Chapter 13
The courtroom on the third floor of Harbor County Courthouse was smaller than I expected. Fluorescent lights, gray carpet, wooden benches that smelled like old polish. I sat at the petitioner's table beside Heller and Cho, my hands folded around a paper cup of water. My coat was Mara's, too big in the shoulders, and it hid how much my hands shook.
Judge Nolan came in at nine sharp. She was in her fifties, hair pulled back, reading glasses low on her nose. She didn't look up right away. She read the TRO file, the police report, the forensic summary Park had filed at 7 a.m.
Richard sat at the other table with Keller. He wore a navy suit, white shirt, no tie. He'd shaved clean. When he saw me, he tried a small nod, like we were still people who nodded to each other. I didn't nod back.
Heller stood first. "Your Honor, we ask the court extend the emergency order freezing any transfer of shares in Marin Foundation Holdings and associated entities pending resolution of the criminal matter and a full civil hearing. The shares vest to petitioner under original operating agreement. Respondent is under imminent felony filing for attempted homicide with financial motive."
Keller stood. "Your Honor, my client denies all criminal allegations. This is a marital dispute being weaponized. No shares have been transferred. My client has complied with the TRO."
Judge Nolan looked at me then. "Ms. Hart, do you understand the relief requested?"
I stood. My legs felt tight. "Yes," I said. "I am asking the court keep my shares from vesting to my husband before trial. He told me what would happen to them if something happened to me while I was falling."
She asked me to say what happened in my own words. I kept it to what I knew. The helicopter charter Richard booked, the door open over the water, his hand on my back. The words I heard. "He said, 'I'm sorry, Amelia.' I said, 'Richard, our baby!' Then he said, 'You should have trusted me with everything. You really thought I didn't know? What happens to your shares if something happens to you?' I had a parachute harness on under my coat. I pulled it after I fell. A fishing boat pulled me out."
Heller entered the exhibits: the harness receipt, the recorder, the pilot statement from Ellis Tran, the draft amendment from the county clerk stamped copy, the denied insurance increase.
Keller objected to the recorder. Judge Nolan allowed it as supporting the temporary relief standard, not as a criminal admission.
She ruled at 10:15. Her voice was even. "The court finds good cause for continued risk of irreparable financial harm and potential dissipation. The temporary restraining order is extended as a preliminary injunction for ninety days. No shares, interests, or voting rights shall transfer. No new insurance shall issue on petitioner. Respondent shall have no contact except through counsel, and shall retrieve personal items only with deputy escort at a time set by petitioner."
The words landed slowly. Ninety days. I breathed for the first time since I'd stood up.
Outside in the hallway, Deputy Marris waited with a clipboard. "He's not to approach you," he said. "If he does, you call."
Richard came out with Keller. He stopped six feet away. He looked at my stomach before he looked at my face.
"Amelia," he said. "This isn't—"
Keller touched his arm. "Not here."
Richard's mouth tightened. He turned away. The elevator doors closed on him, and I watched the numbers go down.
May you like
Heller squeezed my shoulder. "You did it. Now the DA does the rest."
We walked past the clerk's window on the way out. The ocean was visible between buildings, flat and bright. For fourteen days I'd measured time in filings. Now I measured it in court dates I could actually make.
