Page 112 of The Cinderella Secret
“Ah,” said Dominique, nodding. “She’ll probably want to get a divorce lawyer.”
“I suspect she has one already,” said Eleanor. “One doesn’t generally go to Aspen this early.”
“Oh,” said Aiden. “I hadn’t considered that. Should we do something more? I just want Charlie to go to prison. I don’t want to hurt his family.”
“She’ll be fine. She’s screwing Teddy Van Burstein,” said Jackson. “Who I think is also currently in Aspen.”
“Really?” asked Evan, looking surprised. “I hadn’t heard that.”
“It’s amazing what you can find out about a person when you really want to look,” said Jackson, glancing at Aiden. Aiden glared at him, which made Jackson chuckle. Knowing Aiden’s secret was really the most fun ever.
“Can we return to the topic at hand?” demanded Aiden.
“I don’t think I care to spend more time on who Teddy Van Burstein is screwing,” said Evan.
“No! The topic of how awesome today is and how I saved the day and…” Aiden appeared to be searching for additional superlatives.
“Whatnot?” suggested Dominque with a giggle.
“Are all of you quite done trying to ruin my moment?” demanded Aiden.
“No,” said Eleanor. “We’re not really trying to do that. But I’m about to and I’m sorry. I would wait to tell you, but you’ll probably see it on the news.”
“Tell me what?” asked Aiden, and Jackson felt a quiver of concern. He glanced at Dominique, who grimaced unhappily.
“It’s Granger. They dropped the majority of the charges against him.”
“What? Why?” demanded Evan.
“Homeland Security has decided that the mercenaries who attempted to harm us are no longer available to testify—that they are too valuable to the national defense. Which means that the charges against him regarding us are no longer… viable.”
“Son of a bitch!” swore Evan.
“Grandma!” exclaimed Aiden. “How could you let this happen? Let’s get a press conference going or something. We’ve got to have enough juice to put Granger away.”
Eleanor sighed. “I’m sorry, darlings, but at the moment I’m using my leverage for something else. If I focus on this, I lose other things that are more important to me. And there are other charges on the table against Granger.”
“I really feel there must be other ways we can make his life hell,” said Dominique thoughtfully.
“Didn’t we already decide that I don’t do horseheads, Nika?” asked Jackson.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m against animal cruelty. I had something… I don’t know… more social and financial in mind.”
“Nika,” said Aiden, “as your lawyer, I’m advising you to let the courts handle this. I don’t think we need another Suzy Fletcher.”
“She had that coming,” said Dominque.
“Didn’t Suzy Fletcher get arrested for drug possession and have to go to the women’s correctional facility in Pennsylvania or something?” asked Evan with a frown.
“I have no knowledge of that,” said Dominque. “What I do know is that her sister is no longer has an eating disorder because Suzy doesn’t harass her every moment of every day.”
“I worry when you go Godfather on us,” said Aiden.
“Nonsense,” said Dominique. “I don’t go Godfather. It’s not like those drugs weren’t Suzy’s. She didn’t have to slap that cop. Or try to drive off in his patrol car. She did that all on her own.”
“And no one called in a tip to the police on her car or anything?” asked Aiden.
“I really wouldn’t know,” said Dominique. Jackson felt a qualm of misgiving when he saw Eleanor watching Dominique with an expression of thoughtful interest. “My point is that Granger should not be allowed to get away with these sorts of things.”
