Chapter 6

The judge declared the hearing over, and the bailiffs quickly restored order.

I was escorted out under restraint.

The moment we entered the corridor, Jessica appeared in my path. She stared at me, her voice icy. "The whole firm is talking about the rumors involving Danny right now. Do you want to explain yourself?"

I held my head high and met her gaze. "Explain what? I never had time to set him up."

Jessica's face darkened further. "Are you saying you had nothing to do with it? So he did it to himself? Don't think I don't know. You're the one who told Mr. Sutton all of that."

I had told Hank my private reason for quitting. That much was true. But he would never repeat it, and I certainly had not spread it around either.

"If someone happened to overhear us and word got out, is that my fault too?" I argued.

Jessica clenched her fists. "Whatever the case, you're the one who said it first. If you don't apologize publicly, you can expect to get sued. And it won't stop with this case. Good luck ever practicing law again after that. Think it over carefully."

Daniel stepped in right on cue. "Jessie, maybe... just let it go. I'll leave, that's all. I'll wait tables, whatever it takes. I can make it work. If I've wrecked what you two have, I—"

I forced a smile and spat to the side. "Cut the act."

Jessica's anger flared. She fixed me with a cold stare. "Then go cooperate with the investigation, Mr. Walton."

The bailiffs continued escorting me out.

A crowd had already gathered outside the courthouse. They pelted me with rotten vegetable leaves and eggs, then dumped buckets of dirty water in my direction. They screamed and cursed, without a single kind word among them.

I did not catch my breath until the police put me in the car.

For a moment, the scene felt strangely familiar.

Back when Daniel's father died and his grandmother's family threw him and his mother out, it had looked just like this. Kids, egged on by adults, had thrown stones at their backs. Old women at the edge of the village had stood around wagging their tongues.

Daniel had been in the same state I was now, and I had shielded him. Jessica had gotten him and his mother into the car while I stayed behind to block the stones and trade curses with the crowd.

Now they had handed that same wreckage back to me.

…

By the time I walked out of the police station, it was already deep into the night. I had not done what they claimed, so naturally, the police had found nothing.

My phone was about to die. I quickened my pace, hoping to find a hotel and get some rest.

As I crossed an alley, the roar of a motorcycle rose behind me.

I turned, but the darkness hid the rider's face. Still, I knew without a doubt that whoever it was had come for me.

I broke into a run and darted into a narrow side alley. The motorcycle could not follow, so I pulled out my phone and fumbled with the screen in a panic.

My emergency contacts were Jessica and Daniel. There was no time to think of anyone else.

I called one number, then the other, over and over. I sent message after message. Still, neither of them responded.

Footsteps were already closing in from the mouth of the alley.

I held my breath and kept trying.

Finally, a call connected. The words rushed out of me. "Jessica, someone's after me. I'm at—"

"What now?" she cut in, impatience thick in her voice. "If you don't want to apologize, you don't have to put on a show about it. Weren't you just released? Do you want to go back in?"

The call disconnected the next second.

I froze.

A voice came from directly above me. "Found you."

I looked up and saw Daniel's ex-fiancée, Amelia Rutter. Her face loomed over me, twisted with hatred. A group of hired men stood behind her.

Amelia laughed as if she had lost her mind.

She snatched up a baseball bat propped against the wall and swung it straight at me. "You filthy piece of trash. You helped that bitch sue me, didn't you? And now? I hear he seduced your girlfriend and knocked her up too. How does it feel? You got betrayed too, didn't you? Hurts, doesn't it?"

She raised the bat again. "Don't forget, you're the one who handed that filthy man to your own girlfriend. You brought this on yourself."

The bat connected, and my head spun. Blood flooded my vision, staining everything red.

In the final second before darkness swallowed me, regret hit hard. I regretted loving Jessica and ever calling Daniel my best friend.

…

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital. My phone would not stop buzzing.

Jessica had sent me several messages. Impatience dripped from every line.

Jessica: [You actually ended up in the hospital? Was it Danny's ex, that bitch?]

Jessica: [I told you to apologize sooner. Now look. People probably think Danny sent someone to threaten you.]

Jessica: [Whatever. Just get better. You've gotten hurt taking the fall for your buddy plenty of times before. What's one more?]

I stared at the messages for so long that I did not notice the door open.

Jack's voice finally pulled me out of my daze. "Mr. Walton, how are you feeling?"

I looked up. He carried an armful of toiletries, while Tina hugged a pile of snacks to her chest.

"The doctor said you'd be here for a few days. Figured I'd stick around and look after you before heading back. After all, you got hurt over my case. Was it my ex-wife? I'm real sorry about this, Mr. Walton."

My gaze settled on the plastic washbasin on the floor.

Whenever I had gotten hurt before, Jessica and Daniel had come to the hospital too. They had brought expensive toiletries and baskets of fresh fruit.

But now, none of those things felt as real as the cheap snacks in Tina's arms.

Jack looked a little embarrassed. "Mr. Walton, this stuff's all cheap. Hope you don't mind."

I shook my head. My voice came out thick. "I don't mind. This is more than enough."

I paused, then looked at him. "Jack, the case is only on hold. There's still a chance. I'm going to find you someone else this time. Are you willing to try again?"

He stared at me for a long moment, then gave me a firm nod.

I sent him a message with an address. "Go there. Someone will be waiting for you."

He thanked me over and over as he left, glancing back every few steps.

Before he walked out, he stopped and asked one last question. "What about you?"

I smiled and glanced at the boarding pass on my phone. "I'll be somewhere else, waiting for both of you to win."

After Jack left with his daughter, I checked myself out of the hospital.

…

The plane lifted into the sky.

Somewhere else, someone was waiting for me.