Chapter 26 Lukas
Lukas
It had been a long time since I’d felt like this. Actually, no, I’d never felt like this.
I’d had plenty of girlfriends over the years, but nothing came close to what I had with Elsie. Finally, she was mine. Our weekend together had solidified the feelings we’d been harboring for far too long.
Monday came too soon.
And I was grumpy about it.
I dropped Elsie off at the bus stop a block away from Alicia Vane’s office building, knowing that she wanted some time before going in. I was none too eager to leave her sitting at a bus stop. For one, she would be alone. More importantly, I had to leave her.
When I arrived at Ed’s office building, I was brooding and had to convince myself ten times over that I didn’t need to go back and check on her.
With what she had in her bag, I was concerned that something would happen to her.
That somehow her father or one of his accomplices had found out she’d taken the old book and would attack her or something.
I sent a quick text to her as I walked into the building, asking her for a safety check. It was probably too intense, but I felt a fierce desire to protect her.
Just the thought of all that had already happened to her made anger flood my veins, and it only stoked the flames of my ambition to put Aster behind bars. And now—her father, too.
Both of them deserved to spend the rest of their lives locked away without the use of magic. My hatred of Aster bled out into loathing for William Middleton. He was a sleaze who didn’t care for his own daughter and defended the woman who caused her a type of pain no one deserved to understand.
Perhaps I hated William more than I’d ever hated Aster.
He was more of a monster than I could truly comprehend.
Which was why there was a wicked smirk on my face as I walked to my office. Today would shift everything in Aster’s case. And hopefully lead to William’s arrest.
I put all of my things away before going to Ed’s office, knowing that I would work with him today regardless of when the phone call came. And I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face.
“Hey, kid. I’m just finishing up a few emails, and then we can get to work today.” Ed barely looked up, his keyboard continuing to click as he spoke. I took a seat in front of his desk, content to wait it out.
For a couple of weeks, I’d moved on from going through the lab notebooks.
Aside from the mystery handwriting, we’d found every needed detail in the lab books.
Now, I usually observed Ed as he did his job, and he explained what he did and why.
It was very much what I would have expected from the internship.
A few minutes passed with only the clacking of his keyboard until the ring of Ed’s phone blissfully shattered the relative silence.
“Hey, Vane. Here with Bristol. You’re on speaker.”
“You’re not going to believe this.” Vane’s voice came through, clearly shocked. Ed looked up at me, and I just grinned.
In a few quick minutes, I watched Ed’s face go from confused to shocked to positively elated. Quite relatable.
“Just thought you’d appreciate the update. I’m sure this will delay our case considerably.” Vane sounded smug, and I couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
“Thanks, Vane. I look forward to our next steps.”
The phone call ended, and Ed stared at the dark screen for a few seconds. Then he erupted in proud laughter.
And I joined him.
Not much work was done in the office that day, aside from Ed sharing the details of his phone call with Vane with his colleagues. Everyone was just as shocked as I had been.
“Take the rest of the day off, kid. Not much to do today.” Ed patted me on the shoulder, his mood lighter than I’d ever seen it before.
“Let me know if you need anything.” I grabbed my bag from my office, already pulling my phone out to call Elsie.
But as soon as I looked at my phone, a news article showed in my notifications, timestamped from one hour ago.
Defense Attorney Arrested for Allegedly Engineering Courtroom Chaos.
The courtroom saga of Mira Aster took an unexpected turn this week when her very own defense attorney, William Middleton, was arrested—not for a flawed closing argument, but for allegedly helping to sabotage the trial itself.
Investigators say Middleton, 45, crossed the line from legal defense into magical mischief, actively working to derail proceedings. The alleged tactics included the intentional harming of at least three witnesses before they were to take the stand against Aster.
There, just under the article's opening text, was a furious picture of Middleton in handcuffs, being escorted from his office. Pride and relief flooded over me. The evidence had been enough.
I read the article and saw that investigators were working to obtain search warrants for his office and home.
My thoughts went to Elsie, who lived in the same house. Though this is what she knew would happen, I didn’t believe she would be thrilled about her house being searched. I could take her there tonight to get her belongings.
“See this?” Ed asked, popping his head into my office and holding out his phone. The same article was pulled up. When I grinned at him and showed him my phone, he added, “Things are about to get a lot crazier, kid.”
I laughed and nodded as he left, the smile staying on my face when Elsie’s name and contact photo covered my phone screen.
Quickly, I answered the call, and my smile dropped.
“Lukas, can you come get me?” Elsie’s voice was small and weak, and I could feel her fear through the phone.
In a second, I stood and grabbed my bag, rushing out the door of my office and to the stairwell. “What’s wrong?”
“I-I’m trapped.” The echoes of my feet pounding against the stairs made it difficult for me to hear her, but I knew exactly what she said.
“Where are you?”
“Birdwell’s.” Her voice shook even on the single word, and my anger and worry quickened my steps as I made it out of the building and rushed to my car.
“I’ll be there in five.”
I was racing out of the parking lot when the line went dead as Elsie hung up.