Chapter Twelve - 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."
"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 day's 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 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?"
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 palt
ry 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.