Chapter 9: The Line in the Sand
Victor's lawyer called Carol that evening.
Carol called Daniel.
Daniel put the phone on speaker at Carol's request, and I sat beside him on the small sofa in Carol's waiting room while she relayed the conversation in her flat, precise way.
"His position is that the recordings were obtained illegally and are inadmissible.
He's also claiming Leo was mentally compromised in the final years of his illness and that the box and its contents represent the work of a disturbed mind, not credible evidence."
"He's attacking Leo," Daniel said.
"He's attacking the source," Carol said.
"It's the only play he has.
The financial records are public documents.
Dorothy Hale is a credible witness with no motive to fabricate.
The recordings are the most vulnerable piece, legally speaking, depending on the state consent laws at the time they were made."
"Are they admissible?" I asked.
"I've already spoken to a colleague in that jurisdiction.
One-party consent state.
Leo was a party to both calls.
They're admissible." Carol's voice was level.
"His lawyer knows this.
The call tonight was not a legal strategy.
It was a test."
"To see if we'd back down," Daniel said.
"To see if you'd negotiate." She paused.
"I told him there was nothing to negotiate.
He said his client would like to speak with Daniel directly.
Without lawyers."
Daniel's expression didn't change.
"No."
"That's what I told him."
"What did he say?"
Carol was quiet for a moment.
"He said to tell Daniel that some things are better settled in the family."
The phrase sat in the room like something that had been left there on purpose.
"He's trying to frighten you," I said.
"I know." Daniel looked at his hands.
"He's been trying to frighten us since I was eight years old." He looked up at Carol.
"File the motion.
Don't wait until end of week.
File it tomorrow morning."
"I planned to," Carol said.
"I wanted to hear you say it."
She ended the call.
Daniel and I sat in the waiting room.
The dying plant was in the corner.
The elevator hummed somewhere behind the wall.
"He's going to escalate," Daniel said.
"Before the motion is filed, after it's filed.
He's going to look for a pressure point."
"Then we don't give him one." I turned to face him.
"Daniel.
Look at me."
He did.
"I'm not a pressure point," I said.
"I'm not someone to be protected from this.
I'm the person whose name is on the box.
I'm the person Leo trusted to see it through." I held his gaze.
"Stop trying to stand in front of me and stand next to me instead."
He was quiet for a long moment.
"I've been doing it wrong," he said finally.
"You've been doing it the only way you knew how." I reached over and took his hand.
"Now you know another way."
His fingers closed around mine.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"For the wedding.
For the order of things.
For all of it."
"I know."
"I love you.
That part was never a lie."
"I know that too." I squeezed his hand once.
May you like
"We'll figure out the rest."
We sat there until Carol turned off the lights in her office and came to tell us it was time to go home.
