Damaged Souls (Broken Man) - By Christopher Scott Page 0,56

his love of words,” Jack took his time and enjoyed watching Mitch as he seemed ready to jump across the table at him. “Unfortunately for you, it seems Mitch Jr. might have shared a little too much with Mr. Gross, and I have here a sworn statement that not only documents their conversation but also backs up the stories of Ms. Boyd and Mr. Leonard.”

“That will never hold up in the court of law and you know it,” Mitch sensed an opening and went on a counterattack. “You’ve got nothing.”

“You might be right,” Jack didn’t miss a beat as he reached into his pocket and found the right button to push. “But, how is it going to look to have your star quarterback son up on charges of sexual assault. I would have to think it might affect that scholarship and it certainly can’t be good for business. You think times are tough now, you just wait.”

His speech was interrupted by the voice on the intercom, the timing perfect as planned. “Mr. Leach, the District Attorney is on line one.”

“Let him know I’ll call him back,” Mike answered as he pressed the intercom button.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Jack drove the final nail into Mitch’s coffin. “We had a nice breakfast meeting this morning with Mike’s old law school buddy, Rick Cooper. We call him Coop, but you might know him as the District Attorney. Turns out he in very interested in our case and he was also fascinated by your close relationship with the Sheriff. Funny how that works. Anyway, he hoped we could work this out as adults, but assured us he would welcome the chance to assist as needed.”

Silence. Not a peep. Nothing.

Their response told Jack all he needed to know. He had won, and now it was just a matter of working out the details. As he looked across the table at Mitch, Jack took pleasure in watching him sweat, in looking like he was about to have a heart attack.

“Do you have anything to add,” he gave his opponents a chance to defend themselves.

“Just tell us what you want,” Steve realized they were defeated.

“First, Mitch Jr. will attend weekly group counseling sessions with other sex offenders for a period of one year,” Jack was sure to label Mitch as he began his list of demands and opened up another file. “Second, he will also agree to go nowhere near Delaney from this point forward. We have filed a restraining order and Mitch will not be allowed within one hundred yards of her for a period of six months and this agreement stipulates the order continue ad infinitum. Love those legal terms, but it basically means that Mitch stays the hell away from Delaney until the day he dies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like either Mitch or Jeff will be able to attend graduation ceremonies this year.”

“Fine,” Mitch finally spoke as he stood up from the table. “Give me the goddamn papers to sign.”

“Mitch, don’t be so hasty, I’m not finished yet,” Jack gave him a taste of his own medicine. “The final part of the agreement outlines a scholarship Mr. Caldwell will be generously and anonymously endowing in the name of his late attorney and supposed friend, Robert Leonard. The scholarship will be in the amount of $100,000 and the first and likely only recipient will be Gregory Leonard,”

“Fuck you,” Mitch finally sprung into action, assisted in large part by his lighter wallet and his uncontrollable temper. “You are not going to blackmail me. Go fuck yourself. I’m not signing a goddamn thing.”

“But you are wrong, Mitch,” Jack walked right in front of him and dared him to do something as his attorney tried to hold him back. “You are going to sign it. Because if you don’t, these documents I have had prepared are going straight to the District Attorney. There goes Mitch’s scholarship, there goes any hope of a pro career, and there goes your family’s reputation, not that there was much of one to begin with. Now, sit down and sign it.”

“Fuck you, Jack,” Mitch couldn’t find many words as he looked like he was ready to kill someone.

“Shut up, Mitch,” Steve managed to hold him back. “This is over, now sit down.”

Jack turned his back and walked away as he prepared his final piece of business. That went even better than planned, he thought to himself as he watched Mike hand Steve the final file and all three of them returned to