The Avengers Proactive Strike
Avery hailed a cab at the station and headed back to her condo at Summit Ridge. Once she was home, she showered off the day, scrubbing the makeup from her face until her skin felt clean. Refreshed, she settled onto her yoga mat in the quiet of her living room.
But unlike yesterday, she didn't pull up her online courses.
She just sat there for a while, letting her thoughts settle.
Then, she picked up her phone and messaged her lawyer, Goodwin, back in Westlake City.
She told him to be ready for the Sterlings to make a move for Bryce's bail.
If they did, she wanted Goodwin to immediately request a professional medical evaluation.
That part would be easy. Goodwin had connections in the medical system.
With that handled, Avery opened her chat with the analyst she knew only by his handle: Analysis Master. It had been eight or nine days since she'd last heard from him, way too long. He'd taken her money; it was time for him to deliver.
Legal Person Does Not Sleep: "What's taking so long? Where's the Sterling Foods safety accident report I asked for? It's been radio silence over here."
Back when Avery was still a practicing lawyer, she'd worked with this guy before. He was always fast, which made the current delay all the more frustrating.
A few minutes passed before he finally replied.
Analysis Master: "This was a real pain in the ass. I almost got hauled into the station digging this up for you."
Legal Person Does Not Sleep: "So you found something?"
Analysis Master: "Who do you think I am? Of course I didn't come back empty-handed."
Legal Person Does Not Sleep: "Cut the crap and send the file."
Analysis Master: "Hang on, it's a big file. This isn't just one or two incidents. Sterling Foods has been around for over forty years and has dozens of factories. A lot has happened."
After that, the chat went quiet. It took more than ten minutes for a file to finally pop up. It was huge, so Avery switched to her laptop to download it.
Analysis Master: "I only checked the last ten years. They had accidents almost every year, but since Sterling Foods has so many factories and the incidents were spread out, it never got reported as a pattern."
Legal Person Does Not Sleep: "Thanks. Next, I want their food safety inspection reports. Can you get those?"
Analysis Master: "Easy. But Sterling Foods has a ton of different products. You want all of them or just a few specific ones?"
Legal Person Does Not Sleep: "You decide. Not all of them, but don't go light on it either."
Analysis Master: "Done. By the way, you looking for a package deal? I've got the best trolls and most aggressive marketing accounts in the business."
Avery was about to put her phone down when she saw his sales pitch.
Her eyebrows shot up. When had the all-business analyst she used to work with become such a hustler?
Back when she was practicing, he was strictly business, no small talk.
Now he was upselling her. *Aggressive,* she thought with a smirk.
Why not just call it what it is: stirring up trouble?
She ignored him. The file had finished downloading, so she opened it and started reading.
It detailed twelve separate accidents, each one different. Severe injuries from meat grinders, fatal electrocutions, high-pressure furnace explosions. The worst was a power leak at one factory that had killed three workers. Crucially, none of the incidents had happened at the same plant.
The analyst's report was thorough. He hadn't just listed the causes; he'd included the names of the victims and the company personnel who handled the aftermath.
For eight of the ten years, one name kept showing up: Ronan Bowen.
But in the last two years, Caleb Sterling's name appeared.
He'd personally handled two of the twelve incidents.
The Sterlings' methods for dealing with the accidents were harsh, usually forcing private settlements, but the compensation they paid was surprisingly generous.
Still, twelve accidents in ten years wasn't about money anymore.
It was proof that their food processing plants had a serious, systemic safety problem.
Avery stared at the list, a cold glint in her eyes.
She switched to the secondary Messenger account she'd used as a lawyer and sent two files directly to Caleb: the report on the power leak that had killed three people eight years ago, and another on a fatal electrocution.
From this point on, she was going to bleed the Sterling family's legal and public relations departments dry. She would run them ragged, making sure Warren Sterling was too busy putting out fires to even think about getting that scumbag Bryce out on medical parole.
He wanted to play games? Fine. Every move he made, she would hit back.
One death could be an accident. But two, both caused by faulty factory wiring? That was a pattern.
She would play the long game. For now, just two incidents. But later, when more safety violations came to light and government agencies got involved, the public outrage would be enough to cripple the Sterling family for good.
WearsTheHorns: "You really are something else. You managed to dig up stuff from that long ago. Even I didn't know about this."
Caleb's reply was almost instantaneous. That username, though.
*WearsTheHorns*. It was so on the nose it was almost funny, as if he wanted the whole world to know he'd been cheated on.
The guy was an enigma. On one hand, he was sharp and meticulous.
On the other, he was the same guy who'd almost mowed her down with his car earlier that day.
Avery glanced at the message without replying and logged out of the account. A guy as smart as Caleb would know exactly how to use those two incidents to go after Warren. She didn't need to spell it out.
She organized the rest of the documents, uploaded them to the email associated with her old account, and put the matter aside.
Getting up, she tossed her dirty clothes into the washing machine before returning to the living room to resume her online courses.
She studied until the sky outside was dark, only snapping out of her focus when Maya called and asked her to come down to Leo's place.
It was clear the other three were already hanging out; otherwise, Maya wouldn't have summoned her.
Avery shut her tablet, threw on a jacket, and padded downstairs in her slippers.
The second she walked in, the rich, smoky smell of barbecue hit her.
Takeout, obviously. Maya and Owen were curled up on the sofa, controllers in hand, with Owen rattling off a list of complaints about his cousin, Walter.
It was a classic case of familiarity breeding contempt; now that they were together every day, the gripes were piling up.
Maya, completely absorbed in her game, barely seemed to notice.
A few feet away, Leo was hunched over a wooden desk, chewing the end of his pen and looking utterly miserable.
Avery closed the door behind her.
Before she could even say hello, Leo shot up from his chair as if he'd seen a ghost. "Oh, thank god, you're here!" he said, sliding over to her. "Quick, you have to help me with these. I've been staring at them for half the day, and my brain is completely fried."
As he spoke, he was already steering her toward the desk.
Avery dug in her heels, baffled. "Wait a second." Weren't they just hanging out?
Her expression turned serious. "Hold on. I know we both work for Starry Sky, but aren't these important production documents? Are you sure you want me looking at them?"
As a former lawyer, she knew exactly what this meant.
If she helped him and no problems came up, fine.
But if something went wrong, she could be held liable.
Leo just looked annoyed. "Why are you being so uptight? It's not a state secret. Just hurry up and help me."
Avery pulled out her phone and held it out to him. "Fine. Record a video and state clearly that you asked me for help."
Leo rolled his eyes and snatched the phone. "I'll record, I'll record. You used to be a doctor. You take the Bar Exam one time and suddenly you're a high-powered lawyer."
Avery didn't say a word. But in her head, she silently corrected him.
She *was* a lawyer.