The filing arrived at Treeline on a morning I was pulling shots with a man's laughter still in my ears.
Not a phone call. Not an email. A courier. Actual paper in an actual envelope delivered by a man in a suit who asked me to sign for receipt and handed me a document that had my name on it — not Catherine Voss, not Front Range Holdings, not Palisade. Lark Bridger, sole proprietor, Treeline Coffee, Union Station, Denver, Colorado.
I read it behind the counter while Wen handled the line. The filing was a petition — Denver District Court, Civil Division. Victor Mares, counsel for the petitioning coalition. The petition requested an emergency injunction against Treeline Coffee's continued operation pending resolution of a civil investigation into the beneficial relationship between the business and Palisade's commercial holdings in the Union Station corridor.
