Page 10 of First Date: Divorce
“You think the lawyer has someone inside Marriage-Save.”K.D.made it a statement not a question.
“Let’s say it’s our hypothesis,” Cully said.“People who’ve been to Marriage-Save aren’t her only clients, but they sure are her most lucrative ones.She’s gotten an impressively large settlement for her client — sometimes a woman, sometimes a man — every time the couple has stayed at Marriage-Save.”
“You see us—” K.D.’s head-tip added Eric to theus.Barely.“—as your hypothesis checkers?”
“Exactly.If you can find a link between this lawyer and someone at Marriage-Save, even better.”
“One of the counselors seemed most likely,” Ellyn said, “but I asked as many of the couples as I could and they had various counselors.”
“Which means,” Cully picked up, “if it’s a counselor he or she is picking up information about other counselors’ couples.Keep your ears open for that.If someone touts this lawyer.After you leave the program and Bardville, you’ll monitor incoming contacts we’re setting up for you as Mrs.Eric Larkin in case the lawyer reaches out directly, K.D.”
“What’s the name of this lawyer?”
Eric answered.“Gail Bledsoe.Everything we’ve gathered is in a report.My assistant will have a copy for you.Any luck with floor plans?”His question was directed at Grainger.
The sheriff nodded.“Marriage-Save is supposed to clear changes because of the historical status, but we know work’s been done, including before they arrived, so no guarantees.But this should give you a general idea.”
He pulled out a tablet.
K.D.reached the prime spot behind Cully first.Eric craned to get a good view.
“My contact says this—” Grainger jabbed one strong finger at a central cluster of offices.“—is where the business is run.”
Ellyn said.“I haven’t been there since Marriage-Save moved in, but I heard they’re using the second floor for guests, the first floor as counseling rooms.”
Eric spotted four tiny letters in a corner of a smaller square at the end of the row of offices/counseling rooms.
Safe.
A good starting spot for searching for a paper trail connecting Marriage-Save and Gail Bledsoe.
Had K.D.noticed?He looked her direction without moving his head, but couldn’t tell what part of the diagram she focused on.
“…and walk together around or outside the grounds.”
Cully had been talking about the Marriage-Save schedule, and he hadn’t listened.
The sheriff continued, “Most days, a lot of the guests get into Bardville.Some walk, some come in a van.Jessa’s shop would be a natural place to stop.If I’m available, we can meet in the back of the shop, or she can pass on anything you gather to me and vice versa.”
“Good,” Eric said.
“So that leaves you two needing a problem,” Ellyn reminded them.
Tal Bennett spoke for the first time.“The closer you stick to reality with this and everything else the better — easier to remember, and gives what you say the ring of truth, since neither of you gets an Oscar anytime soon.”
Grif turned to Eric, giving him the kind of look dentists give patients when they’re about to do something that’s good for them, but hurts like hell.
“How about different views on whether or not to have children?”
Settling near two longtime friends had seemed like a good idea when Eric left Chicago.He’d also been grateful Pauline chose to make the move as his assistant.Over the past months, however, he’d recognized that being around people who knew your secrets — like Hilary’s refusal to consider having kids — might not be the best place to hide out while trying to put Humpty Dumpty together again.
The relief from the heavy silence that followed Grif’s comment came from an unexpected source.
“That works if you want kids, Eric.Because I don’t want any.Or a husband, for that matter,” K.D.said calmly.
He appreciated her matter-of-fact tone.
“Then you’ve got the right idea, K.D.,” he said.“Go straight for the divorce and skip the messy marriage part.”
