by Rachel Dylan
“But no names on either of the groups?”
“No. But he made it seem like the California group may be an offshoot or something.”
“Highly plausible that the group Cyber Future is working with is funded by the mafia. Like everything else, organized crime is having to shift and adapt to the advances in technology. Maybe something about Cyber Future piqued their interest and they started working together.”
“It’s a very lucrative business. I could see how organized crime groups would want to make sure they had their hands in part of the business.”
“Yeah, the intellectual property value alone I’m sure is staggering. But enough to put a persistent hit out on you for? I’m not buying it. There was something on that drive that goes beyond just the Cyber Future Chip. Or the Wakefield Chip for that matter.”
“All of that is not the biggest piece of information I got from this meeting.”
“What else did you learn?”
She looked at him. “Nola said he was trying to have the chip decrypted. He had it stored in his office at Wakefield. Someone stole it.”
“Wow. So we have no idea who actually has this chip now.”
“Exactly. Which means I’m going to be in danger. There’s no way to fix the problem if we don’t understand what is on that chip.”
“I’ll reach out to my FBI contacts and see if there’s anything they could come up with. In the meantime, I’ll keep you safe and you can get ready for your trial. I know this means a lot to you. This trial. And as messed up as things have become, I want you to at least enjoy a shred of this experience.”
“That means a lot to me to hear you say that, Gabe.” She didn’t want to say it but she had to. “If things were different, Gabe, I could really see wanting to spend more time with you.”
“You’re talking about the distance?”
“That’s the start. But look at us. You belong here in this town, and I belong in New York at my firm. Our backgrounds couldn’t be more different.”
“Our backgrounds and our cities don’t define us, Hope.” He walked around to where she was sitting behind the desk and squatted down beside her. He grabbed her hands and looked up at her.
“I think you and I both know that there is a huge gulf between us.”
He squeezed her hands. “There doesn’t have to be.”
She shook her head. “No, it just can’t be.” Pulling away she stood and walked to the other side of the office. Turning to face him, she felt her face redden. “Please let’s just focus on the work.”
He frowned. “All right. For now.”
***
Gabe had made up his mind. He had developed true feelings for Hope. He wasn’t going to let her slip through his fingers. For now, though, he had her safety to worry about.
The sun had just come up on Monday morning, and he was at Hope’s hotel room picking her up. He had hot breakfast sandwiches in his hands. They would eat and then head to the courthouse. The plan was settled on the night before. Gabe would be in charge of Hope. The police detail led by Caleb would provide security for Lee and Nola. The main contingent was meeting at the law office and going en masse to the courthouse. Everyone thought it would be better and safer for Gabe and Hope to arrive separately.
“Hey,” she said. She opened the door wearing a black power suit with a red blouse. She surely didn’t seem like a fearful woman. No, she looked determined.
“I’ve got us breakfast and coffee.” He held out the drink container holding two cups of coffee. She took it and placed it on her small table.
“Nothing like a greasy biscuit to really get you going.” He chuckled.
“I’ve probably already gained ten pounds from being here. I was thankful my suit fit.” She laughed. “I got an email from Sam. He’s already at the firm and waiting on everyone to arrive.”
“So this is it.”
“Yeah. Although when I envisioned the first day of trial, this was not what I had in mind. Having a security escort never crossed my mind.” She took a bite of the biscuit.
A little crumb lingered on the side of her mouth. He couldn’t help himself. He reached out and brushed it away.
“Sorry, you had a crumb.”
She smiled. “Thanks for trying to put me at ease. I know what you’re doing. But you don’t have to worry about me. My head is in the game. I promise.”
“I never doubted that. Hope, you’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.” He reached over and took her hand in his.
“I thought we went over this already, Gabe.”
“I can be very persistent.” He thought she was going to pull away but she didn’t. Instead he thought he saw a mist of tears form in her big brown eyes.
“Don’t promise me things, Gabe. In my experience, no one every keeps their promises.” She looked down.
“I can tell you’ve had a lot of heartache in your life. But there are people who won’t let you down. I’m one of those people, Hope. If you’ll let me in.”
She shook her head. “I can’t deal with the hurt again. After Barry cheated on me, I just don’t know a way back from that. At least not right now. My job is what keeps me grounded. It gives me a purpose.”
He gently squeezed her hand. “You’re more than just your job. And I completely relate because I often feel the same way. But relationships with other people are really what life is all about.”
“And your relationship with God,” she said quietly.
“Yes. And I hate seeing you hiding from both out of fear that you’re going to be hurt again. I believe you and I were brought together for a reason, Hope. I’m not going to give up on you…or give up on us.”
She looked up at him. “No one has ever fought for me, Gabe. Not my parents, not my boyfriends, and not those people who claimed to be my friends.”
“I’m here now, and I’m going to fight for you.” He leaned in and gently kissed her lips. When he leaned back in his chair, she smiled. A real genuine smile that brought joy to his heart.
“We should finish up and get going,” she said.
“Yeah.” He might be pushing it with her, but he felt like if he didn’t he’d lose his window of opportunity. He had to prove to her that he was different than all the other men she’d dealt with in her life. He wouldn’t cut and run, and he certainly wouldn’t cheat.
He watched as Hope gathered up her laptop bag and a few file folders.
“I’m ready,” she said. With her coffee cup in one hand and folders in the other, she looked the part of power lawyer.
By the time they made the short drive to the courthouse, it was him who was nervous. She looked calm and ready to go. But on the inside, he was a mess of nerves. He checked his sidearm and said a quick prayer for Hope’s safety.
He took the key out of the ignition and looked over at her.
“I’m ready,” she said. “I’m not going to let all of this ruin my first trial as second chair.”
He forced a smile. “Let’s get you in the courthouse then.”
He’d gotten Caleb to give him special permission to bring his gun into the courthouse. There was no way he was going in there unarmed. The stakes were too high. Getting through the extra security wasn’t that big of a deal because they arrived in plenty of time and he was technically part of the security staff.
“Wow,” Hope said.
They both looked at the mass of people standing in the main lobby of the Maxwell courthouse.
“I bet it’s a combination of those called for jury duty and the many spectators,” he said quietly.
“Gabe, this has to be over half the town.”
“Don’t worry. Stay close to me. I’ll get you past the crowd and down to the courtroom.” He’d done a security sweep and had run through all operational details yesterday with Caleb. Everyone on the security team was well versed in the small courthouse. All the entrance and exits. Every conference room. Every nook and cranny.
“I’m not worried. I’m excited.” She
smiled.
He could tell how exciting this was for her. Let her focus on the trial, and he would focus on her.
Thankfully, all the faces in the sea of people were familiar to him. Calming his nerves a bit. He put his hand on her back and guided her to the main courtroom. The building only had two courtrooms and they were using the larger one for this trial.
A police officer stood outside the door. At this point, only the legal teams would be allowed inside until they officially started jury selection.
“Hi, I’m Hope Finch, one of the attorneys for Wakefield.”
“Yes, ma’am. I think you’re the first on your side to arrive. The lawyers for Cyber Future are already in there.”
“Thank you,” she said.
She turned to him, fire in her eyes. “I’ve got this.”
Chapter Ten
This was her time to shine. Five years of hard work culminating in this one day. The first day of trial. The first day of her acting as second chair. She refused to let any fears or dangers distract her.
She pushed her shoulders back, held her head high, and walked straight up to counsel’s table for Wakefield. Setting down her laptop bag, she didn’t waste any time opening her belongings and getting the table just how she wanted. Sam was old school and would be taking notes on legal pads. But not her, she was going to be using her laptop.
“Well, hello, Hope. We meet again,” a male voice said.
She looked up and saw the Cyber Future lawyers from the Jennings Law Firm. All three of them standing in front of her. “Hello, Stanley.”
“Hope, you’ve met Walter before. But I’d like to introduce you to Candice Moser. She’ll be working with us for the trial.”
“Nice to meet you, Candice.” She took her hand, and Candice gave her a strong handshake. Almost too strong. Candice was quite a few inches taller than her with long dark hair and dark eyes. She wore a perfectly tailored navy skirt suit.
“Where’s the rest of your crew, Hope?” Walter asked.
“They’ll be here soon.”
“I heard a rumor that old Harry wasn’t going to make it. That it was just going to be you and Sam. And your local counsel, of course, but who are we kidding. Your local lawyer does about as much as ours. Pretty much nothing. I have ours on coffee duty.”
“Harry has an arbitration out of the country. But we’ll be fine without him.”
“No doubt. Well may the best man win.”
Hope held her tongue and shifted her attention back to organizing the table. She noticed that Gabe was hanging back behind the bar in the first row of seats behind their table.
She heard loud voices and knew that the rest of her team had to be on its way in. Turning, she saw Sam with Lee on one side and Nola on the other. Followed by Will and Greg. Then a stream of support staff. Taking a deep breath, she knew it was time.
“Sam,” she said.
“I see the enemy has already set up camp.” His gaze shifted over to where Walter stood.
“Yes. I spoke to them.”
“Great. And I see you have our table set up.” Sam ushered Lee to the counsel’s table. He would serve as the Wakefield corporate representative for trial and would sit with the lawyers. Nola hung back and would sit in the front row. All of this had been carefully considered beforehand. Although it was a no brainer that Lee would want to be the face of the company. He was a legend in Maxwell.
“Sam,” she said, looking down at her watch. “We should get settled in. It’s almost eight thirty. The judge should be in any moment.”
“Yes, yes.”
Sam took his seat, with Hope sitting next to him, and Lee right beside her. Greg and Will sat in the chairs right behind the table but still in the bar area. She turned and saw Gabe was seated beside Nola in the front row. Just as planned.
The bailiff stood. “All rise. Court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Masters presiding.”
Hope didn’t want to miss a second of the action. Judge Masters entered the courtroom from his chambers and walked up to the bench. “Everyone can be seated.” He paused.
Judge Masters was in his sixties. A no-nonsense southern judge who had been on the bench for twenty years and had no inclination to step down any time soon. He put on his glasses and looked at both counsel’s table.
“I see Cyber Future and Wakefield Corporation are well represented. Just like prior hearings in my courtroom, I expect us to stay on schedule. When I tell you to wrap things up for the day, I mean it. Court will run from eight thirty to five each weekday until we finish. Are there any preliminary issues we need to attend to before we start our jury selection process?”
“No, Your Honor,” Walter and Sam both said in unison as they stood.
“Very well then. Bailiff, bring in our first group of potential jurors.”
Hope knew jury selection was going to be a much easier task for them than for Cyber Future. They had the home field advantage. Cyber Future’s lawyers would have a tough time getting people who didn’t have some pro Wakefield bias built in. Thankfully for Wakefield, Judge Masters had denied the transfer of venue motion relying heavily on the contract that Cyber Future signed. Sophisticated companies had big firm lawyers and had to live by the contracts they signed. That was the line in Judge Master’s opinion that stuck out to her.
But now her bigger problem was how she was going to handle Nola. At least he wouldn’t be the first witness up. Before any of that she had to make it through jury selection. It was going to be a long morning.
By the time for the mid-morning break, Hope was shocked that they’d actually picked a jury. She didn’t know what Cyber Future’s strategy was, but they didn’t even use all of their strikes. It was beyond unorthodox to not remove jurors when they had the ability to. They couldn’t possibly be that confident in their case.
She took the much needed break to go to the restroom. Gabe was right behind her.
“I’ll just be in the bathroom, can you please give me a few minutes.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll just be right down the hall.”
Nodding, she was glad to have a minute to herself. Even if it was in the ladies room. After using the restroom, she looked at the mirror and decided she could use a little freshening up. She didn’t wear a lot of makeup, but still she wanted to look professional.
One of the other stalls opened and Candice walked out. Then she looked into the other stall. “Just wanted to make sure we were alone,” Candice said.
“You know we’re not supposed to be talking about the case in the bathroom even if we don’t see any jurors in here.”
Candice smiled. Then she pulled out a small gun, pointing it directly at Hope.
Hope felt like she was on a free fall and gripped onto the sink. “What are you doing? How did you get a weapon in here?”
“We don’t have time for small talk. This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to walk out of here with me. Anyone asks anything, say we’re running to grab coffee. You say a word and I shoot you or someone else.”
“You’re working for the organized crime group out of California.”
“Well you aren’t as stupid as you look. I guess not all blondes are dumb. C’mon, let’s move. Put a smile on that face before I blow it off.” She pushed her toward the door just as another woman walked in.
But what could she do? She couldn’t leave that courthouse or she’d be signing her death warrant. It wouldn’t surprise her if Candice wasn’t even a lawyer. But some hired female assassin.
“Hope, where are you going?” Gabe’s voice rang out down the courthouse hallway.
“Don’t you dare think about doing anything stupid,” Candice said quietly.
“We’re just running to get coffee,” Hope said.
“Where?”
She blinked quickly a few times. The only thing she knew to do was to try and let him know something was off. “Coffee at Mel’s,” then she added, “I was just telling Candice they have the best coffee.” She w
as counting on Candice not knowing the area restaurants.
“Great, I’ll go with you,” he said.
“Not necessary,” Candice added. “I’d like a couple of minutes of girl time with Hope.”
That did it. Something flashed in Gabe’s dark eyes, and before Hope could even react, he had Candice up against the wall. He found her gun and disarmed her quickly. “I don’t know who you are, but I’m guessing you’re not really a lawyer for Cyber Future. But you are going to be under arrest. You can make a scene or you can go quietly.”
“And who are you?”
“Private security. But I’m taking you to the Maxwell police chief.”
Candice turned and looked at Hope over her shoulder. “You’re going to regret not going with me. I would’ve killed you quickly. I can’t say the same for those that will come after you now.”
A shiver went down her arms.
“Enough out of you,” Gabe snapped. Then he looked back at Hope. “Stay with us. Until I can get this resolved I don’t want you out of my sight.”
She nodded and agreed with him. When would this ever stop? She refused to be shut out of the action in the courtroom though. She’d earned second chair, and she was going to fight for it.
Gabe kept Candice close to him, and Hope stayed a step behind the two of them.
Gabe motioned to Caleb with his free hand, and Caleb walked over with a frown on his face.
“What’s this?” Caleb asked.
Gabe looked around. He obviously was trying not to make a scene. “This woman attacked Hope. She had a gun. I’ve got it under my jacket now.”
Caleb looked toward Hope and she nodded. “You’re going to have to come with me, ma’am.”
Candice turned back toward Hope. “You can’t stop this. You know too much. Or they think you do. They won’t ever leave you alone. Ever. You have no idea what you’re up against. These guys won’t be able to protect you forever.”
“Enough,” Caleb said. He guided Candice down the corridor.
“I’m going back into the courtroom. We should be starting up soon.”