Chapter 49: Counsel for the Defense

IT WAS NEARLY two weeks before the trio could get in for counseling together. In that time, the company was working intently, but functioning smoothly. Henry met daily with his chief managers, Nathan, Conrad, and Darrel. As the IT manager, Darrel was responsible for seeing that all networks in the company were secure with the latest version of the Delphos Network Armor. That included all the servers at Page Services. With Nathan’s addition to the staff, Darrel was no longer trying to specify a system, but was working on requirements. Conrad reported a solid plan for moving forward with the power conservation app. Nathan was coordinating the perimeter defense specification.

The biggest thing on Henry’s mind was the counseling session with his wives. He worried about how much he would need to reveal about the actions he’d taken against the preacher and his unauthorized use of oxycontin. While he was certain Lisa and Chastity would understand and agree with them, he couldn’t really expose his action to the counselor.

“It must be hard on all of you to deal with the aftermath of the accident,” Elaine, the counselor, said. “Henry, how is your recovery coming?”

“First of all, it wasn’t an accident,” Henry said, setting the tone for the session. “It was attempted murder. I will never forgive that bastard for hurting Lisa and Chastity. My bones will heal eventually. I don’t think my anger ever will.”

“Just so I know the extent of remedy that is being considered, is your insurance handling the money aspect?” Elaine asked.

“It is being handled as an accident,” Henry said. “Auto insurance doesn’t cover attempted murder nor does health insurance, but the police reported the incident as caused by a driver under the influence. The lawyers have convinced the insurance company to cover the medical expenses and have launched a lawsuit against the estate of Flagston, the driver. It turns out that he was uninsured and there is little or nothing in his estate. They can’t go after Daniel Reeves for encouraging the incident as that would shift it from accident to attempted murder for hire and they don’t cover that. I don’t know the current status of that. Every time I think about it, I become a little irrational. And everything starts hurting again.”

“There are other complications regarding the lawsuit,” Lisa said. “It exposed a massive fraud and embezzlement scheme by the preacher and that brought federal investigators in, since all his money comes in the form of donations to his church. There are a ton of other allegations as well, including ours. They include domestic terrorism.”

“And none of that is giving you any relief,” Elaine sighed. “Henry, the trauma has left you with some non-obvious side-effects. In our previous session, Lisa described nightmares, outbursts, and concern for your use of painkillers. What would help you?”

“Knowing he was dead, his entire church was dismantled, and his members were all in the hell they seem to believe in would help,” Henry said. “When I get out of this wheelchair, I’ll go to Texas and see to it myself.”

“You know that won’t change how you feel, don’t you?”

“Really? That bastard encouraged a drug addict to try to kill us! He paid for Russian hackers to attack our company. He preaches against our products and services and has referred to me as the antichrist. I think getting rid of him would go a long way toward helping me feel better.”

“Let’s see if we can change the focus a little to what we can do in this room. Henry, your wives—I’m not going to play around trying to define different roles for Lisa and Chastity; legal relationships have nothing to do with your bond—your wives are also suffering and need you. Revenge against the perpetrator is unlikely to help them. Why don’t we try to find some immediate short-term remedies that will help your family through this rough spot?”

They made as much progress as possible in an hour-long introductory session. Elaine encouraged Henry to talk to his doctor about his use of painkillers and he promised he would. In the meantime, they would try to talk more openly among themselves about how they were feeling and would focus on finding good things in their relationship that were above and beyond the attack on their family.

And, of course, they’d meet again every week for more group counseling, plus individual meetings as needed.

The next Monday was Labor Day and everyone was invited to Luke’s parents’ home for a cookout again. ‘Everyone’ included Isobel’s parents and brother, and Henry’s parents. They’d also been surprised by a visit from Lisa’s parents for the long weekend and they were included at the Monday event. Fortunately, once Henry had been lifted up the steps to the Riordans’ front door, the rest of the party was all on one level and he could make his way around in the power wheelchair. As a special accommodation, Germaine was also invited to the party and drove the van for Henry and his family.

“Germaine, is this really part of your job?” Henry asked as she deployed a portable ramp to get up the stairs to the Riordan front door.

“Oh, no,” she replied. “I volunteered. I just couldn’t stand the idea of Chastity and Miss Lisa having to wrestle you in and out of the van. I’m used to it and didn’t have anything else to do today.”