Laura's Big Win (20 page)

“Fine. Jump in; I can use some help.
What do I do?”

“First, sit up straight, then back out
two clicks. Here’s how we fix it.” And saying that, Laura stepped
behind his chair and started massaging his neck muscles while she
coached him through the programming issue. Five minutes later, with
the program running smoothly, she asked “So, are we better
now?”

“Yes, we are better now. How did you do
that, to my neck I mean? I thought sure it would give me grief all
day, and now it feels great.” Swinging his chair around to face
her, he added “You know that little chunk of change we’re expending
this afternoon, I think you just earned it. I could really get used
to that sort of treatment, I mean.....here in the office.....when
my neck is sore, you know what I mean.....I think.....don’t
you?”

“Probably, yes, of course, here in the
office, anytime.”

The two of them realized whatever it
was they were talking about didn’t make much sense but it really
didn’t matter; proximity did matter, and they wanted to sustain
that as long as possible. Neither moved to close the distance, but
both wanted very much to take the denied first step. The next few
hours could pave the way. For now, they had their own
responsibilities to handle, and their locked gaze was broken, for
the moment.

Roger wandered in some time later, and
checked with Laura to see how things were going for her as the days
events unfolded. He reviewed what they were about to do, verified
her intentions had not changed, and made a few more calls to
clarify things with the others involved. As things fell into place,
he suggested they do an extended lunch so he could recap the plans,
and brief the players on what they were to do. The clock hands
moved slowly, but with eventuality, to the 3 PM show
time.

Marcia was watching the video feed and
keyed the gate open several times when she recognized the cars, the
last being the sedan of Richard Nessing at 3:15 PM. As people
gathered in and around the conference room in the half hour before
the 3 PM deadline, Roger made sure Laura met everyone as they
arrived. She became aware these people all knew each other, and
were friends as well as business and social allies. Judge Harry
Comstock was a delight to meet as he teased Marcia about her love
life; a big man physically, with a mane of silver white hair, he
had a voice that resonated in a courtroom with judicial certainty.
Roger was quick to reassure Judge Comstock that he had checked his
sources and found the required material Harry had been offered to
preside. Introduced to Laura, Judge Harry was his usual blunt
self:

“Damn, Roger, I can see why you want to
keep her around. She drops the average age in this mausoleum by ten
years just being here. Now, Ms, tell me this: do you want me to
just scare the hell out of this guy, or put him in the slammer for
90 days to cool off? I can do either one, based on what I expect to
hear. Your choice. What’ll it be?”

“Please, whatever you think best. I
mean, I don’t want you to do anything illegal or anything like
that. Sorry, I guess that sounded a little goofy, but you know what
I mean. All these people have been so great about all this; I don’t
want to impose.”

“Not a problem for me. No 90 days. You
probably want this guy as far away as quickly as possible, but we
can have a little fun in the meantime. The guys filled me in on
what he did to you and your kids. This isn’t about the law; it’s
about justice and what’s fair and right. Okay?”

“Yes, sir. Roger said that’s how you
looked at things. How do I ever thank you for this?”

“Roger will take care of that.
Truthfully, I’d do this anyway. The law should work for people now
and then. I love these opportunities. But, for the moment, I see my
reporter has arrived. Excuse me please while I brief her,” and with
that Judge Harry went to meet his court reporter.

At the moment, Roger arrived with
another gentleman for Laura to meet, a man with steel gray eyes,
moustache like a bottle brush, and an archaic butch-waxed flat top
haircut. “Laura, please meet Sheriff Fred Dawson, our local version
of Dirty Harry. Fred, Laura here is the celebrity of the hour at
Windmere.”

“Pleased to meet you sheriff. Sorry to
disrupt your day like this; I’m sure you have more important things
to do.”

“My pleasure, ma’am. When Harry told me
about this, I couldn’t miss this sort of opportunity. Besides, I
owe him a favor or two, and Roger said the stash might have
something in it older than my kids. By the way, just to make sure
things happen the way we want, I’ve had a couple of guys sort of
shadowing your soon to be ex- husband. He’s pretty much a minor
player for now, but he’s headed for some rough stuff up ahead if he
doesn’t pick better friends. Anyway, I’m not real partial to
blackmail or extortion, especially not where little kids are
concerned. What the hell; would it be easier if I just shot the guy
now and saved us all this trouble?”

“My God no, you can’t just…..you’re
kidding, right?” Laura had caught the hint of a grin on Fred’s face
just in time. “You can’t just shoot people can you?”

“No, ma’am, I can’t just shoot people,
not even with some provocation. But, we could take him deer
hunting. Anyway, I need to talk to Harry while he has a moment, if
you’ll excuse me.” And with that, Fred Dawson walked off, leaving
Laura to wonder if he really would take someone out in the woods
and shoot them. Probably not, she concluded, but there remained a
nagging doubt. Anyway, the time was drawing close, and she had
planned to make an attire change for the main event.

Retreating for the moment to change,
Laura wondered at her own calm in this life changing event. The
only rational thought that came easily was that these were mature,
adult people who were interested in fair play and justice, and who
were not against having a little fun. It dawned on her that while
they realized how important this was to her, it was almost
recreational for them, a diversion from other events of the day.
They were players, and were protecting her as one of their own. She
felt comfort in the thought of this being an event of her now
extended family, a family that had just circled the wagons. She
quickly finished changing and checked her appearance in the mirror,
smoothing a stray lock or two. The choice was a medium gray
pinstriped business suit, white blouse, and a colorful scarf,
almost flat shoes, and her gray bound leather portfolio as her only
accessory. According to instructions, she returned to her office to
wait until called.

Richard Nessing probably was just not
smart enough to be a gambler, at least not smart enough to play at
this table. He left the old sedan in the drive, as instructed, and
entered the main doors only to find Dennis Anderson waiting to
escort him to the conference room. Directing Richard into the
conference room, Dennis pointed to a chair and said “Sit.” in the
same voice he would use with Bruno or Daisy. Richard dropped into
the chair quickly, not wanting to excite this large individual with
an intense scowl on his face. In reality, Dennis had a much greater
regard for the dogs than for this person. Richard was well aware he
was late arriving, but in his own small mind he was the major
player and the world would wait on him. Little did he know that
Harry Comstock had other things on his mind, like sampling his
“payment”, and was in no mood to prolong things. Confident he had
swung the deal and ready for a handful of cash to come his way,
Richard slowly grew less confident as more people filed into the
room. The reporter was first, with Ryan carrying her recorder for
her. Next came Roger Brown in possession of a single white
envelope, followed by Laura. As he had not seen her since she had
changed clothing, Roger nearly lost his composure when he had gone
to her office to escort her, finding a composed, singularly
beautiful and impeccably appointed young woman ready to do business
with the big people. Her effect on the assembled men was a stunned
silence, while the reporter simply looked up at her and winked an
eye. Next in was Fred Dawson, who stood aside from the door and
announced “All rise.” in a voice strong enough to bring Richard and
everyone else to their feet without question. Harry Comstock was
well known for his stylish entrance to a courtroom, and this
smaller venue didn’t cramp his style. Laura was not aware he would
be robed, but the black robe and silver hair looked positively
Supreme Court level; she could not have been more pleased. Harry
ordered everyone to be seated, and Dennis returned to the open
doorway behind the judge, filling it and clearly ensuring no one
was going anywhere. Richard Nessing was beginning to be very
nervous about all this, but had not yet grasped the details. Judge
Harry would spell it out for him.

“This proceeding is now in session. I
want to make it clear to all present that while this is not my
usual venue, I remain an officer of the court while in session and
any decisions here will be legally binding on all concerned. Anyone
who would care to authenticate my authority is welcome to call of
the States Attorney of this county. The matter before us today is a
petition for divorce filed by Laura Nessing herein present. I have
read her petition, which clearly establishes grounds of desertion
in a most heinous manner. Do you have anything to add before I
pronounce judgment, Mr. Nessing?” Harry was quick to the chase and
intended to take no prisoners.

For his part Richard Nessing was
stunned by the events, but simply not quick enough to realize he
had been outflanked by some real pro’s. He had not come here with a
divorce in mind. In fact, he had every intention of hanging on to
this potential cash source as long as he could. “Hell no, I don’t
want a divorce. I didn’t abandon her at all; I just had a little
streak of bad luck and needed a few days to recover; that’s all.
I’m here now to claim my husbandly rights. Besides who do you think
you are interfering in our private business like this? You’ve got
no rights…..”

“I am Senior Judge Harry Comstock. This
is my jurisdiction, as I already explained to you; maybe you
weren’t listening. Well, listen up now: did you abandon this
attractive young lady and two minor dependent children with no
funds, no utilities, no housing, and no nothing? Did you do that or
not, and I warn you, I consider perjury to a very serious contempt
of court act. Respond now.”

Richard was beginning to sense he was
in a net and didn’t like it a bit, but neither did he see much of a
way out. “She might have taken it that way; she’s not very
smart.”

“Mr. Nessing, I find your comments
unnecessary; simply respond yes or no to the question. Did you
abandon this attractive and intelligent young woman with two nearly
infant dependent children, or not?” Harry was starting to lard it
on, which did not go unnoticed by either Roger or Ryan. Laura had
picked up on the “attractive” in Harry’s initial question, and
wondered just how far he would go when the “intelligent” was also
added, and her two children were now nearly babes in arms, or at
least the transcript would read that way. One look at Harry’s face
and she realized he was well into the game phase of all this and
enjoying it immensely.

Richard was starting to squirm a bit.
“If you say so, then yes, I guess it looked like I abandoned
her.”

“And two infant children?”

“Come on judge, these aren’t infants,
they’re five and six years old for God’s sake, not babies. Where do
you get off anyway, making this stuff up?” Richard was bristling at
the chaffing he was getting from this judge; it was not a wise
thing to do.

“Mr. Nessing, did you abandon these
people or not? Simply answer yes or no, now.”

“Okay, it looked like I abandoned them,
but I came back yesterday so I didn’t really abandon them after
all.”

“Sorry, time’s up on abandonment.
Finding for Laura Nessing on her request for dissolution of
marriage to Richard Nessing. Ms Nessing, do you wish to waive the
one year probationary period.”

“Yes, your honor, I do.”

“Probationary period is waived, final
decree of divorce is granted You are no longer married to this
man.” Maybe Harry Comstock sensed more than she realized, or maybe
Roger had filled him in, but when he granted the decree he didn’t
look at Laura, he looked at Ryan Williams, and a slight smile
appeared.

“Next issue before the court is custody
of the two minor children of this marriage, Jackson Nessing and
Amanda Nessing. Ms Nessing, since you filed for custody, are you
prepared to share that custody with your former
husband?”

“I am not.”

“And are you prepared to grant
visitation to your former husband?”

“I am not.”

“Do you seek any support for these
minor dependent children, financial or otherwise, from this
person?”

“I do not.”

Having set the stage for the next step,
Judge Harry now turned to Richard Nessing. “Mr. Nessing, it is my
understanding there is an offer on the table at this time from the
plaintiff. For the sum of $10,000, payable here and now in the form
of a cashier’s check, you agree to not contest these actions now or
in the future. Should you agree and subsequently violate the
agreement you will be required to refund the payment along with
interest at the going rate from this date forward, and will be
found guilty of contempt of court. How do you respond?”