The Letter - Chapter 31

It had been just two days since I met with Joe McKay when I got a call from his secretary. 

“Mr. Leskovic?  Joe asked me to see if you could possibly meet with him this afternoon.  He told me it was urgent.  Could you make it here by 3:00 PM?”

I sent a text message to Jennifer to let her know I might not be home when she arrived after school.  Then I drove downtown and parked.  It was a ten minute walk to Joe’s office from the parking garage.  I was a little early, but Sheila escorted me right into Joe’s office.

“George, come in.  Have a seat.”  Joe seemed more tense this time. 

“Thanks, Joe.  So what’s up?  I thought we covered everything on Monday.”

Joe looked over his notes which were scrawled over several pages of a legal pad.  “George, this case seemed a little strange to me from the start.  I mean these things, like all legal matters, generally take some time.  And as far as I was concerned, time was on our side.  So, as I told you, my basic strategy was to go slow, hoping at a minimum to keep Jennifer with you through the rest of the school year.  Or at least long enough that it wouldn’t make any sense to make her transfer to a new school.”

“That makes absolute sense to me,” I said.

“But do you know what those bastards are doing?”  He leaned toward me across his desk.

“Tell me.”

Joe settled back into his chair and picked up his pen.  “Well, I called to try to reason with them on the sole custody issue.  I said it would be insane to pull Jennifer out of her high school this far into her senior year.  I told you that Sidney Lutz is Melissa’s lawyer?  He shut me right down.  Nothing would be better, he says, than for Jennifer to graduate at a renowned private school.  It would open up greater opportunities for her to attend a more prestigious university, get a better job, rub elbows with the high and mighty, establish connections that could benefit her for a lifetime, that sort of thing.  Well, I start to argue with him that the divorce itself was a huge trauma and tearing her away from her friends and  her loving father compounds the injury.”

“Okay.  I like your line of argument.”

“Yeah, well you’re not going to like this next part.  He says, ‘Look McKay.  Let’s stop dancing around here.  We’re preparing a motion to request an emergency order to get her away from your client.  We believe he’s causing her irreparable harm.’  I say what in the hell are you talking about?  My client has been both father and mother to this girl since your client walked away from her two years ago.  Then he drops the bomb.  ‘We think your client is abusing the girl.’”

I felt a pang in my chest.  “My God!  Where in the hell did they come up with that?  That’s crazy!”

“George, these guys play dirty.  I said to him, ‘Cut the crap, Sidney.  You’ve got no evidence.  I know George Leskovic, and he’d never do anything like that.’  And he says, ‘Are you so sure?  Maybe you’d better ask your client about it and whether he’d like to settle this quietly rather than risk his dirty laundry being aired in court.’  Joe tossed his pen onto the legal pad and leaned forward.  “So as much as this pains me George, as your lawyer, I need to ask you.  Is there anything to what they’re saying?”

“Joe, please.  I love my daughter.  I’d never do anything inappropriate to her.”

“Good.  That’s what I expected.  I know you’re a good man, George.  However, and here’s my second question.  Can you think of anything you might have done that could in any way be misconstrued and used against you here?”

“No.  Absolutely not.  All of our contact has always been totally appropriate in a father-daughter way.”

“Again, just as I expected.  Now here’s my third question.  If they persist in this tactic, it could get ugly for you.  You’re a writer.  You earn a little money from your craft.  Maybe you’re working on a novel that you think could be a hit.  Could even make it to the New York Times Best Seller List.  If this kind of ugliness gets out into the public, even if it’s not true, it could tarnish your reputation.  Make you kind of untouchable to publishers.”

“Joe, let’s fight this.  It’s stupid.  It’s crazy.  It’s simply untrue.”

“It could be ugly for Jennifer too.  Lots of embarrassing questions will be asked.  It could change your relationship.  I understand that you want to fight this, but let’s not decide anything today.  I want you to think about it.  Really think.  Because they can twist innocent actions and make them seem tawdry.”  Joe stood up.  “Sleep on it, George.  I’ll be tied up in court all day tomorrow.  Give me a call on Friday.”

“Okay, Joe.”  We shook hands.  “I just never thought she’d stoop this low.”

“It might not be her fault.  Richard’s firm is known to put winning ahead of everything else.  But you did say she was evil, right?”  He gave me a pat on the back.  “Call me Friday.”

I walked out of Joe’s office and Sheila met me with my hat and coat.  I took the elevator down to the lobby and started the walk back to the parking garage racking my brain for anything they might be able to use to back up their accusations.  It was another bitter cold February day, but I didn’t feel it through the heat of my anger.