Aztec Treasure
Escalation

Maria Meztli’s POV

Arrowhead Pack House

Thomas Kendall left after we met with the Sheriff’s Department detectives and the FBI. I gave my statement about the ATV takedown; it was straight self-defense, and Thomas stopped them from going elsewhere. Special Agent Allison Cook had more questions, and she was well-informed about the Pack and its activities. Lance told me she had been one of two agents assigned to watch Arrowhead from the inside when they got exposed to the world, and she was a good agent. I answered most of her questions, starting with my hiding out at the cabin through my time on the run. Thomas kept the interrogation on track; after all, I didn’t know anything about Club activities. Underage girls like me stayed in the Clubhouse area, never even getting in the conference room where business got done.

When they finished, Thomas went back to his office to get help. He worked at the big Duluth law firm of Dewey, DeWitt & Howe. Now that I was not a criminal suspect, I needed assistance from a civil litigator and an estate lawyer. Both were in-house and the latter covered by the retainer I’d given him earlier.

Why would I need more lawyers? Well, there was the matter of my parent’s estate. Neither parent got convicted of anything, but the DEA had seized their assets that rightfully belonged to me. They can seize assets obtained through criminal activities, but you have to have proof of that. Dad owned a legitimate business, and Mom worked too. Dad was too smart to mix his money like that. An estate lawyer could deal with everything and get me my inheritance back.

And then there was Maritza. As her only living relative, I needed to push through a formal adoption as soon as possible. The last thing I needed was the Government coming in to place her in foster care! Maritza was also entitled to her parent’s estate and other benefits. Thomas was right; I had to protect her rights because she couldn’t.

I also needed a civil litigation attorney because I was going to sue the US Government. After I recounted my time in Mexico, Thomas brought it up, and Lance showed him the drone footage and communications we’d obtained from the FBI server. You see, the CIA knew the compound was full of innocent women and children; you could even hear the drone pilot talking about it. The CIA team didn’t care; they wanted the Mexican Sons of Tezcatlipoca dead, and they didn’t want to leave it to the nearby Mexican military.

If that wasn’t enough, they knew some of the people were U.S. citizens. “You’ve got strong grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit over these extra-judicial deaths,” Thomas told me. “The Government may be able to justify killing drug dealers and violent gang members, but the footage is damning. They knew women and children were present, and they launched anyway. You lost family members, and Maritza lost her parents. The Administration can’t sweep this under the rug; it’s going to be a huge scandal for them.”

“Money can’t bring our parents back,” I’d said.

“No, but it can set the two of you up for life, and the lawsuit will push accountability,” he said. “My firm can represent you on a contingency basis; it won’t cost you anything, but we retain thirty percent of anything we recover. We’ll be seeking a significant settlement for each of you. It’s another reason to clarify your legal status with Maritza because you can sue on her behalf.”

I looked over at Lance. “What do you think?”

“The press will eat up you sitting in court with Maritza in your lap talking about how the CIA orphaned both of you. The bad publicity alone will scare the shit out of the government lawyers,” he said. “Mr. Kendall is right; it’s a no-lose situation that costs you nothing up-front. I would bet they would offer a big settlement in exchange for your silence.”

“Damn,” I said. “All right. I’m in.”

Thomas smiled. “I’ll meet with our team and bring them out here tomorrow to start the process. Dewey, DeWitt & Howe is going to fight for you, Maria.”

“Thank you.” He got escorted offsite while I remained in the room with Lance, soon joined by Alpha Chase. “Alpha?”

“Lance kept me informed,” Chase said before I could explain. “You have our backing. Spider Monkey already set aside funds for Maritza, just like she did for you.”

“You aren’t going to talk me out of suing the government because of your relationship with them?”

Chase shook his head, no. “All that stuff happened before you joined us, Maria. It’s your business, not ours. Honestly, it will work in our favor. People won’t stand for the CIA ‘disappearing’ people to secret prisons or assassinating innocent citizens. The fact that they are doing it to a Were species helps us, in a way.”

I hadn’t expected that. “Thank you,” I replied. “And thank you all for your welcome. It’s been a little overwhelming, but I like it here. You have good people in this Pack.”

“The best,” he said with a smile. “Now, it’s late, and Maritza is falling asleep on her feet in the pool.”

My eyes got wide. “I’ll go get Maritza right now! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to burden the nannies with her.”

Lance just laughed at that. “The ladies love Maritza just like they love the other babies in our Pack. Miracles, every one of them.” We went back to the pool, replaceing Maritza sleeping in the arms of one of the nannies. I picked her up and followed Lance back to our rooms in Beta Vic’s home. After all the excitement, both of us slept well that night.

The next day, Lance and I accompanied the patrol, and this time it was all quiet. It turned out that the attackers were local anti-were activists motivated by the reward money. Yes, they were dumb enough to send four middle-aged guys armed with hunting rifles against a Pack with warriors and dozens of trained snipers. The survivors were facing Federal attempted kidnapping charges, and since men died, that made it Felony Murder. As Lance said, they were idiots.

By dinnertime, all anyone could talk about was the breaking news about the CIA black prison in the Gulf of Mexico and the violent escape of Julio Salazar. I watched the coverage with mixed emotions. I was glad Julio was out of their clutches but worried about what he would do next. I’d seen him many times at our clubhouse or when visiting family; my father warned me not to be alone with him, ever. If he didn’t trust him, I wouldn’t either.

The television station was showing the family of the man who Julio killed to take his boat and truck. Pictures of the stolen truck, along with its license plate number, ran along the bottom of the screen. The Coast Guard had identified one of the bodies recovered as the CIA Deputy Director for Operations, and the CIA was now the center of a criminal investigation. Chase told me that Colletta was on her way to see the President about it and replace out how high the corruption went.

I tried not to let any of that affect me as I focused on meeting and fitting in with the people in my new home. I spent a lot of time in the pool area, which made Maritza happy. Jaguars LOVE water, and she didn’t want to leave the pool. She and the other children loved it when we were in our cat forms, but it made it difficult to communicate. I so wished I could have a Pack bond, but that wasn’t to happen.

One good thing about all this was there was no longer a need for me to have a new name or identification. Chase had gone public with my presence, and the CIA wasn’t a threat. It didn’t mean it was safe for me to leave without bodyguards, but it did allow me to transfer my school transcript to Minnesota and enroll in online classes. The Alphas wanted me to graduate in time to start college in the fall, and I agreed with them. I needed to move on with my life.

The lawyers came back shortly after news broke about Julio’s truck turning up at a church in Virginia. Vic and Lance were happy that he wasn’t coming our way, but Colletta was nervous. I signed the paperwork for guardianship of Maritza as her nearest living relative and started adoption proceedings. Spider Monkey spent a few hours with the lawyers preparing to file a civil case, providing them with all the information we had on the drone strike. If the Government failed to comply with a discovery proceeding, my lawyers would know. “When are we going to file,” I asked.

“Perhaps never,” the lead attorney said. “Mrs. Knightly’s information is highly classified, and we don’t want to tip our hand about how much we have. I have a meeting tomorrow with the Department of Justice; I’m confident they will make a generous offer to have this go away. If not, we file in Federal court next week with all the typical fanfare.”

“Fanfare?”

“Of course. We file the paperwork and include the lawsuit in a press release. Our filing lays out a lot of embarrassing information, which we back up with appearances on news shows. It would be helpful for you to consent to an interview, with a friendly reporter and appropriate controls, of course. The more publicity we get, the faster they will settle. With this hitting on the heels of the news about the black site prison, we’ll have them begging for mercy.” Wow. They’d thought it all out, but I didn’t want to be a celebrity. “What I need to know is the minimum amount you will accept in a settlement offer, before or after we file.”

I had no idea what 'significant' was. “What will your initial settlement offer be?”

“Fifty million.” My eyes got wide. FIFTY? Holy shit! “Each.”

That made my jaw drop. “Fifty for Maritza as well?”

“It seems like a nice round number,” he said. “I doubt if they will take it, which is why I need to know your floor on this.”

I had zero clues as to how this all would go. “What do you think is a good number? You’re in for thirty percent, after all. I know you’d go as high as you can.”

“Juries are a big variable, and the government can drag this out for years and years if they choose. We think we can get you twenty-five million each. For a floor, I’d recommend twenty. I’m confident we can get much more than that at trial if it goes that far.”

“Cash?”

“You have to pay taxes on it before you pay our fee, unfortunately. You’ll probably take home around five million each.”

Something didn’t sound right. “So let me get this straight. If you don’t even file the lawsuit and in one meeting get the Feds to settle for fifty million, you walk away with fifteen million of it, and Maritza and I split ten million after taxes. Does that seem right? Why shouldn’t I replace someone else who will do it on an hours-worked basis?” This was still my “free” consultation, so I hadn’t signed anything with the firm yet.

“It’s a standard services contract,” the lawyer said.

“It’s a gift of a case,” Lance interjected. “You just told her how easily you thought you could settle this in a week, but you’d still bend her over for thirty percent? Maybe she needs to look elsewhere.” I could see the panic on their faces. “I’m sure we can replace someone willing to negotiate a lower fee. After all, this isn’t a woman complaining about neck pain after an accident. Her case will never go to trial, and we both know it.”

I could see the lawyers starting to sweat; this case was worth millions to the firm, and the lawyers knew it. It was time for me to be firm. “Ten percent,” I told them. “It’s a hell of a payday for a weekend’s work. As Lance said, there are plenty of law firms who could take what Spider Monkey gift-wrapped for you and turn it into a big payday. Now, I’m going to check on my daughter. Why don’t you call the office and prepare a revision to the representation agreement; if you don’t like my terms, Lance will show you to the gate.” With that, I stood up and walked out.

I couldn’t get my clothes off and get into the pool fast enough. I was nervous I’d blown it, so as soon as I was sitting with the nannies, I asked one of them to check with Lance. “Girl, you are one tough negotiator,” she replied. “Lance said they are freaking out on the call with their office. The senior partners don’t want to lose the client, but they were already figuring out how to spend the windfall. They finally caved when the lead lawyer said that ‘five million next week beats zero all to hell.’ They are preparing the revised agreement now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Lance wants to know if he can have any of the millions of dollars he just saved you.”

I laughed, but he was right. To the lawyers, I was a teenager with a sob story. Lance was the one who made them sit up and realize I wasn’t going to let them bully me into a bad deal. “I’ll take care of him,” I promised.

I signed the deal, and the lawyers went to work.

The next evening, I was sitting in the pool snack bar when someone turned all the televisions to Fox News and turned up the volume. “FORMER CIA CHIEF ASSASSINATED,” the crawl read. “…one shot rang out, killing former CIA Director Peter Sinclair outside the law offices where he was meeting with his defense team. A source close to the investigation said the FBI has already located the murder weapon. It was a bolt-action sniper rifle in an empty office building five hundred yards away. More details as it becomes available.”

The pundits and the speculation began. There were two prevailing theories; it was either a revenge killing by Julio Salazar or deep-state intelligence agents taking out Sinclair to keep the truth from coming out. “What do you think happened, Maria?”

I looked over at Lance, then at Chase, who had Rori at his feet. “Five hundred yards is within Julio’s comfort range,” I said. “Dad said he once hit a prairie dog that far out, and they are the size of a squirrel. The CIA put him in that prison, so taking out the Deputy Director and the Director makes sense. Julio won’t believe they did so without the President giving them direction. He’ll take that personally, meaning the President is next on the list. Julio is dangerous as hell, and he won’t stop until you kill him.”

“Shit.” Chase said. “I better let Mom know.”