Read VC04 - Jury Double for Free Online Page B

c-u-s-t-o-d-y,” Juliana said. She spoke with a slight Dutch accent and she was wearing a Diet Slice T-shirt and chartreuse exercise leotards. They did not go well with luminescent cobalt eye shadow. “I’ve never met him, but in my book he’s a good guy—I get two weeks off.”
    “News flash.” Toby scowled with towheaded, pre-pubescent toughness. He had too many freckles to bring it off. “The kid can spell custody .”
    “That’s it for you, smartass,” Kyra said. “Time to go to bed.”
    “Come on, Mom. It’s not even ten-thirty. You’re always treating me like a baby. You make me go to bed early and Juliana has to leave me at school and pick me up—the other kids laugh at me! I’m not an eight-year-old!”
    “And you’re not a twelve-year-old—yet.” Juliana took his hand and dragged him toward the door. “Say good night to everyone.”
    “Good night,” he said sulkily. The sound of shuffling and pushing faded down the hallway.
    “Is that true?” Mark said. “He still gets dropped off at school and picked up?”
    “It’s easier than risking a kidnapping.” Kyra passed a hand through her hair. She’d done it in a different style today. My style , Anne realized. “After all, he’s a very rich young man.”
    “Is that why you’re upset about the custody hearing?” Mark said. “You’re worried about the trust your mother left him?”
    As Anne recollected the terms of her mother’s will, Toby’s parents shared an income from his trust. The divorce court had decided that when Toby reached his twelfth birthday he would choose which parent he wanted to live with, and that parent—as sole guardian—would have the income.
    “He’ll be twelve next week,” Kyra said.
    “What’s the problem? You know Toby will choose you.”
    “Do I?”
    Mark stared at her in astonishment. “You don’t seriously think he’ll choose his father.”
    “If I’m on a jury and don’t show up at the hearing, who knows? Toby may decide to punish me. Or the court may decide I don’t care enough to deserve custody. Besides, Toby misses his father. What boy wouldn’t? Catch is capable of horrible behavior, but Toby’s never seen it—thank God. And when money’s at stake, Catch can be charming. Don’t forget, I’ve seen him in action.”
    “But you haven’t seen him in four years. He never shows up at the September custody hearing.”
    “Believe me, he’ll show up this year. And he’ll have armloads of presents for Toby—even though he can’t afford them.”
    Mark frowned. “How do you know he can’t?”
    “He’s having money troubles. A client has accused him of embezzling.”
    “Who told you that?”
    “Catch told me—last week.”
    Mark groaned. “Haven’t I told you never to communicate directly with him?”
    “He phoned me. He sounded desperate. What could I do, hang up on him? Like it or not, he is the father of my son.”
    “Explain to the judge about the trust and the guardianship. That will get you excused.”
    “But it’s all so technical. I know I’ll garble it.”
    Mark looked at his wine thoughtfully. “Well—maybe I could explain.”
    “Mark—you’ve always been wonderful to me. You got me a great divorce and you listen to my complaints and you hardly ever bill me. I feel like a louse asking you to come all the way down to the courthouse just to get me out of a silly jam.”
    It seemed to Anne that her sister had just maneuvered Mark into pleading her case.
    “The courthouse is still on my way,” he said. “Some of us still work on Wall Street, remember?”
    Anne took a long look at this gentle, friendly man sitting at her twin sister’s kitchen table, this man determined to solve the whole world’s problems. This man she had once loved. The moment seemed framed in stillness.
    “Besides,” he said, “I have an ace in the hole. I’m an old friend of your prosecutor. Tess diAngeli and I graduated in the same class at Yale Law. She owes me one.”
    Anne had