True Evil

Boy…that just ain't right.'

'Morally, I couldn't agree with you more. But legally…I'm afraid it is right. In the great sovereign state of Mississippi anyway. No such thing as no-fault divorce here.'

'Hell, I'll take the blame. I just want to end this thing and be friends.'

Rusk shook his head sadly. 'A pipe dream, Carson. Let me ask you this. Have you and your new love been careful?'

Barnett actually squirmed in his seat. 'Pretty careful…you know.'

'Ever bought her a present?'

'Well, sure.'

'Ever use your credit card for that?'

'Hell, they make it damn near impossible to buy anything with cash these days. You know?'

'Yes. What about phones? Have you called her on your cell phone?'

Barnett nodded, a desolate look on his face.

'You can count on Bliss bringing suit against your girlfriend for alienation of affection.'

'What?'

'Oh, yes. They'll drag her through the papers and try to get a financial judgment against her as well.'

'She don't have nothing!'

'As your wife, she will. They can garnish all her future earnings.'

'Well, I don't give a damn about the money. But to put her through that for spite-'

'How long were you planning on waiting to marry this girl?'

'I know it can't be right off. But we're getting pretty itchy, you know.'

Rusk could imagine the girl in question being very itchy to tie the knot before her 'soul mate' got distracted by another sweet young thing in another restaurant somewhere.

'You should also be prepared for a lot of anger on the part of your kids.'

He had Barnett's full attention now.

'They'll be made painfully aware that you're abandoning their mother for a younger woman, and they'll know who that woman is.'

Barnett was sullenly shaking his head.

'Do you think Luvy will make an effort to integrate your new love into the life of the family?'

'She'll scream ‘harlot' or ‘Jezebel' every time she sees her. And you're right about something else. Luvy'll do everything she can to poison the kids against me. She's already told me she wished I'd drop dead from a heart attack. Says she's praying for it every night.'

'You're not serious.'

'I swear on the Bible. She says it's better for the kids to think I'm dead than gone off to leave them.'

'But you're not leaving them, Carson.'

'Try telling that bitch that!' Barnett screamed, coming up out of his chair. 'Goddamn it, I'm sorry, Andy. Sometimes I get so damned frustrated, I could just…'

'What?'

'I don't know.'

Rusk let the silence stretch out. Now that Barnett's anger had reached critical mass, it wasn't going to cool anytime soon.

Rusk stood up and rolled his chair around his desk, then arranged Barnett's chair so that it faced his-very close, too. The big oilman stared at him with obvious curiosity, even suspicion, as though wondering if Rusk might be queer.

'Please sit down, Carson. I want to talk to you, man-to-man.'

This was a language Barnett understood. He turned his chair around and straddled it, his big forearms inches from Rusk's face.

'What I'm going to say may shock you, Carson.'

'No, you go right ahead.'

'I'm guessing that a man like you has come across some unusual situations in your business.'

'How do you mean?'

'Well…difficulties.'

'That's for sure.'

Rusk nodded soberly. 'Some difficulties, I've found, are solvable by conventional methods. While others… others take some creative thinking. Extraordinary measures, you might say.'

Barnett was watching him carefully now. 'Go on.'

'I've handled a lot of divorces. Hundreds, in fact. And a few of those cases had some similarities to yours.'

'Really?'

Rusk nodded. 'And some of those cases, well, they just broke my heart. More than once I've watched a liberal-biased judge take away half a man's lifetime earnings-or more-and then stop him from seeing his own children to boot-the children he brought into the world! When you see that…well, it feels almost un-American, Carson.'

'You're right!'

'I know I'm right. And after I'd seen enough of those cases, after fighting down in the trenches for a client and watching it all come to nothing…well, a thought would come to me.'

'What was it?'

'I thought, ‘God forgive me, but how much of a mercy would it be for this man-and for these kids-if one of the parties to this goddamn court battle was to just disappear?''

Barnett's mouth was open like that of a teenage boy watching a stolen porn film, and his eyes were gleaming. Rusk could almost see the idea sinking into the slow gray cells behind those eyes. He dared not look away from Carson Barnett; he held his eyes with almost evangelical fervor.

Barnett swallowed and looked down at the carpet between them. 'You mean-'

'I mean what I said. No more, no less. If a vicious and unforgiving person was doing their utmost to stop a person they supposedly loved-a person with whom they had had children-from even seeing those children, and also trying to take away everything that person had worked for all his life…well, then, it just seemed like almost divine justice if some force-fate, maybe-were to intervene to stop that from happening.'

'Jesus,' Barnett said quietly. 'You said a mouthful there.'

'I don't say this to many people, Carson. But you're in a desperate situation.'

The big man looked up with dark animal intelligence. 'Has something like what you talked about ever happened? I mean, has the other person just…disappeared?'

Rusk nodded slowly.

Barnett opened his mouth to speak again, but Rusk stopped him with an upraised hand. 'If that idea intrigues you, you should never come back to this office again.'

'What?'

'You should go to the Jackson Racquet Club the day after tomorrow at two p.m. and ask to take a steam bath.'

'I ain't a member,' Barnett said awkwardly.

Rusk smiled. 'A ten-dollar guest fee will get you in.'

'But-'

He put his left forefinger to his lips, then stood and offered Barnett his right hand. 'Carson, if you want to get a divorce, I'll be happy to represent you. Given Luvy's attitude, it could take a year or more to resolve everything, but I promise I'll do my best for you. And as you said, you could give her twenty-five million dollars, and you'd still have a lot of money.'

Barnett was opening and closing his mouth like a man in mild shock.

'A guy like you, a guy who's made and lost several fortunes, money probably doesn't mean the same as it