October Snow (36 page)

Jack and Steve Patch shook hands as they parted outside the courthouse. Just as the lawyer had promised, all that was needed was for Jack to pay some court costs, and stay clean for a year.

“Thanks, Steve.”

“My pleasure. Hey, you called Mickey Demares?”

“Yeah. I’m actually able to get in to see him later today. His office called me last night, said he had a cancellation.”

“That was quick. You’re lucky.”

“Well, your reference got me in, I’m sure.” Jack was getting weary of stroking legal egos; at that moment, he really wanted to go meet Wendy, the bartender from Roy’s Gentleman’s Lounge, for lunch–and then some much-needed attention.

“Good luck, Jack. Call if you need anything.”

He sighed in aggravated relief as Steven Patch drove away. The clock on the bank next door told him he had nearly an hour before he would meet Wendy. He went around the corner to one of the small cafes on Elm Street, looking forward to a good cup of coffee, and to making another anonymous call to Josie Kane.

Will wasn’t being at all reassuring, Dave thought, as he sat listening to what the future might hold for Samantha and the baby, if Jack were to find out about the pregnancy.

He absentmindedly held his water glass out for the waitress to refill, taking in every word, growing more discouraged by the minute. “You need to bottom-line me, Will. Your best advice.”

“Take it to your grave.”

“So Samantha’s right.”

“She is. Look, Dave, the FC is not the place you want this to end up. The best you’ll get there is a fifty-fifty custody split.”

Dave already knew the answer, but he needed to ask him anyway. “Car-boy has O.P.’s on him from two different women for making death threats. He’s gotten physical with Samantha. He’s terrorized Tyler…” He drew in a shaky breath. “He’s been charged with assaulting a police officer. Will, doesn’t any of that…”

He was shaking his head regretfully. “No. He’s someone’s daddy now. The way the court is these days, that puts him right up there with the Apostle Paul, no matter what else he’s done.” He pulled the linen napkin from his lap, tossing it on the table, disgusted. “Remember the Tanneman case? The guy broke both of his girlfriend’s arms, kidnapped the kid, and he still has visitation to this day–and
she
has to take the kid to see
him
.”

Dave drummed his fingers on the side of his glass, deep in thought. “You agree that I should marry her now?”

“Yeah. Definitely. It answers more questions for you than it creates for them. And the court assumes paternity for the husband, so then Car-boy will have to prove otherwise.”

He nodded. He had some difficulty speaking his next thought. “So, he finds out, makes an issue of it,” he took a sip of water, “and then…”

“We go to war.”

Dave met his eyes squarely, leaning forward for Will’s answer. “Can we win?”

Will wanted to say yes, but Dave was his best friend. “No. The best we’ll do is put off the inevitable. And if Sammy winds up in front of one of those father’s rights judges, he won’t look kindly on her for deceiving Jack and then dragging it out–she could even lose custody.”

Dave’s eyes shifted slightly as the answer hit him hard. “Okay, where would you set up domicile?”

“Doesn’t make much of a difference. Nine out of ten judges in Mass are father’s rights stooges. Your odds are slightly better north of the border–hell, Massachusetts is the cradle of this stuff, after all–but they aren’t appreciably more favorable in New Hampshire, either. The movement started infiltrating the system up there oh, probably ten years ago.”

“We keep her where she is for now, hope he goes away, and get our stories aligned.”

Will nodded. “Sorry, man. Wish I had better news.”

“I knew you chose a difficult field, but I have to tell you…”

He chuckled. “Yeah, it usually sucks. It almost always does, because…” He leaned back, looking at the ceiling as he searched for the words. When he returned to Dave, he spoke in terms that a criminal defense attorney could easily grasp. “Let this be your barometer: when Sammy got pregnant, she lost some of her constitutional rights. Especially equal protection. She lost them to the ‘best interests of the child’ standard–which, at this point, has become a new weapon against mothers.”

Dave was determined to remain confident, but from what he already knew–and from what Will had just explained–the reality of it was terrifying. But that was what he counted on from his friend: the truth. He gave him a weak grin. “I should be meeting with you more often. I wasn’t up to speed on most of this.”

“Yeah, you windmill-tilters,” he joked. “The guys like me, plodding through the muck of Kiddie Court–we don’t have the bling of you highbrow criminal-defense types.” He signaled for the check. “And I hate to bring this up now, but with you taking time off lately…”

“Yeah, I know. Our billables are down.”

“We need to hire another associate.”

“We needed to do that soon anyway. You take it. I’ll come in for the final interviews, and then sign off on whoever you think is best.”

“You got it.”

“Will…” Dave snatched the tab from the plate the server placed between them. “Thanks.”

“Whatever you need, Dave. Just let me know.”

“I will.” He waived the waitress over, handing her the check. “What I really need is for Car-boy to go away forever.”

Jack didn’t like Q. Michael Demares from the moment he opened his mouth.

“Mr. Seever, hello. I’m Mickey De-
mares
.”

The guy sounded like he more announced himself than introduced himself. He clasped Jack’s hand in both of his, not really shaking, just holding on to it.

“Call me Jack, please.” He took in the heavy aftershave, the perfectly lacquered hair, and wondered how much the guy spent on tooth whiteners. He looked entirely artificial.

“Have a seat.” He motioned to one of the overstuffed armchairs that flanked his desk. “I hear you may have an issue coming up with your wife.”

“This is going to be complicated from the start. She’s not my wife–we just told people we were married.”

Jack found himself admiring the fact that Demares showed no reaction at all. He pulled a legal pad from his desk, and began to take notes. “How long have you known her?”

“Four years.”

“And how long have you two been together?”

“About three.”

“Okay. Start at the beginning.”

He found it interesting, that he felt so little emotion about his own relationship with Sam: it took less than five minutes for Jack to run through the details. When he started talking about Dave, though, there seemed to be much more to say.

“Where does he live?” Demares asked.

“Boston. He’s some big-shot lawyer down there.”

“What’s his name?”

“David Delaney.”

Demares seemed fleetingly impressed. “Delaney-Remmond…? I know of them.” He snorted, and Jack thought it was a peculiar sound from someone so obviously vain. “Small firm. Remmond is one of those attorneys who thinks mothers can do no wrong. One of my associates butted heads with him a couple of years ago–the guy’s a complete ass.” He pushed the notepad aside, leaning his elbows on his desk. “Okay, tell me what you want.”

Jack thought about how to phrase it. “I want my child in my life.”

“Of course you do.”

“Samantha’s not a stable woman. Not at all. She goes from Dave, where she has one kid, to me, and has another–but she won’t marry, won’t give the son she
has
a stable home, and I worry that she’ll do me like she has Dave. Now, she’s disappeared–carrying my child–after quitting a perfectly good job.”

“Who’s supporting her?”

“She’s someplace with her friends, Maxine and Jo, so I’m assuming
they
are.”

“Yeah, women like your girlfriend tend to like being taken care of. Where’s the kid she has with Delaney?”

“Not sure. He’s been with his dad off and on for a while now.”

“You’re sure the baby is yours?”

“Yes.”

His expression was a mixture of sympathy and cynicism. “Well, we’ll be checking anyway. Here’s the million-dollar question: is there a chance she’d abort?”

“No. She’s against abortion.”

He snorted again. “You’d be shocked at how many of these pro-life babes suddenly change their minds when they get backed into a corner. I’ve seen it many times.” He pointed his pen at Jack. “By the way, because of that, we need to tread softly for a while here. How far along is she?”

“I don’t know.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“I found out for myself that she’s pregnant.”

Demares frowned. “How did that happen?”

Jack told him the truth about breaking into Jo’s apartment and finding the pregnancy test. “I had to try to find her, Mickey. I know it was wrong, but this woman–Jo–she worked at a domestic violence place. She’s one of those types who thinks all women are abused…”

He waved him off. “I know the type. They’re all about helping these poor, helpless women ‘escape.’ And they take every opportunity to push abortions. Seriously, Jack, they’re just irretrievably misguided. If they weren’t so evil, and so dangerous, they’d be pathetic.” He leaned closer, his tone conspiratorial. “You need to understand, people like this ‘Jo’ are more than capable of luring gullible women to the abortionist’s table, so be careful.”

“I understand.”

He sighed. “Okay, Samantha–is she violent?”

“Yeah, she’s got a temper.”

“But is she
violent?
Has she battered you?”

He sighed and looked down. “That’s hard for a man to admit to, Mickey.”

“I know. But you need to.” He pulled a business card from the same drawer that held the pad. “This is a support group for abused men. I want you to start going once a week.”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t need that stuff…”

“Whether or not that’s true, we need to set the stage if we’re going to get you custody of your child.”

“Custody?” He crossed and uncrossed his legs, shifting in his chair. “Like, full custody?”

“That’s what we’ll go for, initially. The whole thing. Once we get her attention, we’ll allow her some kind of supervised visitation.”

That would kill her.
“I hadn’t thought about full custody. But you’re right, it would be safer for the child.”

“Well, of course. No question, she’s unstable–I’d guess bipolar, from what you describe.” He scribbled a note on the legal pad, to request that Sam be ordered into an psychological evaluation. He wrote
Custody
-
Tyler?
beside it in parentheses. “I have a couple of psychologists and an excellent guardian ad litem that I work with on a regular basis, getting these women evaluated. And if she’s violent, then she’s going to get treatment before she’s alone with your kid. By the way, if you have full custody, we’ll put it to her good on the child support.”

“She pays
me
?”

“Absolutely.”

Jack was loving it more and more. “What do I do from here?”

He tapped the pen on his blotter. “Like I said, we have to be careful. We don’t want to spook her, you know, help her feminist buddy get her to the abortion clinic.”

“Agreed.”

“She has family around here?”