Chapter 76 - Trial

Jen wasn't kidding when she said that that lawyer that Lynch had was good. He at one point nearly had the entire case thrown out, but then Jen came swooping in and brought everything on track. Jen had told Devin that she had received death threats in the mail. Devin offered for Jen to stay in one of the few spare rooms that he had left at the house but she still refused saying she could take care of herself. Devin knew that she'd had to already have had the blood transfusion that made her She-Hulk, but this didn't mean that he still didn't worry as did Izabela.

Though as time progressed things weren't looking that great for Mr. Lynch and his chances at freedom. Jen had convinced several former school employees as well as numerous other people to testify against Lynch though some later redacted them, there was still enough that things weren't looking good.

In the mean time Devin had been making his own preparations. He wasn't gonna leave things up to the courts as things still had a chance to go south and Devin definitely wanted finality. All he had to do was wait for the right moment. That moment came sooner than anticipated.

Devin was walking up the steps to Jen's office in his suit as the next round of hearing was to be in session in roughly an hour. As he approached near where Jen's office was he could see two men standing next to a limo parked at the curb. One man stepped into the limo while the other looked back at Jen's office. Devin could see thanks to his enhanced sight that the man currently standing outside the limo was Lynch and he seemed to have a smirk on his face as he turned and entered the limo before it drove off. Devin watched it leave before walking into the building.

Knocking on the door that had Jen's name on it, Devin soon cracked the door open and peeked in to see Jen with her head propped in her hands looking at a folder on her desk. At the sound of the door opening, Jen lifted her gaze to see who was entering. Seeing Devin with only his head poked through brought a smile to her face.

"Hey you. What's happening?" Jen asked as Devin opened the door further and stepped in before closing the door behind him.

"Hey, not much though I think I should be asking you that. I saw Lynch and his lawyer getting into a limo on the way in. Is everything okay?" Devin asked as he took one of the two chairs in front of Jen's desk. Devin all of a sudden caught a whiff of something rancid mixed with the stale smell of body odor causing him to gag.

"You okay?" Jen asked as she walked over to a mini fridge in the corner and got a bottle of water before handing it to Devin.

"Yeah, though I can tell Lynch was here. There's only one person that can smell that bad." Devin said as he down half the bottle to repel the bile climbing his throat at the smell that lingered. A sigh from Jen spoke enough volumes that the smell isn't the only bad thing that was lingering.

"Lynch and his lawyer were here to make an offer." Jen said as she closed the file in front of her seat and set it to the side. This made a pit of dread drop into Devin's stomach.

"What kind of deal?" Devin said trying to keep the edge out of his voice as he clasped the arms of the padded leather chair just a little harder.

"In exchange for dropping the charges, Lynch will immediately resign as the principal of the school, he will be on house arrest for six months, and he will be donating ten thousand dollars to the Lost and Found Organization." Jen said said as she waited for Devin to explode. Devin knew things wouldn't be that easy even with the few witnesses that they had left. When Devin didn't blow up Jen really started to worry.

"Devin I'm not planning to take the deal even though the odds are turning once more." Jen said quickly to reassure Devin.

"Let me guess. More of the witnesses that testified have renounced their claims. Their using this as a chance to get away with a slap on the wrist instead of real consequences." Devin said as he sat back calm and collected even as his eyes betrayed his real emotions.

"We still have the evidence from Jones. That can get us more though we won't be able to get the full book thrown at him, a chapter is better than a page." Jen tried to reason and then joke to ease Devin's anger. All the while Devin was deciding to accelerate his plans for Lynch.

"Good to know. Well then I'll leave you to your work then. I'll talk to you later." Devin said as he stood and made for the door. The sound of his name caused Devin to pause with the door half way open.

"Devin, we'll get this guy." Jen said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself as much as Devin.

"I know we will Jen, I know we will." Devin said as he turned and smiled at Jen before stepping out and closing the door. As he walked down the hall Devin's smile disappeared only to be replaced by a savage grin.

'I just get the end results.' Devin thought as he stepped out onto the street.

***

At the final hearing, Lynch was mysteriously absent. His lawyer was seated, but Lynch was suspiciously M.I.A. from his seat. Soon the hearing was supposed to start but Lynch was still absent.

"Where is the defendant?" the judge asked as Lynch's lawyer stood up.

"We are still trying to locate him. He disappeared from his home last night and hasn't been seen since. I have some ȧssociates looking for him as we speak." the lawyer said.

"We will give him another hour and if he doesn't arrive then he will be held in contempt of court." the judge decreed as he banged his gavel twice before standing up and exiting.

Jen looked at the the defense lawyer as he looked at the empty seat of his client in concern. She then looks back at the back row of the court room to see Devin seated who then smiled and waved at her with a smile which she returned before shaking her head at the absurdity of her thoughts.

Soon the hour was up and still no Lynch to be seen. The judge decided that Lynch was to be held in contempt of court and that there will be a warrant issued for his arrest. At this declaration the court was dismissed.

***

Undisclosed Location

Areas of the walls could be seen to be pierced with rusted iron rebar and bȧrė wires hung from the ceiling. Some rooms were tagged with splashes of color from old graffiti. The figure took flights of rusted metal stairs downward into the depths and darkness. After arriving at one final door, the figure opened it to reveal another figure tied to a wooden chair with a dirty rag in their mouth. Walking over the figure grabbed the bound figure by the hair and yanked their head back to show the bound figure was the missing Mr. Lynch.

"What do you want? Why are you doing this?" Lynch whɨnėd as he sniffed from hours of crying. The figure's only response was to lean forward so that one terrifying feature could be seen in the light from the bȧrė, singular bulb that hung from the ceiling directly above where lynch sat bound.. The image of an evil looking, white skull.