“I couldn’t prove that he hit me,” she said. “There were no hospital records, and selfies wouldn’t prove anything. He could talk his way around abuse. Not consumer fraud, though. He regularly turned back odometer readings and sold used cars as having significantly less mileage than in fact they did.”
“Spinning?” Ben asked in surprise.
“Yup.”
“That’s a heavy charge,” Jay cautioned. “Can you back it up?”
“I have papers.”
“What kind of papers?” Ben asked, coming back from the window.
Staying him with a hand, Jay asked Grace, “Originals or copies?”
“Originals,” she replied. “Records of used car sales, done in pairs, one legit, one doctored, same VIN.”
Edward was looking as stunned as the rest of us. “Why would he do that? Why would he allow proof like that to exist?”
“Stupidity?” Grace asked. “Ass-hood?He showed them to me right after we were married, like he wanted me to know how smart my husband was. It was really just one guy, the head of the service department. He’d go in after hours to do his thing. Turned out, he had a gambling habit. Carter helped him in exchange.”
“Carter told you this?” Jay asked.
“Oh yeah. Proudly. Like he was a good guy to be helping one of his men. Like that made what he was doing okay. LikeIwouldn’t even realize that any of it was illegal.” She smiled her evil smile. “That was his first mistake.”
“How did you get the papers?”
“He had a home office where he kept his private files. They were lockedup, but he took the key from its hiding place while I was standing right there. Like I wouldn’t dare do anything about it.” She huffed. “That was his second mistake.”
“How many more mistakes?” Edward asked. He seemed less tense now. Physical proof was a bargaining tool, and while Grace was still in big trouble, apparently so was her ex.
“Well, let’s see,” Grace was answering Edward, “his third was leaving me home alone so much. His fourth was not having a surveillance camera in that office. His fifth was turning odometers back on so many cars for so many years that my taking a handful of records would never be noticed.” She paused only to look expectantly, demandingly, from Jay to Ben. “Okay. That’s my story. What happens next?”
“We see those papers,” said Ben.
“Isee them,” Jay corrected. “At least with me, there’s lawyer-client privilege.”
“I said I wouldn’t write her story, but I have to corroborate it first,” Ben argued. “Once I’ve seen those papers, I can bargain behind the scenes.”
“Bargain? You can also spill all if you’re subpoenaed. I’m her lawyer. I’m protected.”
“I know people in Washington, where the congressman works.”
“Washington doesn’t matter,” Jay huffed. “The crime happened in New Mexico, and I know lawyers there.”
“All of whom are in Brandt’s pocket.”
“Not the U.S. Attorney for the state. I went to law school with him. We were Moot Court partners. We get together whenever I’m west or he’s east.”
Ben frowned. “I called this meeting. Don’t I have a say about what happens next?”
Jay said, “Sorry, pal, but no.”
“Screwthis,” Grace said, rising so suddenly that I sat back in surprise. “What are you two doing? You led me on about needing to act quickly, so I spill my guts, and now you stand here duking it out to see who takes me to the prom? I am not the prize here. My freedom is, because if I’mnot free, that bastard takes my son. I want both of us safe. Can’t you two coordinate, or something?”
***
They coordinated. Jay would take custody of the incriminating evidence against Carter Brandt and meet with the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico. At the same time, Ben would use his contacts to sniff around Washington on the theory that if the congressman had used the threat of blackmail in business, he might do the same in politics, or, alternately, if he had cheated on his first wife, he might be cheating on his second.
The goal was to keep things quiet while working out a private agreement with Brandt’s lawyers that would protect Grace and Chris.
