Chapter Seven #2
Tony unearthed quite a bit of information on Daniel, and Shelby filled in the blanks with a little bit of mildly illegal internet hacking.
I claim an empty conference room at the courthouse and spread the files across the table, organizing them into piles that match the way my mind tends to lay things out.
Work history. Financial records. Neighbor’s statements. Etc.
Maya was right that there wasn’t anything criminal on paper, but we’d recovered some of the 911 calls.
There were also old pictures of bruises that she’d been smart enough to take and send to a friend for safekeeping.
I also had the therapist’s notes, which paint an ugly picture of the children’s anxiety and the history of abuse in the home.
Family court is tricky. I have a duty to point out patterns of abuse, but I have to do so in a way that doesn’t come across like I’m just trying to block Daniel from his children.
That would anger the judge. So there’s less wiggle room than I have in the criminal courtroom.
I can only stick to evidence and not leave breadcrumbs of insinuation for a jury to pick up on.
First, I need to focus on showing Maya to be the anchor of the family, the reliable parent.
This, thankfully, is incredibly easy to do.
I have an abundance of documentation showing her at every doctor’s visit, class party, PTA meeting, etc.
I have a written statement from the school secretary and the children’s teachers that they have never so much as spoken to Daniel and wouldn’t know who he was if he came to pick up the children.
I’ll need to brace for their attacks on her character, but luckily, I already know exactly what they’ll try to do.
It’s the same old worn-out song and dance routine.
They’ll come after her hormones and heat cycles, claiming emotional instability.
That should give me the opportunity to bring up her getting the kids into therapy and a chance to present the therapist’s notes.
They are pretty damning, if I can bring them up organically.
The oldest boy has growing resentment and anger toward his mother and sister, and has acted out in school toward other girls as well.
In play therapy, the youngest daughter frequently shows the daddy doll yelling at the mommy doll, who then falls down and cries.
Every time I read over that line, I debate if it would just be easier to have Tony kill the man and be done with it.
I shake my head to clear the thought and practice my opening statement.
In my head, I picture how the judge might react to each phrase.
I picture opposing counsel’s posture, the quiet smirks, the smug certainty they will have about Maya until I walk in.
That look is one of my favorites. The panic on the lawyer’s face and the confusion on the alpha’s.
I mentally walk through any potential objections or weak spots. Every piece of evidence is checked and double-checked until I’m satisfied I know this case inside and out. I pride myself on being thorough. Hence why I’d been so infuriated yesterday at Mark’s comment.
Soon, though, there’s nothing left to go through, and I still have time to kill. It becomes harder to ignore the elephant in the room. I tap my pen against the folder. It’s impossible to completely disentangle this case from what happened between me and Mark.
Maya is a perfect example of how the system stacks the decks against omegas.
The judge we drew wasn’t the one I’d hoped for, but he also isn’t the worst. He has a reputation for being mostly neutral on omega rights, but unfortunately, that can also just mean quietly biased because there hasn’t been a chance to show how he really felt.
Just like Mark.
Most of Mark’s actions would suggest that he disagrees with the foundations of the more conservative laws aimed at omegas, but he doesn’t openly champion against them either.
And he sure had a tendency to rub elbows with the types of alphas I loathe.
Hell, just last week he was in the paper, shoulder to shoulder with Harold Fucking Harvey, our illustrious mayor who once publicly called omegas a “necessary burden.” That kind of proximity says more than words ever could.
What’s the saying? If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.
I shake my head. Irritation and shame simmer beneath my skin.
How could I be so stupid? I know better than to blur the lines, to let myself get drawn into the orbit of a sexy alpha.
It doesn’t matter how many glimpses of softness I catch when the cameras aren’t around.
Like it or not, Mark is a man who plays politics in a world where my kind get crushed under the weight of “it’s always been this way. ”
If he figures out my secret? I go from a fun lover to a liability overnight.
Or worse, he tries to bond with me and make me his dutiful little omega.
Gets me deemed unfit to work like so many other omegas have been by alphas “just looking out for their safety,” stripping my ability to fight for people like Maya.
The thought makes my throat tighten. She is heading to the courtroom right now, terrified and fighting for her children because men like Daniel exploit the biases against omegas. And here my dumb ass is, playing with fire and sleeping with the enemy.
Could Mark be a good guy? Sure, maybe. But I don’t know him, not really.
Last night can never happen again.