"Melvin's paying you alimony?"

"Of course he is. You think I'd let that son of a b.i.t.c.h get off scot-free?"

"Of course you wouldn't."

"Not that it's princely. Twelve hundred a month doesn't go nearly as far these days. I was actually thinking of asking the judge to increase it."

"And Melvin wants it stopped?"

"Of course he does."

"On what grounds?"

"That I have another husband living."

Sherry's eyes widened. "Chester T. Markowitz?"

Cora waggled her finger. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"You know like what. Like 'I told you so.' "

"I was not looking at you like that."

"What were you doing?"

"All right, I was looking at you like that. Don't you think you deserve it?"

"Right, right. Kick a person when they're down."

"Cora, if you really stand to lose twelve hundred a month, isn't it worth spending some of it on a lawyer to see that it doesn't happen?"

"I know. It's just the principle of the thing. The thought that Melvin would cost me a penny."

"Well, you're costing him quite a bit."

"And he deserves every cent. Oh, my G.o.d, Sherry. If you had any idea what that man was like. It wasn't just the cheating and throwing it in my face and undermining me to my friends behind my back. Or making fun of my cooking."

"You cooked?"

"Don't start with me. The son of a b.i.t.c.h made me cook. Wheedled and cajoled me into cooking. Then ridiculed me for it. As he did everything else."

"Everything else?"

"I don't care to discuss it. The man was a master manipulator. Never laid a finger on me, I'll give him that. But he could be the most sinister son of a b.i.t.c.h this side of the Marquis de Sade. I tell you, twelve hundred a month is a slap on the wrist. I wouldn't go through it again for five grand."

"You must have liked him at one time."

"Of course I liked him. He was a fascinating, charismatic bad boy. He's the one who taught me to shoot, for G.o.d's sake. Utterly irresistible, as long as he was being a bad boy to somebody else."

"You broke up his marriage."

"Did I say that?"

"But you did, didn't you? You were the other woman."

Cora made a face. "Well, of course it sounds bad when you say it like that."

"You liked being the other woman. Beating the wife's time. It didn't occur to you there'd be another other woman and the wife would be you."

"Are you trying to p.i.s.s me off?"

Sherry's eyes twinkled. "So, you don't like it when a person won't stop teasing you?"

Cora smoldered in silence.

"You really haven't been married since Melvin?"

"I almost was."

"Oh. Right."

Cora's last engagement had ended badly. It coincided with her stopping drinking. Cora hadn't come close to the altar since. Sherry wondered if there was a connection. She wasn't about to point it out.

"So, marrying would have stopped Melvin's alimony. A good reason to stay single."

"Not the only one," Cora said. "You get married, the first thing you know you're knocked up and trying to deny it."

Sherry ignored the jab. "Nice try. The topic is your ex-husband. Which is somewhat ironic. When we started living together, the topic was my ex-husband. But Dennis has been a good boy lately. Haven't heard from him in months."

"What am I going to do?" Cora said.

"Only one thing I can think of."

"What's that?"

Sherry smiled. "Why don't we put my picture on the Puzzle Lady column, and I'll pretend I write it, so you can hide from your abusive ex-husband."

CHAPTER.

9.

Becky Baldwin could have pa.s.sed for a Victoria's Secret model. Men wanting to hire her were hopelessly torn. They liked the idea of having her around but doubted that anyone who looked like her could know any law.

They would be wrong. Becky Baldwin was as sharp as they came, probably could have made partner in some prestigious law firm, if she could have stood working for someone. But Becky liked calling her own shots.

She looked up from reading the summons.

"Well?" Cora said.

"This isn't good."

"I don't need a lawyer to tell me that."

"I always like to make the circ.u.mstances seem dire before I jack up my fee."

"I'm not amused, Becky."

"I wasn't joking. This is a court appearance with a lot of money involved. If I win, I get mine."

"You're taking it on contingency?"

"Yes, wouldn't that be nice. I'm taking it on retainer against contingency. You pay me to go to court. If I win, you pay me more."

"Since when did you get so hard-nosed?"

"There's a lot of money involved. Your alimony is twelve hundred forty-three bucks. That's more than the monthly rent on my office and apartment combined. And your books are selling."

"How do you know that?"

"Amazon.com. When you called for the appointment, I logged on and checked your numbers. You're doing very well indeed."

"Great," Cora said. "So how do I win the case?"

"I don't know. It seems you rather injudiciously accepted a check for ten thousand dollars from a man you never met."

"You think I should have turned it down?"

"I thought you were good at math. Or is it just putting numbers in a line? Your alimony is nearly twelve hundred fifty bucks a month. Times two would be twenty-five hundred. Times four would be five thousand. Times eight would be ten thousand. So, you tell me. Is it worth ten thousand dollars to give up your alimony?"

"I bet when you add in your fee it isn't."

"My fee is to keep that from happening."

"Oh? I thought it was just to go to court. The contingency was for stopping that from happening."

"If you'd prefer to hire some other lawyer..."

"Did I say that?"

"Relax, Cora. You've been in worse sc.r.a.pes than this. You always come up with something. How come this time you can't think clearly?"

"This time it's Melvin."

"Oh."

Cora's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"You still have feelings for him."

Cora scowled, took out a pack of cigarettes.

"No smoking."

"You wanna needle me about my ex-husband, I'm gonna smoke."

"So you do have feelings for him."

"I have feelings, and they're not kind. The man made my life a living h.e.l.l."

"In what way?"

"Why?"

"Why? Don't be silly. If that man's going to try to get your alimony reduced, I need all the ammunition I can get."

"He's not trying to get it reduced. He's trying to get it stopped."

"Same thing."

"The h.e.l.l it is! He's not saying I deserve less, he's saying he shouldn't be paying at all!"

"I understand the situation."

"So why does it matter what a creep he is?"

"It always matters. If this goes to the jury-"

"Jury! What the h.e.l.l do you mean, jury? Alimony's up to the judge."

"Yes, but if there are criminal charges..."

"Criminal! Now see here! I came in with a simple property settlement, you're blowing it up into the trial of the century."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration."

"Well, the century just started." Cora strode to the door, stepped out in the stairwell, lit her cigarette. Becky's office was on the second floor over a pizza parlor. It was early Friday morning, but they were already open. The smell of smoke mingled with the smell of pepperoni.

"I'm not trying to scare you, Cora. But if this guy's a jerk, he's going to pull out all the stops. Obtaining money under false pretenses is not looked on kindly by the courts."

"That's why it's up to you to show it didn't happen. Not that I should get off lightly because my ex-husband's a creep."