Chapter 9 - The Court of Public Opinion
The next forty-eight hours were a whirlwind of legal maneuvers and media frenzy.
The news of Dominic’s "escape" and the subsequent shootout at my apartment had sent the city into a state of panic.
The headlines were screaming about a "judicial war" and "federal failure."
I was sequestered in a secure room at the federal building,
surrounded by agents and lawyers.
The journals had been processed,
and the fallout was catastrophic.
Six high-ranking officials had been arrested in the middle of the night.
Four more had fled the country.
The legal system was paralyzed,
half of its leadership suddenly under investigation.
I sat at the long conference table,
staring at the monitor.
Elena Vance,
the prosecutor,
was pacing the floor,
her phone glued to her ear.
"They’re moving to disqualify you,
Victoria,"
she said,
hanging up and looking at me.
"The defense is arguing that you used your position to conduct an illegal investigation.
They’re calling the wiretap a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
They’re saying you’re a rogue judge with a personal vendetta."
"I am a mother with a personal vendetta,"
I corrected her.
"But the warrant was legal.
The evidence was gathered through proper channels."
"It doesn't matter what the truth is,"
Elena said,
her face pale.
"It’s about the optics.
They’ve leaked the photos of you meeting with the informants.
The ones from Dominic’s safe.
They’re calling you 'The Gavel Vigilante' on every news outlet."
I looked at the screen.
There I was,
caught in the graininess of a telephoto lens,
handing a document to a man in a hooded sweatshirt.
Out of context,
it looked damning.
It looked like I was the one breaking the law.
"Where is he,
Elena?"
I asked.
"We don't know,"
she admitted.
"He’s vanished.
But his lawyers are everywhere.
They’ve filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against the department.
They’re trying to shut down the entire case based on your 'misconduct.'"
I stood up,
feeling a strange sense of calm.
The more they attacked me,
the more I realized how much they feared me.
If I were just a rogue judge,
they would have ignored me.
But I was the one person who knew exactly where all the bodies were buried.
"I want to go on the air,"
I said.
Elena blinked.
"What?"
"I want a press conference.
Now.
On the steps of the courthouse."
"Victoria,
that’s suicide,"
Thorne said,
walking into the room.
"The threat level is off the charts.
We can't protect you in the open."
"Then don't protect me,"
I said,
grabbing my robe from the chair.
"If Dominic wants me,
he’ll have to come and get me in front of the whole world.
I’m tired of hiding in shadows.
I’m a Judge of the United States.
It’s time I started acting like one."
I walked out of the room,
my heart pounding in my chest.
I could hear the agents scrambling behind me,
barking orders into their radios.
The elevator ride down felt like an eternity.
When the doors opened to the lobby,
I was met by a wall of cameras and shouting reporters.
I didn't stop.
I walked straight through them,
my eyes fixed on the front doors.
I stepped out onto the granite steps,
the wind whipping my hair across my face.
The sun was bright,
unforgivingly so.
I stood behind the podium,
the microphones clustered like a metallic bouquet.
The crowd went silent.
"My name is Victoria Sterling,"
I began,
my voice clear and resonant,
carrying across the square.
"For thirty years,
I have served the law.
I have seen the best of humanity,
and I have seen the worst.
But I have never seen a coward quite like Dominic Ward."
A murmur went through the crowd.
"He thinks he can hide behind lawyers and leaked photos.
He thinks he can intimidate me by attacking my home and threatening my daughter.
He is wrong."
I leaned into the microphone.
"To the people of this city:
The system isn't broken because of me.
It’s broken because men like Ward believe that everything has a price.
But I am here to tell you that justice is not for sale."
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a flash drive.
"On this drive are the digitized journals of Dominic Ward.
They contain the names of every person he has corrupted.
By the end of the hour,
this information will be released to every major news organization in the world."
I looked directly into the lens of the main camera.
"Dominic,
if you’re watching...
the game is over.
You can’t kill all of us.
And you certainly can't kill the truth."
As I turned to leave,
a single shot rang out.
The stone of the podium shattered inches from my hand.
Panic erupted.
People screamed and dove for cover.
Thorne tackled me to the ground,
covering me with his body.
"Sniper!"
someone yelled.
"North roof!"
But I wasn't afraid.
As I lay there on the cold stone,
I felt a sense of peace.
The secrets were out.
The fire had been lit.
May you like
And now,
all that was left was to watch the House of Ward burn.
