Laura's Big Win (19 page)

“Yeah; who do you have to
do to get that kind of money that quick?”

She looked up just in time
to see Dennis starting for the door; clearly, he had overheard
through the open door and was not pleased. “It’s okay, Dennis. Just
a small misunderstanding. Would you escort Mr. Nessing here to his
car now? Remember, Mr. Nessing, 3 PM tomorrow.”

Dennis looked at her
intently, nodded, and took Richard Nessing by the arm. It was
somewhat unclear whether Richard wanted to leave or not, but his
arm was going with Dennis regardless.

Laura returned to Roger’s
office but stopped short when she realized he was on the telephone
talking to someone. Looking up, Roger motioned her into the office.
“Yeah, Harry, that’s the deal. Do you want in?…..Right, I thought
so…..Usual fee, and maybe some passes for the course, and dark
South American chocolates for the recorder? …..Can do. I’m putting
things together for 3 PM tomorrow out here, Nessing will be back
then; with money on the table, I’d bet on it, only if it were legal
to do so of course; wouldn’t want to offend you…..And Fred Dawson
if you can; I think there’s something in the stash he’d like…… That
would be super. I’ll fill you in on what all we need to get done
within the hour and you can take it from there……Great. Talk to you
later. And thanks Harry; this means a lot to us.”

Laura was curious at what
was beginning to look like a scheme of some sort. “I’m sorry to
have caused all this trouble. Maybe I could find some way to deal
with him without involving…..”

“Not a chance.” Roger
interrupted. “Look, we like to protect our own. Bluntly, we have an
investment in you we need to protect, in more ways than one. And
face it, you’re a whole lot better to look at across a table than
Cal is. First of all, things are going to be worked out, so you can
quit holding your breath, but I would like to know how far you
would like to have things worked out. Harry Comstock, with whom you
heard me talking, is actually Judge Harry Comstock, Senior Judge
for this county. Harry’s still on the bench but hands most of the
stuff to his juniors to handle. I called him because I know him
personally, I know a weakness or two he has, and I know what will
get him moving. I wouldn’t want to call it bribery; hell, Harry’d
do this anyway, but I want him to know how important this is to us.
Anyway, I need to ask you a rather tough question or two.
Ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready, even if I
don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Okay. Here we go. Do you
want a divorce from Richard Nessing?”

“Very much so. I could
probably get along but what he did to the kids is
unforgivable.”

“Okay, that’s step one.
Next question: do you want sole custody of your children and with
or without visitation?”

“It wouldn’t make much
difference to him. He already said we were all just pawns in his
game. But the answer is yes; no question, and no visitation; he
wouldn’t come anyway unless he needed more money.”

“I don’t think that will
be a problem. Third question: do you believe he would kidnap the
children as a means to obtain funds from you?”

“I’m guessing, but I think
he would after what he has done already. Can you keep him from
doing that?”

“We can pretty much assure
that won’t happen by putting the fear of God in him. So, let me sum
it up: by 4 PM tomorrow you would like to be an unmarried woman,
with sole custody of your two children, and a protective legal net
around you. Right?”

“Yes, right, but can you
really do that, and how do I ever repay you for all this. I guess I
don’t know much about the law but I thought a divorce took a year
to become final, at least in most states. How are you ever going to
get him to agree with all this?”

“Harry loves a challenge.
And he knows his business. This isn’t a legal matter to him; it’s a
matter of fairness and justice. He took to it like a trout to a
fly, even suggested he bring along a court reporter for the
proceedings; that’s where the South American chocolate came in.
Hard telling what that’s going to cost me.”

“See? That’s what I mean.
How am I going to pay for all this, the judges fee’s and things
like that? You certainly pay me well enough, but this has to be
expensive.”

“Remember back a few
months when two people picked up you and your kids in a homeless
shelter and you trusted them enough to go along? Same deal. Trust
us now; you might even enjoy the show. Now, leave things to me; I
have a lot to get done in the next few hours. Hey, Ryan, can you
come in a minute?” Roger yelled through the door for his associate.
“Laura, could you give us just a minute in here, maybe hang out
with Marcia for a few minutes?”

“Sure Roger, anything you
say. I get the feeling whatever is going to happen tomorrow is
going to happen with me or not.”

“Nope, not a chance;
you’re our key player. Now scoot so I can chat with Ryan a bit.
Ryan, come on in please; I just need a minute or two.” Roger filled
him in quickly on everything that had happened. Although he knew
Ryan had obviously been listening intently, he was still the boss
and Roger needed his final approval on the path he was taking. Ryan
quickly agreed to the plan, and they had some debate over just how
badly they should actually frighten Richard Nessing. Both men were
starting to enjoy the deal, but were aware that there was still an
outside chance things could go wrong.

“Just one more thing Ryan,
before you go. Laura needs to really be in control tomorrow. We’ve
seen how good she can be working a CEO or two, but this is a little
different; it’s personal and involves her kids. I’m going to
suggest something here, and it’s only a suggestion, you can do what
you want, but why don’t you take her to the driving range and hit a
bucket or two. It’s close to quitting time anyway, and I think the
physical workout would be good for her. I can ask Alice to catch
the kids if you like so you have plenty of time. How about it?
Look, I know you have an interest here, maybe more than just for an
employee. Hell, I know more than for an employee; I’ve seen your
expression when you look at her. I’m just asking you to help calm
her down a bit. This is really important for her, and maybe for
you. Deal?”

Ryan was caught off guard
by the suggestion, and he realized Roger was looking at him rather
intently, waiting for a response. Pondering the idea for a moment,
Ryan realized it actually made very good sense, even if he did
think Roger was starting a little early with the matchmaking.
“Okay, but would you kindly quit meddling after this?”

“Only if I think you don’t
need a little push, my boy. Now get out of here so I can deal with
Harry”

Ryan grinned somewhat
foolishly at Roger as he backed out of the office, but got it under
control before Laura could see his face. “Okay, lady. I have our
instructions from Sir Roger. Thee and me are to go to the driving
range and hit a bucket or two of balls. Ready? You’ll need a little
different attire to make it easier; we’ll stop on the way to the
range so you can change, maybe shorts or Bermuda’s would work.
Okay?”

“Now wait a minute. I
don’t play golf, and there’s still work to be done in my office, so
how…..”

“Sorry, Sir Roger has
spoken. Marcia, shut down her office will you, and ask Franz to
roll out a two seater for me. Thanks, you’re a doll as usual. Ask
Alice to watch the kids; okay? Thanks. Come along lady; we have our
instructions.”

Marcia grinned at him as
Ryan and Laura left; glancing back, Ryan stuck out his tongue as a
last feeble gesture of defiance. Stopping by Laura’s cottage, she
made a quick change into shorts and a pullover top that was loose
fit enough to go on easily, but snug enough to outline her figure.
Checking quickly in the mirror, she thought for a second about
changing the top, but Roger’s comment about her looks came back to
her and she decided to go with things as is. Back out and into the
two seater for the trip to the driving range, where a bucket of
balls was already awaiting them, and an assortment of
drivers.

“Okay lady…”

“Laura, if you
please.”

“Yes madam, Laura it is.
Now, have you ever done anything like this before?” It was a simple
enough question, but the way Ryan pronounced the line, and looked
at her, it sounded a lot more like a tease than a
question.

“Only once, and then it
wasn’t very good for me. Is it good for you?”

Taken slightly aback by
this quick sass, Ryan was pleased they were having a dialog instead
of talking about accounting data or some esoteric numbers trend she
had uncovered. Unquestionably, this was lot more fun, and just the
nearness of her was a reward in itself. He was well aware her
married status had not changed, but it was a beautiful day, the
driving range looked good, Laura looked great in the sunlight, and
he was getting a flow of testosterone he had kept under control for
a long time. Tomorrow he would obtain her freedom if he had to take
out her soon to ex-husband by himself. Even at that, he realized
that long term this might not work out at all; still, he was
willing to give it a shot. “Yes, it’s good for me. Now let’s see if
we can figure out how to make it good for both of us. Let me get
the bucket, we’ll size a driver for you, and look out gophers, here
we come.”

After some careful club
selection for her height, they teed up and Ryan drove first so she
could watch his swing. Laura was truly entranced by his swing, the
ripple of muscle under his shirt and on his arms, and his
flexibility; actually, she rather forgot about the golf ball
entirely in her musing.

“Wow, I really got into
that one. Did you see how far it went? Best drive I’ve hit in a
long time. You must be having some sort of effect on me.” And it
was true she had an effect on him. The extra bit of testosterone
not only drove his muscles harder, but it piqued the male show-off
gene just a bit as well.

“No, I missed it. Did you
hit it? I don’t see it on the ground anywhere. Maybe it’s in the
woods.” She, of course, had heard the hit, but she enjoyed the bit
of banter they had going on and wanted to sustain it.

“It is not in the woods.
It’s so far down the range I can’t see it anymore. By the way, it’s
your turn now. Let’s see what you’ve got.” The question was a bit
rhetorical, he thought; ‘I already know the answer…..and I like
it.’

“Okay, but you have to
help me do this. How do I hold this thing? It looks a little like a
pool cue with a weird end. And how do I stand?”

It took some time, and a
lot of practice swings with his arms around her, his hands on her
hands, until she finally could drive reasonably well on her own.
With the bucket empty and arms worn out, Laura drove the last ball
halfheartedly, laughing at the short distance, turned and looked
directly into Ryan’s eyes. “I think you did it.”

“Did what?”

“Made it good for me too.
Thanks, I needed that, and the company was great. We should try
this again sometime; maybe we can knock off a gopher or two in the
process.”

Ryan laughed, and realized
how easily the laugh had come in her company. Looking back into her
eyes he had a surge of desire than nearly overcame him. Grasping
for stability, he said they should head back toward the house in
case Roger needed him, but they both knew, or sensed, that if they
stayed there things would happen they were not prepared to handle,
not yet.

The rest of the day was
rather a blur for Laura, with the events to come the next day
taking front stage. The kids seemed to sense she was a bit
preoccupied, and stayed on good behavior. Although the two had to
share a bedroom, the bungalow’s were spacious enough that it was
far from crowded and each had their own area. Laura decided against
telling them the events of the day; things weren’t done yet and she
didn’t want to tell them something that might not come to pass.
Besides, she had to decide how to sleep with two aching arms. Sleep
came quickly that evening.

Chapter 12 – Justice By
Harry

The next morning found Laura well
rested, relaxed, and only mildly sore armed. With the 3 PM showdown
still somewhat distant, she completed her morning routine and
headed for the office, passing the door to Ryan’s office in the
process. Usually a rather calm person, just as she passed the door
she heard a muttered oath come forth from the office, unusual for
Ryan at any hour of the day. She wasn’t going to interfere, but the
thought occurred to her that these people were going all out for
her, at who knows what expense, and she needed to do what she could
to return the favor. Besides, if he was unhappy over a program
problem, she really did need to know, and she could still feel his
arms around her from the driving range.

“Good morning. Are we unhappy about
something this morning?” Laura said after lightly tapping on the
door before she swung it open.

“Yes, we are unhappy. You’re the IT
person; why can’t I get the system to compute the differentials
between these columns, and give me an average so I can trend it? No
matter what I do, it doesn’t seem to be working. And, I think I did
something at the driving range yesterday; my neck is all stiff and
sore.”

“Okay; I can see that, yes, we are
unhappy. May I help you, since everyone else here seems to be
helping me in some way or other; I’d like to at least take a shot
at repayment.”