The Greatest Lie Part 19

Marcia handed me a tissue. "That so JC, to dump someone with a memo."

"He didn't care I was a whore. He is dumping me because I'm a sex-change. Listen to this crap.

I held the memo at arm's length, as though the venom on the page might otherwise poison me.

'I just can't go on knowing that I was the victim of a complete deception. This makes me question everything, and the answers that I hear from my conscience are no, no and no. You make keep all of the gifts, but I want the keys to the condo at the end of next month.'

I set it down on top of the binder of emails.

"What am I supposed to do now? I am broke, unemployed, dumped, homeless, in horrible legal troubles, and my lawyer just fired me."

"Girl, I feel terrible to be part of it, but from what I've seen, I've got every confidence in you. Consider it an opportunity. Pajon's emails are the kind of evidence that a good plaintiff's lawyer will salivate over. And don't quote me, but JC didn't deserve you. You're too young, too cute, too smart and too hot for a jerk like him."

I hugged her. "Thanks. You were a great lawyer. It's my fault. I didn't see that Alyssa, Miguel, and Spartan could all be connected. I guess everything is."

"That's right. Do one thing over here, and everything over there can come tumbling down."

"Maybe that's the key to how I can get out of this mess."

"I have faith that you will. Good luck."

I left Marcia's office staggering under a load of legal files.

My new lawyer, Dan Charleston, was a former student of one of my University of Minnesota professors, Martin Epstein. He flipped through his notes and made further notations as Federal District Judge Abner Carlson worked through his court calendar.

The Federal Court's marble-clad floor, dark-paneled walls, high ceilings, and altar-like judge's bench, surmounted by a gilded Great Seal, bespoke its higher prestige and greater power than the tawdry State Court where I would do battle over Alyssa's fate. The lawyers were better dressed, more eloquent, and more deferential to the power of this judge. He was well-prepared, asked sharp questions, and made decisive rulings.