Chapter Six
Lunch was surprisingly normal. She sat with them, and they made sure she got her tea and ate a very pretty chicken piccata and angel hair pasta. She asked Echel, “Why are you guys doing this? I mean, this is odd even by my standards, and they are not that high.”
He snorted softly. “When you feel that someone is right, you give them a chance. If it continues to feel right, you start a slow courtship. If that works out, you look into something permanent.”
Samsor nodded. “Or you meet someone who makes your head spin and kiss them until their head is spinning as well, and you move together from there.” He looked at her with a kind smile.
“Deltas normally don’t get together without an alpha to take the hit, but all of us feel remarkably right with you.
Alphas have been a sort of pain and tension for you, but do you feel any of that with us? ”
“No. You are all remarkably calm at all times unless you are giggling like little girls.” She sighed. “Then it gets to be a little much.”
Samsor asked, “When did we giggle?”
“When I was first in the dress. You guys were giggling.”
He looked at her. “It was better than whistling. You would have bolted.”
“Probably. Or punched you in the head with my non-existent upper body strength.”
Echel finished his meal. “When you punched me, that was not non-existent.”
She grinned. “Flatterer.”
Samsor asked softly, “Do you downplay strength as a survival mechanism?”
“Probably. Is it time to change?”
He checked his watch. “Yes. We are only five minutes from the courthouse.”
“Okay. I will just get changed, and we can hike to my doom.”
She went into the ladies’ room and changed in the large stall, zipping the blue dress and smoothing it over her hips. She hung the soft dress on the hanger in the garment bag and then zipped it up. She folded it over her arm and washed her hands before leaving the restroom.
She walked toward their table, and Echel and Samsor got to their feet. She sighed. “It’s a dress.”
Echel said, “It’s a very well-constructed dress. My compliments to your aunt’s skills.”
“I am sure that she will be delighted to hear it. She normally attends to bitching socialites.”
Echel took the garment bag and kissed her cheek. “Ready?”
“Yes.”
Samsor paid the bill, and she added the lunch to her mental tally. They returned to the car to put the garment bag in, and then Echel took her hand as they walked down the block to the courthouse.
Duran met them out front, reached to squeeze her hand lightly, and smiled. “Okay, let’s get you legally free. After that, we can have a nice, quiet evening with plenty of art supplies.”
Em beamed. “Okay, let’s get me out from under that power of attorney.”
They walked inside and got down to the business of proving that she wasn’t helpless.
This was going to be an uphill battle.
Emhara watched Duran explain her situation to the judge, and it was amazing.
He had found all of the images of her previous serious injuries, the dates and times that she had gone to hospital or the police department, and the images of the pack coming to reclaim her limping, damaged body every time.
The proof of the financial abuse and the affidavit from her father that he didn’t know about the diversion of funds, or he would have stopped it.
The judge looked at her. “Carlos is your father?”
“He and his wife had an open marriage, as she only wanted one child. I fell out of the opening. It has been verified several times.”
Duran nodded. “We have the test results here.”
The judge nodded. “The financial reports?”
Duran handed a wad of paperwork to the bailiff, and they waited. The judge looked grumpy.
He looked at Duran. “How much in total?”
“From what we have proof of, two point three million dollars. For the last three years, they have been withdrawing fifty thousand dollars a month from the trust.”
Emhara was stunned.
“Miss, what will you do with your new freedom?”
“Well, I will get a phone they can’t trace, and I have been kicking the idea of leaving the city.
I don’t want to be where they can get me again, or I want to be able to defend myself, so I will take some classes.
I want to find my life. I have been hiding for a very long time, and I now have people who are willing to help and who don’t have money as a motive. ”
The judge looked at her. “You are sure?”
“Yes. I am in touch with my brother and father again, and they are eager to help.”
The judge winced.
“And I have a passing relationship with the book club, and they feel guilty for not paying attention when I tried to tell them what my situation was. I was only allowed out of the house when I didn’t look bruised, so I could only go out when I looked healthy.”
He nodded. “Right. Well, I will set aside the power of attorney. If you trust someone, I suggest you ask them if you could tap them for that position. Also, get a will and cut your sister out of it. That will help.”
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
He smiled. “The prosecutor is eager to put your findings to work, and the civil suit has been filed, correct?”
Duran nodded. “Correct, your honour.”
“I would suggest that you find someone at your firm who isn’t as involved in her well-being as you are.”
She looked at the judge, but he was just an alpha. He smiled. “I have been doing this for a while, miss. Body language shows that he has more than a professional interest in you.”
Duran looked down at her and smiled with a shrug. “Nothing inappropriate has occurred, your honour.”
“Oh, I can see that, but it isn’t too far down the road. So, take steps now so she remains properly represented.”
“Of course, your honour. Cover has been arranged for the next steps.”
The judge smiled. “Good. Power of attorney is dissolved. The August pack is banned from inheriting, and the remaining issues are assigned to the appropriate courts. Congratulations, miss. You are on your own. The clerk will give you a document that you can use to take to your bank, and I would recommend that you move things to a new institution.”
“Yes, your honour.”
“Have a nice day, and tell Carlos that he is very lucky that you are still talking to him after he let you come to harm.”
They were ordered to stand with the judge, and the judge left.
Duran smiled. “Now, we talk to the prosecutor, and the civil filing is already done. So, after we speak with the prosecutor, we will go and get your funds moved to a more trustworthy bank.”
“Somewhere that doesn’t let Augusta move my money.”
“Yes. That.”
“We are going to go now; the office will keep an eye out for your paperwork. When it’s ready, a courier will bring it to us.”
She nodded. “Which bank are you going to recommend?”
He smiled. “You are very smart. Van Housen has your account set up and is just waiting for your biometrics to complete the process and do the transfers.”
Samsor snorted. “How did you get her in there?”
“No idea, but it is always the place that I begin if I have a high-security needs client.”
Em asked, “What does that mean, exactly?”
“It means that the money is watched and under your control at all times.”
“Nice. That feels... nice. I don’t know how much is left, though, but maybe I can buy some clothing.”
Echel chuckled. “There is enough for a few pairs of jeans, Em. Don’t worry.”
Samsor nodded. “There is enough.”
They went and spoke to the prosecutor, who said, “We have the file, and your records are... extensive. Good for us, bad for them.”
She went through a deposition, and her description of the events was to the point where she could verify them. Then, Samsor and Duran wrote down their descriptions of the attacks in hospital that never made it into her room.
The financial abuse was also recorded with Echel’s contribution, and the guys had to be sent outside while she used the original phone and linked to the video that she had linked in her room, and she sent him the files of beating after beating.
“How... why didn’t you report this?” He looked ill.
She looked at him. “I did. May I?”
He nodded, and Em took Samsor’s report, and she calmly started to flip through emergency reports, images from police stations, and images from hospitals and urgent care centres.
“I did. They got there. Tracked my phone, probably, and bodily hauled me out while I was screaming in pain. Since Samsor got you the stills, he can probably get you the video, or you can get it with a subpoena. All the dates and times are in the file. I tried to get help. I really tried.” She sat, and big, fat tears crept down her cheeks.
He blinked and said, “Which should I call?”
“Echel or Samsor. Duran’s working.”
He paused and grinned. “Sensible.”
He got up and went to the door. Samsor came in and lifted her into a hug. “What happened?”
“He asked why I didn’t report it, and I am just done.”
Samsor said, “Her sibling is a persuader. One of those omegas. She has a maximum influence of about a dozen, right, Em?”
She nodded. “Ten and then the dispersal breaks her concentration. Her field is twenty feet, so as long as you pack the surrounding offices or use someone who has immunity to get their depositions. If you want to have fun, split them up. They fucking hate that.” She chuckled softly.
Samsor smiled. “One thing you may want to know is that Mateo is her half-brother, and Carlos is her father. They have not been involved yet. They didn’t know.”
“Oh, wow. Okay. Right. Noted.”
She heard scribbling on a file.
She smiled and relaxed as Samsor stroked her back. He was good at that.
She looked at the prosecutor. “Do you have anyone here with a thermal camera?”
“I think there is one downstairs. Why?”
“Because my bruises don’t show, but they are hot. They show up on those cameras. Even now.” She leaned into Samsor. “For months. You can see the damage for months.”
“We will have someone come up, or you can go down to the lab. Just a moment.”