“I got it but didn’t know what was going on until this moment. I’m sorry about that. I know who you are. As well as your wealth.” He looked back at his client. “I’m no longer your attorney, Mr. Pencil. I can’t do this for you, whatever it is you think I might be able to do. You’ve dug your own hole, and now you’re going to be buried in it. I’m not going to lose my license because your wife was a good deal smarter than you ever gave her credit for.”
“I need that money so I can start fresh.” Shadow told him good luck. “You’re my attorney, Phillip. I demand that you fix this so I don’t have to wait any longer for the money that should have been mine all along.”
“Your Honor, I want to say that I had no dealings with this monstrosity. Nor did I have any involvement in Mr. Pencil giving up his children. I would like to suggest that if it is something the Archers are willing to take on, they should most assuredly be able to adopt and care for these children. They’d be better off with them than with a man who has no concept of what having a family means.”
“I agree with you, Mr. Shadow. As soon as we’re finished with the rest of this meeting, for lack of a better term, we’ll see to it that they’re in a good home.” Todd raised his hand and asked if they were going to have to go back to the home. “No. You’re going to go home with these good people. I know we’ve spoken about this, but I want to ask you again. Are you all right with spending your life with this family?”
“Yes, sir. Yesterday we had some really good food. And when I was upset, crying, Del held me until I was okay again.” James called his son a pussy. Before he could react, Merce punched him in the face, and he fell back off his chair and landed on the floor. “My goodness, sir, they sure do know how to make a boy feel like we’re safe, don’t you think?”
“I do at that. And had Mrs. Archer not hit him, I’m sure any number of people would have done it.” Judge Middleton looked at them. “You can leave if you wish. The rest of this is going to be having Mr. Pencil and his wife here put in jail pending the trial for what they’ve done by endangering children. Thank you for this. Also, I will need you to be here when we talk about young Brian with his mother.”
“I have some information on that case, Your Honor.” Peter handed him what he’d been able to find. “It seems his wife has called in a couple of favors and had her ex-husband detained in Grenada pending a stolen identification. She has been playing him, keeping him away from his son so she can do what her brother has done. Give them to the home, so she no longer has to deal with him. There is also an ind
ication that she had her lover break the young man’s leg in order to keep him from interrupting their…fun time, I’m going to call it.”
Del and his new family headed out the door. He didn’t know what was going to happen to James and his wife, but he found that he didn’t care. Kissing Merce’s bruised knuckles, he told her he loved her.
“I love you as well. How about we load up the kids, head to the hospital to get Brian, and go home. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough of your family for the time being.” He agreed with her. “Good. All right, guys. Load your butts into the car. We’re off to home.”
The kids were still cheering as they pulled up in front of the hospital. Calling ahead to see if Brian was finished, he was happy that he was. The judge had given them temporary care of Brian until his father returned, and that was fine with them. The kids didn’t know each other any more than he did them, but they were making a good start in getting to be close friends.
“You know we’re going to have to tangle with Mary soon enough.” He said he didn’t care for now. “I don’t either, but we’re going to have to do the same thing all over.”
“This time, we’ll have a good solid lead on getting his dad home. I’m all right with that too.” She said she was going to miss the little boy. “Not if we can talk his dad into living closer to us. I’m sure it won’t be all that hard after we tell him how hard we worked on getting his son safe.”
“You’re a dork.” He kissed her again. “I love you, Del, but there are times I do worry about your sanity.