Chapter 13 - The Meeting with the Devil
Julian Croft’s face drained of color as his phone began to vibrate violently in his pocket. He pulled it out, read a text message, and looked back at me with a gaze so venomous it could have melted steel.
"You have no idea what you’ve just done," Julian hissed, leaning in close. "You think Dominic was bad? You just woke up a monster."
"I eat monsters for breakfast," I replied, my voice steady. "Get out of my office."
Julian and his lawyer turned and stormed out of the building. We had won the battle, but I knew the war was far from over. Julian was desperate, and desperate men make dangerous moves.
Three hours later, Sophia received a call from the District Attorney.
"We have a problem," Sophia said, hanging up the phone, her face grim. "Julian’s lawyer just filed an emergency motion to suppress the Apex Holdings data. He is claiming that because you accessed the double-blind trust using Dominic's personal cipher, it constitutes an illegal search and seizure without a warrant."
"But I was an authorized administrator on Dominic's original servers," I argued. "That gives me legal precedent."
"It’s a gray area," Sophia sighed. "The judge is notoriously strict on digital privacy laws. If Julian's lawyer wins the motion, the entire offshore ledger gets thrown out of court. Julian walks."
"How do we stop the motion?" Chloe asked.
"We need the other half of the key," Sophia said. "We need the owner of the cipher to explicitly, legally grant us permission to use it. We need Dominic to sign a waiver."
I stared at the wall, a cold dread washing over me. "Dominic will never sign a waiver to help me. He hates me."
"He hates Julian more," Chloe pointed out. "Julian left him to rot in prison while he kept all the money. Dominic is arrogant, but he's also vindictive."
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I closed my eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. I had sworn I would never see him again. I had built an entire life an ocean away from his cruelty. But Elena’s freedom, and the destruction of the network that had abused me, depended on it.
"Call the warden," I said, opening my eyes. "Set up an emergency visitation. I’m going to the prison."
