Chapter 5 - The Judge's SecretI didn't sleep that night.
At 3:17 a.m., my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice whispered,
“Don't trust the judge.”
Then the line went dead.
I called back.
Disconnected.
The following morning, I arrived early at the courthouse.
Judge Beckett entered alone.
She looked tired.
Not angry.
Not hostile.
Just tired.
I expected her to recuse herself.
She didn't.
Instead, she called both attorneys into chambers.
I remained outside.
Twenty minutes later, my attorney returned.
“What happened?”
“She denied the motion for recusal.”
“Why?”
“She says there is no conflict.”
I looked at her.
“Do you believe her?”
“No.”
That answer terrified me.
Then the hearing resumed.
Judge Beckett reviewed the ownership records again.
She asked Gavin's attorney a simple question.
“Why was Mrs. Rourke removed from the company's ownership registry?”
Philip Dane hesitated.
“Corporate restructuring.”
“Who authorized it?”
“The board.”
“Which board?”
He hesitated again.
“The executive board.”
Judge Beckett looked toward Gavin.
“Mr. Rourke?”
“Yes?”
“Who sat on the board at the time?”
Gavin answered.
“Myself. Two investors. Our CFO.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
I spoke.
“My father.”
The courtroom went silent.
Judge Beckett's pen stopped.
Gavin turned toward me.
“My father was never on the board,” he said.
I held up a document.
“He was.”
I placed it on the table.
Minutes from a board meeting dated fourteen years earlier.
Four names.
One of them:
Thomas Bellamy.
Judge Beckett's face changed.
That was when I understood.
She recognized the document.
“Where did you get this?” she asked.
“From my brother.”
The room exploded into whispers.
Judge Beckett slammed her gavel.
“Order.”
Gavin stood.
“There is no brother.”
I looked at him.
“There is now.”
Judge Beckett stared at the document.
Then she asked quietly,
“Mrs. Rourke, what else did your brother tell you?”
I hesitated.
Before I could answer, the courtroom doors opened.
Nathaniel walked in.
Gavin's face turned white.
Nathaniel didn't look at him.
He looked at Judge Beckett.
Then he said,
“You remember me.”
Judge Beckett stood.
Everyone stared.
She whispered one word.
“Nathan.”
My blood froze.
They knew each other.
Not casually.
Personally.
Nathaniel smiled bitterly.
“Hello, Marian.”
Gavin pushed back from the table.
“Your Honor…”
Judge Beckett raised a hand.
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“Proceedings are adjourned.”
The bailiff stepped forward.
People began leaving.
I walked toward Nathaniel.
“How do you know her?”
He looked at the judge.
“She was Father's attorney.”
I stared.
“For what?”
Nathaniel answered.
“For the last lawsuit he ever filed.”
Against Gavin.
That lawsuit had never existed in any records I had found.
Until now.
Judge Beckett looked toward me.
“Cassandra, there are things I should have told you years ago.”
Gavin interrupted.
“You don't owe her anything.”
Judge Beckett turned toward him.
And for the first time, her anger showed.
“You were never supposed to survive what happened.”
The courtroom fell silent.
Gavin's face became almost colorless.
I looked from one to the other.
“What happened?”
No one answered.
Then Nathaniel stepped toward me.
“Dad discovered Gavin was planning to take the company.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
“No.”
Nathaniel shook his head.
“He didn't mean just the company.”
He opened his coat.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Gavin.
Judge Beckett.
And a fourth man.
A man I recognized immediately.
My father's old business partner.
A man who had supposedly died eighteen years ago.
Except beneath the photograph was a recent date.
Three weeks earlier.
I looked at Nathaniel.
“Where is he?”
Nathaniel's expression hardened.
“That's the problem.”
“Why?”
“Because he has been attending Gavin's private board meetings.”
My stomach dropped.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Then Nathaniel said something that made everything else feel small.
May you like
“He's not working for Gavin.”
“He owns him.”
