishes up his statement, and then the Sorenson guy gets up and starts spouting off to everybody in the courtroom with the stupid story that Claudia was peddling to the press that my dad threw her out for no reason and kept me from her, and that when she tried to reconnect, I'd found myself a man with money and fame, and was too selfish to want to help her out. After he finally shuts up, the judge lets Web start calling his witnesses, and the first person he calls is Lillian. She explains how Claudia behaved when we all lived next door, and how she never really seemed that interested in spending time with me, and then Hank gets on the stand and tells about the day they figured out that she was leaving me by myself while Dad was at work. Sorenson keeps trying to trip them up and get them to change their stories, accusing them of lying several times. Web objects every time, and the judge sides with him, and then loses his patience and threatens to charge Sorenson with contempt when he openly accuses them of taking money from either Web or Ash to lie about Claudia.

He calls a break for lunch after this, and we all go across the street to eat. Ash and I are still pissed off about the asshole trying to drag Smidge into court, and Hank and Lillian are pretty indignant over being accused of lying, so the only ones who are still sort of collected are Web and David. Ash looks at David, and says, "You know he's gonna try the same shit on you when you get up there, don't you? D'ya think you'll be able to hold up without going off on him?"

"Ash, I've been running my own company for the last fifteen years, this isn't the first time I've been in court, on one end or the other of a legal action," he answers. "I've run across his type before, and the best way to shut 'em down is by not giving them a reaction. The calmer you are, the more of an idiot he looks like, so you two need to remember that when you get up there."

I start to say something, before I get anything out, Web's assistant comes dashing into the restaurant, and hurries over to the table when she sees us. "Web, I did what you asked, and I need to speak with you privately, if you have time."

He excuses himself from the table, they go outside for a few minutes, and we can see them conversing through the window, but can't hear what they're saying. From the look on Web's face, she's apparently telling him something that he wanted to hear, because he breaks out in a big grin. They talk a bit more, then she leaves, and he comes back inside, and sits down with us again, still grinning. "So, did that have anything to do with the case?" I ask him, after he sits there for several minutes without saying anything.

"As a matter of fact, it did," he says. "I sent Hannah to check on something for me this morning, and she managed to find something that will probably have a major impact on Sorenson's case, and possibly his career." We all wait for him to elaborate, but he says he's going to wait until we get back to court, because he doesn't want anyone to actually give it away to them if we run into them again.

After we finish eating, we walk back across the street to the courthouse, and they're already back in their seats when we go into the courtroom. Claudia is sitting there with a smug little smile, and her moron of a lawyer is shuffling his papers around and staring at us like he expects somebody to do a trick. He looks at me, and I stare back at him until he turns away, and as he does, something catches my eye. I poke Web with one elbow, and Ash with the other, and when I have their attention, I say, "Don't be too obvious about it, but check out Sorenson's cheek, right by his ear, and tell me if you see what I see."

They both look, and I hear Web mutter, "I'll be damned! We've got you now, Charlie." as Ash sneaks his phone out of his pocket and snaps a couple of pictures. As he puts it back, the bailiff has everyone stand up again, and the judge comes back into the courtroom.

After we all sit back down, the judge asks Web if he's ready to call his first witness, and he announces, "No, Your Honor, I've decided to proceed with my recorded evidence first, before calling witnesses. I have also come into possession of another piece of evidence, which I'm presenting to you now."

As he's saying this, he passes a piece of paper to the bailiff, who hands it to the judge. He reads it, his eyebrows shoot up, and he asks both Web and Sorenson to approach the bench. It turns out that his new evidence is recorded phone calls from the jail, and when the judge asks Sorenson if there's anything he doesn't want anyone to hear, he says no, he has nothing to hide, that Web is just blowing smoke, and that everybody will figure out it's just an attempt to intimidate him when he plays them. So the judge allows the calls in as evidence, and Web starts going through everything. He starts out with the video from our security cameras, then goes to film from a couple of our neighbors cameras and the audio from the cabbie's dashcam, which clearly picks up Claudia screaming outside the gate, calling us all sorts of names and threatening to ruin our careers and everything else.

By the time that's finished, the smile has dropped off of Claudia's face and she's pouting again, mumbling to Sorenson, who is actually beginning to look a bit uneasy. Then Web has them cue up the phone recordings, and after a few seconds, Claudia's voice comes from the speakers, having a conversation with another woman, who turns out to be her old friend Maureen. She mostly just listens for a bit, while Claudia complains about how bad the jail food is, and how crappy the cells are compared to a nice hotel room. Then Maureen says, "Makes me glad I never got myself arrested. But seriously, I don't see how you figure you're going to get out of this one, Claudia. What possessed you to think that Fianna was just going to welcome you with open arms and let you move in, when you've ignored her for the past eighteen years?"

"Because she was always such a clingy little pest, I didn't think it would be that hard to convince her to let bygones be bygones. I figured I'd get myself into the house, get Ashley into bed, and convince him to ditch Fianna and the brat. Or, if that didn't work, get 'em to spring for a condo or something, to get out of their hair. How was I supposed to know they'd be that stubborn about it?"

As this is going out into the courtroom, her face begins to look like a stormcloud, Sorenson's head is in his hands, and the judge's eyebrows are so far up that they've almost crawled under his hairline. Then, Maureen asks again how she's planning to get out of this particular mess, and when her answer rolls out of the speakers, all hell breaks loose.

"That shouldn't be a problem, Mo," she says, sounding completely confident. "I've got my lawyer completely wrapped around my little finger, and he's busting his ass to get me out of this. He's a short, chubby little geek, and I seriously doubt he gets much attention from women, so he'll do pretty much anything if it means he can keep getting laid in the conference room. Plus, he actually believes that I'm planning to keep 'dating' him when I get out, if you can believe that. If he was a real lawyer, maybe, but there's no way I'd waste my time with a public defender. But apparently, he's actually dumb enough to fall for 'Oh, God, Charlie, you're so good! Oh yes, just like that!' To be honest with you, I can do a better job getting myself off."

Almost everyone in the courtroom freaks out! Hank and Lillian look totally shocked, and she's blushing so much that it looks like she has a sunburn. Ash has totally lost it, and has his head down on the table in his arms, trying to keep from laughing out loud and pissing off the judge any more than he already seems to be, while David seems to be having difficulty keeping his own composure. The bailiff has turned away from us, but I'm guessing that he's probably laughing too, and Sorenson appears to be contemplating the feasibility of hanging himself with his own necktie.

The judge bangs his gavel several times before he can get everybody to quiet down, and then says, "Mr. Sorenson, Ms. Nguyen, in light of the evidence, I'm finding in favor of Ms. Chandler and Mr. Purdy, and am setting the hearing for damages for one month from today. I will be continuing the extradition hearing to a later date, to allow you time to bring your new council up to speed on the case, as you will obviously require a change. And as for you, Mr. Sorenson, my first order of business when this court is adjourned will obviously be to contact your supervisor and share this evidence with her, along with the strong recommendation for a review of your license by the ethics board. So, if you have anything to refute these allegations, I suggest that you get it ready. Court is adjourned."

He gets up and walks back into the other room, and the bailiff recovers himself enough to walk over to put handcuffs back on Claudia. She's throwing a fit, screeching about how unfair it is to use the recordings against her, and how it shouldn't be legal to record anything, anyway, even though she's in jail. Then she starts ranting about how I "owe" her, and that it's basically my responsibility to take care of her, and she's still going when he takes her out of the room.

We all just stand here for a minute, and then Ash inquires, "So, does this mean that it's over with?"

"For the moment," Web answers. "You may still have to come back for the hearing to determine the damages for your suit, but that should be about it. And I'm not sure if they'll call you again for the other one, David, so you should probably be prepared either way. And I will be making a motion for a permanent restraining order for you, Fianna, to keep her from contacting you or Brenna again, so if I can't get that folded into the settlement hearing, you'll have to be here for that, too."

"That's fine, I have no problem with anything that guarantees that I don't have to deal with her anymore," I tell him, and Ash slips his arm around my waist and gives me a squeeze, and Lillian reaches out to pat my cheek.

"Fianna, dear, I have the feeling that you'll get your wish now," she says, giving me an affectionate smile. "Claudia has finally had her day of reckoning, and she's going to have to face the consequences of the choices that she's made, but she's none of your concern anymore, you have more important things to think about."

I look over at Ash, he gives me that beautiful smile that always sets off the butterflies in my stomach, and I know that she's exactly right. I have him, and Bren, our friends, and now, Ben. And, to top it off, I have our wedding to look forward to, so Claudia shouldn't even be a blip on my radar now. She chose not to be a part of my life, and now I'm choosing not to let her have an effect on it anymore.

I lean into him, kiss his cheek, and say, "You're absolutely right, Lillian. I have everything I need in my life now, so I'm not going to waste time thinking about her. So, who wants to go back to Miki and Ryan's with us to pick up Smidge, and discuss plans to get you all back here for the wedding? Because it just won't be right if I don't have all of my important people here to share it with."





Notes

Comments

@Merelan
Definitely something to consider. If not an actual prologue, it would probably be interesting to have her remember some of the things that happened in this book, so i'll most likely have to find a way to work that in somewhere. Thanx for the thought!

Red Phoenix77 Red Phoenix77
8/21/18

Oh yes PLEASE a sequel! I would love to see events through Bren's eyes! Something fun you might consider is a recap of the story told by a teen Been, as like a prologue.
I look forward to seeing what you devise next!

Merelan Merelan
8/21/18

@Merelan
Cool, glad you enjoyed it!

Red Phoenix77 Red Phoenix77
8/20/18

Awww, such a sweet chapter! Yay for Ash and Fi!

Merelan Merelan
8/20/18

Ah, I love this story! Good on you, Fi!

Merelan Merelan
8/13/18