Page 119 of Devil's Dilemma

“Exactly. Secondly, the FBI’s own guidelines for their agents say that no undercover activity involving an inducement to an individual to engage in crime shall be authorised unless the subject is engaging, has engaged or is likely to engage in illegal activity.”

Pyro raises his eyes at me.

“Of course,” Dad continues, “their guidelines also say that it is okay if the person is predisposed to engage in the contemplated illegal conduct, which could be their out.”

“Because she’s remained with the club.” Pyro’s quicker than me.

“Yes. Though we will counter that she discovered, as presumably Skull did himself, that the club is not involved in illegal activity. At the time Skull, presumably, believed that it was. Of course, there are exceptions. An innocent can be dragged in if it’s necessary to protect life or prevent other serious harm.”

“That’s not the case.”

“No, I don’t see how that argument could be offered up. Oh, they might try, but I think we’ll be able to refute it. They’d need to offer proof, but I doubt they could find any.”

“So that’s the legal ground? What about what happened to me?” It’s all well and good talking about whether I was potentially being dragged into a life of crime when other things are more important instead. “What about how it affected me mentally? I lost my baby.”

“Hush.” Pyro’s reached for my hand and is now squeezing it. “I don’t think your dad has finished.”

Dad’s eyes view me with a parent’s concern. “That, obviously, sweetheart, is the crux of the case. But first I have to use the lawyer speak to show Skull was acting wrongly. It’s the personal hurt and distress to you which was the damage caused. Now we look at how to measure it.” He pauses, again, and looks at some notes on his desk. “First, if Skull was doing this with the blessing of his handler, then I don’t doubt there will be written reports about you. The first thing I’ll do is demand we get copies of them. That will show how far the invasion of privacy went.”

“And if he didn’t involve his superiors?”

“The rest of our case stands and perhaps is strengthened. Secondly, there was the psychological torture when Skull disappeared. You had no clue he was still alive and went through the process of grieving.”

“Can we go back a step, Dad? Wasn’t it rape? The man I lived with was not who I thought he was.”

“No, beating a dead horse there. Obtaining sexual consent due to having a false identity is not a crime. And feds specifically give immunity from prosecution for their undercover agents for using a false identity. I think we’d waste time and would lose that point.” At my look of disbelief, he continues, “There’s precedent where cases of misrepresentation haven’t even reached the court. Think of the can of worms it would open, a man, or a woman, who portrayed himself as single, but was married—well, if there was a conviction of rape in those cases the prisons would soon be overfilled.”

“Skull was married.”

“Yes. But if that was the sole complaint, would you be reporting him for rape?”

I’d want to slap his face, scream, rant and rage, and accuse him of acting without my consent. Dad’s right. I would not. “So, what do we go on?” I’m not happy I can’t throw that charge at Skull, but Dad knows his stuff, and I’ll have to concede on that point.

“That he used you, an innocent civilian, for a purpose you were not aware of. That he left without a backward glance shows while he tricked you into what you thought was a permanent relationship, he had no such feelings for you. That he took responsibility for protecting you from pregnancy, that he failed in that and again, didn’t check to find out whether or not there were ramifications. There were, and then you lost the baby, possibly due to the stress. I know there’s no medical evidence to support that, but also none against it. If it goes in front of a jury, that’s something that could sway them.”

“I’ve got the DNA results back,” Pyro informs him. “I found Skull’s old toothbrush in the box of his belongings that someone packed up. I’ve sent both results to an expert Demon’s used in the past.”

Of course, we’ve no doubt Skull’s the father, but the court may have.

“So, we can prove whatever he says, it was his baby.”

Was. I blink rapidly to fight back the tears. My son’s true father might have been a bastard, but Pyro would have raised my son well and showed him the rights and wrongs of the world, which don’t include being a cheating liar.

I feel my hand being squeezed. Pyro showing his support yet again.

Dad drums his fingers on the desk. “The initial step is to file a claim with the FBI. They will either agree or dismiss it.”

“If they don’t agree we’ve got a case?”

“Then you can file a lawsuit against the agency and raise a civil suit against them in the United States District Court. Of course, they may not respond, in which case we can go straight to court. We might want to consider a Federal Tort Claim. Section 28 applies as you were injured by the wrongful or negligent act of a federal employee while he was carrying out his official duties.”

“Injured?” I query.

“In this case, mentally. We have to show that, of course. There’s no doubt Skull misused you and went against the FBI rules when he blatantly tried to corrupt you and involve you in, what he believed at the time, was an MC conducting illegal activities.”

Pyro’s eyes narrow. “I’ll need to take this back to the club, sounds like it’s going to involve us.”

Dad purses his lips. “I’ll need a statement, of course, that your club does not run illegal activities. The feds have ninety days from obtaining evidence to make charges against you. That time’s long past, so it’s safe to assume Skull has nothing. If they try to dispute that, we’ll point to Skull being pulled out of his assignment presumably with no results. Now that might seem contradictory, but at the time, there must have been justification for placing him in your club for such a long time.”

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