Out of the Dark

The Enemy of an Enemy is a Friend (Danny)

Our first hearing went well. Louise was brought to courtroom on a wheelchair. Though I miss her bouncing butt, I'm much happier to see her happy. Loving this woman has changed my life completely. Roberto placed some vital facts in front of the judge, pointing out Schmitten's wife committing suicide, followed by his daughter, in the same year and Schmitten's immoral lifestyle, ruining his business relations with most of his alliances and clients. Luckily, the summon was in the name of Alarie Corp and not particularly Schmitten or Lucas. Schmitten attended the hearing alone, with a few of his bodyguards. Lucas was absent. That was a great advantage for us. He even mentioned about the abduction and our encounter. He didn't mention the secret meeting we underwent with Julian to collaborate with Alaries. Roberto knew his job well. Schmitten looked quite disturbed after the first hearing. He looked like he would do something stupid giving us new cues to act upon.

I made a visit on Lucas in Marseille, the next day of our hearing. At first, he was furious at me and pointed his gun at me. But, I tried to bargain with him and he was ready to listen. I asked him to visit Normandy, this weekend and attend a meeting with Julian. He was surprised and wanted to know everything there, but I put him to suspense and told him to trust me this one time. To ensure his arrival at the dock, I called up Julian afterwards and told him about the plan. I recorded everything we talked over call. Here's the recording:

[Danny] Hey, buddy. We had our first hearing, yesterday and our lawyer didn't mention anything about you.

[Julian] Thank you for that! I really appreciate that, because I don't need any trouble. My dad isn't well enough to handle any stress regarding business. Had I known Louise was alive, I wouldn't have accepted Lucas's offer.

[Danny] We won't mention your name in this case, as promised and you would continue to get all the services, you're provided now by Gabriel. Instead, we need one small help from you.

[Julian] Apart from providing the smuggle records of Lucas?

[Danny] Yes.

[Julian] Okay. Go on.

[Danny] You see, there's already a drift between the Alarie father and son on the context of business. I want to widen this gap, on moral grounds, to ensure the flawlessness of our case. Schmitten have been trying to twist statements and evidences and the least we want is Lucas to ally with him. So, I want you to convince Lucas into believing that he is not being blamed of anything. It's just his father against Louise. Right now, just call him after we end talking and invite to our meeting this weekend. Would that be okay?

[Julian] That is good. I will call him up and tell that we need to discuss something urgent. Something of his interest.

[Danny] Thanks buddy. Louise wasn't wrong, when she told about your helpful nature.

[Julian] How's she holding up? I hope there is nothing serious about her health.

[Danny] She has second degree burns all the way up her thighs and a hair-line fracture on her right index finger. Minor scrapings from the explosion on her elbows and knees, which seem to heal fast. No radioactive exposure. She seemed to have fainted out of fatigue after the explosion.

[Julian] Poor girl!

[Danny] She's the one setting off the explosion! She's one hell of a fighter, dude!

[Julian] Really? Tell me what had happened.

[Danny] This encounter should remain a secret. We should not discuss this in front of Lucas, because looks like he isn't aware of our encounter.

[Julian] Don't worry, you have my word. I asked out of curiosity.

[Danny] Schmitten abducted me and wanted to scare me into negotiating to, maybe, withdraw this case. I was unarmed and stripped of all my clothes. I had to kill one of their men to cover and arm myself. After Schmitten arrived and we had a twisted version of the truth about the Robillard murder scene, he opened firing on me. Gabriel and Louise broke in with other snipers and tried to get me out of the place. When she saw there was bloodshed on both sides and she couldn't find a way out, she provoked Schmitten into turning his men after her and trapped them inside the fuel reserve chamber of the factory. A grenade and the explosion.