No More Mistakes

Chapter 42

Alice stormed into the student lounge and fell aggressively back into the couch, not bothering to greet Fred on the other side, and still raging from the phone call she had received at home earlier in the morning.

A call from FP's lawyer had woken her up early and rather it being positive news to put her racing mind and thoughts at ease, it was the complete opposite, not exactly the worst but certainly not the best news either.

"What's up with you?" A concerned Fred asks, placing his comic down onto the coffee table in front of them, earning an unimpressed glance from Alice as she shifted her head towards him.

He raised his hands in defence. "Sorry, stupid question." He admits before leaning back. "But you do seem angrier than usual? Hal giving you more shit?"

She clenched her eyes shut, deeply sighing in an attempt to calm down, as the very mention of that boys name filled her with rage.

Poking her tongue in cheek, she prepared to reveal the infuriating news she had received earlier that morning with him. "FP's plea hearing. It's been pushed back." She revealed in an exasperated tone.

"What?!" Fred's brows furrowed in confusion, he'd never heard of something so seemingly ridiculous. "That's, strangely convenient."

Alice scoffed furiously, shaking her head at the whole thing. "That fucking Caroline is probably sleeping with the judge." She spat as she kicked the table. "That family's always been shifty, I wouldn't be surprised if that's how she's got the judge in her pocket."

The sound of a pair of infamous heels entering the busy student lounge pulled the two of them out of their thoughts, well almost, as Alice was still sulking and refusing to look anywhere other than the wall she had held her gaze on in anger.

Hermione turned the corner of the couch, a wide smug smirk donning her beautiful face as she leaned her arm along the back. The smile remained until her eyes landed upon Alice.

"Okay, I'm sensing some strong tension here, what happened? Madonna push back her album date?" She jokes, trying to lighten the mood but her laugh slowly fading as Alice and her boyfriend remain unamused.

"FP's plea hearing got pushed back Hermione." Fred informs her, slinging his arm down in exasperation before sighing. He didn't know how much more of this he could take and he could only imagine how tough things were for Alice and especially FP. He was losing his best friend but Alice was losing the father of her child and the love of her life.

Hermione's small pink lips parted instantly, raising her perfectly plucked brow in confusion. "But that, doesn't just happen?" She didn't know the law all that well but she knew enough to know that something about this wasn't right. Her eyes land upon Alice once more, focusing on the blonde's defeated and exasperated look.

"Well with the info I've got, we may not have to deal with a plea hearing at all." She reveals, a humble yet smug smirk on her face as she pulls a folder out of her purse, confidently placing it onto the coffee table.

Alice fixed her eyes onto the binder, her brows furrowing in curiosity as she picked it up, revealing the photos inside and observing them, noticing the familiar woman in most of them, along with a police report and record that appeared to had been expunged.

"Is this-"

"Cassandra?" Hermione answers for her, nodding to confirm her speculation. "If you look past the nose job and married name, Cassandra Humphries as she was known as back then."

Fred was just as surprised as Alice was, taking another photo from her hand and observing it for himself. "Where did you get these?"

"She was an assistant at my horse riding academy back in Bedford. I just knew I recognised her from somewhere so I did some digging, and-" She takes the police from the folder, gleefully holding it up to their faces.

"She and her husband back then, Chad Humphries, used to steal horse tranquillisers and would sell them illegally in the city. They were arrested but were never charged, and rumour has it it was because her parents paid off the NYPD, and this here proves it." Hermione finally revealed, folding her arms against her chest with such pride as a wide grin graced her face.

It was very rare she dabbled in digging up dirt, she preferred to generally mind her own business and keep herself to herself but knowing that she potentially held information that could save her best friends life, she had to suspend those morals and do the right thing, despite the many wrongs that would occur.

"As much as I appreciate this juicy gossip, how exactly does this help FP?" Alice mildly snaps, not intending to be rude in anyway.

"What they did was illegal, and we have proof of it." Hermione explains rationally, but Alice still not following. "We can use this to blackmail them into dropping the charges against FP."

And that very revelation changed Alice's mood in an instant. She snapped her head up, glaring at Hermione with innocent eyes before her lips twitched into a mischievous grin. "I could fucking, kiss you right now." Alice gushes excitedly, the grin on her face increasing.

This was it. She finally had that family in her grasp. The Coopers were treading on thin ice, and they were about to learn what playing dirty truly meant.