Chapter 22: Fight Fire With Fire

July 9, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, there’s a Detective Sergeant Atkins on the phone for you,” Keri said over the intercom.

“Put him through, please.”

“Hello, Detective,” I said when the call was put through.

“Mr. Adams? I’m just calling to let you know that we’re closing the investigation. I’m sorry for any trouble that might have been caused. It turns out that we had false information.”

“Thank you, Detective. I appreciate the call.”

“You’re welcome.”

I hung up and started laughing. I walked down to Elyse’s office, stepped inside, and shut the door.

“No charges,” I grinned.

“You are unbelievable!” she laughed. “So now what?”

“I wait for a call from a certain socialite offering an apology.”

“And DCFS?”

“That’s something my friends can’t fix. Gwen is on it, and if need be, Phil as well. Gwen thinks we’ll be fine. The kids are properly fed and clothed, and nobody is abusing them in any way.”

“What about our unique relationships?”

“What about them? They’d have to prove somehow that they were a danger to the kids. Can you imagine the field day the press would have if they claimed that Jesse was ‘abused’,” I made air quotes, “because he has two moms? We may not be at a point where society is going to let Jennifer and Josie legally marry, but to take Jesse from his biological mom based solely on the fact that she’s in a relationship with another woman? It would never happen.”

“And the rest of us?”

“They’d be hard-pressed to take kids from any of the three of you based on the fact that you have sex in the context of a loving, though non-traditional, relationship. About the only thing anyone could point to would be the naked saunas, and because the kids are all very young, and there’s no abuse going on, that won’t be an issue. Think about the stupid pictures our parents took of us in bathtubs and stuff like that, as well as joint baths for toddlers. Society hasn’t gone completely around the bend on stuff like that. At least not yet.”

“Do you have any idea what they’ll ask in the interviews?”

“Not really. Gwen will spend some time with all of us to prepare. But we’re all professionals, and the three of you all have advanced degrees! The house is warm, safe, and loving. Nobody does drugs. Nobody drinks to excess. The kids are happy. So we answer their questions, they finish their investigation, and close the file.”

“When will you know what avoiding arrest and getting The Bitch to back off is going to cost you?”

“When they need me, and not one second before. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m here if you need me.”

I smiled, “I know. You realize that you are the only person who knows every one of my secrets, right?”

“Not everyone.”

“OK. You know the broad picture, not the details. And as I said, you do NOT want to know those details.”

“If something were to happen, and I would need to get those records, where would I find them?”

“Elyse...”

“I already know, Steve. Someone needs to be able to get to them if you can’t.”

“There are diskettes in my lockbox in the locked drawer of my desk. They’re password-protected. I’ll tell you the password, but you can never write it down.”

“Why?”

“The government can’t make you TELL them the password, but if it’s written down, they can get a warrant or subpoena to seize it. Also, I need you to come with me to the Post Office so I can rent a PO Box. I want you as the second owner of the box. We’ll make sure there are several keys so anyone can get the mail.”

“That’s part of Mr. Shaughnessy’s plan?”

“Yes. It prevents casual snooping of the return addresses on the mail and that kind of thing. Patrick’s concern is that with our combined incomes, we’re a potential target. That’s why Alarm Detection will start installing a security system in the house next week.”

“Don’t forget that your new BMW is being delivered today. The title for the current one will be delivered as well. It’s titled in Jessica’s name, as you asked.”

“Perfect. Thanks. Before I forget, has Cindi come to you about hiring in Pittsburgh or LA?”

“We had some discussions. For the moment, she’s handling things in Pittsburgh with the Chicago staff, augmented by occasionally borrowing programmers from Dave. She supplements LA as well, though, with someone in the office, it doesn’t happen that often. She’ll come talk to you at some point this week. She didn’t want to bother you last week after the baby was born.”

“What do the finances look like?”

“Decent. She doesn’t have quite enough business to cover their costs fully, but we’re losing some deals because we have to include T&L in our billing. So, in the end, it’ll work out. We’d probably run in the red for three to six months in each city, but that’s the cost of developing business. Our programmers are a bigger hit to the bottom line when we first hire them because the return comes far down the road.”

“OK. I’ll expect her then. I do need to talk to Jeri.”

“What are you going to say to her?”

“That’s actually a good question. I haven’t shared any of the recent drama with her. Did you, or anyone, tell her about the detectives?”

“Only Keri, Kimmy and I knew about that. Keri immediately called Kimmy because I was on the phone. And Kimmy came to get me. And we haven’t said anything about DCFS, either.”

“I guess what I don’t want is for her to think she needs to quit. It’s possible that her mother told her about my ‘troubles’.”

“I hadn’t considered that angle,” Elyse said. “Let me call her in, and we can get a feel for what she knows.”

Elyse walked out to Jeri’s workstation and came back into the office with her.

“Are you doing OK?” I asked.

“It’s really easy to avoid my mother, so yes. She did try to get into the building, but the doorman turned her away. And my phone number is unlisted, as I told you. She has called here a few times, but Keri told her I didn’t want to speak to her. Has she done anything to you? She threatened to.”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” I said.

“I know you’ve involved lawyers. Just let me have the invoices, and I’ll either pay them or reimburse you. And I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer!”

I chuckled, “The new Jeri. Have you actually talked to your mom recently?”

“Not since the beginning of last week when she threatened to come after you.”

“She tried. What she did isn’t important. I took care of it.”

Jeri sighed, “I am curious what she did?”

“Tried to badmouth us with some customers, but she made a tactical error in slandering IIT. They didn’t take too kindly to that. I suspect their lawyer has talked to her lawyer.”

“That’s all?” she asked.

“No, but as I said, don’t worry about it. It’s under control. I hope you weren’t considering giving in to her.”

“Briefly. But when you and Elyse insisted that NIKA would be OK and that you would deal with any issues, I decided to stick to my guns.”

“And you should,” I said firmly. “Nobody should be forced to do anything they don’t want to do. Ever.”

“I really appreciate you going out on a limb for me.”

“If I’m not loyal to my employees, I have no right to expect them to be loyal to me, even when it costs me a bit. And even if it wasn’t an issue of loyalty, you’re too important to NIKA to let you go without a fight.”

“It’s not because of what we did?” she asked, eyeing Elyse.

Elyse laughed, “No way. He’s loyal to everyone. Well, until they betray him.”

“How often does that happen?”

“Almost never,” Elyse said. “And he’s willing to give people a second, and often, even a third chance.”

“Is there anyone who’s on your ‘naughty’ list?”

“A law firm that I’ve tangled with three times now. My mom. My brother.”

“What about the girl who claimed you fathered her baby?”

“She’s just confused,” I said. “Given all the facts, I can see why she believed I was the father of her little girl, but DNA says I’m not. My friend Bethany, who’s a licensed psychologist, says that Carla, that’s the woman’s name, is suppressing some memory.”

“Not lying?”

“Nobody thinks she’s lying. That’s why it’s such a mystery.”

“Surely Dante isn’t on your ‘nice’ list!”

“Dante is an interesting guy. Sure, he’s not the kind of guy I want for a close friend, and he can be a pain in the butt. Despite that, he’s a good customer, and now that I understand how to deal with him, he’s fine. And speaking of Dante, we have work to do for him!”

Jeri left, and I asked Elyse if I could use her phone because Penny was in my office. She agreed, and I called Kara to let her know that I’d heard from the police. After that, I called Sam Kassan’s office.

“They did what?” he asked.

“Called me and said that their information was mistaken and that there will be no charges filed.”

“Pardon my incredulity, but I don’t believe it. I’m going to call my contact at the State’s Attorney’s office and see if the investigation has been closed. I’ll call you back!”

I thanked him, hung up, and smiled smugly. I knew what he’d discover. Keri put him through to me about twenty minutes later.

“Your information was correct. He told me the investigation was closed. No reason why. Just closed.”

“Perhaps they decided this wasn’t the case to push on a law that hasn’t been enforced in decades.”

“Perhaps, but I think there’s more going on here. I could look into it further if you wanted.”

“No,” I said. “Let’s let sleeping dogs lie. If it comes back, then we can deal with it.”

“I suppose that makes sense. I’ll let Melanie know.”

“Thanks, Mr. Kassan.”

We hung up. I thanked Elyse and went back to my office.

“Are you ever going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Penny demanded.

“I can’t. It’s a private matter that doesn’t affect you. Everything is just fine, Penny.”

She gave me a hard look and turned back to her workstation.

July 12, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“We’re here to see Mrs. Danforth,” Gwen said.

“And you are?” the receptionist asked.

“These are Mr. Adams, Mrs. Adams, Ms. Adams, Ms. Clarke, Ms. Nolan, and Ms. O’Connor. They’re here for interviews. I’m Gwen Meyer, their attorney. I’ll be sitting in on all interviews.”

“And Ms. Block and Ms. Dolan?”

“They’ve retained a separate attorney and are contesting the interviews. You should already have been served with those papers.”

Jennifer and Josie had been livid about the interview and had engaged a high-profile parental rights attorney. They were contesting the interviews as having no basis, being the product of malicious slander, and seeking to force the agency to reveal who had slandered them. I didn’t think they’d have much success, but I didn’t object to what they were doing. We all knew who had done it, but the girls wanted to make a point.

My wives and I, on the other hand, after talking with Elyse, felt our best approach was to simply answer the questions honestly and then have Gwen demand the case be closed for lack of evidence. We’d met with her the previous day to go over strategy. The only potential fly in the ointment was Abbie, but we’d all agreed, outside of Gwen’s hearing, that she would simply be our nanny and not speak of the relationship. If Jesse had mentioned kissing her, we could easily pass that off as exactly that — kissing.

Mrs. Danforth came out a few minutes later and called my name. Gwen and I went to a small interview room with her. The initial questions were simply — name, date of birth, address, marital status, and employment.

“To your knowledge, has anyone in your home struck or injured any of the children at any time?”

“No, they have not.”

“Has any of your children seen a doctor, been admitted to a hospital, or otherwise received medical treatment.”

“Nothing other than their usual pediatric visits.”

“And you’re the biological father of all the children in the home?”

“Yes.”

“And your relationships with their mothers?”

“I’m legally married to Doctor Jessica Adams. In addition, both Jessica and I are in a committed, loving relationship with Miss Kara Adams, who we treat as an equal partner in our marriage.”

“You’re engaged in an adulterous relationship in the home?”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Danforth,” Gwen said. “But the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County State’s Attorney both closed investigations into that claim as unfounded. We reject your characterization of the relationship as adulterous.”

“Per the statute...” Mrs. Danforth began.

“You aren’t qualified to make that judgment,” Gwen said firmly. “The State’s Attorney is qualified to do so, and his office CLOSED the investigation. You may take it up with them. If you attempt to remove the children based on your personal judgment, which you are substituting for that of the legal officer tasked with making that judgment, I’ll have you before the magistrate this afternoon. Move on.”

“And your relationship with Ms. Clarke?”

“We have an intimate relationship known to my wife.”

“And...”

“No, Mrs. Danforth,” Gwen said. “This is about the welfare of the children, not your personal moral outrage over Mr. Adams’ relationship with these women. Move on.”

“I’m entitled to ask any question I find relevant to the welfare of the children.”

“You also need to justify the relevance. Again, your personal moral objections do not apply. Unmarried couples have children all the time. You saw the home. There is nothing dangerous. There is more than sufficient nourishing food. Each child has their own bed. There are no signs of any abuse, and all the children are healthy. The parents of the children are living in a voluntary relationship with each other. There is more than sufficient income in the home to support the children without any state aid. There is a full-time nanny.

“We know that false claims were made to your agency. We can actually prove that. Despite that, I presented my clients for interviews because there is nothing to hide. If you wish, we can make this adversarial, and I will subpoena the person who made the claim, and we will ask for sanctions against the agency and you personally. I’ll ask you again: will you confine your questions to the health and safety of the children?”

“I have the power to take the children under an emergency order.”

“Yes, if you swear a complaint that the children are in imminent danger. But you know that to be false. That would make it perjury. I believe this investigation is over. If you need any further information, you may speak to me. My clients will not speak to you without a subpoena. Now, good day.”

“If you leave, I’ll sign the order.”

“Go on then, sign it,” Gwen said, taking out her cellular telephone.

She dialed, “The chambers of Judge O’Malley, please. This is attorney Gwen Meyer with an urgent call for an emergency order of protection. No, it can’t wait even one minute. Yes, I’ll hold.”

Mrs. Danforth didn’t move or say anything. I wondered if she thought it was a bluff.

“Gwen Meyer, Your Honor. I have a situation where DCFS is acting on information that they know to be false, and I need an emergency order protecting the children from being taken until an emergency hearing can be scheduled. I’ll appear before you immediately to swear a statement that the children are in no imminent danger.”