I ushered them out, past Ms. Lapland’s flinty gaze, and got them back onto the street without any supernatural violence of any kind coming down.
“Well,” Max said, as we walked to my car. “I see what you mean about Mister Gregory being an unreasonable fellow.”
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s hard to see a world where he isn’t a complete oxygen sink.”
“He’s vile,” Maya said quietly.
I sighed. “I’m sorry we couldn’t find a more peaceable way through this.”
“It’s all right,” she said. “Some kinds of behaviors shouldn’t be tolerated peaceably.” She looked at Max. “Can you win?”
“Possible,” Max said, nodding vigorously.
Maya frowned. “Possible? But what he’s doing is so wrong.”
The old man spread his hands. “The law isn’t really as black and white as everyone thinks,” he said. “Everyone seems to think of the law as a line drawn on the ground. It’s more of a surveyor’s string—one with quite a bit of play in it. Various factors can pull the string this way or that. In this case, that’s what we’d be doing—hauling on that string to make sure you fell on the right side of the law and Mister Gregory on the wrong side. But I’ll be honest with you--they’ll be doing the same thing. It could go against us.”
“What are your chances in open court?” I asked him.
Max shrugged. “Very difficult to say, even though Mr. Inverno’s approaches are limited. It depends on a number of things, mostly the judge. Knowing what I know right now, I’d call it a coin toss.”
Maya folded her arms across her stomach. “I hate this. I had a quiet life. I just want that again.”
I grimaced. “I’m sorry.”
“Now, dear,” Max said, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. “Everyone prefers to avoid conflict—well, almost everyone. This miserable ass is giving you grief I think you don’t deserve. But there is every chance that I can force him to leave you in peace and separate you from him completely. He’s… not really giving you very much choice here. Either you give up everything you have built—or you fight him.”
Maya met his eyes uncertainly.
“You don’t have to choose right now,” Max said softly. “But you do need to commit to a choice. Either fight him or fold your business and leave him nothing to sue.”
“I can’t just give up,” she said, after only a second’s hesitation. “There are too many people who rely on Sunflower.”
“Then you want to fight?” Max pressed.
“I want to fight,” she said.
He patted her hand and nodded firmly. “Good woman. I can’t promise you victory. I can promise you that we’ll make them work if they want to win.”
“For Tripp, that would be a first,” she said, and gave Max a wan smile. “Even with all of us working together, we really don’t have a lot of money to pay you with.”
“We’ll figure that out,” I put in.
Max glanced at me and nodded. “Indeed, we will, Maya. Indeed, we will.”
“Max,” I said, squinting at the lowering sun. “I wonder if you’d be willing to take Maya home?”
“Of course,” the old lawyer said. “What are you going to be doing?”
“I’m going to try one more time to talk to Tripp Gregory,” I said.
“What for?” Maya said with distaste.
Max lifted skeptical silver brows. “I might ask the same question.”
“Found out some things about him,” I said. “Maybe I can get him to listen to reason.”
Maya snorted softly.
