[Monday morning]
“Thanks for seeing me at such short notice, Dana,” Melissa said as she sat down in her office.
“I happened to have a free morning after another case was settled out of court last week,” came her reply.
Dana smiled at Melissa.
“So… How can I help you?”
“Dana, I know that this might seem odd, are you thinking of running for Congress this November?”
“Does your husband know that you are here, or did he put you up to this?”
“He knows nothing about it. I just want to prevent any possible conflict of interest.”
Dana smiled back at her. She had a great ability to put clients at ease with a smile. Many other lawyers, her husband included, could not do that.
“In that case, I can confirm that I’m not going to run. Your other half beat me by thirty clear points. I’m done with politics, at least as far as DC goes. Does that satisfy you?”
She smiled at Dana.
“Yes, it does.”
Melissa reached into her purse, pulled out $1000 in $50 bills, and put it on the desk in front of her.
“That is a retainer. If you need more, then I can get it.”
Dana looked her right in the eye.
“This sounds serious. I don’t usually get retainers in cash.”
“It is. Will you represent me?”
Dana sat back in her chair and looked Melissa in the eye.
“I’m guessing that you want a divorce, and you want to keep it on the QT for as long as possible?”
“Yes. So? Will you represent me?”
She smiled.
“I’m in. It would be nice to get at least one win over him. Some of the dirty tricks he pulled on me were cruel and totally unnecessary. He just did it because some of his fellow Republicans were doing it. This district is very red, but I wanted to give it a go, but that is yesterday’s news.”
Dana passed over some sheets of paper that she took from a folder on her desk. The folder was marked with Melissa’s name.
"That's our standard legal agreement. It lays out my terms and my costs. Read it and sign one copy. You can return it at our next meeting. I'll give you a receipt for the retainer. That commits me to at least hear your case under the rules of attorney-client privilege.
“Thanks, Dana, it is acceptable.”
Dana opened her desk drawer and pulled out a receipt book. She quickly filled in one receipt. After signing it, she handed it to Melissa.
“Are we good?”
“Yes, we are good.”
Melissa put the receipt in her purse and pulled out the sheets of paper that she was going to use to make her case.
“Those attack ads that you ran last time around where you accused my husband of being a crook were right, 100% right, but I didn’t know about it at the time.”
Dana smiled. Melissa guessed that she was going to enjoy this even if she could not scream about it from the top of City Hall.
“This email arrived last week.”
Melissa handed over a copy of the email with the list of interns' names. Then, she passed over printouts of all the photos that had been attached.
“Ouch! That must have been a shock. Do you know if this one is real?” she replied, holding the picture of him and his latest conquest.
“That ring on her finger was my great-grandmother's. I want it back.”
“That is some pretty damming proof? You can prove that?”
“I have the insurance valuation for the ring that includes a photo. The last time it was valued, it came in at over three grand. It describes the ring, the setting and the cut and brilliance of each stone. There is also a photo of the hallmark. That shows that the ring was made in Birmingham, UK, in 1908. My great-great-grandfather bought it in London before coming back home after the end of WW1. Any rings with that particular hallmark are pretty rare in this part of the world, according to the valuation report.
“So, the bastard is an adulterer and a thief. That won’t go down very well at your church, will it?”
“No, it won’t. But you know as well as I do, they will blame me for not being a faithful wife, however, that is not the worst of it.
Look at the second photo.”
Dana looked at the photo for well over 10 seconds. It showed some of his offshore bank accounts and the balances.
“That is some serious shit… if you pardon my language if it is genuine?”
“It is. I found a memory stick with all sorts of goodies on it. The details on it confirm their accuracy. At least without going into the accounts and checking them, but as I don’t have the passwords and other codes, I have to assume that they are correct.”
“Can’t you go to the Feds? This is way beyond a state crime. Sending cash to places like the Caymans is right in the purview of the Feds, as in the FBI and even the Treasury.”
Melisa shook her head.
“I can’t unless I have a lawyer who has experience of this sort of thing, and they all live in places like DC or NYC. That’s because the bastard has implicated me in his crimes. For example, I seem to be the owner of our home even though I can’t remember ever signing on the dotted line. My name is on some of the offshore accounts even if I have never been to those countries, nor have I signed any documents relating to those banks. It seems to me that if I implicate him, then I could very well charged as an accomplice. Hence the need for an expert in this area. That also costs a lot of money. I know from reading about other cases that as soon as I go to the Feds, they’ll freeze everything in sight, and they’ll remain that way possibly for years.”
Melissa took a deep breath.
“That’s why I want it quick and quiet. Then I can get out of here before the shit hits the fan and I become an enemy of the people around here.”
“If that is the case, then what do you want from me and the settlement? From what I know of you, you are a very thorough person, and you would not come here today without being well prepared.”
“I want out with as much as I can legally get to ensure his silence. If possible, a clean break, no-fault divorce. He can buy the house back from me. It must be worth well over half a million. This sheet should cover all my demands. I want at least a million put into trust for the education of each of our children. I’m not going to contest custody, and they will be of age before the next presidential election and the end of the next congressional term. Our children are away at private school, so they won’t be directly exposed to the mess of the divorce. When I get settled, I want to have access to them during the school holidays. Otherwise, he can have custody.”
Melissa handed Dana another sheet of paper.
“If you don’t mind me saying this, it seems to be a rather cold attitude.”
“Finding that he’s been using me to feather his nest and make me part of his crime was a huge shock. If he had come home as planned last weekend, I’d probably need a criminal defence attorney by now. Instead, I began to think for myself for possibly the first time in almost twenty years of being with him. To put it bluntly, I want to cut and run… As for the children, I don’t want to take them away from their schools. The next few years will be what shapes their future. I don’t want to threaten that, and I have to hope that he understands that.”
Melissa smiled before adding, “I’d like to have enough money to start again somewhere else. Don’t ask where, as I don’t have a clue. Also, there is no one else. I’m not the philanderer, the serial adulterer and a multi-million-dollar grifter come con artist extraordinaire.
“Then there are the local people here. Even though he is the one breaking the Ten Commandments, as I said, I will be the one blamed for not being the perfect wife and forgiving him unconditionally. I will be shunned by the community. You know that from your own experience.”
Dana looked at the papers without commenting for more than a minute. Then she looked at Melissa.
“Thanks for being honest with me, and yes, you are right about what will happen in the district. I had a hard time for a while for wanting to be me, having a career, and not playing the part of the perfect stay-at-home wife. That’s why I left the Church… It was more of a mutual parting of the ways, and now, I don’t regret it one bit. They seem to have lost the spirit of the word that Jesus was preaching. Today, they don’t understand the meaning of the word compassion. Those Sunday morning TV grifters are all about revenge and retribution and nothing about forgiveness.”
There was a brief silence before Melissa said,
“I’ve been through all the accounts I can find and ignored those that are only in his name. Taking just the ones that are in both our names and dividing them in two gives five point two million. If I add half a million for the injury of him cheating on me plus the sale of the house, then I estimate that is less than twenty per cent of the assets that are recorded on his spreadsheet. I will have more than enough to start again somewhere, as long as it is not somewhere like Palm Beach or Aspen. I have no idea how he came by all that money nor if any of it has been declared to the IRS.”
“And if he does not agree to that? I know from bitter experience that your husband is a stubborn bastard. He’ll probably try to call your bluff. What then?”
“His adultery. His party are the ones preaching family values. Making an intern pregnant is, for many of them, beyond the pale, even though some might be able to spin it into a positive, more than likely at my expense. His pregnant girlfriend could be enough to end his career, and I know that he was eyeing a place as a ranking member on both the House Appropriations Committee and Ethics Committee after January should they take the House. Then, the leader has sort of hinted that he could become chair of the Ethics Committee. I don’t think that he’d want to put that in jeopardy. That would be a perfect springboard to run for POTUS in 2028 or 2032, even if either of the jerks from Florida gets… by some miracle, elected in 2024, he will be a one-term doofus, if he even lasts that long. He’s probably standing for re-election in Florida but will be term-limited after that, which is why many of the pundits are predicting that a run for POTUS in 2024 will be it for him.”
Dana thought for almost a minute. She looked through the papers I’d given her. After a sign and a shrug of the shoulders, she said, “If you are prepared for the inevitable retaliation, then we can go ahead.”
She looked at the spreadsheet printout for several seconds.
“When do you want to present him with the papers?”
“I’d like to do it before the end of the week. I plan to fly to DC Thursday afternoon and go to his condo in Alexandria where that photo of him with her and the ring was taken.”
Dana grinned at Melissa.
“With the aim of catching them in ‘In flagrante delicto’ perhaps?”
“If that is the case, then good. He deserves it.”
“Thursday will be a bit tight unless I make the financial settlement a separate document… Then it will be doable. The difficulty will be finding a judge to approve the application. I have one that I think would do it, but it is only 50/50. He was a donor to your husband two years ago.”
“Please try to get the papers signed off.”
Dana smiled.
“If I propose to judge Schultz, that they are filed under seal until the end of the year. That may sway the judge. He’s up for re-election this year, and the last thing he wants is to be seen as going against a representative of his own party. Asking him to seal them until after November will probably sway his decision. He’s hinted more than once that he’s going to retire after this next term. If that is true, then any backlash will not matter to him.”
“Politics is a dirty game. I always knew that, but… just recently, I have begun to understand just how corrupt it is. Trump was right about needing to drain the swamp, except that he only added to it in his time in office.”
Dana grinned.
“Good for you. That shows that you are not a lost cause… yet.”
“I don’t know about that, but who I vote for is between me and my maker. It always has been despite the grilling I got from ‘him’ after every election.”
“If you let me get cracking on the divorce papers, then the sooner, I’ll get to ask the judge to approve them.”
“Ok and… thanks. If you need more money please just ask. I’ve told no one yet, but if I get the papers signed off, then I’ll serve them on him myself in DC. I’m done with this state, especially its politics. When I collect the papers, let me have your bill, and I'll settle it on the spot. This is not a prima facie case. When I go to DC, I have no intention of returning here ever again.”
“Good for you.”
Dana looked at the papers for a few seconds. Then she said,
“What about money for the here and now?”
“Oh…” I remarked.
“I had not thought about that. All my credit cards and bank accounts are in joint names.”
“Then you know what to do. If you can get your bank account and a credit card by the time I get the papers ready for you to sign, the better it will be for you if he says no. At least then, you will have access to some funds.”
“Thanks, Dana. This is all a bit strange for me.”
Dana smiled.
“You are doing a lot better than many women who come to me in similar circumstances.”
Melissa nodded.
“That’s probably because I’ve had to fend for myself for most of the time since he went to DC. With him gone for so much of the year, I’ve learned to balance both the household and his PAC books. Working out what I wanted was hard. It was hard not to want it all, but I’m not going to be greedy. Trying that on will be a loser, and he’ll fight me until his lawyers eat it all up, and there is nothing left.”
“You don’t like lawyers, do you?”
“Not the sort that charges $5000 per hour and wears a different suit every day of the week, and only eats at the best restaurants, I don’t…”
Dana stood up, telling Melissa that their session was at an end.
“In many of the divorce cases I handle, I keep a small retainer on the book even after the divorce is finalized so that I can be your lawyer. Is that ok with you? Then, if you need to call, I can answer you under our existing terms and conditions, plus our Attorney-Client privilege would still apply.”
It took a few seconds for Melissa to understand what she had just said.
“That is good to know, and I’m good with keeping a small retainer in the bank, so to speak. Thanks, Dana.”
“Good luck, Melissa. I’m sure that you will find the right place to settle down and the right man to be with.”
Melissa ducked out before she embarrassed herself. The mere thought of ‘finding another man’ at that time made her feel rather ill. In time, that would pass, but at that moment, Melissa was not into men or at least any of the men that she’d known in recent years. Those were all just like her soon-to-be former husband. Shallow and born liars. Finding someone who would treat her as a woman and not as an object to be shown off to prospective donors would be impossible in this part of the world.
It was only on her drive home that she realize that she'd been rambling and repeating herself during her time with Dana, yet Dana had not commented on it. She must have seen that sort of reaction a thousand times, but for Melissa, it was a strange but slightly unnerving situation.
It was now down to Dana to come up with the goods and for Melissa to appear as normal as possible.
She’d almost done her roots when Dora said,
“Melissa, I hope that you don’t mind me saying you seem different today?”
She panicked for a moment.
“How am I different? I don’t think so. Perhaps it is the good weather we have been having?”
“It is just that your whole aura seems to have turned upwards. In recent months, that was not there. That is a positive sign in my book.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but I have some tough times ahead. Politics is a messy business. Jeff has still not finally decided to run again despite him submitting his papers at the start of the year.”
“But… His people are out fundraising… or they were at the County show a few weeks back.”
“They were fundraising, but that money went into the general PAC for the Republican candidates that are standing for the state house. Until he formally announces, he can’t start raising money for the campaign unless he uses a Super PAC, and as far as I know, it hasn’t been touched since the last campaign. Beyond that, I don’t know. All those Election Finance rules are a bit strange to us country folk,” said Melissa, laying it on.
“DC is a strange place,” said Dora.
“We went there on a school trip, and I hated it.”
Melissa laughed.
“It is an acquired taste, I’m afraid. Not the place for me.”
Melissa didn't think that Dora believed her, but gratefully, she didn't labor the issue. Melissa left her a slightly bigger tip than normal in the hope that she hadn’t been found out.
Being a well-known figure in the district, thanks to her husband, was on most days a benefit, but now, it was a hindrance. People would engage her in conversation whenever she was out and about. Melissa carried a notebook in her purse just to record the encounters and would relay them to her husband if she thought that he could help with their problems. Most of the time, she would refer them to an agency of the city or the state, but keeping a record helped when they would ask her what was happening about their complaint.
This was part of the job of the dutiful wife that she hated. Many of those cases were lost causes even before they’d opened their mouths, but she had to smile and try to deal with them as best she could.
Melissa headed home via the deli as she often did. She was determined to maintain an aura of normality for as long as possible. For a change, she decided to splash out on some top-quality pastrami and to hell with spending a couple of dollars more than normal. A load of rye bread and some Dijon Mustard would make a nice lunch if accompanied by a nice red wine. Jeff’s private wine cellar could provide that in abundance. It would be hard to resist smashing every bottle on her way out of the door.
Getting a bank account set up in her name plus a credit card had proved to be very easy. One call to the bank where their joint account was held, and it was done. Melissa went into the nearest branch the next day to sign the forms, and a new credit card in her name came by express mail the next day.
Nevertheless, Melissa began to experience a definite feeling of being in limbo while she waited for Dana to do her thing and report back on progress. In her ample free time, she’d even found her passport. She was relieved to find that it had one more year to run before it expired.
Keeping up appearances was still the name of the game for the time while she waited for Dana to work her magic. On Tuesday evenings, she would normally go along to the local American Legion Post and talk to the vets. They had so many issues that it was downright depressing, but in some cases, she’d been able to help with getting them the help that they needed, even if some of his donors had found it strange that she had wanted to help what one of them called, ‘a bunch of freeloaders’. Despite what the previous POTUS had more than once said about wounded servicemen and women, she felt honored to at least try to make their lives better.
Melissa’s father had served in Vietnam and had been affected by Agent Orange. He’d probably still be alive now if he hadn’t been exposed to that chemical. The VA had helped him as best they could, so helping them now was her way of paying them back despite her lovely husband voting against the last Federal budget that had included more money for the VA that was earmarked for Agent Orange sufferers. They had one of their few arguments about his time in DC when she found out about his voting record. They had agreed to disagree on this matter but after that, Melissa would always check on how he’d voted.
This week was no different to many others. She tried to give help and understanding to those in need. Melissa felt bad because she would not be around to report back. It was hard not to just get up and leave them alone, but she didn’t. That wasn’t her. She cared about the little people, unlike her soon-to-be former husband.
The more she thought about it and, especially during conversations with the Vets, the more she discovered how different she had become from her husband. He'd moved very much to the right in his politics, and, to be honest, he'd left her behind. It wasn't that she disagreed with his views at first; she did, but recently, some of the proposals he'd made in the House were way too extreme for her, especially those relating to the rights of minorities, especially members of the LGBT community. They were not drifting apart; they were diverging like two railroad tracks, one going north, one going south. He was the one going south, wearing a red hat and a Confederate Battle Flag.
The arrival of that email had only served to make a decision that she had been putting off since the 2016 election easier. Politics of the sort being promoted by the previous POTUS and his cult was not for her, and she wanted out as soon as possible.
Dana called Melissa just before 10 am on Thursday.
“You got it signed off?”
“Thank you, thank you.”
“I’ll be in to collect everything before 4 pm and settle my bill. If I am lucky, I can get to the airport for the last flight of the day to DC.”
Melissa hung up, feeling that there was indeed light at the end of the tunnel, even if she was unsure where that tunnel would lead.
[to be continued]