Rook is scheduled to testify next Monday. Day one. Witness one. She is almost the whole trial. She recorded that FBI f**k Agent Abelli threatening to sell her. She filmed him torturing her ex-husband to death. She filmed him setting her house on fire with her in it. She had access to secret files that implicated more than a hundred people. More than one FBI agent. State senators, US Representatives, cops, a couple mayors, and a drug lord. And those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.
Ford and I combed through each name before we put that last operation to free Ronin from jail in motion. But some of the names had no online database reference. Many were foreign.
Rook is the star witness. The only other evidence the federal prosecutors have, besides some questionable confessions from other members of the human trafficking crime ring, is the bank transactions. And all that was a setup by Ford. Except for the money transfer from the Columbian drug lord, every bit of it is fake.
And this worries me. Bad.
Because without Rook, the Feds have no case. And if the defense can pick apart those bank transactions, well, all that hard evidence falls apart too.
The guilt or innocence of Agent Abelli—and us too, since our stories are all wrapped up in each other now—hangs on the words of Rook Corvus and the hacking skills of Ford Aston.
And doesn’t that make the both of them very attractive targets?
Ronin’s truck pulls up in front of the cinema and Rook leans over and kisses him before getting out and walking inside where the girls meet every morning to have coffee. That must’ve been one hell of a quickie because it’s only been about twenty minutes. Ronin backs up and makes the two-second trip across the street.
A few seconds later Ford pulls up to the cinema in the Bronco. He has to get out because Ashleigh has so much baby shit it takes two people to sort it out. Ford gets the stroller and then grabs Kate and puts her inside, while Ashleigh gets the dogs.
I have to shake my head at that. Why she puts up with his crazy dogs is beyond me. But I get why Ford does it. Those dogs give him peace of mind.
Me? I prefer guns.
Ford finishes up and then kisses his new wife goodbye on the lips and backs out. When I see them together, he’s like a different person. Ashleigh and Kate make him different. Nicer, I guess. Because when he’s with us alone, he’s the same old ass**le he’s always been.
Ronin comes into my office and I turn around.
“Spying on Ron?” he asks as he grabs a bike magazine and plops down on the couch.
“Ford, actually,” I reply back. “He just dropped Ash and Kate off.”
The door opens again and Ford walks in, closes it behind him, and then just stands there looking between Ronin and I.
“What?” I ask, feeling nervous.“Someone has contested my request to adopt Kate.”
“Who?” Ronin and I ask together.
Ford takes a deep breath and exhales out the words. “Kate’s father.”
Chapter Fourteen
VERONICA
“I don’t get it,” Rook says, confused. I take a sip of my coffee and wait patiently for Ashleigh to position Kate for nursing. Ashleigh looks a wreck. Her eyes are all red from crying and all the color has disappeared from her face. “I mean, how does a dead man contest an adoption?”
Ashleigh starts to cry silently.
Rook and I look at each other and she mouths, Do something. Like I’m good with this girlfriend stuff.
I’m not. I was raised by a pack of wild men. I had very few girlfriends growing up. In fact, I think Rook is the only girl I’ve ever been really close to. But Rook’s the baby, so I take over. “Ashleigh, he is dead, right?” Rook’s eyes go wide and she shakes her head no. I ignore her. If there’s some sort of protocol for dealing with dead ex-boyfriends who contest adoptions by live husbands, I’m not up to speed. “I mean, he didn’t, like, show up in person, right?”
“No,” she says, sniffling. “It was a legal document served to me today. It came from a law office. Tony—that’s Kate’s biological father—Tony’s name is not even on there. It says something like paternal objection. But that’s not possible. He’s dead.”
“Where’s the papers?” I ask as Rook reaches over to rub Ashleigh’s hand.
“Ford took them. He’s calling the lawyers who are handling the case for us.”
“What does he say?” Rook asks.
“He didn’t say anything, really. Just that he’ll take care of it.”
“Well,” I sigh. “I’m sorry this is happening. But if Ford Aston says he’s gonna take care of it, I’d try not to think about it too much. If it can be done, he’ll do it.”
“Besides,” Rook adds, “it’s probably Tony’s family who’s putting up this fight. They think they have a claim, I suppose. Have you talked to them?”
Ash shakes her head no as she wipes the tears from her eyes. “No, they said they never wanted anything to do with me. They sent me nasty letters when I was in Japan after I found out Tony died. And now they go and pull this shit? I’ve been feeling so much better about things the past few weeks. I’m moving on, ya know? And then this happens and I’m right back where I was with the grief. I hate when people f**k with my life. I hate it so much. I didn’t do anything, why can’t they just leave me alone?”
Rook leans in and hugs her. “Ronnie’s right. Ford will handle it. Ford always gets his way. They won’t stop the adoption. He’ll make sure of it. In fact, let’s just go over there right now and see if he’s found anything out.”