AN HOUR later, Cooper Lamb and Veena Lion knocked on the front door of the Hughes estate and were met by a monster.
“You two need to leave right now,” Jimmy Tua said, practically growling the words. “Francine doesn’t want to see you.”
“She’s my client,” Cooper protested.
“Well, consider yourself fired. Goodbye.”
Tua slammed the front door in their faces. Tried to, anyway. Cooper threw out his palm and stopped the door a few inches from closing. Tua pushed. Cooper held firm, but he knew he couldn’t do this forever. Maybe not even for another few seconds.
Tua let up for a moment, but only to ask a couple of questions. “Are you insane? Or do you want to leave here with a broken arm?”
“Look, man, I know you mean well and you have the family’s best interests at heart. But the future of this family depends on us speaking with Francine right now.”
“Get the hell out of here.”
“We’re not leaving.”
“Now.”
Cooper turned to Veena. You want to give me a hand here? is what he started to say, but all he got out was “You want to” before Jimmy Tua launched an atomic bomb against the side of Cooper’s skull.
Actually, it was Jimmy’s fist. But the effect was the same.
Cooper’s conscious self lagged a few seconds behind his physical body, which was doing a clumsy tap dance down the Hugheses’ walkway. He couldn’t blame his legs. They were trying their best. But ultimately, their best wasn’t good enough.