Iwalked into my office and set my things down before heading to the conference room to meet with Salah about the case. All night, I tossed and turned until Emery finally came to bed. He assured me that everything was going to be okay, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of someone trying to hurt me.
Even knowing that the Aldanas were a crime family, I didn’t know exactly how deep their criminal history went or what they were into. What I did know was that it had to be deep for Emery to have his security team following me.
I took a deep breath and released it before grabbing my satchel and leaving my office. Upon walking down the hall, I bypassed Langston’s office and saw that she and her husband were inside. I wasn’t trying to be nosy, but the look on his face and tone of his voice didn’t sound too pleasant as I stood by the cracked door and listened in.
“I know how you feel, babe, but?—”
“No buts, Langston. You’re done with that shit, and I mean it. I’ll be damned if I let a motherfucka threaten my wife, and Istill let you work on this case. If you don’t drop this case, I’m dropping bodies. You choose, my love.”
“Don’t say that shit in here, Darren. Are you cra—never mind. Just calm down. I’ll tell Salah that I’m dropping the case.”
“Good girl. You have a husband and son to get back home to.”
“I know, and that will always be my main priority.”
You better talk your shit, Mr. Collins!
I smiled and backpedaled, headed to the conference room. Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t drop off the case. I could, but that would leave my soon-to-be husband’s family at a disadvantage, and oddly, I wanted to get them out of this so Emery could stop stressing about it. I wanted him to focus on his school and other legal businesses. Since he wanted me to be his wife, he had to be on the legal side of things before we took those vows.
Entering the conference room, I could see Salah standing at the head of the table, shuffling through papers.
“Good morning, Salah.”
“Good morning, Yumi.” The door opened again, and Langston entered, greeting us both. We took a seat after Salah handed us a coffee from Tim Horton’s.
“So I have just been informed by the prosecution’s office that they have two more witnesses that will be testifying against the Aldanas.”
I shook my head in dismay. This wasn’t going to be good.
“Who are they?” Langston asked.
“Terrica Wilson and Demarion Griggs. Terrica is the friend of Leyla Johnson who was supposedly in the VIP section with the victims at the time of the shooting, and Demarion is one of the Aldanas workers. He claims that he has proof that the defendants have murdered quite a few people, including Alphonso and Raymon.”
“Why do I feel like they’re just pulling people out of their asses?” I questioned. With Layken dead and Leyla missing, the prosecutors were determined to getsomeoneto lock Mill and Mook away by any means. While I was ready for this to be over, I knew it was far from it.
“That’s because they are. I don’t know if any of their testimonies would be relevant since it’s hearsay, but if they have concrete proof, I’m afraid it won’t be looking good for our defendants. I need you both to inform your clients of this matter.”
“I won’t be able to continue with this case, Salah,” Langston finally spoke up. Salah frowned.
“And why is that?”
“Someone broke into my car and left a threatening letter inside, saying they will kill me if I don’t drop the case. The mister saw it, and he’s irate.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
“I just received it this morning.”
Salah began to pace, and I wondered if I should tell her I’d received one too. That thought quickly vanished because I was almost positive Emery was out looking for the culprit. Knowing that Langston had also received a letter exonerated my family as the suspects though. They had no reason to want to scare Langston off the case, so I was sure whoever sent the letters were enemies of the Aldanas.
“Shit, okay. I understand how your husband feels, so I will pull one of your colleagues from the other family’s case, and you can switch out with one of them.”
“Okay. Sorry, partner,” Langston said, giving me a subtle smile.
“It’s totally fine. I get it. I know if it were me, Liam would say the same,” I told her. I didn’t want to let on that Liam and I weren’t together anymore, although I didn’t give a damnabout them knowing. But I also didn’t want them to know Emery Aldana and I were an item. My personal life was just that, and if I did disclose my relationship with him, then they would question if I received threatening messages as well.
“I’ll get the other defense team in here to see who will assist Yumi. Let’s get this case closed as soon as possible. Dig up anything you can on those witnesses that will catapult your case and end this merry-go-round. Show these bastards who will always be the winning team.”
I half-smiled as we waited until our other colleagues entered the room. Jeremiah Smith ended up being assigned to the Aldana case with me. Since he ranked higher on the scale as the best defense attorney, he was who Salah agreed to assist me.
