“What about Sean?” I said stupidly.
“What do you mean, what about Sean? He’s coming with us.”
“You can’t take my son and pack up and move to Hawaii,” I said. “I won’t let you.”
“Why, Darren? You rarely spend time with him, and when you do, you’re distracted, and from what he says, you pretty much dump him on Grace.”
“That isn’t . . . he didn’t—”
“Yes, he did. Besides, I’ve already talked to my lawyer about it. There isn’t anything you can do. It’ll be in Sean’s best interests. He’ll be going to the Punahou School. It’s one of the best private schools in the world. When we first started talking about this last year, I called the school and asked about admission. His test scores are off the charts, his teachers all wrote him glowing recommendations, and he did great in the interview. He’s in, starting in January.”
I knew they’d been to Hawaii on vacation, but Sean hadn’t said anything to me about interviewing at a school. He hadn’t said a word to me about Katie considering a move to Honolulu.
“He’ll have opportunities that he would never have here, Darren. Don’t be selfish about this.”
“Did you tell him to hide this from me?”
“I told him there wasn’t any reason to upset you until we were certain it was going to happen. Now that we’re certain, I’m telling you in person.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a document. She shoved it across the table at me. “This is the written notice that’s required by law. You have thirty days to file a petition in court if you want to oppose, but I hope you won’t waste your time or money, because you’ll lose.”
“But he won’t be with his father. He needs me. I need him.”
“He wasn’t with his father when you were in jail. And from what I’m hearing, you might be on your way back. You’re a suspect in a double murder. How do you think the judge who decides whether Sean can go—if you try to stop me—will feel about that?”
“Who told you I’m a suspect in a double murder?”
“A couple of cops. Rule and Kingman? I believe you know them. Very nice people. They came and talked to me, just wanted to know if maybe you’d let something slip to Sean or to me. I was surprised when you didn’t give me more trouble when I kept Sean in Gatlinburg that weekend. Now I know why. You went off to West Virginia and killed the two men who killed your mother.”
“That’s a damn lie,” I said, immediately expecting that she was wearing a wire. “I didn’t kill anybody.”
“Well, they think you did, and they’re doing everything they can to prove it.”
“Where’s the wire?” I said.
“I beg your pardon?”
“The wire. The bug. The listening device. The transmitter the cops gave you before you walked in here.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I stood, reached in my wallet, pulled out a ten-dollar bill, and set it on the table. “You can go fuck yourself. Try to take my son away from me and see what happens.”
“Was that a threat, Darren? Did you just threaten to hurt me or kill me?”
“Take it any way you want,” I said. “Sean isn’t going anywhere.”
As I turned and stalked out of the restaurant, Katie stood up and yelled, “That man just threatened to kill me! He threatened to kill me!”
CHAPTER 26
I was in the law office of Gwendolyn Taylor at 8:00 a.m. the next morning. She was the same lawyer who had helped my mother gain visitation rights with Sean when I was in prison. In her midfifties, Gwen had long mouse-colored hair streaked with silver. The outfit of the day was faded blue jeans and a light-blue button-down blouse. She wore the tired, cynical look of a divorce lawyer, a person who fought vicious battles all day, every day, on behalf of her clients, often with children caught in the middle of the combatants.
I told her about the conversation Katie and I had had at the restaurant the previous day, although I left out the parts about threatening Katie and being a suspect in the murders in West Virginia.
“How rich is this guy?” Gwen asked me after we’d talked for a little while.
“Mega, I think. Sean has told me about his place in Kentucky. He has thoroughbreds and a bunch of land, apparently. Owned a Mercedes-Benz dealership and some kind of commercial real estate development company. Katie mentioned that he was one of the biggest donors at the University of Kentucky, and I looked it up on the Internet. He’s given them nearly ten million through his charitable trust.”
“And she said Sean has been accepted to the Punahou School? What’s so special about that?”
I’d printed out some information about the school and set it on her desk. “Very exclusive. A bunch of famous people have gone to school there, including a former president of the United States.”
“How much time have you been spending with Sean?”
“I get him most weekends, but since my mom was killed, I haven’t seen a lot of him, to be honest. I’ve been pretty disconnected, and I didn’t want him to think it was because of him.”
“He loved his grandmother,” Gwen said.
“Yes,” I said. “He loved her very much.”
“A court could very easily conclude that being around you is a constant reminder of her, and that moving away could ultimately be good for him. As I’m sure you know, it will all come down to what the judge thinks is in the best interests of the child.”
“I thought about this all night, Gwen,” I said. “And honestly, I just don’t think I have much of a chance of keeping her from taking him. I’m not in a great place mentally. I’m living with my fiancée, but we haven’t set a date for a wedding. I don’t have anywhere near the money Katie’s husband has. I certainly can’t offer Sean the opportunity to go to some famous private school. He’ll experience things in Hawaii that he could never experience here, and if I’m honest about it, I just don’t have a lot of room for him emotionally right now. This is the worst possible time she could have pulled something like this. Well, the best time for her. Worst time for me. And there’s one more thing I guess I should tell you about, because she brought it up yesterday and will try to use it if we go to court: I’m a suspect in a double murder in West Virginia.”
“I know,” Gwen said.
“You what? How could you know that?”
“I’m a lawyer. Lawyers are gossips. Everybody knows, Darren. At least everybody in the legal community.”
“Can she use that if I fight her?”
“You weren’t listening to what I just said.”
“I beg your pardon? I don’t understand.”
“I just said everybody in the legal community knows you’re a suspect in a double murder in West Virginia. Everybody knows that the two men you’re suspected of murdering probably murdered your mother. The judge who will hear your case is Tom Rambo. He’s a part of the legal community, Darren. He knows. He won’t need to hear it from the witness stand.”