The plane touched down in Florida and, the moment the terminal doors opened, a wall of hot, humid air hit them in the face like a wet towel.
"Welcome to the sauna..." Lief muttered, feeling his shirt starting to stick to his back as he loaded the suitcases into the trunk of the Ford sedan they had just rented.
"Stop complaining, Assistant," Sarah ordered, adjusting her large sunglasses.
She was wearing an impeccable tailored suit that screamed "business" and clashed violently with the Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops of the tourists surrounding them, "Hurry up. We have to see the client before the hearing."
Lief rolled his eyes, but slid behind the wheel without replying.
That title of "Assistant" had been his mother's running joke throughout the flight, and Lief was starting to confirm his theory: his status in the family had hit rock bottom.
The car started up, driving along palm-lined avenues swaying under a sun so bright it seemed almost unreal.
However, despite the holiday postcard passing by the windows, Lief's mood darkened with every mile.
A feeling of unease settled in his stomach at the thought of what they would find upon arrival.
Following the directions, they entered a standard middle-class community.
They stopped in front of a two-story property painted beige, with a perfectly trimmed lawn.
Lief turned off the engine and they both got out.
The door opened before they could ring the doorbell.
A middle-aged man appeared, his face gaunt, with deep shadows under his eyes and the grayish skin of someone who has not slept in weeks.
It was Mr. Rhodes, Barbara's father.
Upon seeing Sarah, the despair in his eyes was replaced by an intense and painful glimmer of hope.
"Attorney Connor... thank God you've arrived," he said, shaking Sarah's hand with excessive force, clinging to her like a castaway to a plank.
They entered the house.
The air conditioning was on, but the atmosphere felt suffocating for a different reason.
In the living room, Mrs. Rhodes was sitting in an armchair, staring blankly at a picture frame she held in her lap, crying in absolute and heartbreaking silence.
And on the main sofa, there she was.
Barbara.
She was a thin girl with very blue eyes, barely fifteen years old.
She was curled up with her knees against her chest and her face buried in her arms, trying to make herself as small as possible.
Feeling the weight, Lief stopped near the entrance.
There were no demons here, nor curses, nor ghosts.
What he felt was simply pure human suffering.
The fear, the girl's shame, mixed with the helplessness and heartbreak of the parents, floated in the room like a toxic fog.
It was a sensation of invisible needles pricking the skin.
"Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes," Sarah said without wasting time on empty greetings or generic condolences.
Her calm and firm voice broke the funereal silence of the room, "I need you to tell me everything. Every detail, however insignificant or painful it may seem, can be the key I need to destroy that man."
Her professionalism made the couple find a pillar to lean on in her.
They began to speak, intermittently narrating the nightmare: the grades that mysteriously dropped, the "kind and concerned" teacher who offered free tutoring, the betrayed trust, and the horror of that afternoon.
During the whole account, Barbara did not make a single sound. She did not even lift her head.
Lief remained silent, watching the scene, and without drawing attention, he walked slowly until he was positioned near the sofa where Barbara was, but maintaining a respectful distance, and let his energy flow.
A golden light, imperceptible to everyone but powerful, began to emanate from him.
He did not try to "cure" the trauma all at once, that would be too suspicious and mentally intrusive, but rather acted like a radiator in winter.
He projected a wave of warmth, peace, and safety, trying to dispel the emotional cold that had the girl frozen.
The effect was subtle but immediate.
Barbara's shoulders, which had been tense and trembling, relaxed.
The suffocating atmosphere around her lightened, as if someone had opened a window to let fresh air in.
And she slowly lifted her head from her knees.
Her eyes, red and swollen, darted furtively toward Lief.
She did not understand what was happening.
She did not know who that boy was who just stood there with his hands in his pockets. But, for some reason she could not explain, his presence made the constant fear and the deafening noise in her head diminish, giving her for the first time in weeks a small moment of peace.
"That bastard... He stole my daughter's life!"
Barbara's father slammed his fist on the coffee table, making the coffee cups rattle.
"But the worst part isn't what he did... it's that everyone believes him. The school, the neighbors, even the damn police who came to take the statement. Everyone acts as if Barbara were a liar!"
"Kevin Lomax..."
Barbara's mother spat the name as if she had poison on her tongue.
"That devil's lawyer is a celebrity here. We haven't even reached the trial and he already took care of manipulating everything, he has turned the whole town to his side. We sought help at every local firm, but as soon as they heard who they had to go up against, they slammed the door in our faces. Attorney Connor, you are our... last and only hope."
"..."
Sarah listened to the venting without blinking, not letting emotion cloud her judgment.
"Calm down," she said, fixing her gaze on the couple to anchor them to reality. "The law is not a popularity contest nor a toy of public opinion. Gossip is not evidence. If it is a fact, we will find a way to prove it, no matter who the opposing lawyer is."
She paused briefly, softening her tone before dropping the bomb.
"But to do that, I need Barbara to be brave. I need her to take the stand and testify tomorrow."
"Testify?"
Barbara snapped her head up.
The little color that Lief had managed to bring back to her face disappeared instantly, leaving her white as paper.
"No... I can't!" She shrank against the back of the sofa, hugging herself. "I don't want to see him again! I don't want to be near him!"
Her emotions, which were barely held together by a thread, collapsed. She started hyperventilating, the terror in her eyes was absolute.
Sarah frowned slightly, concerned, and opened her mouth to insist, but a figure gently stepped into her field of vision.
Lief walked unhurriedly to the center of the room. Ignoring the tension, he crouched down in front of the sofa until he was squatting, lowering his height so as not to appear threatening and seeking the girl's eyes at the same level.
"Miss Barbara," he called her softly.
She did not respond immediately, but Lief's presence, charged with that strange invisible warmth, forced her to focus her gaze on him.
"You know something?" Lief held her gaze, transmitting reassurance. "There are certain types of monsters that feed exclusively on fear. The more you hide from them... the bigger and darker they seem. But I'll tell you a secret: most of the time, if you dare to look them in the eye with fury just once, you'll discover that they aren't invincible... They are just paper figures that burn with the first spark of truth."
"..."
Barbara, with tears still running down her cheeks, looked at him without understanding.
"The court isn't a bad place," continued Lief, using a bored tone, to downplay it. "Imagine it like... a slightly fancier school debate stage. My mother is the star debater, the one who deals the blows. I am her handsome assistant who carries the briefcases."
Lief sketched a crooked and charming smile.
"And you... you are our secret weapon. You don't need to fight, or scream, or convince anyone. You just need to sit there and speak your truth. That is all. The rest, destroying the bad guy, my mother takes care of."
As he said this, he winked at his mother conspiratorially.
Sarah brought a hand to her forehead, hiding a smile of resignation and pride.
Her son's method was unorthodox, mixing monster metaphors with shameless flirting, but she couldn't deny its effectiveness.
Barbara's crying stopped.
Perhaps it was Lief's relaxed tone, which made the nightmare seem manageable, or perhaps it was the absolute confidence his smile radiated, but she felt the knot in her throat loosen.
"Really...?"
"Of course," replied Lief snapping his fingers. "Trust me. And more importantly: trust my mother. She never loses."
...
The next day, in front of the Florida District Court.
The building stood like a white marble fortress under the scorching sun. Its Greco-Roman columns and the immense dome cast an elongated shadow over the staircase, designed specifically to make anyone who climbed those steps feel small and insignificant before the law.
Lief walked half a step behind his mother, clad in a black Italian-cut suit that fit him like a glove.
He held the leather briefcase with an upright posture, projecting the perfect image of an assistant.
Of course, that illusion was broken if one looked too closely at his eyes, which had the glassy sheen of someone who would prefer to be taking a three-day nap.
Sarah, on the other hand, advanced with the rhythm of a predator in its territory. Her heels clicked against the pavement with a rhythmic and authoritative sound, radiating that "queen of the court" aura.
Just as they were about to set foot on the first step of the entrance, a masculine and charismatic voice stopped them.
"Excuse me, are you Attorney Sarah Connor?"
Both stopped and turned their heads in unison.
A young man was approaching them with a brisk step.
Lief recognized him instantly... that face was unmistakable.
He appeared to be about twenty-seven years old, with dark hair cut short and combed neatly back, without a single strand out of place. His suit was dark, sober but evidently expensive, and it fit him with a perfection that screamed success.
But what stood out most was his expression: he had a modest, almost shy smile, but his dark eyes shone with a voracious intelligence and absolute assurance.
Kevin Lomax.
The Devil's supposed protégé.
Lief scanned the man before him without any attempt to hide it, looking for the rot.
He expected his senses to be assaulted by the stench of hell, by the echo of wailing, or by the vision of a black and twisted soul barely contained in a human suit.
However... there was nothing.
Lief blinked, confused.
What he perceived was a blindingly pure and powerful body.
It was a soul that burned, but not with hellfire, rather with the white flame of human ambition.
It was full of the desire for victory, of pride, and of an unshakable confidence in himself, but... there was no intrinsic evil.
There was no darkness.
He was as clean as a blank sheet of paper waiting to be written.
"I'm Kevin Lomax," the young man introduced himself, stopping at a respectful distance and extending his hand toward Sarah.
On his face was an admiration that was genuine. "Attorney Connor, it is a true honor. I have followed your career since I was in law school."
His handshake was firm, brief, and professional.
"I have studied your most famous cases," Kevin continued, with a fervent tone. "Especially your closing arguments in child protection cases. The way you dismantle hostile witnesses is, honestly, textbook material... I never imagined I would have the privilege of seeing you in action in person, let alone being on the opposite side of the aisle."
His attitude was impeccable, there was no arrogance, nor the hypocrisy typical of rival lawyers.
He looked like a fan meeting his idol.
Sarah, who was prepared for a hostile confrontation, was momentarily disconcerted by the young man's courtesy.
"You are very kind, Attorney Lomax," she replied, returning the handshake. "Although modesty doesn't fit with your reputation. Your record of 64 consecutive victories is a legend in Florida. I don't underestimate anyone who doesn't know what it is to lose."
Kevin laughed and shook his head, downplaying it.
"Compared to your career, my small achievements are just footnotes," he said, smiling radiantly. "You have always been the standard I aspire to reach, and today, I finally have the opportunity to learn from the best."
Then, his gaze shifted briefly toward Lief, he gave him a friendly nod, before taking a step back and moving out of the way, gesturing with his hand to invite them to pass first.
"See you inside, Attorney Connor. I hope we can offer the jury a debate worthy of remembering."
________
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