Chapter 22

"Blatant Blackmail"

The alarm rang at 8 am on a Thursday morning unlike any other. Niko was the first awake, having found out he set his alarm at 6:30 in the morning. I woke up to the bathroom light gleaming through the bottom of the door. I heard Niko actually singing some Serbian songs as he prepared himself for his trial. It was absolutely adorable. I crept up to the door to hear what he was singing about. I really couldn't make out what he was singing over the buzzing of something he was using.

I tapped the door so he could let me in.

"Hold on. I'm almost ready." He said.

I sat on the bed while he finished up. A little later, he came out and stood in front of me. I spectated him while he held out his arms and spun around, showing off his new look. He looked really hot all cleaned up. I was actually caught off guard when I tried to recognize this man in front of me.

It's Niko, you idiot! My brain insulted itself.

"What do you think?"

I stared for another good minute, not because I was forming an opinion, but because I couldn't think at all. I simply raised my thumb up giving him my answer.

"That good, eh?"

I nod again. Why am I so amazed by him all of a sudden? It's just Niko all clean shaved and in a tuxedo that is really flattering.

"I'm going to make a pot of coffee. Do you want a cup too?"

"Yes please."

Karen was already up and dressed way before Niko. I guess she was going to give her testimony as well to help Niko out. It comes as a shock that she was willing to do this when she has treated him like shit ever since she rescued him from that meeting.

My brother was still asleep. He basically had nothing to do with the case, so he elected to stay home and do some cleaning. Someone had to make sure we all came home to a clean environment after a long day in court. He even volunteered to cook diner if it became too late.

Niko and Karen left seperately in her SUV to get to there early. I wanted to leave on my own so I could go back home and check on my brother to make sure he was behaving. I started the luxury car that Jed and Nick so kindly left us. It was certainly a step up from my daily driver. It handled so smoothly as I took the corners, and it glided over bumps in the road like it was nothing.

I arrived at the courthouse, and there were hundreds of supporters outside on the steps. They held various signs with each of their messages on them. One supporter pulled me aside with a news reporter. They wanted the latest word from me. I told them I didn't know anything about the case trying to keep away from the attention.

I confronted the secretary to help me locate the waiting room. She guided me along and stated facts about the courthouse and its rich history. Apparently this courthouse has seen many high profile cases and Niko's was going to be among one of them. She showed me inside and told me there was a vending machine inside if I wanted something to munch on. I was left inside the room alone. I was glad I brought my phone charger. This was going to be a long wait for sure. I opened up my movies and sat alone in the room. My mind constantly thought of Niko as the 9 o'clock hour drew near. I was silently praying this case would go the way he wanted it, and that he wouldn't have to bend in his bargain.

Before I knew it, noon came around, and my belly rumbled. Thankfully there was more things in the vending machine besides chips and candy. There was salads and sandwiches inside. I thought that was a good combo as I selected the item numbers. I was all caught up on my shows, so I looked to see what was on the news. The first channel I turn on and it is about a "Repressed Serbian man". I thought to myself that Niko wanted a low profile, but he's got the media's attention. Each news channel had something about Niko's story. What really made me laugh is they really didn't know his true story. I could imagine that most of the story was made up for the sake of ratings. One news channel reported that Niko was working with terrorists and it was in 'Americas best interest' that he get deported. Another channel reported that Niko 'was working for an underground vigilante elite', which is sort of true, but I know he wasn't given a choice not to join. I called my brother and told him to turn on the news.

"I'm already watching. These news reporters really have no clue, do they?"

"Totally not. They're turning Niko's case into a circus."

"Let them do their thing. Atleast we know his story."

"True, but everyone else will be talking bad about him when they see him in public."

"Who cares? They can't do anything to him. They can talk bad all they want. You and Niko will finally be together. Isn't that all that matters to you?"

"Oh my God, yes."

"Then there you go. Stop caring what everyone else thinks."

"It still sucks though."

"Where are you calling from? It's really quiet. Did they use you in the trial?"

"I'm in the waiting room. I hope when they ajurn for a recess or whatever they call it, Niko comes in here to tell me what's gone on so far. They didn't call me to testify yet. I don't think they'll need me."

"I see. I gotta let you go. I am making something for lunch and I smell it. I'll talk to you later."

"Don't call me just in case they do need me though. I'll call you to update you if I hear anything."

We said our goodbyes and I was alone again. Atleast having someone to talk to made the wait for Niko more bearable.

I opened up my game that Niko teases me for playing. If only he was here now with me. I could just see him rolling his eyes at my childlike nature. I played it for about an hour and I heard footsteps approaching the door. The highheels clopping along made me pause and look at the closed door, waiting for the woman to enter.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Karen asked.

"I am waiting here so when Niko comes out of court, I'll be there to support him."

She looked up at the television screen and laughed.

"Why the hell are you watching this? Don't you know that these reports are all fake?"

"Yeah. It's sort of amusing in a stupid way."

She watched a little more and laughed harder when the reporter and some interviewees said that he still believes that Niko was a terrorist.

"So, where is Niko? Is the court in their break?"

"He was looking for you actually. He needed to pack up his things."

"Does he know I am in here?"

"I'll go find him. He's probably in the bathroom to be honest. He was whispering to me that he had to pee for an hour."

I laughed at his comment even though I didn't hear him say it. She left the break room to track him down and I looked at the time. I was absolutely sure he was hungry so I searched for something for him to eat from the vending machine.

He came in the breakroom minutes later and he hugged me from behind.

"Someone is in a good mood. How's it going?"

"It looks good. But that's only an assumption. I think they liked my speech."

"Who wouldn't! You did good on it."

"Thank you."

The microwave beeped and I pulled out the sandwich I bought him for lunch. He and I sat down at the table and he ate. Poor thing was starved because he inhaled it.

"Where's Karen? I thought she'd be following you back here to talk."

"She told me that she would give us time alone." He said after he took a sip of water.

"She isn't talking crap about you to the judge, is she?"

"She can't. Everyone is out to lunch. She went alone to get something to eat. Why do you worry about her so much?"

"I still don't trust her, Niko. You may trust her, but I don't. I don't want her to hurt your case. Not if I have anything to say about it."

"You'll learn how to take her. She's rough around the edges, but on the inside, she means well. It's just the way the agency got to her head. Now, are we going to talk about her, or do we want to cuddle a bit?"

"How long is the break?"

"We have fourty five minutes left." He said as he looked at the clock on the wall.

"Where can we cuddle? There is no couch."

"We don't need a couch. Come here."

His tone was demanding, but loving. And that was enough to get me over on his lap.

"Do I even want to know what you were doing in here by yourself?" He asked when I pressed my form against him.

"I behaved! I know this isn't the place to fool around."

"What were you doing for five hours?"

"I watched my shows, I played my game.."

"I knew it." He laughed. "I knew you couldn't go without playing while you were here."

"Come on. You're picking on me. You'd like it too if you'd give it a chance."

"We will see after all this is done."

"What happened in court? My brother called and I told him I'd call him on anything new."

"There was a lot of talking."

I made a face at his secrecy.

"Tell me!"

"Alright, settle down. I was only teasing." He took a deep breath and I prepared for his long winded story. "I told you it seemed that the jury liked my speech. The judge didn't make any indication that he liked it or not. After my speech, they called Brucie up to the stand. He's the steroid junkie that I mentioned before. He was asked about my past and if I was involved in illegal activities. He told the court that I was, and that I have been doing favors for those who needed their problems taken care of."

My eyes got wider thinking that this Brucie guy just hurt his odds.

"You have to remember, everyone is under oath and if there was a lie, it would be a mistrial. I would have to start all over once they got the facts."

"Weren't you going to lie to the court before? I don't get it."

"The government agency was going to ensure that the lie was a fact. It wasn't really needed since McReary was killed. We had to scrap that information and find another story that the courts would believe."

"So you're still lying." I asked as I looked dead into his eyes.

"I don't need you to side against me now. Not while this is going on. Do you support me, or not?"

"I do, Niko. I do."

"Then please, don't make me worry about you going against me. We've gone so far together. I need you. I said I was more than ready to change, and I want to change with you by my side."

"Then how is this Brucie guy helping you? He is saying you killed people?"

"Yes. But in the testimonials, I killed bad people. This is fact. These people were murderers, and really didn't deserve any special treatment if they were captured by the police. There is a thing called vigilantism where if someone thinks the police aren't doing enough to find the criminal, you can take it on your own hands."

"But you have no legal authority."

"The police here are just as bad as the crooks. I saw a criminal pay an officer off to ignore his crimes. I have photo proof, and that is when I took it in my own hands. That's the guy I killed just before I started dating you. The man was at large for armed robbery and killed a woman and child when he was making his get away. When he was confronted by police, he paid the officer some of his stolen money and the police drove off. I killed the man a day later. There was nothing right about what I did, but atleast the family could sleep better that I laid the man down."

"I understand now."

"I'm glad you do. But I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't kill anymore. I made an exception that day. The woman was young and her child looked to be no more than four or five. I couldn't go on knowing that I witnessed something like that and not doing anything about it. Had I turned the guy in, the police would deny the man did anything wrong. It's horrible."

"Listen to you, Mr. Justice Warrior." I teared up a little knowing he was so concerned for the safety of others.

"I'm sure you would have done the very same thing had you been in my place. There is a fire inside you that I can see. You'd take the law into your own hands."

Karen knocked on the door and called Niko to follow her back inside the courtroom. I huffed because I still had fifteen minutes left with him.

"No. Don't be like that. I gotta go." He kissed me briefly on my forehead and scooted me off his lap. "We have all the time in the world after this is all over." He said as he headed to the door. He gave me a wink just before he left, and I couldn't find anything to say back to him.

I turned off the television because the news at this point was poking a dead horse. It was on and on about Niko's case. I wanted silence. I really wished I told Niko I was going back home to check on my brother. That way he didn't think I abandoned him when the court was dismissed for the day. It had to be soon that they were going to start wrapping up.

I found the assistant who helped me before and I left her the message to let Niko know I was going home to stay home since he had to walk past her to leave. I had to battle through the sea of supporters to get to my car. This time, they weren't so organized on the steps like this morning. The summer day was long and the heat only added to the fury. A crowd of people pulled me aside rather violently, asking me if I knew what was going on. I told them I was only a janitor, and I left them rather easily.

I called my brother from the road to let him know I was headed home, and I had news of Niko's day. He sounded as excited as I was. He only wanted Niko's best interest which was nice thing to know. I parked the car in the same place where it was left in the morning and my brother ran up to me. A little too over eager to hear the news. I told him to get inside where it was cooler and I would tell him.

I explained everything Niko told me and I broke it down a little more for him to understand. It's true he was computer smart, but the judicial system wasn't one of his strong suits. Or mine for that matter.

"So, it sounds like it was a pretty good day for him. If he was able to keep the trial going for a day, and not have the jurors toss it within the hour, it could be successful."

"I remember what that man told us. We shouldn't get too cocky. Tomorrow is another day with new testimonials and counter arguements."

"But I remain positive."

I held my words of pessimism and let him remain positive. I wanted to be positive too, but it would be that much more of a let down if Niko lost the case. I guess I remained neutral in the matter, that way I could react better.

We found our old deck of cards and we played a bunch of games. The hours flew by in a seeming flash because I received a phone call from Niko at 7:30. He sounded like he was in a panic by the way he was racing his words, and I told him to come home right away. It didn't sound good at all.

His arrival at home was in record time. I was sure he was speeding, but it was imperative that he got home to tell me the news he was given.

"What happened, Niko?" I asked when he ran up to my brother and I at the table. We were right in the middle of a game that absolutely needed to be put on hold.

"The trial hit a snag. One of the witnesses fumbled the truth. She was caught in a lie. There is going to be a delay in the process." His shoulders slumped.

"Fuck! Was it your witness?"

"No. It was a testimony against me."

"Did they tell you when the next court date is?"

"They'd call me the next court date. It seems like I need to wait longer for my residency."

"I guess we have to wait."

"I can't do anything at all. If I get the call, I need to be prepared for round two."

"You also have to memorize your parts. You did well this first half." Karen congratulated.

"Do my ears decieve me?" He held his hand up to his ear. "Did Karen the hard ass compliment me?"

"Shut the fuck up. I've complimented you before."

Niko laughed hard at her words of attack and dismissed the whole conversation. We passed the time between the three of us in playing a couple of games of poker. Niko was really the poker expert. Apparently, it was one of his hobbies to engage in card games with his cousin. Of course, Roman, being the heavy gambler that he is, wanted to throw in money each time they played. Niko refused to feed his cousins addicting lifestyle, and simply played with no monetary gain. It was a good thing too. Roman would end up owing Niko his first born child the way Niko was playing. He had luck, and won almost every hand. His philosophy was "You got to know when to toss, and when to keep." If I didn't know any better, he knew how to count cards. His chuckle of mild offense came when I tried calling him out on it. He swore he didn't count the cards, nor did he even know how to. Then again, I did guess he wasn't only because there was no money to win.

His phone rang later on around 10 pm. It was a number he wasn't familiar with, but he answered anyway.

"Hello?...Kiki?... How did you get my new number?..."

I was paying attention now. This woman was one of his ex girlfriends. I tried to assure myself that she was calling because of court topics, but Karen told Niko to not contact any of his witnesses. She was in the law business and she should know better than to contact Niko.

"Kiki... I can't... We're not allowed to...not even for old times sake..."

I could tell the annoyance in his voice was escalating. I still listened into his conversation and I knew he really wanted to hang up.

"I know you'll find another guy who is better than me...I know I treated you well, but you have to let go of me. I moved on...Kiki, listen...I gotta go."

Her anger was heard over the speaker as he held it away from his ear. Her objections were heard by my brother as he looked at Niko wide eyed.

"We have nothing between us anymore, Kiki... That's over...You and I went our seperate ways."

I took the phone from his hand and began to yell at the woman making an obvious attempt to get back with him.

"Listen here, he doesn't want to get back with you...I am his girlfriend now, and you and him have nothing together. Back off of him." I sternly said. Niko grabbed my attention by waving his hands around. I looked at him while I was being cussed out by Kiki.

"Don't say anything stupid." He mouthed.

"What do you mean?"

Kiki stopped what she was saying to shout at me. I wasn't even listening to her hollow threats. I simply hung up on her so I can listen to Niko.

"She's on my side in this trial. If you said something stupid, she'd turn against me in a heartbeat."

"What kind of women did you date before me?"

"You don't want to know. These women I dated were only for fun. I didn't expect Kiki to get that close to me. I was just being friendly."

"Who else have you dated?"

"Now really isn't the best time to talk about it."

His phone rang again in my hand. It was the same number on the screen. Niko held his hand out, nonberbally demanding I give his phone back. I gave it back to him and watched as he took the call. He was walking on thin ice between watching not to piss off Kiki, or myself.

"Alright, Kiki...chill out. She's my girlfriend. You were the same way when you thought I was fucking other girls when I wasn't when I was dating you... Yes you were! You were jealous that I had other friends who were women...Can we just go hang out some other time?...This isn't the best time to do it if you didn't realize."

He paused for a good three minutes while Kiki laid it out on him. He shook his head in disbelief that she would use this trial as bribery to go out with him.

After a while of not saying anything, he hung up on her. He set his phone down on the table and put his hands on his hips.

"What is she saying?"

"She wants me to take her out on a date. She's using the trial to get what she wants. She will turn against me if I don't take her out. I'm fucked either way."

"Niko, I-"

He looked at me and waited for me to continue. I hoped this date was a simple act of friendship, but I also knew this Kiki wanted more. He obviously treated his girlfriends a little too well. Karen still has feelings, and now Kiki.

"If this chick is going to lie in court, won't that give you the upper hand? That will show another mistrial."

"Kiki works in the court system, and she has a lot of money. She'd pay off a fer people to see me lose this."

"It was risky taking her on for your defense."

"It would be more risky if I didn't have her."

I thought it through for a moment and eventually I came to a decision. In order to get what we want, we'd give her what she wants.

"If this Kiki girl wants to go hang out with you, go ahead. She seems to be very important to do as she wishes and not piss her off right now. Let's hope she remembers this when it comes time to go back to court."

"You want me to date Kiki even though I am with you?" He explained slowly and seemingly repeated back to himself to ensure he heard me correctly.

"Yes. If you don't, she will hurt your case. Just don't let her sleep with you."

"There's no guarantee. She might blackmail me for that, too."

He called her back again and she was furious when she picked up. She was actually threatening him to take the stand next time and turn on him. He quickly tried to change her mind and suggested that they go out on a date tomorrow. Her counter offer came and he was to take her out tonight. I could see the energy deplete from his body. He was overtired from the trial, and now having to deal with her. He reluctantly agreed to take her out for a drink at the nearby bar. This was a good idea, so that way I could see them enter and exit. If she put his hands on him anywhere, I would knock her out.

"Alright, then. I guess I'll see you guys later. I'm going out on a date with a crazy bitch."

I laughed a little. I just wanted him to relax after the events that transpired today.

I watched him leave in the luxury car. I guessed that it wasn't necessary that he took the SUV. I tried to stay up as long as I could once I saw the two enter the bar. It was well past 1 am, and I felt my eyelids struggle to stay open. One deep sigh, and that allowed them to shut and I fell asleep on the couch.