Laura's Big Win (21 page)

Richard now realized that he had not
only lost a wife, about which he cared not one way or another, but
he was about to lose the only hold he had over her to extract
future money. The prospect of being hemmed into the choice angered
him. and before he thought things through, he started to rise out
of his seat and his mouth came open. “Judge, this is pure bull
s**t. You got no right to take my kids away, money or not. Those
are my kids and…..”

“Shut up, Mr. Nessing, and sit down
before the Sheriff here seats you. I find your choice of
scatological references to be appalling, out of order, and
contemptuous of this court to the tune of 30 days in the county
jail, suspended pending your return to this county in the future.
Do I make myself clear?” Harry delivered the sermonette like a
practiced preacher, and indeed it was one of his favorite
pronouncements from the bench.

Richard suddenly found himself with the
choice of possible future revenue, or the money he badly needed
right now to save his own hide. And he understood this was going to
get really ugly if he didn’t go along. A tiny bit of common sense
finally worked its way into his head, and his next response was
very cautious considering the odds now stacked against him. “Sorry
about that Judge, I just got a little excited. As I understand it,
if I agree to not contest sole custody without visitation to my
former wife, I can have the ten grand. Right?”

“Mr. Brown, the check
please.”

Roger slid the envelope over to Judge
Harry, who opened it like he was announcing Oscar winners, and held
it up for all in the room to see. “Ten thousand dollars, cashier’s
check, payable on demand to one Richard Nessing. What’s it going to
be?”

Richard was caught and he knew it.
These people knew how to play, and they had turned what seemed like
a sure fire scheme on his part into a large snake that was biting
him where it hurt. He had but one choice. “Okay, I agree to the
custody. I need the money. Gimme the check and let’s get this over
with”

“I will be happy to do so, in just one
moment. You have just sold your interest in children you claim are
yours, for a nominal five thousand dollars each; the fact that you
physically abandoned them several months ago, in effect stranding
them without resource, and that you just legally abandoned them for
a paltry sum, gives me cause to be concerned for their well being.
Accordingly, I am issuing an order of protection, in perpetuity,
for a distance of not less than one mile, effective upon delivery
of this cashier’s check into your hands, with a grace period not to
exceed twenty minutes from time of issuance; failure to respect
this order will add 30 days in jail to the 30 you already have
waiting. Do you have any questions?”

Richard was seeing a lot of light all
of a sudden, and he realized his best move at this point was to get
the hell out of there before this judge character decided to throw
him in jail just for the fun of it. The idea added a certain amount
of respect to his thoughts, but probably not quite enough. While he
was burning about the deal he was getting, he came to the
conclusion that his former wife was every bit as smart as she was
beautiful, and he was kicking himself for having totally misjudged
her and blown the opportunity of a life time. In fact, he was so
angry with himself that one more time he let what apparently was a
hummingbird sized brain be overpowered by an alligator sized mouth.
“Yeah, I got a question. How many of you guys did she have to do to
put this together, not that I give a damn? I just want my check and
out of here.”

It had been a long time since Harry had
ordered a court room cleared, but it was getting real close again.
After hearing Richard’s words, embarrassed though she was at the
implication, Laura wrote off the comment as sour grapes. Glancing
around the room, she realized some others were about to make wine
out of those sour grapes, the hard way. Although the movement was
slight, she caught Roger’s hand grasping Ryan’s arm to hold him in
his seat, and on the other side, the sheriff rose to intercede and
stop Dennis before he could get to Richard and do major harm. Judge
Harry was not particularly displeased, but after all, it was his
courtroom, and he was responsible for what went on. The most
reasonable thing was to get the check in Richard’s hands, close the
hearing, and get the hell out of there before things really broke
loose.

“Gentlemen, and I assume you all are,
please restrain yourselves from beating the s**t out of this,,,oh,
God, sorry. Louise, clean that up on the record, okay? Anyway,
there being no more matters before this court, hearing’s adjourned.
Mr. Brown, Ms Nessing, I would like to see the two of you in Mr.
Brown’s office please. Sheriff, would you please escort Mr. Nessing
to his car? Thank you.” And with that Judge Harry swooshed out of
the room, followed by Laura and Roger.

Laura had looked at the reporter after
Harry’s little slip of the tongue, only to see the reporter looking
back at her and obviously, from the shaking shoulders, laughing
loudly into her dictation mask. Dennis did not relish the sheriff
shooting him or anything like that, and backed off a little, but
did make a request of the sheriff.

“Look, if I promise to not hurt him,
can I escort him out of here? Please?”

Fred knew this big man well enough to
know he was a man of his word, and agreed to the request: “Okay,
Dennis, but I don’t want to have to call the meat wagon or anything
like that. No rough stuff, okay? Mr. Nessing: Mr. Anderson here
will escort you to your car; I suggest you get out of here as
quickly as you can; your twenty minutes are running and my deputies
are waiting at the county line.”

Dennis took Richard by the arm as
before and left with it; Richard, still being very attached, came
along willing or not. Once outside, Dennis walked him straight to
the car, but not without a little clarification: “My advice is for
you to get clear of here as quick as you can. Your kind isn’t
wanted.”

Never one to give up a parting shot, no
matter how stupid it might be, Richard shot back: “Yeah, what the
hell’s it to you, big boy?” In later years when Richard thought
about it, he could never figure out how he went from being halfway
in a car door to being within inches of Dennis’s very contorted
face in zero elapsed time. He didn’t remember his feet touching the
ground at the time and the bruises on his upper arms from Dennis’s
grip lasted over a month. The thought would still send cold chills
down his spine.

Dennis remembered his promise to the
sheriff and resisted mightily, yielding only to words: “Look you
stupid bastard, I promised the sheriff I wouldn’t kill you. But get
this: if I ever see you near Miss Laura or the kids, or if you ever
cause them trouble, I will personally put your mangy ass in
intensive care for at least a month, if you live. Get in your car
and get the hell out of here; now, before I change my mind.” And
letting go, Dennis literally hurled Richard into the car, slamming
the door behind him.

For his part, Richard was too damned
scared to do anything but fly out the gate, out of Conyerville, out
of the county as fast as he could, and out of their
lives.

Chapter 13 -
Payback

Harry, Roger and Laura retired to
Roger’s office for the moment. Once inside, Harry broke the
silence: “Was that fun or what? I have to admit, I thought things
were going to get out of hand there for a minute or two; good thing
Fred was there. Miss Laura, just how stupid is your ex?”

“He was pretty up and coming when I
married him; I guess that says a little something about
me.”

“Nope, I wouldn’t say that. I’d guess
you were young and impressionable, and he’s a salesman; looks like
he sold you a bill of goods. Anyway, I think we’ve seen the last of
him for a long time, if not forever. Now, Roger, I think we should
drink a toast to our success. You wouldn’t happen to have some
really elderly single malt Scotch around here, would
you?”

“Could be. You’d share some in a toast
if I can find some?” Roger had already turned toward a file cabinet
in the back corner of his office and was unlocking it. The bottom
drawer slid out noiselessly to reveal another locked compartment
that was quickly keyed open. Inside lay several boxes of different
shape and size, all with gold seals. Extracting one such box, Roger
carefully placed it on the desk, and magically produced three small
glasses.

“Guess I have to share now. Miss Laura,
I don’t know if you partake or not, but I believe this is one
occasion we should all mark as one small step toward justice for
all. You in?”

“Yes, sir. I’m in. Right now, after all
this, I think I could down Hemlock and feel no ill effects. You
were wonderful in there, your honor; how do I thank
you?”

“Well, if you ever need someone to do a
wedding, I’d be happy to preside at the more joyous occasion. Just
thought I’d mention that. Never can tell what might happen. Anyway,
Roger, would you do the honors please?”

“Thank you, but no, I would rather not.
This is your jug, and I know if I spilled so much as a drop I’d
never hear the end of it. Suppose we have the guest of honor do the
decanting? Okay?”

“Okay by me. Miss Laura, pour
please.”

Laura carefully opened the latched
wooden box, noting the intricate printing and embossed seals on it,
then gently extracted the amber bottle and removed the cork
stopper. She didn’t know much about whiskey, Scotch or any other
kind, but she did know that the to-do about a single bottle meant
it was either rare, or good, or good and rare. The liquid inside
was crystal clear and a beautiful amber in color. Laura poured
three equal shots, and replaced the bottle carefully in the
box.

Harry was impressed with the exact
measurement, but more so with the care she took in replacing the
bottle in the box and carefully closing it. “Ladies and gentlemen,
justice has been served; I give you the newly freed Laura Nessing.
To you, Miss Laura.”

Clinking glasses marked the end of a
trial by marriage for Laura. The whiskey slid down her throat
easily, not at all like some drinks she had experienced in the
past, but one was quite enough.

“Again, I thank you Judge, and you too
Roger, for putting all this together. I don’t know what I would
have done without you two. I still have to tell the kids, but
somehow I almost look forward to that. I think Jack has worried
that somehow his father might come back and disrupt things for us;
this has been hard on the kids. Roger, could I ask you something,
and it’s not another favor?”

“Sure, ask away.”

“I saw you reach over and restrain
Ryan’s arm. What was that all about, if you don’t mind my
asking.”

“Ah, well, I’m sure you saw the sheriff
get up and intercept Dennis. I was doing the same thing with Ryan,
just not quite so overtly. It was coming down not to whether your
ex-husband was going to get the crap kicked out of him or not, it
was who could get there first to do it, Dennis or Ryan. Either way,
he was in big trouble, but out of respect for the Judge here, we
just couldn’t let that sort of thing go on, could we Judge
Harry?”

“No, we could not, although it would
have taken me a long time to issue the stop and desist order. Might
have thrown a punch or two myself if I wasn’t so high mileage.
Anyway, he’s worse off now than if he’d been beaten. I’m sure he
would have tried this on you again if you had given in; we weren’t
about to let that happen to you. We both know why Dennis took
offense at the comment: he sees an attack on you as an attack on
those kids, and I really believe he would kill for them. As to
Ryan, Roger might not tell you, but I will; he needs you very much
to give back to him what he lost a couple of years ago: his wife,
and more than that, kids. They were such a great couple, and I felt
so bad when that damned cancer took her; it just wasn’t right. You
probably know that’s why that beautiful house they built together
stands vacant with weeds around it; it isn’t abandoned exactly, but
he won’t let anyone in it. I think the guys take care of it anyway
when he isn’t looking. Anyway, that’s my opinion; I watched him in
the hearing room; I don’t think he ever took his eyes off you. He
may not know it, but he’s a goner. The only thing is, I think he’s
still in mourning, and things might move rather slowly; still, I’m
sure you’re the answer he needs; be patient. Trust me on
this.”

Laura was awed by this man’s perception
of things, and more than a little embarrassed that he had read her
like an open book. No wonder Harry had made the comment about
marrying people. Still, it looked like a long road ahead, and she
still had to tell the kids, and earn a living, and deal with other
events that are required to go on living. But most importantly at
the moment, she was clear of the marriage, her children were safe,
and she had discovered what real friends are for. She understood
that while Roger and the group professed this to be a business
matter, she did not, for a moment, believe that was entirely the
case. Some weeks later, when calm had pretty well returned to the
offices, she casually drifted into Cal’s office and mentioned that
Harry had really seemed to enjoy his “payment”, telling Cal she was
idly wondering if Scotch was expensive to buy. He informed her it
was not particularly expensive, unless it was very elderly single
malt imported from a small distillery in Scotland; in that case
$250/bottle was about par. Laura concealed her amazement as best
she could, but the point of how much these people were willing to
invest in her well being was most certainly not lost.