“What are your chances in open court?” I asked him.
Max shrugged. “Very difficult to say, even though Mr. Inverno’s approaches are limited. It depends on a number of things, mostly the judge. Knowing what I know right now, I’d call it a coin toss.”
Maya folded her arms across her stomach. “I hate this. I had a quiet life. I just want that again.”
I grimaced. “I’m sorry.”
“Now, dear,” Max said, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. “Everyone prefers to avoid conflict—well, almost everyone. This miserable ass is giving you grief I think you don’t deserve. But there is every chance that I can force him to leave you in peace and separate you from him completely. He’s… not really giving you very much choice here. Either you give up everything you have built—or you fight him.”
Maya met his eyes uncertainly.
“You don’t have to choose right now,” Max said softly. “But you do need to commit to a choice. Either fight him or fold your business and leave him nothing to sue.”
“I can’t just give up,” she said, after only a second’s hesitation. “There are too many people who rely on Sunflower.”
“Then you want to fight?” Max pressed.
“I want to fight,” she said.
He patted her hand and nodded firmly. “Good woman. I can’t promise you victory. I can promise you that we’ll make them work if they want to win.”
“For Tripp, that would be a first,” she said, and gave Max a wan smile. “Even with all of us working together, we really don’t have a lot of money to pay you with.”
“We’ll figure that out,” I put in.
Max glanced at me and nodded. “Indeed, we will, Maya. Indeed, we will.”
“Max,” I said, squinting at the lowering sun. “I wonder if you’d be willing to take Maya home?”
“Of course,” the old lawyer said. “What are you going to be doing?”
“I’m going to try one more time to talk to Tripp Gregory,” I said.
“What for?” Maya said with distaste.
Max lifted skeptical silver brows. “I might ask the same question.”
“Found out some things about him,” I said. “Maybe I can get him to listen to reason.”
Maya snorted softly.
“Worth a try,” I said. “Otherwise, it’s months of legal conflict. And you might lose.”
“Well,” she said, without much hope, “Good luck.”
“Indeed,” Max added. “Ms. Maya,” the little lawyer added, offering his arm gallantly.
She smiled down at him and took it, and he walked her off toward his old truck, parked further down the block.
I leaned against the fender of the Munstermobile, turned enough to be able to see the door to Talvi’s office, and waited.
Chapter Thirteen
It didn’t take Tripp Gregory long to wear out his welcome with Inverno and Lapland. Twenty minutes later, Lapland opened the door, and the jerk walked out, making sure to brush his full body against the pretty woman as he did.
She gave him a look full of more venom than a cobra convention, and stalked away to the office’s interior, letting the door swing closed on its own.
He swung out onto the sidewalk with a confident stride and had walked most of the way to me before he noticed that I was lurking there in the lengthening shadows of the evening, tall and dark and threatening in my duster. I beamed at him.