A Legal Trap Ch. 01

"I will sign them both," said Cathy with a reluctance in her voice.

"Perfect. Now that we have your decision, we must document the entire signing process. I don't want you going to the court claiming you signed everything under duress. For that we need credible witnesses. Any lawyer can tarnish the credibility of any witness directly/indirectly associated with Frank. Come out guys, it's time now," said Carter calling for the witnesses.

Cathy turned and saw Liam walk out of the bedroom first. His face brought the emotional turmoil in Cathy. She was angry and sad at the same time. The betrayal was unexpected and hurtful. Behind him she saw Joanna Silver, Timothy Rivers and Patrick Long.

Joanna and Timothy were both Assistant District Attorney in Major Crimes Unit (MCU) which came under Cathy as she was Chief Deputy District Attorney reporting directly to James. Patrick Long was in Homicide Unit which was a sub-department of MCU. He reported to Joanna. All three had way more experience than Cathy. Everyone knew that she got rapid promotions because of her father's influence. They expected Joanna to get the position as she was the most deserving person.

Cathy tried to hide her nudity when she saw her work colleagues walk into the living room.

"There's no need for hiding, Cathy. We've already seen the real you. Keep your hands behind your back," said Joanna. Cathy reluctantly followed her order.

"So, you are the moles James was searching. You sold your soul to the devil. Why?" asked Cathy.

"Why? Because the world isn't fair. We worked our asses off every day for years but got nothing in return. You came with a golden spoon and took everything I deserved. That was the breaking point. If I can't have a growing professional career at least I can make some money for my retirement. I know after James leaves the office for his political ambitions; your father will turn some tables to give you, his position. He has too much influence. Winning a DA's election is a fucking goddamn joke," said Joanna.

"You should have told me. I would have stepped down from the position," said Cathy.

"Oh perfect. That's all I needed right? Your pity. I don't need your leftovers. I can carve my own path," replied Joanna with her anger clear in her response.

"Okay guys, let's not waste time here over past grudges. We'll have enough time to sort those things out. First, we should get these things finished," interrupted Carter.

Cathy looked towards the legal contract in her hands and pretended to read it to avoid her work colleagues. Some of the wordings alarmed her which Carter had casually skipped from his summary. And to make matters worse, on the last page she read:

I, Catherine Goldman acknowledge that I've read and understood the contract in its entirety. By signing below, I waive off my right to take any legal action against any parties involved in this contract for reasons including but not limited to blackmail, sexual crimes, prostitution, slavery, financial fraud, illegal imprisonment, violence (sexual or otherwise) or any other related laws.

She looked up towards Carter and said, "even if I sign this contract, it can't be legal under any court of law. Slavery of any kind is illegal, and you can't enforce any contract that's illegal."

"You see that's why she gets promoted and not you all dummies," said Carter to Joanna and Timothy in an exaggerated sarcastic tone.

"Yes, I think you're right, Carter. She opened our eyes. How could we miss that?" replied Joanna matching his level of sarcasm.

"Let's get real now. It can't be enforced. Which means we can't sue you if you want to quit and not follow the contract, but you already know we don't need to sue you. This contract is meant for only one reason. You can't sue us either. Entire verbiage of this contract is such that everything we will do to you is consensual. It's your sexual kinks that we're all fulfilling and you're waiving your rights to sue us if you change your mind in a later date," replied Carter.

"Do you understand now? You dumb bimbo. Or do we need to dumb it down to your level of understanding?" said Joanna in her extremely condescending tone.

"I don't believe her. She would later claim that we somehow forced her to sign this document and attempt to make it void," said Patrick.

"That's a fair point. We need to document entire thing in a video. Go out, grab your clothes, get dressed and come back," ordered Carter.

Cathy stood up and went towards the door to grab her clothes.

"Why does she need to be dressed for this?" asked Sammy.

"Because we're video documenting her and it doesn't help our cause if she's naked in it. She can claim that she was scared because we forced her of her dignity and other bullshit. Don't worry, once we're done with the legal protection shit, you'll have plenty of time to play with her," replied Carter.

Cathy returned, now completely dressed. She had a white full-sleeved turtleneck top with blue jeans and black leather boots. Her daily casual wears were always conservative. The clothes were body-fit showing all her body curves. Her extreme fitness gave her confidence to pull off such clothes.

"Liam, boy fetch a nice chair for her please. We wouldn't want her uncomfortable while she reads the contract," said Frank.

Liam dragged an empty sofa chair and brought it towards the center. He tried everything to avoid eye contact with her. This was brutal for him as well and he didn't want her to know.

Carter pushed the center table in front of her and placed the document on top of it.

"Now here's how it's going to happen. Jamal here is our cameraman. You will tell your full name, father's full name, age and convince the camera that you have some specific and dark sexual kinks that your husband can't fulfill. Because of which you looked outside. While working on Frank's case you realized it's a perfect chance to reach out to him to fulfill that itch. I guess you got the idea. Then you'll read every word of the contracts in front of you and acknowledge verbally that you understood everything and sign. Easy," explained Carter.

"I don't think this dumb bitch have the capacity to do it in one take. Let's see how she does otherwise I'll write a script for her," said Joanna trying to tease and humiliate her.

It worked. In her emotional roller coaster, she couldn't think straight. But listening to Joanna attacking her intelligence began to hurt her feelings. Any rational person would say it was the least offensive thing happening to her now, but her brain wasn't thinking rationally. She needed to prove Joanna wrong.

"I understand," she said.

Jamal walked in front of her and pointed the professional camera right on front of her face. Once he was satisfied with the quality of video, he gave her a thumbs up.

Cathy looked directly into the camera and began, "Hi. My name is Catherine Goldman, daughter of Johnathan Goldman Sr. I'm married to Trevor Johansson. I'm 28 and will turn 29 in few months. I was raised in a strict Catholic environment. After my marriage, I felt hollow and dissatisfied. It all changed when I realized I had very specific sexual kinks that my husband couldn't fulfill."

She took a deep breath and continued, "some of my core kinks are non-consensual, blackmail, humiliation, forced and violent sex. I still feel that I need to explore my other kinks that I haven't explored yet. This became challenging considering I had no contact who can help me fulfill my dark desires. And then James assigned me to work on Frank's case."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, I'm Harvard Law graduate and a bar certified lawyer in five states. Currently I work as a Chief Deputy District Attorney under our current District Attorney James. Basically, it means I understand law and legal contracts in and out. Back to the subject of my dark sexual desires."

"One night at home while masturbating I thought about reaching out to Frank. I gathered enough courage and explained everything to him. He was a gentleman the entire time and listened everything patiently. Later he reached out to me and accepted to help me out. But his lawyers were worried that I could use this opportunity to trap him and throw him behind bars under false charges. Hence, we agreed to sign few legal contracts waiving my rights to take legal action against him in case I change my mind later."

"It's only fair to him. He and his men are being pure gentlemen here to help me with my deepest, darkest and twisted sexual needs. They should never be punished for something that I asked them to do to me. Everything they do to me will be hundred percent consensual and they have my full permission. I will read these contracts verbatim and acknowledge my agreement on record."

Her confident role switch surprised everyone including Joanna. She never imagined that Cathy would be capable to such a great monologue.

Cathy began reading the first contract. It wasn't the first legal contract she was reading. She switched to lawyer mode while reading extremely complicated and vague legal terms.

"... and that's it. I've read and understood every word in this contract. Even though I'm a licensed lawyer, Frank's lawyer had also explained the terms of the contract to me prior to recording this. And I'm signing this contract. It's really exciting. My life will change forever and for the best."

"Why didn't someone give her an Oscar for such an amazing performance," thought Carter as he saw her signing the first contract.

"Also, to make it more legitimate we've decided to bring four credible witnesses for this contract. I reached out to my work colleagues and asked for their help to witness everything. Now they'll all sign the contract as witnesses," said Cathy.

All four signed the first contract, one at a time. Liam was surprised by her performance but felt terrible for trapping her in such situation.

"Now, Frank and Samuel will sign the contract as the second party involved in the contract," said Cathy.

Both father and son signed the contract with a smirk on their faces. She repeated the same sequence for the second contract as well. Everyone involved signed the contract.

Carter collected the original and said, "I'll store the original in my vault and provide the copies to everyone for their reference."

Jamal stopped the recording at this point.

"Are we done?" asked Frank.

"Yes, we're done," replied Carter.

"I have one question. Why me? If you didn't need help with the case, then why do this to me?" asked Cathy.

"Manners. A spoilt brat needs to be taught how to respect everyone. During the deposition, you called me A DEVIL on earth. Now the devil possessed you. How does it feel?" replied Frank.

"That's it? You're ruining my entire life because I called you a devil?" asked Cathy.

"For you, it must be a small thing. But for me, I had to work my entire life earning respect from everyone. Respect is everything for me. So yes, you're in this predicament because of that small incident," replied Frank. He turned to Sammy and continued, "she's your toy now. Play with her and enjoy. Don't break her too soon though, it'll be disappointing."

"Don't worry dad. Liam trained her to be a slut, I'll train her to be a whore. My trainings are several times more difficult than Liam's," said Sammy with excitement in his voice. He reached back to his teenage days when he got a toy that he desperately wanted.

"And we'll make sure she follows your training regime while at work," said Joanna.

"Perfect. Let's leave now and give her some rest. I'll send her my rules tomorrow. But training begins from Monday," said Sammy. Everyone stood up and began leaving the apartment.

Cathy continued to pinch her arm hoping to wake up from this nightmare but couldn't. It wasn't a nightmare. It was reality.

Once everyone left, Cathy turned towards Liam with tears flowing from her eyes and said, "congratulations, you crushed my heart. I learned a valuable lesson that my father always taught me, but I ignored in your case. Never trust anyone more than yourself. I won't make the same mistake again. You can celebrate your victory now. I was emotionally dumb, and you successfully tricked me. But my day will come, soon. And I would never forgive you for this."

She stood up and turned to leave. As she opened the door, "when that day comes, don't hesitate," said Liam, trying to hold his tears.

Cathy silently closed the door and left.

****************************

Unknown Location - Golf Driving Range

Frank walked inside the private Golf driving range. The entire range was empty. He had travelled to this unknown location in a private jet, blindfolded. His instructions were clear. He must come alone. He had no idea where he was.

Few feet ahead, he saw few men standing. There was a young man practicing his shots while others stood around him. He could tell they were his bodyguards. "He must be the man I'm here for," he thought and continued walking towards them.

"Stop," yelled one man and ran towards him. He was like a bodybuilder.

Frank stopped. The man reached up to him and began frisking him thoroughly. Once satisfied, he said, "you may go now."

The man made his shot and held the position for few seconds admiring his own shot. "What's the distance?" he asked to the man standing behind him.

"262 yards. That was a nice shot," said the other man.

"Nah. Give me the other driver. I'll try that one."

Frank patiently waited for him to make another shot. "This one look better. What's the distance, now?" asked the man again.

"301 yards. You're hitting in the professional distance."

"I can do better. But this driver is much better." He gave the driver to the man standing behind him and turned towards Frank. "How was your flight?"

"It was good. I'm Frank." He brought his hand forward to shake his hand.

"No need for formalities or introductions. You're here that means I already know who you are. And you don't need to know who I am," said the man.

"Fair enough," said Frank. He thought that this man must be in his mid to late thirties.

"I'll keep it short. I heard you need a court case to go away. We can do that easily, but I don't do favors for free," said the man and waited for Frank to respond.

"I wouldn't want that either," said Frank.

"Good. Then I'll give you a job. It must be done discretely and there are no second attempts. If you fail, then fucking that lawyer won't help your case. I'll make sure you sit on that electric chair."

Frank took a deep sigh of relief and said, "what's the job?"

"I want you to kill someone, but it must look like an accident. If you fail in either one, then you failed at your job. Succeed and I'll get rid of your court case in a couple of days," said the man.

"I can do that. Who's the unlucky person?" asked Frank.

"Before that, it must be done by you personally. Don't involve anyone inside your gang. This secret dies with you. Don't tell about it to anyone not even your son. Unless you don't want to see your son alive again."

This created problems for him. Frank hadn't killed anyone in years. But he could still do it. "Understood," said Frank.

"Perfect. Your target is Johnathan Goldman," said the man.

"What? Is this a joke?" asked Frank.

"No. It's not a joke. Can you, do it?"

"It's almost impossible to reach to John let alone kill him. To make matters worse I must make it look like an accident. I don't think any gang member can do it," said Frank.

"What did you expect when you came here? I would give an easy job to you. If I needed to get rid of some nobody, then I don't need you for it. If my men kill him, it will become a giant political problem for me. He knows about all my men. You on the other hand, have no legitimate reason to kill him. Find your balls and get rid of him," said the man.

Frank thought about it for couple of minutes and then replied, "okay, I'll do it. It might take some time as I would need a lot more planning."

"You have all the time you need. After all your court case would only go away after you have finished your job," replied the man with a smile on his face.

"You bastard," thought Frank. The job was near impossible, and he expects him to finish it before the trial begins. "I'll try my best," responded Frank and turned to leave the driving range.

"And remember, we never met. Also, if you fail, it was your idea. I would hate if something happened to your innocent son," said the man as Frank was walking away.

"Of course," replied Frank and walked away. It was an open threat and there wasn't anything Frank could have done about it.

"I thought you wanted to keep John alive, Jeff?" asked Peter. Peter had been Jeff's right-hand man since the beginning of everything.

"Yes," replied Jeff.

"Then what changed now?" asked Peter.

"He had always been a threat to Dad's position but there was no motivation to get rid of him, yet. But then he began plotting against us."

"So, now you want him dead?"

"No."

"I don't understand," said Peter.

"Do you really think this idiot can kill Johnathan Goldman?" said Jeff as he prepared to take another shot.

"I don't understand one thing though. Why Frank?" asked Peter.

"Because he's brave, stupid and desperate. He knows about John but still he had the courage to trap his daughter. The risk he took was unbelievable. The moment John knows about it, his entire family will disappear from the face of this planet. It didn't stop him to pursue his plans. Other thing, he has everything on John's daughter. After he's gone, I'll have full control of poor Cathy. Leverage Peter. Leverage."

"But why are you sending him on a suicide mission?" asked Peter.

"Five steps ahead. Always remember, plan five steps ahead. Don't ruin the surprise and let all the pieces fall in its place."

Jeff took another shot. "What's the distance?"

"Unbelievable. 311 yards," replied Peter.

"Rest in peace, Frank." Jeff turned and gave the driver to Peter. "That's enough for the day," he said.

****************************

Author's End Notes: It took several months to draft the characters, their traits, personalities, strengths and weaknesses along with the story's flow. Even though the story is intentionally over the top, the characters had complexities in them. This was an experimental story to see if readers in this platform enjoy such format or not. Based on the response, I'll plan if I should continue this series or not.

My vision for this series is to have a complicated erotic crime saga. It's too much work to do justice to such story format.