Trouble

In just two rings Joe picked up the call and said, "What is it you did now Noah? I haven't even finished dealing with that privacy charge against that kid. Don't tell me you got yourself in trouble with someone else in less than 24 hours."

Somehow, despite having a mostly professional relationship, Joe liked talking this bluntly to Noah and they had a developed this kind of back and forth over the years. This was probably partially due to the fact that the lawyer was twice his age and Noah resembled his son in certain ways. So, he had begun treating Noah like his own son, in more ways than one. Though this meant Joe being harsh to him in his words from time to time, it also caused him to have a soft spot for Noah. Just like he had with his actual son.

So, whenever Noah called, he was answered almost immediately and his requests for help or advice were never rejected. Because although he was the company lawyer, he didn't work for I.E. alone. He worked at Noah's company for 1 day a week as this was plenty for the amount of legal work that I.E. had for him. The remaining four days of the work week, were spent at a regular law firm and he was on call for I.E. when needed. Although contract wise the work of the firm came first on the days he wasn't working at I.E., in reality Noah was always given priority when it concerned urgent matters. Be it personal or business.

After Noah let out a chuckle, he said, "I'm afraid so. I need your help Joe. Judging by your reaction, I take it that you haven't seen the news yet. I was involved in an explosion this morning." Before Joe could say anything, Noah quickly added, "Don't worry, I got away with just a few scratches and bruises." On the other side of the phone you could hear Joe let out a breath of relief before finding himself wound up again because of the sentences that followed.

"But Steve on the other hand, he was seriously injured. He needed emergency surgery and his life was in serious danger. Above that, at the same time, someone was sent to my house and tried to attack my wife and her best friend, who is also Steve's girlfriend as of recently. Fortunately all of us got away alive and everyone is doing well for the circumstances. But as you can imagine, I want to get back at the people responsible." At this point, all that was leaving Joe's mouth were unintelligible sounds that expressed his anger and frustration at the story he was hearing. But he patiently waited for Noah to finish before he would say something in return.

Noah continued by saying, "Since my lovely wife made me promise I wouldn't be stooping to their level, I can't do too much to them physically but I do want to at least be able to destroy them in court. That is where you come in. I want you to work your magic and find every possible claim you can find against Harold Richardson and his two goons. I don't care if we have to be in court for a year to make it happen, I want all three of them behind bar for as long as possible. Unless they are all grey and in need of a walker by the time they gets out or they are carried out in casket, I will not be satisfied."

This is when Joe finally started to speak and said, "Oh you best believe I will destroy them in court. I won't leave anything behind other than their ashes after I incinerate them in front of a judge. I don't care how many people I have to contact, how many pieces of legislation I have to go through, I will make sure to find every piece of law I can use against them. How ever small it may be. They can call themselves lucky that the death penalty was abolished in our country a long time ago, otherwise I would have tried them for that as well. But for now I guess I will have to make due with a sentence for life. Don't you worry and leave this up to me. Send me every bit of evidence you can find and get me the full story, leave nothing out. I will see what I can work with for the cases."

Noah nodded and made a sound telling Joe that he understood. Then he said, "Thanks Joe. I knew I could count on you. Sorry to be bothering you again, especially with something as big as this, but I want the best and someone who has a personal stake in the matter. Only then will I feel that there is no room for a bribe and that the lawyer representing me will go above and beyond for my case. In you I have both of those things combined."

Joe chuckled and said, "No need to butter me up. Even without the flattery I would take this case. I am happy to show them the price of coming after my family. And you know that you can always come to me with anything, no matter what. Especially if it concerns something as big as this. I would have been offended and disappointed if you hadn't."

After another thanks and a word of goodbye, Noah's final call had been handled. Noah and the shadow were close to reaching their first destination, which was Olivia's house.