"My man, you gotta hand it to him," Ashlyn shook her head in disbelief as she heard the voice of the host of her favorite music channel reverberate out of the speakers of her car.
Ashlyn turned down the volume on her steering wheel and thought about what she had heard. Marcus Cantu was a guest on morning television again that morning and had made an emotional appeal for all victims of the Granther experiment to receive a significant one-time payment and a lifelong pension as compensation. He explicitly pointed out that a corresponding benefit could not be justified by his department but that he was already in discussion with colleagues from the Senate administration. He also promised to do everything he could to ensure an uncomplicated settlement should he be allowed to take up this responsible office next month.
As the commentators celebrated Cantu for him, as they put it, with a courageous and spirited approach, Ashlyn was overcome by sudden nausea. She had finally come to the conclusion that it was Cantu who was primarily responsible for the suffering and misfortune of so many. The only piece of the puzzle they lacked was the damn and missing files. And now Cantu was supposed to get off so quickly and even be celebrated for it in the end. Ashley's features contorted in disgust, and she felt her anger grow. How could it be that certain people always managed to escape responsibility?
She slammed her hand on the wheel and loudly cursed as her cell phone rang. Her iPhone was linked to her car, so she saw the caller's name in large letters on her display. It was Kamil Gazal. Ashlyn didn't feel like talking to the clan leader and was tempted to reject the call. But because she was sure that Gazal wouldn't give up until he reached her, she accepted the call by clicking on the button on her steering wheel.
"Counselor!" Gazal began, and Ashlyn thought his voice sounded even more oily today than usual.
She thought that didn't bode well and wondered why he was calling. There was always a reason, but not always a good one.
"I've heard," Gazal continued, "that you're investigating a case involving the possible next mayor of Boston."
This information had been common knowledge since Tracy Payne's first Boston Observer article was published a little over two weeks ago. Ashlyn had been introduced as Garner's attorney, so she was not surprised that Gazal knew about it. What she did wonder, though, was what the crime boss was getting at.
"And I've also heard that your buddy Burke recently failed to access certain files that could be helpful for your case."
However, this information was not public, so it was difficult for Ashlyn to resist the question of how Gazal knew this. But since she knew that Gazal would reveal it alone or not at all, she refrained from asking.
"I can also assure you that your assumption that the files would shed a completely new light on the case is quite accurate," Gazal continued, his voice becoming increasingly patronizing and haughty.
"Since, as I said earlier, I owe you a favor, you will receive a package later today." Gazal paused, obviously savoring the effect of his words. "I'm sure you'll be able to do something with it after verifying the authenticity of the documents."
"But --" Ashlyn began, suddenly overwhelmed by a flood of further questions, '... but where and how --'
But before she could finish her sentence, Gazal interrupted her with the words: 'That, Counselor, settles my debt, and we're even.' Then he hung up.
xxx
Gazal had kept his word. Late that afternoon, a city courier had delivered a cardboard box, like those used when moving, with no fewer than twelve cases to the blondes apartment.
Ashlyn had briefly skimmed through the first two files, and it was immediately clear to her that they contained extensive information revealing Cantus' actual involvement in past events. In black and white, she could read in the notes, memos, and instructions how deeply the politician had actually been involved in the Granther experiment.
However, Ashlyn soon stopped reading to call Dominic and Maggie. Together, they would be able to sift through the material faster and more thoroughly. The two spontaneously agreed, and they arranged to meet at her apartment at six o'clock in the evening.
They went through all the files until late into the night, and when they looked at the last file at around one o'clock in the morning, one thing was clear to them: if this information were to reach the public, Marcus Cantu would be finished once and for all.
"I'll call Micaela now, okay?" Ashlyn asked, looking at Dominic and Maggie. Both nodded.
Dominic yawned extensively. 'Do that, and then let's call it a day. I'm exhausted.'
Ashlyn joined in the yawning. The adrenaline of the past few hours had slowly drained from her body, and exhaustion was setting in.
Micaela didn't pick up Ashlyn's call until the ninth ring when Ashlyn was already afraid she would only reach the mailbox.
"Ashlyn," she heard the sleepy voice on the other end of the line. 'Why on earth are you calling at this hour?'
"We have the missing evidence. Now you can charge. Cantu is finished."
In the following minutes, Ashlyn briefly summarized what she had found in the files over the past few hours.
"Oh man, that's incredible," said Micaela. 'That we completely question Cantu's image as a clean guy. Can you bring me the files tomorrow?'
"Sure, I will. I'll be at your office around 9:30 a.m. All right?"
"Why so late?"
"I have another appointment beforehand," Ashlyn replied with a hint of a frown. "Unfortunately, I can't move it. But an hour more or less probably won't matter."
Maggie raised her eyebrows and looked questioningly at Dominic, who pulled down the corners of his mouth and shrugged his shoulders discreetly.
"You're right again," Micaela yawned. 'See you tomorrow. Good night and best regards to the other two.'
After they had ended the conversation, Dominic, who had overheard everything, looked questioningly at Ashlyn. "An appointment you can't reschedule? What's that supposed to be?"
Instead of answering, Ashlyn picked up her cell phone again and dialed another number. This time, the call was accepted after only three rings. "Hello, Tracy. It's me, Ashlyn O'Laighin. We urgently need to see each other tomorrow morning."
After Maggie and Dominic had said goodbye to Ashlyn and arrived downstairs on the street, the redhead looked at him in puzzlement. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I got the impression that you think Ashlyn should get involved with Micaela instead of being with Kim."
He paused and looked at Maggie intently. "You mean because Ashlyn and I had something going on once, and she chose Kim instead of me?"
Maggie took a deep breath and shrugged with a restrained smile to give his guess some confirmation.
Dominic smiled broadly and fished his car keys out of his jacket pocket. "I really do wholeheartedly wish Ash and Kim every happiness together, Maggie," he replied, licking his lips. "And it's only through Kim that Ash has reached the point where she accepts herself as she is, in all aspects. But to be honest, Maggie, you must have thought at one time or another that there was more to the friendship between Micaela and Ashlyn than what you saw on the outside. Correct me if I'm wrong. And Kim --" He pressed his lips together and shrugged. "Kim was the decisive person who taught Ashlyn to accept herself as she is in every way. But honestly, I never really believed it would work out between them for long, if only because of their jobs."
Maggie paused and frowned a little. He wasn't entirely wrong. In the past, when Ashlyn and Micaela had worked together at the DA's Office, one could have gotten the impression that the two women were more than just colleagues and good friends if one could see behind the façade. Too often, one waited for the other to be free during their lunch break.
She pursed her lips and tried to smile, silently agreeing with him. "Good night, Dominic," she said, unlocking her car.
Dominic smiled knowingly and nodded slowly as he walked to his car. "Good night."
xxx
As they had agreed that night, Ashlyn and Dominic had gone to the Boston Observer's headquarters the following day.
Now, they were sitting around the large conference table in the conference room, sorting through the files with Tracy Payne and editor-in-chief Thomas Perkins. The attorney kept to herself where Ashlyn had found them, and despite initial protests from Perkins and his assurance that he could guarantee source protection, Ashlyn did not change her mind. Ashlyn invoked attorney-client confidentiality, which she was legally entitled to do, and Perkins finally gave up.
After Dominic had distributed the four-page summary from the previous day, which included the children's names, as well as the pages from the files containing crucial information about Cantus' involvement in the respective incidents, they were quickly able to sort the individual cases.
Payne reached for a thick file with a beige cover first. On the white adhesive tape that ran along the spine of the file, the child's name could be read in large letters next to the case number, along with a summary of the child's human fate in officialese.
Tim Garner.
Payne leafed through the pages with curiosity. After about ten minutes, during which she repeatedly made notes, she put the file in front of her.
"This is political dynamite," said Thomas Perkins, who had also studied two files, summarizing what they had on the table before them. "However, before we can publish any of it, even in excerpts, we have to do our homework," he continued. "First, I need proof that the files are genuine and not fake. Then, we need the consent of the former children as to whether and what information we can publish in connection with their names. And finally, we will send Cantu a transcript of our text fifteen minutes before the next article in the series is published so that he can prepare for the response." Perkins looked around. "However, we won't give him any more time than that because there's no way I'm going to risk him getting in our way with a court order before the next Sunday edition is published."
"I'll take care of Garner's approval," said Tracy Payne. 'And as for the source, surely we can name you, can't we, Ashlyn?' she turned to the lawyer.
"Absolutely," replied the blonde. "However, due to the attorney-client privilege, I cannot and will not provide any further information about where I got the files. And," she added after glancing at the clock, "I can only give you another twenty minutes to compare the files with the color copies we made for you. However, I have written a legal confirmation that the content of the copies is complete, as we received them, and we have not changed them in any way. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for a notarial certification."
Perkins looked at Ashlyn in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe she wanted to take the files away from him again. "You can't do that. We definitely need the originals," he protested.
Ashlyn, who had expected a similar reaction, calmly replied, "That's not up for discussion. We'll be turning the originals over to the DA's office soon. Without question, they will be examined for authenticity, and I will make sure that you receive the appropriate confirmation. That's all you can get. Take it or leave it."
"We can't do that, Ashlyn," Payne agreed with her boss. Her face was flushed, and her forehead was deeply wrinkled.
"But we can and we will. I ask you to consider that the current situation leaves us no choice. I fully understand your need to keep the originals, but in this case, the press must take a back seat to the safety of my client, Tim Garner." She pointed at the clock with her index finger. "In precisely eighteen minutes, we will leave with the files."
Perkins looked from Payne to Ashlyn and nodded. "Well, it is what it is. I think that's okay. I'll check with our legal advisor and await confirmation that the files are authentic."
He turned to Payne, "You know what you have to do. I know I can count on you to deliver a watertight story. Suppose we end the career of the current senator of the interior and most promising leading candidate for the office of the next governing mayor. In that case, we as a newspaper must also prepare for individual reactions. I'm ready for it. And I know we have to do it. That's our job as journalists. But I insist that we only publish when we are sure that we can prove every syllable."
With these words, Perkins stood up, nodded encouragingly to Payne, thanked Ashlyn and Dominic, and left the conference room the next moment.
xxx
Ashlyn demonstratively placed the box full of files on Micaela's desk. Then, she handed the brunette the four-page summary that Maggie, Dominic, and she had prepared that night. "With this, you should have enough material in your hands to document Cantus' actual involvement. The documents clearly show that he was not opposed to the Granther experiment. On the contrary, he ignored numerous warnings from his own agency and pushed through the placement of children with pedophile foster parents."
Micaela stared at the box and shook her head. "Unbelievable, that's precisely what I feared. And he almost got away with it. How could he assume he could sweep the whole thing under the rug?"
Ashlyn took a deep breath. 'I don't know,' she replied. "We'll probably never know. Unless he testifies to it. But that's in your hands now."
"Good," Micaela said, leaning back in her chair. 'I'll go over everything. Besides, we've had the evaluations from his computer since yesterday afternoon. Your information about Cantus' darknet activities has been confirmed. Our cybercrime unit has extracted the relevant data from his computer."
"And what are you going to do now?"
"We've been investigating for some time. And believe me, it wasn't easy to do that without it immediately causing a stir. Next, we'll interrogate Cantu. And then, as I discussed with Saunters, we'll press charges. Unless, of course, there isn't some surprising turn of events."
Ashlyn nodded slowly. She realized that Cantu's fate was sealed. At least his political career would be over, depending on how the matter developed legally, and probably more.
"And you?" Micaela asked with a slightly furrowed brow.
Ashlyn raised her eyebrows for a second and licked her lips. "I'll check with Garner, but we'll join the case as accessory prosecution."
Ashlyn hoped that her client would agree to this because the instrument of accessory prosecution allowed them to exert direct influence on the trials and not just follow them from the sidelines as a spectator. As a joint plaintiff, Ashlyn could actively protect Garner in his interest. This included options similar to those available at the DA's Office. For example, she was able to question Cantu as the defendant and ultimately make a closing argument. She was also able to attend the trial as a representative for Garner, without Garner himself having to spend every day in the courtroom.
An unfamiliar feeling for her. This time, she would not be taking on a client's defense, but rather, after a long time, she would once again be working side by side with the district attorney, with her once secret love, representing the interests of the prosecution. For Garner. And also, to a certain extent, for all the children who have suffered a similar fate. If her client agreed to undergo these exhausting trials, he would inevitably be exposed to the public and, thus, to the press.
After Ashlyn said goodbye to Micaela, she checked her cell phone. She had two missed calls: one from her assistant and the other from Maggie. After Ashlyn had called her assistant first, who had informed her of the postponement of a court date in another matter, she dialed her mother's number.
Maggie answered the call immediately. Ashlyn gave her a brief update before they understood why, explaining Maggie wanted to reach the attorney. In a few words, the ME shared with Ashlyn a thought that she had been carrying around with her for some time but that had only really taken shape today at breakfast. With every word Maggie said, Ashlyn became more thoughtful. Of all the possible constellations that might be behind this strange case and that they had developed together, she hadn't thought of this variant for a single moment. Ashlyn didn't know how to categorize the idea, so she made a few notes.
After their conversation, she went to see Garner. It was time for her to discuss the current events with her client. She had no idea where Garner stood on the matter. And she wondered to what extent Maggie's new idea would play a role. However, since she didn't want to confuse Garner, she kept it to herself for the moment.