Cracks in the Sidewalk(36)

He stood there for a few moments, saying nothing. Then he righted the table, picked up the magazines, and headed for Christian’s room. After changing the baby’s diaper, he dressed David and Kimberly and herded them downstairs for breakfast.

“There is no French toast,” he patiently explained as he poured milk over two bowls of Captain Crunch and set them in front of the children. He scattered a handful of Cheerios on the highchair tray and began to spoon strained applesauce into Christian’s mouth.

As Jeffrey performed each task his mind churned with thoughts of how he could get back at Elizabeth and her family.

~

Once the children were settled in front of the television, Jeffrey called Missus Ramirez. When she arrived, he went into the family room and locked the door.

Jeffrey’s first call was to Harry Hornzy, a man who’d been arrested seven times and not once convicted. “I’m gonna need some legal help, so I thought of you.”

Harry gave a raucous guffaw. “Yeah, well—”

“I hear tell your lawyer is pretty good at winning cases, so I figured—”

“He’s good; he ain’t cheap.”

“Good is what I’m looking for. I’ll pay what I gotta pay. I want a bloodthirsty shark—you know the type—somebody who’ll chew my wife to pieces and spit out the remains.”

“Walter’s your guy. Walter Petrecca. You gotta tell him I sent you else he plays it straight and narrow, you get what I mean?”

“Yeah. He sounds like what I’m looking for.”

Jeffrey’s next call was to Walter Petrecca. “Harry Hornzy suggested I call. I’ve got a problem, and I need a lawyer.”

“What kinda problem? Assault? Break and enter? Car jack—”

“No, no, nothing like that. It’s a custody battle.”

“Custody? That’s a family dispute. I do criminal law.”

“You gotta help me,” JT said, desperation threading his voice. “My wife’s using her family to bury me. I need somebody vicious enough to destroy the bitch.”

“Oh,” Petrecca said. “One of those. My ex, she’s the same.”

“Okay, so you know what I mean.”

“Yeah. I feel for ya, but I still don’t do family law. If you want, I’ll give you the name of the lawyer who handled my divorce. It’s a woman, but don’t let that fool you. This one’s a killer. My ex wanted the house plus one-hundred-thou alimony. Noreen whacked her down to ten.”

That was enough to convince JT. He took Noreen Sarnoff’s telephone number and called her next.

~

On Friday morning Jeffrey Caruthers met with Noreen, a six-foot-tall blonde with razor sharp features. He handed her the notice he’d received, along with a check for eight thousand dollars.

“I trust you can take care of this,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow as if to question his doubt. “Isn’t that what you’re paying me for?”

They rehashed Jeffrey’s reasons for not allowing the children to visit their mother. Noreen studied the Motion to Compel Visitation.

“Looks like this is going to Judge Brill,” she said. “He’s a softie. The probability is he’ll be sympathetic to the dying mother.”

“What kind of crap is that?” Jeffrey snapped. “Elizabeth’s dying! She’s got a brain tumor! That’s one step away from being a vegetable. How can anybody have sympathy for a vegetable?”

“Hold on a minute. Are you saying your wife is incapable of recognizing or conversing with the children?”

JT shrugged. “She’s probably not that bad.”

Noreen again raised her eyebrow. “Okay, let’s clarify this. Is there any actual medical proof your wife is incoherent, mentally incompetent, or violent enough to cause physical damage?”

He shook his head.

“Too bad,” Noreen replied. “That would have given us a real edge.”

JT smiled. Petrecca was right: she was a killer.

When Jeffrey left Noreen Sarnoff’s office the corners of his mouth had turned up and he was whistling.

~

Two days later Noreen telephoned Jeffrey at home.

“I spoke to your wife’s doctor,” she said. “A Rebecca Sorenson. She acknowledged that Elizabeth’s tumor has been diagnosed as terminal but also indicated that the chemotherapy treatment your wife is undergoing has resulted in a marked improvement. According to Sorenson Elizabeth still suffers from left-side paralysis and occasional memory lapses, but otherwise she’s perfectly coherent and capable of restricted motion activities. In fact, she suggested that seeing the children would be extremely beneficial for Elizabeth.”

“Of course she’d think that, she’s being paid by—”

“Regardless,” Noreen interrupted. “The bottom line is Doctor Sorenson can hurt, but not help, your case.”

“So what do we do?”

“We find our own medical expert, someone who’s more attuned to our way of thinking. And we have to do more than answer your wife’s motion. We need to go back at her with an aggressive counter complaint.”

“For what?”

“We’ll file a motion requesting sole legal custody of all three children based on her limited life expectancy. That will give you the authority to make decisions concerning what is or isn’t in the best interest of the children.”