Chapter 9

I had a mission now: to talk to my daughter. The woman had said she wouldn’t stop me from seeing her, but would she not? Or, allowing me to see her, would she make it problematical in any event: maybe insist on being there while I was trying to make my case to my child. Well, I guess we’d soon know. But, first things first. I had to get me a lawyer.

I knew that my ex-brother, and he sure as hell was already ex to me, would use his money to hire some big legal gun to get his way, and hers. But, I had a possible counter move I could make. The son of my boss was a lawyer, a criminal lawyer, but maybe he could help me with my situation in any case.

I sat in the outer office waiting for his current meeting with a potential customer to end, so I could be ushered in to see him, Milton Ferguson, CEO of Ferguson Bros. It was Saturday, but a workaholic like Milton Ferguson was virtually always on the job.

Milton and I had been friends for a long time. He’d been to our house, Stacey’s and mine, a number of times for barbecues and other events. He’d even been to the baptism of Jenna so many years before. He was in fact her godfather. I was hoping that his son, Nathan, would help me. I couldn’t afford him, but I had a plan. The plan was but embryonic at the moment, but if I were lucky it might blossom into something more concrete after I talked to him. At any rate that was the hope.

The office door opened and my boss and his new customer were shaking hands. Good, Milt would be in a good mood. I watched quietly while the customer turned and went out.

“David, come in come in,” he said.

Milton and his brother Gerald, the company CFO, had founded the company thirty years earlier. Milton and I had become friends in spite of our totally different place on the social register. Milt was a people person. Gerald, on the other hand, was taciturn and friends with few; well, he was a money man and a money man only. The good news for me was that I never had to deal with Gerald, well, there’s an upside to everything.

“Thanks, boss,” I said. I entered his office and waited for him to enthrone himself behind his desk before taking the seat in front of it.

“So what’s happening, young man,” he said.

I spread my hands in an it’s a monster deal” gesture; he picked up on it. Well, Milton was nothing if not good at reading people.

“Dave? What’s wrong?” he said. I decided to get right to the point.

“Stacey is leaving me and, at the least, wants to minimize my position with my daughter,” I said. Yes, I know that was maybe an exaggeration taking into consideration what she’d actually said, but I had gotten a very bad feeling from her tone and look when she laid it all on me.

“Excuse me! You and Stacey! I mean you’re quits?” he said.

“Seems so, yes. She laid it on me this morning. There’s more, but that’s the bottom line,” I said. “Boss, I need a couple of favors if that would be all right.”

“Okay, tell me,” he said.

“I’m going to need some time off until I can get things a bit more straightened out than they are at the moment. And...” I said.

“And?” he said.

“And, I wondered if your son, Nathan, might be willing to take my case on a contingency basis,” I said. “I figure to sue the sonovabitch ex-brother of mine, he’s the other man in the picture, for alienation of affection.” My boss nodded gravely.

“I see. Well, as for the time off, sure. How much time do you think you’ll be needing?” he said.

“I figure a couple of weeks if that would be all right,” I said.

“Okay, I can set that up for you. But as for Nathan, he doesn’t do domestic stuff. He’s pretty much committed to criminal law,” he said. “I’m pretty sure he could recommend someone for you though. In fact I’m sure of it,” said Milton Ferguson.

“Okay,” I said.

“You say it would be on contingency? Meaning if you won the alienation case the lawyer, whoever it turned out to be, would get his then?” said Milton.

“Yes, my brother’s a millionaire; I can’t compete with him on any level when it comes to money. He’s sure to be going to use his cash to pay for the best he can find out there lawyer-wise,” I said.

“Your bother then is the other man as you say. You mean Ronald?” he said.

“Yes,” I said. He whistled.

“That’s a big assed wow,” he said.

“Worse, I found out this morning that he was the sperm donor for Jenna,” I said. The look on the older man’s face was nothing if not one of pure shock.

“Oh my God,” he said. He picked up the phone and punched in a number. “I’m calling Nathan right now. I know he’s working today. You’ll have an appointment with him before lunch.”

“Thank you, boss. I really need to get the ball rolling at the earliest possible moment,” I said.

“Absolutely,” he said. The call went through and the older man swiveled in his chair away from me to talk to whoever was on the other end, likely Nathan Ferguson himself.

Call completed, he swiveled back to face me. “I wasn’t able to get you in before lunch, but I was able to get you in ‘for’ lunch. The Holiday Inn on third at noon,” he said.

“Thanks a million, boss. I won’t forget this. I won’t,” I said.

“Not a problem, David, and good luck. I know how bad these sorts of things can be,” he said.

We parted company and I headed out and across town to the Holiday Inn. I still had two hours to kill, but I didn’t have anywhere else to be. My wife was with her lover, and would be with my daughter by day’s end which bothered me; but, I was going to do my best to minimize the impact of that situation immediately if not sooner!

I’d finished my second manhattan and was watching the overhead TV monitor. The Red Sox were ahead of the Yankees three to two, bottom of the sixth.

The man slid onto the stool next to mine. “You’re David Carter if I’m not mistaken,” said the man.

“Yes, sir, I am. You must be Nathan, Nathan Ferguson,” I said.

“I am that,” he said. “My dad gave me but few of the particulars. A divorce action, right?”

“Yes, but mainly a custody battle and an alienation of affection lawsuit. I think she intends to cut me out of my rights as a father. She thinks she can do it because I, as I found out this morning, was not the sperm donor; her lover was, fourteen years ago,” I said. My bar mate nodded gravely.