Page 73 of Escape Girl

Hill pulled a business card out of his pocket and tossed it across the table at me. “James Hill. Bird & Dreyer, obviously.”

“Oh!” I peeped. “Sorry. I just left my firm, and I don’t have new business cards yet.”

Taggert and Hill exchanged amused glances and sat themselves at the table, taking up space that would have comfortably held six men. Bella and I followed their lead and sat gingerly, directly across from them.

Hill kicked us off. “Why are we here today?” He peered at Bella. “You mentioned that you were confused by the content of the cease and desist?”

I cleared my throat, even though I didn’t need to. My voice was fake-shaky when I spoke. “My client is confused because she designed and coded the product described in your letter. That intellectual property is hers to do with as she sees fit.”

The men exchanged another brief, charged look. They were excited, I realized. They’d been looking forward to this. None of Taggert’s other victims had pushed back in the slightest—which had been easy, but no fun. Theywantedto flaunt their power.

“Incorrect,” Hill boomed importantly. “That code is the property of SideDoor and created by Mr. Taggert himself.”

“S-so how did Ms. Bradley come into the possession of all of the source code and design documentation then?” I asked, working in a nervous stammer.

Hill made a disappointed clucking sound in the back of his throat. Taggert’s nostrils flared as he was barely able to suppress a smile. “She stole it from my client’s laptop while he was asleep.” He shook his head regretfully. “It appears to my client and myself that Ms. Bradley had sex with Mr. Taggert solely for this motive.”

His lizard eyes went from me to Bella. “It would appear that way to anyone, really.”

There it was: the threat of exposure. Bella couldn’t suppress a shudder. Taggert leaned forward, as if he wanted to get closer to her fear.

“Well,” I said cheerfully, dropping the nervous-Nellie act. “We’ll see about that in court, I suppose.”

Both men’s gazes shot straight to me. “What?” Taggert asked.

I frowned at them, my eyebrows drawing together. “Sorry. Should have said sooner. We’re petitioning the court for monetary relief and an injunction against SideDoor.”

I drew a sheaf of paperwork out of my laptop bag and tossed it at Hill. “An injunction?” Taggert asked me. “What does that mean?”

“Your attorney can explain it to you,” I said breezily.

Taggert whipped his gaze to Hill. “What is this?”

Hill shook his head quickly. “If granted, it would mean that SideDoor wouldn’t be allowed to use the product and possibly monetary damages would be granted to Ms. Bradley. But it’s nothing, Cole. A court would never grant a petition like this.” He added emphasis to his voice. “We have the copyright on the code, remember?”

Taggert’s shoulders relaxed. No doubt he was thinking of fraternity brother number three, ready to replace files at command. “Of course,” he said. The smugness returned to plump up his face as he gave Bella a condescending frown. “I copyrighted this product months before I even met you.”

Hill piled on, aiming smugness toward me. “This was clearly explained in the cease and desist, Ms.…ah.” He’d forgotten that he never got my full name. “Whatever. The copyright makes this case a non-starter.”

“We’ll see!” I chirped again, super cheerful. “I called my contact at the US Copyright Office last week and reported suspicion of copyright fraud, so they should have frozen the related application files immediately. The judge can take a look and weigh in.”

Taggert and Hill went still at the exact same time. It was comical to watch their whole bodies turn to stone. Next to me, Bella sat up straighter.

“So that’s the first thing,” I said, grabbing my Tom Ford suit jacket and sliding it on. I unclasped my ponytail and my waves of red hair curled professionally on my shoulders. My reading glasses went on my nose as I pulled a stack of files out of my bag.

“I’ll also be filing suit against SideDoor and Mr. Taggert on behalf of Manuel Valdez and Jorge Ayala, as well as Lucia Nowak and Trey Johnson.” I looked up at Hill and Taggert over the bridge of my glasses. “As you served each of them cease and desists, I assume you’re familiar with the products in question?”

Across the table, the men’s bodies remained still, but Taggert’s eyes jumped around wildly, from Bella to me to Hill.

More paperwork emerged from my bag. “The court may decide to consolidate the cases since the plaintiffs will be accusing Mr. Taggert of the same infringement. The details of each IP case are slightly different, of course, but the overall theme is identical.”

I thumped the ream of paper on the table loudly. Then I spoke even louder. “Theft. Of vulnerable people. That’s how I see it.”

I winked at Hill and mimicked his earlier threat. “It would appear that way to anyone, really.”

Taggert flushed, mottled and red.That’s right, baby, I wanted to coo at him.You try to come at us via the media, and I will have you fucking crucified in the press.He turned to his buddy and said something under his breath. I couldn’t hear the exact words in his growl, but the urgency was clear.

“What firm did you say you were from?” Hill asked, clearly stalling.

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