Chapter 14: Hurry Up and Wait

Having failed to drive away Nio by abusing the discovery process, CST tried a new tactic: delay. They failed to respond to Nio’s discovery, including taking depositions from Richard. Apparently they hoped Nio would run out of money before the case went to trial.

Dorothy, Jo, and Carlie developed a strong friendship and frequently visited together. Unconsciously, Dorothy was becoming a surrogate grandmother to Carlie, a relationship she never had with her actual grandparents in CST. Since she started school her progress was slow, but the girl was starting to talk again, and only sucked her thumb in bed.

One Monday night after 9, there was tremendous pounding on Jo’s apartment door. Jo knew this was trouble and refused to answer. Then the wall shook frightfully as they attempted to kick open the door without success. Frustrated, the two men stomped away, got in their car, and roared off.

Jo found Carlie at her bedroom window, which had a view of the parking lot. Although the curtains were closed, she had peeked out through the gap, unnoticed. In her hands was a note reading: “7ACF573.” “Carlie! Is this their license plate? Good job!”

Jo called Nio immediately. “Sorry to bother you at home, but we had another incident.” She explained what had happened and provided the plate number. Nio said, “Don’t worry, they won’t be back. And tonight’s stunt is going to backfire on them severely, you’ll see.”

In the morning Nio stopped by the DMV and verified that the car with that license plate was owned by CST. As advised by Nio, Jo filed a police report about the incident, pointing out the lawsuit underway against CST. Nio filed a restraining order against CST and its agents requiring them to stay 500 feet away from the Dawsons.

After that dust-up, things went back to the usual doldrums. The case was back to oozing through the courthouse at the usual pace.