Filthy in a Suit

by Luke Steel

  For Leo it’s simple. Kari’s his daughter. He jabs a finger in my chest. “Ok, counselor. You can stick to your morals and watch that worthless, manipulative lying piece of shit pull one over on my daughter, or you can take this folder and forget where it came from.” He checks his watch. “But by my count you have about ten minutes to decide. They’re already in there, aren’t they?”

  I check my watch too. I don’t say anything else to Leo, I just snatch the folder out of his hand and head back into the building.

  I don’t remember this hallway being so goddamn long. If I use what’s in here, Kari is set financially. She won’t get everything she wants, but with the money this will bring her, even with just half of it she can build it all over again. Baked goods, huh? Who the hell knew?

  But divulging this to Kari violates the privilege I share with Danny. I’d have to go deeper into the law on this one—hiding assets from your spouse is illegal, but in a case like mine where the divorce is “uncontested” and we’re mediating, the way we found this information could also be a problem.

  There’s another option for me. Quit the case. As an attorney, I can’t knowingly allow my client to lie to a court about what he has—grounds enough for a lawyer to drop a client’s case. Rather than revealing what I know, it is more appropriate that I step out of the picture, now more than ever. It’s past time, truth be told, given what’s happened between Kari and me. I’ve broken the rules already. Leaving the case is the only way I avoid getting sucked into this.

  But that means I leave Kari alone for Danny to drag her into courtroom hell. I just can’t do it. I want her free of this asshole. I want her free.

  Kari’s in the conference room still, only this time she’s standing by the window.

  “Have a little chat with pop, did you?” she asks. I stand next to her at the window and peer over her shoulder. In the distance, I can see Leo lumbering up to his car. Of course Kari recognizes him.

  She won’t look at me. “Have you been working with my father this whole time?”

  “Not working for him. I work for you and Danny. But yes, he knows about your case. I haven’t violated privilege.” Not yet, anyway.

  Kari’s eyes flick to me. She’s furious, I can feel it.

  “What are the two of you up to?”

  “This,” I say quietly, and hold up the folder Leo gave me. “Your father found out Danny’s been hiding money. We know where, we know the accounts. And as marital property, irresepective of the business, you’ll get half.”

  Kari looks at the folder, then looks at me, her eyes widening. “How much is in it?”

  I put the folder on the table and put my fist down on it. “Enough.”

  “Enough to cover the debts and the house?”

  “More than.”

  Kari circles the folder, walking around the table as though there were a spider sitting on the file cover.

  “You can’t just give that to me. Danny’s your client, too. Why’s my father meddling in this anyway?”

  “Kari, it doesn’t matter. You have what you need. Danny’s been lying to you about where the money from your business has gone, and now he’s taking the whole thing anyway. You were furious about that, don’t you remember?”

  “Of course I do, “Kari snaps. “Better than anyone. But that was before. Before we—“

  “Before we what? You knew he was bad. No one knew just how bad. But with this information, you can get what you need from him and be free.”

  Kari just looks at me and shakes her head. I’ve never seen anything like what’s on her face. Shock. Anger. And sadness. So much she’s close to tears.

  Down the hall from the conference room, I can hear Danny’s voice in the lobby. Any moment he’ll be led down the hall to this room.

  Kari’s eyes are wide when she steps close. “Quit the case, Wes. Quit it now. I’ll find another lawyer and we’ll go after him that way.”

  “No. What if he moves the money by then? By the time you get to him, this chance will be gone. I don’t want that for you.”

  “I don’t care. Quit the case and we’ll figure it out.”

  I can’t hear her. Danny’s coming down the hall and it’s time to knock things down. We’ll work out a deal. Danny won’t want to negotiate, but we’ll make him. The leverage is there.

  Right before Danny Michaels turns the conference door, I feel Kari come up beside me, her arms around me. She circles me fast and latches on. In a flash, she uses her whole weight to pull me down to her mouth in a passionate, full body contact kiss.

  My arms close around her out of instinct, but it’s only when I hear Danny give an outraged shout that I realize what Kari’s just done: outed us as lovers to her husband.

  “Ah, man, what the fuck is this bullshit!” Eloquent as always, our Danny.

  Kari springs back as though it was Danny’s arrival that shocked her into stopping. Wiping at her lipstick, she smiles coyly at Danny while he sputters in outrage.

  “Oh hey, Danny. Good to see you.”

  Danny turns to me. “She got you, didn’t she? She tricked your stupid ass into helping her. I told you she had an angle, man. I told you.”

  He rounds on Kari. “Won’t work, Kare bear. Won’t work. This asshole is fired! And I’ll see your pretty little ass in court. Before I’m done, you’ll be on your knees begging me not take everything and—“

  I’ll admit my reflexes have been a little slow today, but that ends now. Before I even know what’s happening, I have Danny pinned to the door by his neck.

  I grit out each word into his face. “You. Will. Not. Speak to her that way, do you understand me? Never. Again.”

  “Wes!” I have a vague impression that Kari is standing next to me, looking frantically from Danny to me. It’s just that Danny’s turning a fascinating color of purple while I hold him here.

  “Let him go, Wes. He can’t breathe!”

  Fair point. I turn the maggot lose and he wriggles to the floor at Kari’s feet. I use my arm to scoot her back and away from him. We both stand back as Danny struggles to his feet and out the door.

  People from offices down the hall and all over the building have been spilling out in the corridor to try and see what’s happening. I can see them all peering down at us, but I ignore them and face Kari.

  She’s crying, holding herself. It kills me to see her like that. But before I can reach her, she runs, tearing out of the conference room and out the building doors.

  Chapter Six

  I haven’t heard directly from Kari for two weeks. I received letters from both Danny and Kari firing me from representing them, but not a word from her personally. I’ve been reprimanded by my firm, but nothing has substantiated Danny Michaels’ accusations of misconduct against me. My partners are nothing if not firm believers in innocent until proven guilty. A slap on the wrist for slapping my client’s ass may be all I get. Still, folks still seem to avoid me in the halls.

  Leo confirmed what I already knew and then filled in the rest. Kari was the proverbial “daddy’s girl” turned teenage nightmare shortly after her mother died. Acting out, some parties, but no real trouble until she met Danny Michaels. And as is typical for a young girl her age, rebelling and falling for the boy that daddy least liked. They were estranged after Kari eloped with Danny, and still not in contact even after the marriage fell apart.

  “It was my pride after she went and married that loser and I didn’t even have a chance to walk my baby down the aisle. But she won’t let me help her and she won’t face me. That part is her pride.”

  I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. I’m on the phone with him while he tells me more about his daughter. I’m picturing Kari, the pain on her face as she left before. It all makes more sense now. Except for one thing.

  “So tell me this, Leo. Why didn’t you just flat out hire me to represent her? Why the kid gloves?”

  The old man coughs and then sighs heavily. “I miss cigarettes. Ok, Mr. Smart L
awyer, you tell me what you learned about Danny Michael these last few weeks.”

  I sit back in my chair. “He’s a vindictive asshole who would rake her over the coals forever if he could.”

  Leo continues for me. “And if he can’t, he drags it out forever until there’s nothing left and she’s broken and completely broke. But with you? No court, no battle, in and out. Of all the attorneys I worked for over the years, you were the only one with a heart. The only one who managed to wear the suit without the suit wearing you.” I’m not sure what to make of that praise, but he continues. “I always knew she wouldn’t get much, but this was the only way I could still protect her. Now?” He whistles low. “I’m considering coming out of my first retirement, if you get my meaning.”

  “That could have been Plan A all along, old man.”

  “Meh. I promised her mother no more of that stuff. Not for any reason.”

  “Well, you could have told your daughter. Told her what you wanted.”

  “She fired you the minute she found out I had anything to do with it, no?”

  The man has a point. It’s pretty apparent Kari wouldn’t have talked to me, had she known. What a mess this is.

  We’re both silent and then the old man laughs, a gravelly low sound. “Listen, I still know a thing or two about my daughter. Let her come to you. Let her cool off. Let her have her pride. Hell, let her get divorced. Then see where you stand.”

  Let her push me away. “I don’t think I can do that, Leo.”

  “Well, then, what do I know? Maybe you’ll have more luck with her than I did.”

  That very moment, there’s a knock at my door.

  “Delivery!”

  “You know, Leo,” I say as I walk to the door and peek out. “Maybe I will.”

  It’s the same delivery guy. No pastry box this time—kind of a shame, actually. The last one was freaking incredible. Just a blue card note. And an uncashed check for $1000.

  Wes,

  I’m sorry. That’s all.

  Kari

  I flip the note over, check the envelope. That really is all. She returned the check I wrote her, but there’s nothing else here.

  The delivery guy is still standing in the door with his clipboard. “Any reply this time?”

  I have to think about that one. But not very long.

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  The apartment is a tiny little studio in Chinatown. I remember asking her why she left the house she shared with Danny—three mortgages notwithstanding, I’ve seen that listing and it’s beautiful. This is nowhere near that. A long way to fall for even the most dedicated hipster.

  I climb five flights that feel more like ten, but I finally make it to her door. There’s no answer when I knock, though I think I hear something from inside. I pull out my cell phone and dial her number. On the other side, I hear a little ragtime music jingle. That’s my girl.

  “Kari.” I call through the door. “I know you’re there. Come on, baby, don’t do this. It’s silly.”

  She’s red-eyed when she finally opens the door. I peek in. She’s in a long white silk robe, face fresh-scrubbed and makeup free.

  “Hello. Interested in donating to the indigent divorce lawyers charity fund?”

  She smiles sadly, and then scrunches her nose at me. “Didn’t I give you $1000 just today?”

  “Zero sum, baby. It’s not donating if you’re giving me back my own money.”

  “Fair point,” she says, and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear.

  “Let me in.”

  Kari leans her head against the door as though she’s trying to decide.

  “Let’s just talk,” I say. “I miss you.”

  Her eyes fill up, and she steps to the side to let me pass.

  Inside, the apartment is small but clean. It’s saving grace is that there are large industrial windows on one wall, which opens it up and makes the air soft. There are the little 40s and turn-of-the-century touches she likes so much placed here and there—some framed photos and ornate lamps. But the furniture is simple.

  In the tiny kitchen there are boxes and trays of cookies and small cakes packed and ready to go on the counter, enough to feed a small army. I look at Kari.

  “They’re coffee cakes, biscotti and some other pastries. I’ve been selling them to coffee shops and restaurant bakery cases around town.”

  I think back fast. “The coffee shop. Is that the real reason you were there that day?”

  Kari lifts her eyes. “That is another reason I was there that day, yes.” She shrugs. “I really was going to come see you that day, too. Selling pastry was a good way to get gas money for the drive across town.”

  I look around again. Some things are starting to make more sense to me. From the look of her apartment, she’s been trying to scrape by for a while now. And she looks thin. I’m willing to bet that I could look through her cupboards and find baking supplies for work, but not a lot of regular food.

  “Why didn’t you cash the check? You could have used it. You could have doubled it.”

  “I don’t want your help or charity, Wes. Certainly not now.”

  Her hands are on her hips now. There’s the flash of backbone I like so much, but it can be damned infuriating, too.

  “So why did you do it? Kiss me in front of him. Fire me.”

  Kari curls herself up in a small armchair, tucking her pretty feet up under her. I try not to notice when the robe tugs open a little wider as she sits, but it’s a losing battle.

  She tilts her chin up. “Why didn’t you tell me you were working for my father?”

  “Because I wasn’t. I get case referrals all the time. Completely kosher.”

  “Right, so my father just happened to refer you to my divorce case and tell you exactly how to execute it? Didn’t know the old man was a lawyer, too.”

  I sit on the threadbare sofa a little away from her and lean forward on my knees. “I’ll give you that. He had more of a hand in it than even I knew. But I think his heart was in the right place. He wanted you protected. I think he trusted me to be fair and not let Danny pull any of his tricks.”

  “Hmm. I wonder what he thinks about how his little plan turned out.” A catty little note crept in to that one.

  “About as well as your plan turned out, am I right?”

  Kari drops the smug look. After a while she laughs, but at herself. “If there ever was a plan, it was a half-assed one from the beginning. I admit, it did occur to me it would be nice to turn the tables on Danny for once. If you’d been a woman lawyer, he would have tried to do the same thing.”

  She picks up one of the ends of her robe belt and starts kneading and pinching it, distracted. “But I started to like you for real. And even then, I wasn’t trying to use you to screw Danny. I was trying to keep you from letting him screw me.” She turns to me now, gripping the arm of her chair. “I’m telling the truth. I’m not a sociopath like he is. I don’t set out to hurt people and ruin their lives.”

  I believe her. Kari has been walking a tightrope in peep-toe heels for a long time.

  But now she’s about to lose everything by refusing to accept help out of the mess of her own making.

  “So you iced me as your lawyer because of Leo?”

  She shakes her head. “No. A little, maybe, but no.”

  “Then why?”

  Kari wipes a tear away. “I don’t want you to compromise yourself for me, Wes. I like you. You’re a good man. You’re very strong and you have these immaculate suits and stuffy principles that make me want to mess with you. I like being your weakness.” She smiles and blushes, an innocent and funny contradiction all in itself. “But you were going to bend the rules to help me. I couldn’t let you do that.”

  I’m ashamed to admit it, but she’s right. I wasn’t just going to bend them, I would have broken them for her. If I’m honest with myself, the absolute truth is I’d do anything for her. Anything. And I can’t bring myself to feel sorry.

  I lov
e her.

  Realizing it—really knowing it for the first time, without any question or doubt—is one of the most humbling moments of my life.

  I want to move closer to her, take her in my arms. Instead I put my hand over hers on the arm rest. “Tell me how I can help you. What can I do?”

  Kari takes my hand in hers and we meet in the middle. I lean forward and fall to my knees in front of her chair. She presses her cheek into my palm then kisses it.

  “What are my options?”

  Many hours later in her bed, lying back in Kari’s pillows, I’m studying the cracks in the ceiling, puzzling over the pieces I’m still missing. It’s hard to shut off my legal mind when it gets going on something.

  “You mentioned some keepsakes you were going to ask for the other day. What were they?”

  Kari, completely nude, is snuggled into my side, dozing. Her voice is sleepy.

  “I want my family’s recipe book.”

  “That’s it? Why didn’t you just take it with you when you left Danny?”

  “Because it’s at Prince Charming Bakeries. It’s what they use for all the product lines.”

  I’m not cottoning onto her meaning. “Just the recipes. That’s all you want?”

  She opens her eyes and furrows her brow at me, at least a little more awake now. “’Just recipes’? You don’t know anything about our business, do you?” I don’t answer and she rolls her eyes. “They’re my family recipes. Going back six generations. Danny Michaels shouldn’t get half of that. Or even any of it. He can take the buildings, the business, all of it. But if he gets to keep using the recipe book, he’s taken the beating heart from my mother’s family. My mother came from a long line of cooks and bakers. That’s how I met Danny.”

  “I expected I would get half of the business. I didn’t think he hated me so much that he would try to take everything entirely. But all I really want is access to the recipes—they’re mine. And then I want my life back. My name back. He can keep the rest. I built it up for him the first time. I’ll build it all again for myself.” She laughs and qualifies, “Eventually. If I did it once, I can do it again, right?”