When I Saw You

by Laura Branchflower

  Malone shrugged. “Maybe they figure they’re already paying, so—”

  “No. These are intelligent men with high-powered jobs. They’re not going to be that stupid. Once they realized they were being recorded, they’d stop coming back.”

  “Maybe they aren’t blackmailing everyone,” Malone threw out. “Maybe they only blackmail the wealthiest clients.”

  “Eric Nettles is worth over ten million, and he’s a regular.”

  “I’m out of ideas,” Malone said. “If it’s not to bring in money, it’s not making a lot of sense.”

  “It is making Stan Hall more successful at Zurtech. You said yourself, many of the clients like the service being provided. Maybe Mike Hall is funding this to help his brother’s career and then they have the added bonus of feeding their perverted appetite.”

  “Could be.”

  “I think it’s probably time to shelve this investigation, at least temporarily. It’s not panning out the way I thought it might,” Joseph said.

  12

  The first Tuesday in September, Lia was standing before the mirror in her bathroom, putting on the final touches of her makeup when Taylor stopped outside the door. “Mommy, I have a tummy ache.”

  “You do?” She hadn’t mentioned her stomach bothering her when Lia set a waffle and milk in front of her ten minutes earlier.

  Taylor nodded, her lips turning down as she put her small hand over her belly. “It hurts.”

  Lia laid her hand over Taylor’s forehead. It felt normal. “Why don’t you go lie down while I finish getting ready? Maybe it will stop hurting before it’s time to go to the bus stop.”

  Twenty minutes later, Lia found Taylor curled up on the couch under a comforter watching television, her uneaten food on the coffee table. “Your belly still hurts?”

  “Uh huh.” Taylor didn’t look away from the cartoon on the television. “You better call Grandma.”

  “You’re not pretending to be sick so you can stay home, are you?” It certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

  “No, it hurts.”

  “That’ll be Grandma,” Lia said when there was a knock on the door forty-five minutes later. She carefully lifted Taylor’s head from her lap and slipped off the couch. “I’ll be right back.”

  “That was fast,” she began as she opened the door, stopping midsentence when she saw an unfamiliar man standing in the hall.

  “Lia Merrick?”

  “Yes.” She considered closing the door, but in khakis and a plaid shirt, he looked harmless.

  He handed her a legal-sized envelope. “Have a nice day.” He turned and was down the stairs before she had time to react.

  She stepped back into the apartment and closed and locked the door before her eyes went to the envelope in her hand. Blackman and Associates, it read in the left-hand corner: Ned’s law firm. She unsealed the top of the envelope and lifted out the document inside, her eyes moving to the top of the first page. Motion for Modification of Custody, it read.

  “What?” It had to be a mistake, but as her eyes scanned the contents of the document, she realized with horror there was no mistake. Ned was seeking custody of Taylor. “Oh my God.” Her free hand, shaking now, moved to cover her mouth. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. He wouldn’t try to take Taylor. She ran to the family room and grabbed her phone from the coffee table.

  “Where’s Grandma?” Taylor asked.

  “She isn’t here yet.” She fled the room. After three failed attempts, she finally dialed Ned’s office number correctly and leaned back against the kitchen counter, one hand covering her eyes, the other holding the phone. “I need to speak to Ned Merrick,” she told the secretary.

  “I’m sorry, he’s in a meeting. May I—”

  “This is an emergency regarding his daughter,” Lia interrupted, not even recognizing the sound of her own voice. “Tell him it’s his ex-wife.” She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as she waited for him to come on the line. It took over five minutes.

  “I guess you got the papers.”

  “What are you doing? You can’t seriously plan on trying to take her from me.”

  “Yes, I can. And I do.”

  “Ned! This is ridiculous. I’m her mother!”

  “And I’m her father. And I believe Candice and I—”

  “Candice! Candice is not Taylor’s mother.”

  “But I’m her father. And I believe we can provide her with a better home.” His voice was cool, controlled, and Lia wanted to reach through the phone and squeeze his neck.

  “You son of a—”

  “Mommy, who are you yelling at?” Taylor was at the doorway, her eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

  “No one, sweetheart.” Her gaze shifted to an uncharacteristically pale Taylor. “Go back and lie down.” She forced herself to smile. “Everything’s fine.”

  As soon as Taylor turned back towards the family room, Lia headed for her bedroom. “Are you still there?”

  “Yes. What is she doing home from school?”

  “None of your fucking business,” she bit out. “No judge in this state will take her from me and give her to the woman who broke up our home.”

  “Lia, think about what’s best for Taylor. We have a house with a yard, and you—”

  “Go to hell! I’m her mother, and you’re the reason we’re living in this apartment. You must really hate me, Ned.”

  “This isn’t about you. This is about what’s best for Taylor.”

  “That is such bullshit!” She could barely stomach another word from him. “How could you possibly believe she would be better off without me?”

  “Candice is going to go to part time after the baby is born. Taylor won’t have to go to daycare anymore.”

  “Daycare? She goes to my mother’s after school, not daycare.”

  “Right, she has to go to your mom’s house. If we had her, she would come straight home after school and play with her friends.”

  “Straight home to Candice?” God, she hated him. “She isn’t anything to Taylor. She’s a whore who had an affair with her father.” She’d lost her temper, but she no longer cared. “You’ll never get her from me. You’re a bastard, Ned.” She ended the call and threw the phone across the room, bouncing it off the wall.

  “Lia?” Elaine’s voice preceded a light knock on the door. “Lia, are you okay in there?”

  “No!” She opened the door, her eyes immediately falling to Taylor. “Taylor, you’re sick. You should be lying down.” She was amazed at how normal she could sound when she felt like her whole world was disintegrating.

  “But what was that noise?”

  “Nothing. I dropped the phone and it hit the wall. Now please go lie back down.” Lia’s panic-filled eyes found her mother’s. “This came.” She held up the legal document, her hand noticeably shaking.

  “You have to call Joseph,” Elaine said, looking up from the papers moments later, tears in her eyes. “You have to call him right away.”

  “Mom?” Fear gripped her chest at the worried expression on her mother’s face. “They would never give her to them,” she whispered. “Would they?”

  “Just call Joseph. He’ll know what to do.”

  “Oh my God.” Lia covered her mouth. “You think he could get her.”

  “No, I never said that, but you need to call Joseph.”

  Lia nodded and picked her cell phone off the carpet, thankful it wasn’t damaged. “I’ll call him.” She was numb. She felt like she was in the middle of a nightmare and any second she’d awaken. She called his cell, but it went right to voicemail. “I need his office number.” She never called him at work. He called her during the day occasionally, but usually they spoke in the evening.

  “Where is it?” Elaine asked.

  “In my purse.” Her eyes frantically searched the bedroom, having a hard time concentrating. “It must be in the kitchen.”

  “I’ll get it,” Elaine said, holding up her hands. “Ju
st wait here.” Within seconds she was back, the purse in hand. Lia was sitting on the edge of her bed with her head between her knees.

  “I feel like I’m going to be sick.” Lia had broken out into a cold sweat. “I can’t believe he would do this to me.”

  “Where’s the number?” Elaine asked as she dug through her purse.

  “In my wallet.” Lia took the wallet from her purse, fumbling with it until she had his card in her hand. “Here.” She picked up her phone and attempted to push the numbers to his office, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate long enough to push the ten numbers into the phone correctly.

  After her fourth unsuccessful attempt, Elaine took the card and phone and quickly punched in the number. “Here.” She held out the phone to Lia.

  “Prossi, Stuart and Craig. Mr. Craig’s office,” a crisp female voice said.

  “This is Lia Merrick. I need to speak to Mr. Craig.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Craig isn’t available right now.”

  “When will he be available? I need to speak to him. This is an emergency.”

  “I’m sorry, what is your name?”

  “Lia Merrick.”

  “Are you a client?” came the cool reply.

  “No. Yes.” Lia shook her head. “I was, but now I’m just a friend, but I have a legal matter I need to discuss with him. It’s urgent,” she rushed out.

  “He’ll have to call you back. He’s in a meeting and he can’t be disturbed.”

  He was there, and she wasn’t putting him on the phone. “Please—just tell him it’s Lia Merrick. I know he’ll take my call.”

  “Why don’t you give me your number, and I’ll have him call you back this afternoon?”

  This afternoon! She couldn’t possibly wait that long. “I need to talk to him now!”

  “I’ll tell you what. Give me your number and I’ll try to get the message to him.”

  “O-okay. Thank you.” Lia quickly recited her number and ended the call. “He’s in a meeting,” she said to her mother. “She said she’d get him my message. He should call me right back.”

  She’d been dating him close to five months and, although they started out slow, only seeing each other twice a week, in the past two months she had started spending the entire weekend with him when Taylor was with Ned. Even on the weekends Taylor was home, it was rare for her not to see him both Saturday and Sunday. The Zurtech case seemed to have been permanently shelved because of a lack of evidence, but Lia rarely thought of her time there anymore. The irony that she would never have met Joseph if not for Zurtech hadn’t escaped her.

  She waited by the phone for fifteen minutes before once again calling his office. “Prossi, Stuart and Craig. Mr. Craig’s Office.”

  “This is Lia Merrick again. Did you give Mr. Craig my message?”

  There was a short pause. “I haven’t had an opportunity yet, but—”

  “This is an urgent matter! I’ll stay on the line until you give him my message.”

  “He is in a meeting with another client. As soon as he comes out for a break, I will give him your message.”

  “If you don’t put him on the phone right now, I’m coming down there!”

  “I’m sorry, but,” his secretary began, apparently unperturbed by the threat, “I’ve been instructed not to disturb him. But I will deliver your message as soon as he takes a break.”

  “Thanks for your help,” Lia bit out sarcastically before ending the call.

  “I’m going to his office,” she announced a moment later from the doorway to the family room, where her mother was sitting on the couch next to a sleeping Taylor.

  “He called back? I didn’t hear the telephone.”

  “No. He’s in a meeting and she won’t disturb him, so I’m just going to go.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea.” Elaine met Lia at the door and followed her to the foyer. “I think you’re too upset to drive.”

  “Mom, I’m fine.” Lia slipped on her raincoat. “I have to talk to him.”

  An hour later, Lia was stepping off the elevator into the law offices of Prossi, Stuart and Craig, her purse in one hand and the yellow envelope from Ned’s office in the other.

  “May I help you?” A young, very attractive receptionist looked up from the mail she was sorting.

  “No, thank you. I know where I’m going.” Lia continued to walk through the lobby and then down the hall she knew led to Joseph’s office.

  “Excuse me.” The girl came up beside her. “You can’t come back here. I need to announce you.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll announce myself.” She didn’t bother to look at the girl as she continued to Joseph’s office. As she came to a stop in front of his secretary’s desk, the receptionist was still on her heels. “I’m Lia Merrick. I need to see Mr. Craig.” Her eyes were directed at the heavyset woman sitting behind the desk outside of what she knew to be his office.

  “I’m sorry, Martha,” the receptionist said. “I tried to stop her.”

  “It’s okay.” Martha rose from her chair, her eyes not leaving Lia’s. “I’ll take care of it.” She waited until the receptionist left before continuing. “Ms. Merrick, I explained to you on the phone Mr. Craig is in a meeting and cannot be disturbed.”

  “And I explained to you it is urgent I speak with him!” Lia could feel herself becoming more agitated. “I received some legal papers today,” she began, holding up the yellow envelope, “that I need to discuss with him.”

  “I understand, but it’s going to have to wait because Mr. Craig is discussing another urgent matter with another client right now.”

  “Well it’s not as urgent as mine!” Lia’s voice broke. “My ex-husband is trying to take my daughter from me.”

  Tony frowned and met Kevin Stuart’s eyes across the conference table. They were in a preliminary meeting with a potentially huge client—one of the country’s largest automobile manufacturers—and Joseph was talking, outlining the approach they’d take to defend them against a class action suit brought on by two dozen clients who suffered injury due to faulty brakes on one of their models.

  “Why don’t we take a short break to stretch our legs?” Kevin suggested when Joseph paused to look down at his notes.

  Joseph’s eyes moved from his notes to his watch. It was 11:00 a.m. They’d been meeting for an hour and a half and they’d be breaking for lunch in thirty minutes. His eyes shifted to Tony, who was already out of his chair and headed for the door, Kevin on his heels. He frowned, confusion evident on his face, and then he caught a glimpse of her as Kevin shut the door. It was Lia, noticeably upset in his lobby.

  “What’s going on out here?” Tony’s eyes swung from Martha to Lia as he came out of the conference room, followed by Kevin.

  “I’m trying to explain that Mr. Craig isn’t available right now.”

  “I need to speak to him,” Lia said, her voice breaking as she met Tony’s eyes.

  “Look, you’re going to have to calm down and lower your voice,” Tony said through clenched teeth. “This isn’t a Goddamn bar. This is a law firm.”

  The door behind them banged open and Joseph practically flew to Lia’s side. “What happened? What’s the matter?”

  “Joseph! You have to help me,” she cried as she gripped the lapels of his suit jacket. “Ne-Ned is…tr-tr-trying to get Taylor.”

  “What?” He frowned. “Baby, you’re going to have to slow down.”

  “Why don’t you take her into your office?” Kevin patted Joseph’s back.

  Joseph’s eyes remained locked with Lia’s as he gently gripped her upper arms and propelled her slowly backwards until they were in the privacy of his office, his foot kicking the door closed. “Take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on.”

  “Ned wants custody of Taylor.”

  “He wants custody?” Joseph brought his eyebrows together. “He wants full custody of Taylor?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, the tears once again falling from
her eyes. “The papers were couriered over today.” She lifted the yellow envelope.

  “He’s not taking her from you.” He moved his hands to each side of her face. “Do you hear me? He’s not taking her from you.”

  “I’m so scared,” she whispered, tears continuing to fall from her eyes.

  “There’s nothing to be scared of,” he said deeply, his brown eyes intense. “I’m serious, Lia.” He moved his thumbs along her cheeks, wiping at the tears. “I would never let that happen.”

  “But I don’t have any money. And he has an entire law firm at—”

  “You have me, and I have a lot more at my disposal than he does. Do you understand?” He continued to hold her face, his eyes looking in to hers.

  “Yes.” She nodded, biting on her lip. “Yes.”

  “Now, let me see those papers.”

  “I don’t get it.” Kevin dragged his hands down his face. “He wasn’t part of that meeting. How does he even know her?”

  “What are you talking about?” Tony paused with a coffee mug at his mouth. They were standing outside Joseph’s office, waiting for him to come out so they could continue the meeting.

  “The woman in there with Joseph is Lia Merrick. She was one of the plaintiffs in the sexual harassment case against Zurtech we didn’t take last year.”

  Tony shrugged. “He must have met her while she was here, because we ran into her this spring at a restaurant in Fairfax, and he definitely knows her.”

  Kevin sighed. “Only Joseph.”

  “We’ve got to get back in there,” Tony said, glancing at his watch. It was 11:10 a.m.

  “You go ahead. I’ll get Joseph.”

  Joseph looked up from the papers when he heard the knock on the door “I’ll be right back.” He touched Lia’s knee before standing and crossing to the door. “You’re going to have to go on without me,” he said as soon as he pulled open the door and saw Kevin.

  “What?” Kevin laughed. “This is your meeting, your case. What do you mean, ‘go on without you’?”

  Joseph glanced at his watch. “You’re going to break for lunch in twenty minutes. The two of you can handle it. I’ll rejoin the meeting after lunch.”