Chapter 7: The Moment He Realized
Diane moved fast.
By noon, the emergency protective order had been filed.
By 1:30, she had pulled Garrett Holloway's bar association record and found what she was looking for: a disciplinary complaint filed two years earlier by a client named Claire Renner, alleging document fraud in a marital proceeding.
The complaint had been investigated and closed without action.
Insufficient evidence, the record said.
Claire had been alone then.
She wasn't alone now.
Diane called me into her office at 2:15.
"Holloway's bar file, Claire's prior complaint, Richard's affidavit, and the two fraudulent filings together constitute a pattern.
I've drafted a motion to void the postnuptial transfer on grounds of fraud and forgery.
I've also referred the matter to the state bar for reinvestigation." She set a folder on the desk.
"Daniel will be served this afternoon."
Rachel looked up from the chair beside me.
"Served with what exactly?"
"The motion to void.
The protective order.
And a formal notice that his attorney is under bar investigation." Diane folded her hands.
"He will know by end of business today that the document is being challenged, that his prior conduct with Claire is now part of the record, and that his own father has given a sworn statement against him."
I sat with that for a moment.
"How do you think he'll react?"
"In my experience," Diane said, "men like Daniel Carter react in one of two ways.
They go quiet and let their attorneys handle it.
Or they do something impulsive that makes our case significantly easier." She looked at me steadily.
"Based on what you've described, I don't think Daniel is the quiet type."
She was right.
At 4:47 PM, Daniel walked into the lobby of Diane's building.
I know because the receptionist called upstairs.
"There's a man down here asking for Emily Carter.
He says he's her husband.
He doesn't have an appointment."
Diane picked up the phone before I could reach it.
"Tell him his wife is represented by counsel and is not available.
If he has communication for her, it must go through this office." A pause.
"And call building security, please."
She hung up.
Rachel stood up.
"He came here," she said.
"He came here," Diane confirmed.
She didn't look surprised.
Three minutes later my phone rang.
Daniel.
I looked at Diane.
"Let it go to voicemail," she said.
It did.
The voicemail notification appeared thirty seconds later.
Diane nodded.
I put it on speaker.
*Emily.
I know you're up there.
I know what Diane Marsh looks like and I know what floor she's on.
I'm not leaving until you come down and talk to me.
This is between us.
Whatever my father told you, he doesn't know the full story.
He never has.
You're making a decision based on one side of something very complicated and I am asking you — I am asking you — to give me twenty minutes before you blow up both our lives.*
His voice was controlled at the start.
By the end it wasn't.
Diane made a note.
"That voicemail just became evidence of him attempting to circumvent legal representation," she said.
She was already typing.
"Building security will escort him out.
He won't be charged with anything today, but the attempt is documented."
My hands were in my lap.
Steady.
I thought about the woman who had cried in a locked car at the end of a driveway the night before.
Shaking.
Certain she had failed at something.
She hadn't failed.
She had just finally seen clearly.
My phone buzzed again.
Not Daniel this time.
A number I didn't recognize.
I answered.
"Emily Carter?" A woman's voice.
Brisk, professional.
"Yes."
"My name is Sandra Okafor.
I'm a reporter with the City Tribune.
I've received information today suggesting a pattern of document fraud connected to a Daniel Carter and an attorney named Garrett Holloway.
I'm reaching out for comment before we publish."
The room went very still.
Diane's head came up immediately.
She held out her hand for the phone.
I gave it to her.
"This is Diane Marsh, Ms.
Carter's attorney.
She has no comment at this time.
I'd ask that all further media inquiries come through this office." A pause.
"However, I would suggest you speak with a woman named Claire Renner before you publish anything.
Her account is directly relevant." Another pause.
"Yes.
I'll have her contact information sent to you within the hour."
She handed the phone back.
"Who called the Tribune?" Rachel asked.
Diane almost smiled.
"I have no idea."
She picked up her pen.
"But Daniel is now facing a voided document, a bar investigation, a protective order, a sworn statement from his own father, a prior victim prepared to testify, and a reporter asking questions." She looked at me.
"He came to this building today because he thought he could still talk his way out of this.
He can't."
Outside the window the afternoon light was going golden.
Somewhere downstairs, Daniel Carter was being walked out of a building by a security guard.
May you like
I wondered what his face looked like.
I found I didn't need to see it.
