Treachery

A smug grin tilts the corner of Ta

Light bounces off the top of the judge’s head when he answers her.

“I have correspondence here cancelling your hearing, together with a Notice of Cancellation filed this morning with the Court.”

Eye’s wide, Marjorie goes stock still.

“May I approach the bench, Your Honor? I’m not sure what you’re referring to because I am certain I haven’t cancelled my hearing.”

“Both counsel may approach.”

While Marjorie storms forward to review the documents the judge claims to have received from her office, Ta

Ta

Marjorie, on the other hand, is practically in hysterics. For a bulldog attorney accustomed to powerful men, she’s already losing the battle against Ta

The conference ends as Marjorie spins to storm in my direction, the feet of her chair screeching over marble floors from her weight. On a whisper, she tells me what I already know.

“I don’t know what is going on here, Luca, but I can promise you I did not cancel our motion today. The judge is allowing Ta

There’s no point telling her how it happened. Anybody who knows the Inferno would easily guess that their resident hacker, Taylor Marks, had his hands all over this.

The urge to lay my head on the table is too much. I close my eyes instead, tears stinging the rims that I refuse to shed. Marjorie continues whispering, but her voice is an inaudible hum, the judge’s voice accompanying hers when he gives Ta

None of the words make sense to me, everything mashing together into an incomprehensible stew of white noise punctuated by the beat of my broken heart.

“...Petitioner would like to call a witness.”

My eyes snap open. A witness? To what? Damn it. I should have been paying attention.

Marjorie leans my direction, her hissed whisper that of a cracking whip. “Is there something you need to tell me, Luca?”

“I don’t know what’s going on.”

The whispered admission is hard to choke out, my stomach rolling over the painful boulder my breakfast has become.

Bile creeps up my throat, sweat beading at my temples.

Marjorie scoffs. “Did you or did you not have an affair with the man currently approaching the witness stand?”

“What?”

My head snaps up, eyes focusing on a middle-aged man I’ve never seen in my life. With thi

I have no idea who the man is, but I have no doubt Ta

My stomach threatens to heave, the acidic taste of bile now coating my tongue. That son of a bitch.

THAT SON OF A FUCKING BITCH!

“I’m going to be sick.”

Taking my cue, Marjorie shoots to her feet.

“Your Honor, my client feels quite ill and needs to use the restroom. May we take a short recess before the witness’s testimony begins?”

Obviously put out by the interruption, the judge’s expression softens to look at me. Breathing out, he waves his hand at the witness.

“Return to the viewing gallery, Mr. Hillcox. Court will take a fifteen-minute recess.”

I can’t wait another second. Dashing from my chair, I clear out of the courtroom to run down the hall and burst into the bathroom. I’ve barely reached a stall before my stomach gives, bacon and eggs coming up with the acidic tinge of disaster.

Tears stream down my cheeks, and my hands shake over the seat of the toilet. After three painful heaves, the sudden illness has passed, the muscles of my stomach locked from the violence of vomiting.

Behind me, the bathroom door creaks open, the sharp click of Marjorie’s heels marching in my direction.

Her knuckles rap on the stall door. “Are you going to be okay?”

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I nod even though she can’t see me. “Yes. I just need a few minutes to clean up.”

Silence settles for a brief moment, then: “Tell me you didn’t have an affair, Luca. That’s all I need to know.”

More tears escape my eyes, burning their way down my cheeks to drip from my jaw.

“I didn’t have an affair. I have no idea who that man is. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

“Perfect. That’s all I need to hear. I’m going down the hall to make a few phone calls. Take your time cleaning up, and I’ll see you in the courtroom.”

The sound of her retreating steps is followed by the creak of the door.

Silence fills the bathroom for several minutes while I gather myself together. Normally, I would have fought tooth and nail against an accusation as false as an affair. If anybody cheated, it was Clayton. Yet, with Ta

When the door creaks again and footsteps enter, I push myself to my feet to clean up and leave. I’m not in a rush to return to court and hear the lies they will level against me. But not showing up at all will only make things worse.

After exiting the stall, I turn a corner and stop dead in my tracks to see Ta

“Long time no see, Luca.”

The deep tenor of his voice shakes me to the core.

“Are you ready to make a deal?”