Victim of the Defense

by Marianne Woolbert-Maxwell

  Megan stopped putting things in her briefcase.

  “My client is willing to give your client fifty thousand dollars in full settlement of any claim she may have against him in this matter and he will sign away all his rights to the child. In exchange your client will sign a confidentiality agreement and state that the rape never occurred and she made a false report and Tarkington will waive any rights he has to sue her for defamation of his character and this little debacle will go away.” Mattingly smiled and leaned back in his chair.

  “Fifty thousand?”

  “That’s right. Immediately.”

  “Do you know how much medical expense this little girl has and will have in the future?” She avoided looking at Mattingly and went back to putting things in her briefcase. “Fifty thousand wouldn’t even scratch the surface.”

  “It’s fifty thousand she doesn’t have now and it’s gratis without a big court battle that could hang your client out to dry—not to mention sully her reputation when the truth comes out.”

  “Your client is the one who needs to worry about the truth coming out.”

  Mattingly leaned back in the chair, folded his arms behind his head, and smiled. “Take the offer to your client. She needs to understand how high the stakes are and what she has to lose. We have a lot on her. It will be a long and bloody battle. And Justice Tarkington will be watching.”

  Megan remembered why she didn’t like Mattingly. She got up from the chair and headed toward the door.

  “Megan.”

  She stopped, turned and looked at him.

  “Let her know that if she wants this to go to court that we’ll take no prisoners.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “You’ve got to be kidding.” Lucy leaned back in the booth and took a sip of her iced tea. She made a face. “Fifty thousand?”

  Fifty thousand dollars wouldn’t begin to touch Lauren’s medical bills, those that already existed and those that would continue to rack up. The diagnosis of cystic fibrosis had come only after a battery of tests and hospitalizations. What at first had appeared to be a serious respiratory infection that would not clear up turned into gastrointestinal problems and significant weight loss. It was clear that Lauren had something major going on. Once the formal diagnosis was made the doctors started treatment. Medical science had made great strides in treating the disease but on-going treatment was costly. Lauren’s condition had stabilized and she and Lucy were now living a more normal life. But she could get a lot sicker at any time.

  “My thoughts exactly,” Megan said. She pushed the manila file to the side of the table. She had known what Lucy’s answer would be—and she agreed.

  “That asshole has millions of dollars and wants to toss a pittance to his daughter and be free?” Lucy said.

  Megan nodded. She had seen it before and Tarkington didn’t surprise her.

  The women sat in silence for several moments.

  “What’s next?” Lucy said softly.

  “Well, we can make a counter offer.”

  Lucy stopped eating and looked at Megan. “Like what? It seems pretty obvious that we’re nowhere near the same page as Tarkington.” She shook her head.

  Megan pushed the food around on her plate and cast a glance at the dining room. The Maadi was a Mediterranean restaurant popular with the locals and there wasn’t a seat to be had anywhere. “Keep in mind we’ve just started negotiations. We don’t even have to negotiate. We can just take it before the court.” Megan paused and leaned forward. “You do have the upper hand. Where are you at on bringing a criminal rape charge?”

  Lucy said nothing.

  “You hold the trump card, Lucy. Tarkington can’t risk that you’ll go to the prosecutor. Let’s put it this way. If Tarkington doesn’t do right by you and Lauren, he risks you requesting criminal charges be filed against him.” She could see Lucy’s expression brighten. “It’s called leverage. Tarkington is between a rock and a hard place. But if we bring it to court at this point—if you file charges now—you might lose your chance of negotiating a big out-of-court settlement. If Tarkington goes on trial for rape the gloves will be off and they won’t be interested in settling. So better try to settle now and get the money, since that’s what you really need. “

  “I hate to see him get away with what he did to me. But Lauren’s medical expenses….” Lucy paused. “Not to mention future expenses. In any case, $50,000 is ridiculous. That won’t even cover the medical bills we’ve already incurred.”

  “They’ve come up some.” It was a week later and Megan was sitting on the couch in Lucy’s apartment. Lucy’s face showed no emotion. Megan handed her a piece of paper. ‘They’re offering $150,000.”

  “$150,000?” Lucy looked at Megan.

  “It’s better than fifty but still….”

  Lucy sighed and laid the paper down on the coffee table.

  Megan popped the tab on her can of Coke. “They want to pay that and have you sign a confidentiality agreement. If you accept the offer you’ll agree to tell no one that you had sex with Tarkington or that he fathered your child—so there will be no chance of filing criminal charges for the rape. And Tarkington will give up legal rights to Lauren.” Tarkington had been threatening that if Lucy didn’t settle this matter that he would insist on visitation and joint custody.

  “So we’ll be rid of Tarkington.”

  Megan nodded. “It’s your call.”

  Lucy leaned back against the couch. Megan could see the emotion welling up inside her.

  “His lawyer acted like I was breaking the bank getting this amount.” Megan rolled her eyes. She picked up the file from the coffee table. “Is cutting a deal and getting a decent amount of money enough to make a difference with Lauren your priority? Even if it means letting Tarkington totally off the hook?” Megan tapped the end of the file on the coffee table and studied Lucy’s face.

  “I suppose so. Lauren is the priority.” Lucy grimaced. “But I’m not exactly happy letting Tarkington get away with what he did to me. He ruined my life. Not because I have Lauren, I’d never want to not have her, but because of how I felt about myself after the rape. How I still feel about myself. I’d love to see him go to prison.”

  “That avenue is still open. But like we see here, with any agreement you take Mattingly and Tarkington will demand that the agreement say you won’t press charges. Are you sure you’re alright with that?”

  Lucy swallowed hard. Megan could see her struggling with the decision.

  “If I don’t press charges he’ll be a rapist at large, who knows who else he’ll harm. And he’ll end up with a great life with all that money and prestige and I’ll have nothing. $150,000 is nothing to Tarkington.” Megan saw tears well in Lucy’s eyes. Lucy looked down at the coffee table.

  “We don’t have to make a decision now,” Megan said. “We’ll continue to try to negotiate a settlement for Lauren and see where that goes. And we can lay the foundation to file criminal charges in case you decide you want to do that at some point. Any time you’re even considering filing criminal charges, the first step is approaching the prosecutor’s office to determine whether you have a case. It takes them a while to look into it. So if you want to keep your options open, let’s contact the prosecutor’s office and fill out a report. You need to do it. The prosecutor will review it and possibly ask us to meet with him.”

  Lucy glanced down at the floor, and then looked up. As someone with a law degree herself, this wasn’t brand new information to her. Still, Megan could see she hadn’t thought of approaching the prosecutor’s office at this point.

  “Yes, let’s do that,” Lucy said after a long moment. “We need to keep our options open.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Chief prosecutor Steve Windfield’s office was in the government center in downtown D.C. Megan and Lucy rode the elevator to the 13th floor, got out, and walked down a long sterile hallway filled with government offices. It was a Thursday afternoon in the middle of May. Megan had recei
ved a call yesterday from the chief prosecutor’s secretary requesting that she and Lucy come in and talk to him about the report Lucy had filed three weeks ago, stating that Tarkington had raped her.

  The prosecutor’s office was at the very end of the hallway. They sat in the reception area for fifteen minutes, then a tall blond secretary ushered them into Steve Windfield’s office.

  “Good to see you, Megan,” Windfield said, reaching out to shake her hand. At fifty-seven he was still fit and trim with only a smattering of gray hair at his temples.

  Megan had known him for years. When she was right out of law school she had started out as a deputy prosecutor. Steve Windfield was working in the prosecutor’s office as another young attorney getting experience trying cases. After ten years as a deputy prosecutor, he decided to run in the election for main prosecutor and won. Tough and no nonsense, he had gained a good reputation.

  Megan motioned toward Lucy. “This is Lucy Hatfield.”

  Windfield reached over and shook her hand. “Please, have a seat.”

  The office was cold and nondescript with government-issued furniture. Nothing like the luxury private attorneys in big firms were used to.

  Windfield walked around behind his gray steel desk and sat down. The chair squeaked. “I’ve reviewed all your paperwork and have some questions.” He reached into his jacket and extracted a pair of glasses. He flicked them open and perched them on his nose.

  “Your position, Ms. Hatfield, is that there was no romantic relationship between you and Mr. Tarkington is that correct?”

  “That is correct.”

  “Anyone who can verify that besides you?

  Lucy cleared her throat. “Excuse me?”

  “Is there anyone else who knows that your relationship was all professional?” Windfield stared at her.

  Megan could see Lucy getting nervous.

  She shot a glance at Megan.

  Windfield continued to look at her waiting for an answer.

  “We were part of a study group that met three evenings a week.” she paused. “We all got to be friends. I imagine some of them could verify that there was no romantic relationship between us.”

  “Anyone else?”

  “I have friends who have known me for years that I see regularly. They could verify that I wasn’t involved with Tarkington.” Lucy paused. “My best friend Katie Robinson can tell you she never heard me say a word about being involved with Tarkington. As a matter of fact, she knew about a guy I was dating at the time. If anyone would know I was involved with Tarkington it would be her.”

  “Do you need a list of potential witnesses to verify that?” Megan asked.

  “Yes,” Windfield said. “These cases usually boil down to the perpetrator saying it was consensual and the victim saying it was rape. Would your client be willing to take a lie detector test if need be?”

  Megan looked at Lucy.

  Lucy nodded.

  “Yes, if need be.”

  Windfield scribbled something on his legal pad. “Any problem with us doing a background investigation on you?” He shot a glance at Lucy.

  “My client is willing to do whatever it takes to get this matter moving.” She looked at Lucy.

  Lucy nodded and looked Windfield in the eye. “Whatever needs to be done I am 100 percent on board.”

  “You know how brutal a criminal prosecution like this can be. The victim becomes the victim of the defense attorney.” Windfield paused. “We have to be sure that the victim is telling the truth and can hold up under scrutiny.” He ripped off a sheet of paper from his legal pad and handed it to Megan. “Here are the names of some polygraph experts we use. I’d like to have her done.” He looked at Lucy. “Just business. Hope you understand.”

  Lucy nodded.

  “Please get me a complete list of all the people who can verify that you and Tarkington were not involved romantically and include their contact information.” Windfield leaned over his desk and shook their hands. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Megan and Lucy got up, left Windfield’s office, and headed down the hall toward the elevator. When the doors were closed Lucy looked at Megan. Megan could see the dismay on her face.

  “Don’t let any of that upset you. We both know he’s just doing his job. He doesn’t want to have a witness who has something in their background that could destroy the witness’s credibility and sink the prosecution’s case.”

  The elevator doors eased open and Megan and Lucy found their way out of the building.

  “Do you think this is really a good idea?’ Lucy said once they got to the sidewalk.

  Megan stopped and looked at her. “Yes. Don’t forget this is all Plan B anyway, in case Tarkington doesn’t come through with a decent settlement. It almost certainly won’t come to a trial.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Let’s start with the discrimination case,” Eric said.

  Megan was sitting in the worn leather chair across from his desk. He had everything he needed in his small office: One medium-sized room with a desk, computer, printer, a couple of client chairs, and some file cabinets.

  The age discrimination suit had been filed two months ago. Recently the firm’s attorney, Richard Chadwick, had sent Megan a list of witnesses he claimed would testify that the firm had fired her and the other women because of performance, not age. The so-called witnesses were support staff and some attorneys. Looking at the list, Megan did not believe that the people listed would testify against her. She had asked Eric to track down all these so-called witnesses and see if he could talk to them.

  One of the witnesses had disappeared, Eric told her now, another said she didn’t know a thing about being a witness against Megan and would have no part of it. She’d told him she had recently left the firm and was working at a new place across town, and that she didn’t think two of the other so-called witnesses would testify against Megan either. Only one woman, Kathy Demarco, who was reportedly gunning for a promotion at the firm, had refused to talk to him.

  “Let’s switch gears,” Megan said. “What did you find out about Lucy?”

  “Your client is spotless. Not even a parking ticket,” Eric said and tossed a file on the table.

  Megan reached over and opened the file.

  “I interviewed people, employers—a whole background check—and she passed with flying colors.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Megan flipped through the papers.

  “I put asterisks by the people who said they knew her and were part of the study group with Tarkington. They all said they never saw her out socially with him. I also talked to her best friend, Kate Robinson. She said there was no way Lucy ever dated Craig Tarkington. They could have been having a secret romance but it seems unlikely. According to these folks, Tarkington exclusively dated socialites. Lucy was also going out with another guy. I’ll keep digging to see what else I can find.”

  Eric leaned back in his chair. “The only thing I could find on Lucy that seemed strange to me was that she didn’t take the bar exam and pass until four years after graduating.”

  Megan stopped and looked at him. “Four years?”

  Eric nodded.

  “What did she do for employment during that time?”

  “From what I could tell a variety of things.” Eric opened the file. “Let’s see… She had a retail job, worked at a resort in Reno, she was a paralegal for a while.”

  Megan sat up. “Are you serious? Let me see that.” She took the file and scanned the notes. She shook her head. “I can’t believe this. Why? The only legal job she had was that paralegal work for some small firm.”

  “I checked with all these folks and they gave her a good reference. Who knows, Megan, maybe she just wanted a break after law school before she committed full time to the legal grind.”

  Megan closed the file and set it on the desk. “I need to talk to her about this.”

  Eric paused. “I have one other thing. It’s some news on Tarkington.” Eric told her t
hat he had done a complete background check including Tarkington’s undergraduate college, teachers, and law school friends. “I checked out every resource on him. For the most part there was nothing earth shattering. Most people I talked to painted him as a rich boy who never had any responsibility. Likeable enough, just very self absorbed. “

  Megan felt a wave of disappointment wash over her.

  “But then I spoke with some of his undergraduate friends.” Eric smiled. “It seems our boy Tarkington was quite the ladies man and didn’t like being told no.” Eric flipped open the file. “According to some people I interviewed, he got into trouble with a couple of women. Both of them were not romantically involved with him but just friends. That is, until Tarkington decided to take the relationship to another level.”

  Megan leaned forward and rested her elbows on the desk.

  “According to my sources, both these women made claims that he raped them. Similar facts to Lucy’s situation. Daddy and Grandpa made the unfortunate incidents go away. I understand that both women received extensive counseling to help them try to get over it and then dropped out of school and moved away.”

  “Where are they now?” She felt her heart thumping in anticipation.

  “One’s in California and the other’s in New Mexico.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Megan sat on the couch, placed the file folder on the coffee table, and looked around the room. Lucy’s apartment wasn’t very big but it was all she probably needed. Two bedrooms and one bath with a small balcony. The location was close to the hospital and the neighborhood was safe.

  Lucy sat down in the chair across from her. “The doctors said today that Lauren is continuing to improve.” Lauren had been in the hospital with a flare-up.

  Megan could see the relief in Lucy’s expression. It had been a long, tiring haul for her and Megan was glad things seemed to be on the upswing.

  “I wanted us to meet and go over a few things.” Megan picked up the file and flipped it open.