Chapter 11: What Daniel Said
The meeting was in Rebecca's conference room.
Daniel came with a younger attorney named Paul Garrett, who had the careful manner of someone managing a situation he hadn't created.
Daniel sat across from me for the second time in three weeks.
He looked worse than he had at the deposition.
The tiredness had settled deeper.
"Thank you for agreeing to this," Paul Garrett said.
Rebecca nodded once.
"Your client asked for the meeting.
We're listening."
Daniel looked at his attorney.
Then at the table.
Then, finally, at me.
"I want to settle," he said.
"Everything.
The divorce.
The financial claims.
All of it."
Rebecca's expression didn't change.
"We're open to discussing terms."
"I'll return the two-forty.
All of it.
And I'll cover your legal fees." He paused.
"I want the fraud referral withdrawn."
"That referral is with federal investigators," Rebecca said.
"It's not ours to withdraw."
"You can write a letter.
Stating that the financial dispute has been resolved and that you no longer believe criminal intent was present."
"Mr.
Whitmore," Rebecca said, "the federal investigation is not about your dispute with my client.
It's about Gordon Pryce's conduct across multiple clients.
Your wife's case was one thread.
The investigation is considerably larger than either of you now."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"I didn't know what Gordon was doing across other accounts," he said.
"That may be.
But you did know what he was doing with yours."
Silence.
"Daniel." I spoke for the first time.
He looked at me.
"I'm not going to write a letter saying I don't believe you intended to defraud me.
Because I do believe it.
And I think you know that I know it."
"Rachel—"
"I'll accept a settlement.
Full return of the assets, legal fees, and a fair division of the remaining marital estate as Rebecca determines it.
In exchange, I won't pursue additional civil claims against you personally." I paused.
"But I won't protect you from what you've already set in motion.
That's not something I can give you."
Daniel looked at me for a long moment.
Then something happened that I hadn't expected.
His shoulders dropped.
Not in defeat exactly.
In something more complicated than that.
"I'm sorry," he said.
It was the first time he had said it.
In three weeks of lawyers and motions and threats and a deposition and a midnight text about what was at stake for him — this was the first time.
I looked at him.
"I know," I said.
"That's not enough."
"No.
It isn't."
Paul Garrett shifted in his seat.
"Perhaps we should discuss the specific terms—"
"In a moment," Rebecca said quietly.
Daniel was still looking at me.
"I told myself the marriage was already over," he said.
"I told myself you'd be fine.
That you were strong and capable and you'd land on your feet." He stopped.
"I used the things I respected about you to justify what I was doing to you."
The room was very quiet.
"Yes," I said.
"You did."
He nodded.
Looked down.
"I'm going to lose my job," he said.
Not asking for sympathy.
Just saying it.
"The target letter.
The firm found out this morning."
"I know."
"I don't — I'm not telling you that so you'll feel sorry for me."
"I don't feel sorry for you, Daniel.
I feel sorry for the ten years." I paused.
"That's different."
Paul Garrett opened his folder.
"If we could turn to the settlement terms—"
We spent the next two hours going through it line by line.
Daniel agreed to everything.
When it was over, he stood and buttoned his jacket, and for a moment he looked exactly like the man I had married, and then the moment passed and he was just a tired man in a good suit who had made choices he couldn't unmake.
At the door, he stopped.
"The dress," he said.
"The navy one.
I saw it in the closet the morning after you left." He paused.
"I didn't know you'd bought it."
I hadn't known that.
I didn't say anything.
He left.
Rebecca waited until the elevator doors closed.
"He's going to honor the settlement," she said.
"Paul Garrett is a good attorney and he's made it very clear to Daniel that fighting is no longer an option."
"I know."
"How are you feeling?"
I thought about it.
"Like it's almost over," I said.
"It almost is."
She walked me to the elevator.
"One more thing," she said.
"Gordon Pryce was formally charged this morning.
Wire fraud, securities fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty across eleven clients." She paused.
"Diane Pryce has filed for divorce."
The elevator arrived.
I stepped in.
May you like
"Good," I said.
The doors closed.
