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Taming Ava & Outwitting Jax - A Modern Fairytale

Chapter 15 There's Always a Catch

"

Jax was surprised that TB wanted to see him again. He was supposed to marry Ava on Saturday. Could be TB was having second thoughts about letting his little girl marry a convict? This could be the worst case for Jax. If TB didn't want Ava to marry him, he could kiss his future father-in-law's help to get out of prison good-bye.

As soon as Jax was unchained, TB reached out to shake Jax's hand. Since TB was an attorney, once again they were meeting privately in a small room. It wasn't the same small room, but it had the same type of small table and chairs.

"Good to see you again," TB said cordially. "I come bearing good news."

Jax hadn't realized he was holding his breath until that moment.

"I can always use good news."

"Can't we all?" TB said with a grin. "I also owe you a small apology. When you said your attorney was incompetent, I dismissed it as what clients always say when their attorneys lose cases. Turns out you weren't just right, you were really right."

"What does that mean? Can I get the verdict tossed for that?"

"Do you know how much you or your MC spent on your defense?"

"She was given $100,000 in total. She didn't tell me until it was time to present the defense that she hadn't been able to afford to hire an investigator to look into the ATF agents. I kept asking and she kept blowing me off. I didn't have the time or the opportunity to get more money to her."

TB made notes on a yellow legal pad in front of him with his cheap grocery store pen. He saw no point in carrying a Mont Blanc pen though he could easily have afforded brief cases full. He didn't believe in paying more for a fancy brand name especially when his supermarket pens worked perfectly. It was something he'd tried to explain to his label crazy daughter.

"Kevin the attorney who did the preliminary review on your case said that at the most your defense should have cost was $50,000."

"Son of a bitch," Jax said slapping his hand down on the table. He stood up shaking his head and kicking the wall. "I fucking knew something was wrong."

"How do you feel about making your attorney pay? I don't mean just financially. I'm thinking she gets disbarred and goes to jail for awhile. She committed fraud and that's just the beginning."

"Hell yes! I want to make her pay. How long before you can get my verdict set aside?"

"Even with my connections it will take several months. Kevin believes your attorney deliberately lost your case. There was the beginnings of a defense and then it just stopped. She made no effort to look into the ATF agents at all. Can you think of any reason why she would have lost your case so you would end up here?"

"No," Jax said. He would give that some thought later. For now, he was focused on information that would get him out of prison.

"We can get all that later. For not, it's clear that she was both incompetent and corrupt. The bar association will take a very dim view of an attorney deliberately losing a case."

Jax returned to his chair. The nightmare might finally be over. Just a few months and he could really be out! He loved the irony that if Lowen hadn't brought Ava with him, he might be locked up for the full twenty.

"When I get you out, you can't do anything to Lowen. We'll get her legally and screw up her life legally."

"OK. You have my word. I won't physically hurt her. I do intend to share my thoughts with her."

"Only reasonable for you to do that," TB said with a smile. "When the time comes, I will send someone to go with you. You can't trust her not to lie or try to set you up for something."

"That's a good point. I'll do it your way."

"Your attorney wasn't the only one who screwed you over. The prosecution had exculpatory evidence in his files that your attorney never got."

"What does that mean? The prosecution knew I was innocent and prosecuted me anyway?"

TB rubbed his chin as he thought that over.

"In a summarized version, that's basically it. Kevin believes that they figured you were guilty of all kinds of stuff and this was their opportunity to put you in prison for something. It didn't matter whether or not you were guilty of committing this particular crime."

"What exculpatory evidence was there?"

TB grinned. "This is really good. There's a video of you getting into the car. It's clear you weren't carrying any kind of automatic weapon. There wasn't anywhere for you to have concealed it. We'll get the video authenticated and enhanced. That also goes to the ATF's claim about the gun. It looks like there was a conspiracy between the prosecution and the ATF. This stuff happens. It's just usually not this obvious.

"We'll still go into the ATF stuff. What I want to do is hit the media with all this stuff and really stir the public up so either we get a quick hearing that sets aside the verdict or we put some pressure on the governor and get you a pardon. We can still fight the conviction, get it overturned and go after those responsible. I'm looking at how to get you out quickly. I figure the first priority is to get you out as soon as possible."

"This could really happen."

"No," TB said. "This is going to happen. There is no doubt. It's a matter of how quick."

"What do I need to do?"

"Here's a list of attorneys you need to add to your visitor's list. Next week, after you've married Ava, Kevin who has already been approved as a visitor, will come by with papers designating a fleet of new attorneys to handle the appeal and deal with the other legal issues Kevin's turned up. There will also be paperwork to terminate Ellie Lowen's services as your attorney. Just a simple straightforward form letter. We don't want her to know that we're going to destroy her until all of our prongs of attack are ready and then we'll unload on her, the DA and the ATF all at once."

Jax was still having trouble believing this was all really going to happen and soon. Basic rule in life—if something seems too good to be true—it's usually a scam.

"When I get you out, I want something in return," TB said. He slipped his legal pad back into his briefcase. "It's a big ask."

This was something that Jax understood. People only did things for you because they wanted something in return. Now, TB's passion for helping him made complete sense.

"What is it?"

"Ava is a spoiled brat, but a lot of that is my fault. I gave her to nannies to raise. I haven't paid much attention to her and if I don't do something about her now, she's going to be just another spoiled rich brat who only thinks of herself. She's too old for me to fix. That's where you come in."

"What do you expect?"

"When you get out, I expect you to be a good husband to her. Don't hit her or cheat on her. Stay married to her for at least three years."

"That's it?"

"It won't be easy. I'm doing this without any written legal document. If you give me your word, that you will stay married to Ava for at least three years and you won't hit or cheat on her, I will spend whatever it takes to get you out of prison."

Jax took this as more confirmation that TB knew that Ava was marrying him to get around the terms of his will and not only was he OK with it, he wanted to help her succeed. Now, that was an interesting father/daughter dynamic.

"You have my word I'll stay married to her for at least three years and I won't hit her or cheat on her in exchange for your legal help getting me out of here."

"And we're going to keep this a secret from Ava until we know when you're getting out."

"Agreed. I can hardly wait to see the joy on her face."

"See you Saturday at the wedding. I got special permission for an extra guest. I thought you would want your mother there."

"Thanks a lot," Jax said exchanging another hearty handshake with Ava's father.

The Jax Teller Finishing School for Spoiled Rich Girls was going to be in session soon. Jax had no doubt of that.

Next Chapter: Wedding of Woe (with a bride pic for the story)