Chapter 44: War On Many Fronts

March 3, 1995, Chicago, Illinois

“I can’t tell you,” she said, looking down.

“Because you’re afraid?”

“No, I can’t tell you, because I don’t know who it was.”

“Because you don’t remember having sex with someone?”

She shook her head, “I remember.”

“Now I’m even more confused.”

“You remember I told you about the wedding that Dustin and I worked?”

“Vaguely, yes.”

“Well, I had a few drinks like I said, but instead of going to my room, I stayed at the party and got to talking with a guy. We danced, and drank, and I ended up back in his room. I wasn’t a virgin, you know, so it wasn’t a big deal.”

“So you do know!”

She shook her head, “I only got his first name. And I never saw him again. So I know who it was, I just don’t know who he is! And then I discovered I was pregnant and thought about having an abortion, but I’m Catholic and I couldn’t do it.”

“So why not try to find the guy?” I asked.

“For what? He was a one-night stand. I didn’t want him having anything to do with Rachel once I decided to have her. So I left the spot for the father’s name on the birth certificate blank.”

“OK, but then what? Why me?”

“It’s complicated,” she sighed. “You remember I was engaged, right? Well, my fiancé insisted I tell him who Rachel’s father was. I didn’t know what to do, so I went to my uncle Peter and asked him for help finding the guy. He asked me for all the details and if I’d been with more than one guy. When I mentioned your name, it was obvious he knew who you were. He said he’d help me, but then a couple of weeks later, he called me and told me he needed me to do something.

“I went to see him and he handed me a duffel bag. I opened it and it was full of cash, fifty grand. The only thing I had to do was insist you were the baby’s father. I didn’t understand why, but honestly, you would have made a great father for Rachel. I needed the money, so I went for it. I still don’t understand what was going on there.”

“I do,” I said. “But why continue after the DNA test?”

“Because my uncle insisted, and he’s very scary. And honestly, having you in Rachel’s life would have been a good thing. The only real lie I told was that I hadn’t been with anyone.”

“I’d always assumed it was Dustin,” I said.

“I know you did, but Dustin was gay. He wasn’t out, but I knew and so did his mom. That’s why she refused to let anyone see the photos.”

“Guys?”

“Yeah, lots of sexy guys; well, guys he thought were sexy. His mom didn’t want anyone to know Dustin’s secret.”

“So why not tell me once everything played out?”

“I’d hoped to convince you to be in Rachel’s life. But I guess it worked out that way because Birgit decided to be her friend and Rachel hangs out at your house with Birgit and Tiffany. Can you tell me what was REALLY going on?”

“Someone wanted to mess up my life,” I said. “It all started in Cincinnati back in the late 70s.”

“How did you meet my grandfather?”

“Through a mutual friend. Who that was doesn’t matter, and you REALLY need to keep quiet about this. Don’t tell ANYONE we talked and that I know. We’ll both be in danger if you do.”

“I know,” she said. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

“Will you answer a question for me?”

“Sure; if I can.”

“What made you change your mind about having sex with me?”

“I fell in love with you and hoped making love might change something. But as soon as you were in me, I knew, too late, obviously, that nothing was going to change. That’s why I sent you away. That was probably a mistake. I was totally bummed and that’s why I ended up drinking and in bed with some random guy. I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused you.”

“That’s all ancient history,” I said. “I accept your apology.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Now the trick is to figure out how to keep you and Rachel safe.”

“From my uncle?”

“And some others, too. Did you hear what happened to Brandon Littleton?”

“No.”

“He was murdered in San Antonio.”

“My uncle?” she said evenly, which made me think she suspected, or knew, of her uncle’s activities.

“I’d put money on it,” I said. “So the thing to do is simply go about your life and keep this between us. Don’t let on that I know or that I’ve figured things out. I’m curious about what you said to your uncle about Rachel being friends with Birgit and you coming to the house.”

“That you felt guilty and were doing your best to help me.”

“Then keep that up. Have you managed the money well?”

“Yes. With my income from my work, I still have quite a bit of it left. I’m trying to save for Rachel to go to college.”

There was no way I could tell her about the money I’d set aside for Rachel. In about eight years, an attorney would contact her to let her know about the money. That had been my original plan, and changing it didn’t make any sense. I didn’t need credit or affirmation; I just wanted things to go well for Rachel, who was truly the innocent party in all of this.

“Good,” I said.

“So that’s it?”

I nodded, “I think so. I don’t care about what happened in the past. I’m happy to let bygones be bygones, as they say.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“When you said it was great, did you really mean that, or were you just saying it so I didn’t feel bad?”

“I enjoyed being with you and was disappointed when you sent me away,” I said.

She nodded and looked a bit sad.

“A stupid mistake on my part,” she sighed.

“Forget all that,” I said. “Let’s just move forward as friends, and make sure Rachel grows up healthy and happy.”

“What do I tell her?”

I shrugged, “That’s a tough problem because she could unravel this entire thing. I think you have to just stick with the story that I’m not her dad because the DNA tests said so, but you don’t know what happened and can’t explain it. Stick with the idea that I feel guilty about the whole thing.”

There was one other thing I did have to worry about, and that was the FBI linking Carla to Scuderi. But as best I could tell, they hadn’t delved too deeply into Brandon Littleton’s cases against me. Jamie’s point about them not rising to the level of barratry, and having a legitimate basis, might well keep them from digging further. I wondered about the San Antonio cops, though. They might dig enough to find that, but then again, they’d have to know Carla’s mother’s maiden name, and I couldn’t imagine them looking far enough to find that, especially given the DNA test results.

“Do you ever wonder what might have happened?”

I shook my head, “I avoid playing those ‘What if?’ games because we can’t ever know how things would have turned out. And think about this - had we continued our relationship, you might well not have had Rachel. Would you trade her for a chance to be with me?”

“No.”

“Which proves my point, I think. Shall we eat?”

She nodded and we ate our lunches. When we finished, we hugged and left the restaurant. I walked back to the NIKA offices and went straight to see Elyse.

“I know what happened with Carla,” I said, then related the story.

“Are you going to say anything to Jessica or Kara?” Elyse asked.

“What could I say? They know NOTHING about any of this. Not a thing. I’m only telling you because you already know quite a bit about what’s going on. But it’s only you, Elyse. Nobody, and I mean nobody, knows I was involved here in Chicago. Bethany, Stephanie, and in a minor way, Jennifer, knew I was flirting with this kind of stuff in Milford. But that’s it. And it needs to stay that way.”

“So you really think Scuderi killed Littleton?”

“I’d take that to the bank,” I said. “He’s a trained Outfit assassin. And Littleton was a liability.”

“And you?”

I shook my head, “He was paid to mess with me via Littleton. Nobody’s paying him now.”

“Who ordered the hit on Littleton?” Elyse asked nervously.

“That one Scuderi could have done on his own. I got the drift from my sources that he takes matters into his own hands. But before you freak out, I’ve done nothing to him and can’t hurt him. He doesn’t know I know about his links with Littleton. From HIS perspective, he sealed the leak. We’ll let him believe that.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Give me another alternative,” I said.

“If I had one, I would.”

I nodded and headed to my office where Kimmy stopped me.

“Melissa called. She was hit with a fourth lawsuit.”

“Now what?”

“Dante is suing her to take back control of the company.”

I sighed, “OK. Get her on the phone, please.”

I had barely sat down in my chair when Lucas buzzed me.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Sorry; I would have called Kimmy but her line is busy. Jamie Ferguson is on the phone for you.”

“Put him through,” I said, dreading what I knew had to be the case.

The phone buzzed and I picked it up.

“What’s he suing me for?” I asked before even saying hello.

“Conspiracy to defraud and a whole bunch of other stuff.”

“It’s pure bullshit, Jamie.”

“I know. How did you know?”

“Melissa called while I was at lunch. He’s suing her to take back control of M&M.”

“Wonderful. Let me call Billie Lawson and have a chat. We’re going to need to work closely to beat back all these suits.”

“They’re groundless, right?”

“Yes, but he’s going to throw everything at M&M and try to force them to sell the company back to him or drive them out of business.”

“Of course he is. Kimmy is signaling she has Melissa on the line. Talk with Ms. Lawson and let me know.”

“Will do.”

We hung up and Kimmy put Melissa’s call through to my phone.

“He’s suing me, too,” I said before I greeted her.

“Shit,” she spat. “For what?”

“Conspiracy to defraud and a bunch of other stuff Jamie didn’t tell me about. It’s all bogus, but it’s going to cost us some money.”

“He’s trying to force me to sell back to him or put me out of business.”

“I know. Jamie is going to call Billie and work out some kind of joint response.”

“Mind if I come over? I need to get out of the office and your office is MUCH more peaceful than any place else I can go.”

“Sure. Come hang out, we’ll drink tea and relax.”

I hung up and waited for the question.

“What the heck is going on?” Penny asked.

“Dante’s being himself.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Wait until Jamie talks to Melissa’s attorney and see what ideas they have.”

“You’re awfully calm.”

“I have people to deal with this; people whom I trust. I need to let them do their jobs. That’s what Melissa needs to learn. It took me a long time to learn the lesson. Now my job is to teach others.”

“Can he hurt us?”

“No. He can cost us some money, but he can’t really hurt us.”

“Good.”

I got up from my desk and let Kimmy know that Melissa was on her way, and asked her to bring in green tea once Melissa arrived. I went back to my desk and called my dad to let him know what was going on, then called Joyce and filled her in as well. Neither of them seemed overly concerned, and I promised to report back as soon as Jamie had had a chance to talk to Billie Lawson and formulate a response. Once I hung up, I called Elyse and Michelle and asked them to join me and Kimmy in my private meeting room.

“Dante is suing M&M to try to regain control of the company, and us for conspiring with Melissa and Mark in some way.”

“What the fuck?” Elyse spat.

“Relax,” I said gently. “Jamie is on it. It’s baseless. All he can do is annoy us.”

“What about M&M?” Elyse asked. “We have a very nice revenue stream from them.”

“Jamie is working with their lawyers on some sort of joint response.”

Elyse frowned, “Did Dante sign over all his patents to Melissa and Mark when they took over? Or did he just license them?”

“I’m pretty sure he assigned them. Why?”

“The company is worthless without those. Were they assigned personally to Mark and Melissa?”

“I have no clue,” I said. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m not quite sure. I want to talk to her when she gets here, then to a patent attorney. Allen & Baker doesn’t do intellectual property, so I’ll need to talk to someone else.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “And let me know what you’re thinking once you know what you’re thinking!”

“Is there anything I need to do?” Michelle asked.

“Not right now. I’m not quite sure what Jamie is going to want from us because I had zero communication with either Mark or Melissa before Dante signed a letter of intent, and he was at both meetings we had before the deal was signed.”

“So there’s no way he can show any kind of conspiracy,” Elyse said.

“Exactly. My cell phone records and the company phone records will back that up, along with my calendar. The fact that we document every single meeting and phone call works heavily in our favor.”

“Do you want me to start getting all that stuff together?” Michelle asked.

“That makes sense, so yes. Work with Kimmy to get all those records together.”

“Anything else?”

“That’s a start,” I said. “Jamie will probably have some other requests, too.”

“The revised contracts and licensing agreements,” Elyse said. “Michelle, you can get those from Keri.”

“OK. I’ll get right on it.”

“Thanks,” I said.

We left the meeting room and a few minutes later, Melissa arrived. Kimmy brought in the tea, and we sat on the «zabuton». Elyse came in a moment later.

“Melissa, Elyse has a question about the original DP Engineering patents for you.”

“Did Dante assign them to you, or to M&M?” Elyse asked.

“They were assigned to DP Engineering, and included in the sale. Why?”

“Just an idea. Let me make a few calls. I’ll be back.”

She left and Melissa looked quizzically at me.

“She has some idea to make things more difficult for Dante.”

“You wouldn’t have any booze to add to this tea, would you?”

“I have a fully-stocked liquor cabinet, but I wouldn’t recommend getting blotto.”

“You’re just no fun,” she sighed.

“Something Penny tells me all the time,” I grinned.

“How are you so calm? I’m completely freaked out!”

“Long, hard experience. Look, this kind of stuff happens all the time in business. And personally, too. As annoying as it is, just let your lawyers deal with it and listen to pragmatic advice.”

“How do you de-stress?

“It depends, but sometimes my sauna, sometimes my pipe and a glass of bourbon, and sometimes beating the crap out of the practice bag at the dojo.”

“Your sauna? You have one at home?”

“Yes.”

“Could I talk you into a shoulder rub and a sauna?”

“Melissa...”

“I’m curious why you’re so adamant about this.”

“Our business is based on a relationship. What happens if it goes sour?”

“Explain Dante!”

I chuckled, “Once you figure him out, he’s easy to deal with. Do you remember what I said about him?”

“That you didn’t hate him because that would require an emotional commitment on your part.”

“Exactly. I didn’t like him, but I knew how to deal with him. I also knew that I could scotch the entire deal by not handling the relationship properly. So I figured out how he thought, and then figured out how to handle him. In the end, he was putty in my hands. BUT, the key thing is, I made sure I didn’t sour the relationship. He broke up with us a few times, but he always came back because he respected me.”

“Dante didn’t respect anyone!”

“Are you sure about that?” I asked. “Who did he need to agree before he sold his company? Did you meet with ANYONE else?”

“No.”

I smiled, “He told me you did, but I knew he was lying.”

“How?”

“Because once I figured him out, I held ALL the cards. I’ve been on the other side of a relationship like that, where someone else knew how to play me like a violin. I learned some hard lessons from that. Actually, more than one relationship. But I learned my lessons.”

“Do you have me figured out?”

“Trade secret,” I grinned.

“I thought you were my mentor!”

“All in good time, Grasshopper.”

“You know I’m a big girl, right? That I can handle myself in relationships?”

“I’m positive that’s the case. But it’s an issue of risk. Why take an unnecessary risk? We run companies and we take calculated risks all the time. That’s the very nature of what we do. No offense intended, but we don’t take risks that don’t have sufficient reward.”

“Did you just say what I think you said?”

“No! That’s why I asked you not to take offense. Let’s say it was the best sex you ever had. I mean, so good that nothing before or after would ever compare. Is it worth risking our business relationship for? Be honest.”

“You have a pretty high opinion of your skills!”

“It was a hypothetical!” I laughed. “But seriously, would you take that risk as CEO? Risk everything for what, in the end, would be just a good screw?”

“No,” she sighed. “Not when you put it that way.”

“Exactly. Which is why I put my rules in place about customers and partners. The rules are actually more expansive, because they include anyone who works with either of my wives. Or anyone at my dojo or related to them. Or anyone related to anyone who works here. All of those rules are in place to make sure I don’t do something dumb that would hurt scores of people. And trust me, I can be a real idiot at times.”