My nod was stiff.
“Molly, I researched your father’s case and think we may have a chance,” Mr. McNeill said.
“I know that. I’ve been working with an attorney already.” My words didn’t deter him.
“A bit of leeway exists since he was the co-owner of the company,” Mr. McNeill continued.
My palm hit the table. “Exactly. That’s what we’ve been saying all along. He did what he did to help with my mom’s nursing home expenses and thought everything was fine.”
“Ignorance is never an excuse when it comes to the law. That’s not where our leeway lies,” Mr. McNeill explained.
My brows hiked up. “Oh?”
“You see, I was able to get my hands on the business contract of your father’s company.”
“How’d you do that?”
He waved a hand. “How doesn’t matter. What matters is I did. The contract has a clause that allows each partner to take a loan against their portion of the company’s assets, which is what your father did. The only thing he did wrong was not mentioning it to his partner.”
“But he was going to, only he never got the chance,” I cried.
“That part doesn’t matter either. As long as that clause was in effect, he didn’t break the law, and therefore did not embezzle money.”
I was speechless. How had our attorney missed that? Oh, right. He was incompetent, that was how. “Now what?”
“I’m going to press for an appeal.”
“The attorney we have said that was going to be difficult given the circumstances.”
“Believe me, Molly, it’s very possible. What we have to consider though is whether the judge will grant it.”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
Mr. McNeill shrugged. “It depends on a few things, but don’t worry about that. I plan to use my connections to see it happens.”
Damn, people with clout sure had advantages over those without it.
Mr. Lattimore spoke up. “Molly, I hope this eases your mind somewhat. James is the best at what he does and hopefully your father will be a free man soon.”
“Yes, and thank you, sir.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank Hugh. He’s the one who brought it to my attention.”
I turned to Hugh and smiled, albeit a sour one. I was still pissed at him.
We rose to leave with James telling me I should hear from him within a week or two.
As we were walking out, Hugh asked, “Molly, can you stay a minute? I’d like a word, please.”
“Uh, I have to get back to work.”
“I’m sure Arthur won’t mind if you stay for a few minutes.”
I glanced at the door to see that everyone else was gone. “Fine.”
“I get the sense you’re angry.”
“Great perception you have there,” I snapped.
“I don’t understand.”
“Hugh, I can’t have this conversation here. I’ll be finished in another hour. I’ll meet you at your place and then I’ll explain.”
He agreed and left. I’d never been in favor of arguing in public and my place of employment was not the ideal setting for me to launch into him over what he’d done. I’d wait it out.
Turned out to be much harder than I thought. I barely got any work done and finally left early, saying I had a headache. It was true. My temples throbbed with each breath I took. I drove around, trying to collect and arrange my thoughts. When I got to Hugh’s, he still wasn’t there. I had to wait another hour for him to arrive, which didn’t help matters. My jaw ached from clenching my teeth.
He walked in and headed directly for the cabinet where the liquor was stored. “Sorry, just as I was leaving, something came up. I got news that someone is trying to buy out my company.”
Instead of being empathetic and asking him about it, I went straight for the jugular. “How dare you tell my employer about my father! What gave you that right? No one at the firm knew and now everyone will.”
He stared at me as though I’d punched him. “I was only trying to help.”
“Trying to help? Then why didn’t you come to me first?”
“I, uh, don’t know. Arthur and I go way back so I figured he would be the perfect one to approach in this situation. I never gave it a thought that you worked at his firm.”
“Right. So now he knows and what must he think of me?”
“Think of you? Why would he think any different?”
“Oh, come on, Hugh. You yourself did it. Anyone whose father is a convict gets a bad rap too. Like father, like daughter.”
He scratched his head as though he were terribly confused. “While that may be true, I’m lost here, Molly. I thought what I did was a good deed and instead I get this. Not only that, when I got back to the office, I had a shitstorm brewing.” He gulped down half the glass of brown liquor he’d poured.
“Yeah, well, I’m going to be facing my own shitstorm when everyone in the office finds out about this. The gossip chain will run wild and then I’ll probably get accused of having an affair with one of the partners.”