“Three.”
“Fine. Three. You better fucking get the paperwork sorted out by then.”
Two hours later Taylor got the call he didn’t see coming. Caleb said, “They’ve filed for a restraining order against you. It was approved until we can prove otherwise. I’ve already sent in the request for an expedited hearing on the case. I’m waiting to hear back.”
Taylor sat there on the couch, numb. His emotions seeped into his voice, which were disillusioned and stunned. “A fucking restraining order? Against me? Are you kidding?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not.”
He was grappling for anything that would keep him afloat from the despair that waited to devour him. “Is her name on it?”
“You can’t go near her, but no, she didn’t file it. Her stepfather did, and in the court’s eyes, that’s all that matters.”
“They should have the restraining order against them.” Now Taylor was pissed.
“We’re getting hit. It’s been brutal, but we have legal rights, we have plans in place. Let’s just continue on with the plan we’ve agreed to and when I get word on the hearing, I’ll call you back. In the meantime, don’t go over there. Don’t go near Judith.”
The hearing was set for four that afternoon after Caleb pulled strings and once the judge was assigned. He’d played cards with him twice and used that relationship to benefit his client.
Seven hours later, Caleb and Taylor stood there in his chambers across the table from the Boehler’s family lawyer. Jude was not there, neither was any family member. That was probably safer for them considering Taylor’s contempt.
When the judge sat down, he looked tired. Taylor didn’t feel this would bode well for them, but Caleb seemed confident. The judge said, “I’ve read the arguments on both sides and I’m curious how this case even came to be. You have Mr. Barrett on one side that has shown exemplary behavior and is from a prominent family in our fine community. They’ve raised millions through charity work over the years. He’s well educated and a hard worker with a respected architecture track record.” He paused to look at Taylor as if to verify his findings from the file. Then he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and added, “Then you have the Boehlers, who have filed this order against Mr. Barrett in protection of their daughter who is currently under their care—legally.” He glanced at the Boehler lawyer but didn’t seem impressed. “So what’s this really about?”
Caleb spoke up. “Judge Matthews, the Boehler family is not protecting their daughter, but are putting her in harm’s way. Mr. Barrett can testify to the conditions she is put under as well as recall the gruesome details of what she has told him privately regarding her treatment under the ‘care’ of her family and doctors at Bleekman’s. But beyond that, Mr. Barrett is Judith Boehler’s husband. They were married two weeks ago—”
The other lawyer interrupted, “I’d like to speak to that so-called marriage.”
“It’s not a so-called marriage,” Caleb interjected. “It’s a legal, binding agreement between two people who love each other.”
The judge’s attention was volleying between the two lawyers.
The Boehler lawyer said, “Judge Matthews, the Boehler family feels their daughter Judith was coerced under stress and medication to go along with this marriage plot.”
“Fuck you!” Taylor stood and shouted, slamming his hands on the shiny wooden table between them. “I love her and she loves me. There was no coercion.”
Caleb grabbed Taylor’s arm and Taylor sat. “Please let me handle this, Taylor.”
Caleb questioned the other lawyer. “What is this coercion based on? She wasn’t on drugs at the time because she was with my client. She’s only drugged when she’s with your clients. So she got married on her own accord—”
“Like she left him of her own accord this morning.”
“She left because the police said they would arrest my client if she didn’t go with them.”
The other lawyer smiled. “You’re really reaching. The family, with consent from their daughter, filed this restraining order against your client.” He opened his file. “Besides, he’s abusive and is trying to brainwash her against her own parents.” Scoffing, he glanced to the judge for what appeared to be extra drama. Setting three photos of Jude in front of the judge, he said, “The photos speak for themselves. This is the current state of her body—bruises on her upper spine, collarbone area, and around her ribs. All places distinctly chosen by your client so they couldn’t be seen by her family.”
Taylor gulped, knowing each and every one of those bruises by heart. He knew them by taste and feel. His heart sank seeing the photos, seeing Jude in distress and covering herself, clearly photographed against her will. Taylor cleared his throat and nudged Caleb, who was starting to lose ground on the case. “I need a minute with my client.”
Judge Matthews said, “I’ll give you two and it better be good.”
Caleb and Taylor walked to the far corner of the room and Taylor whispered, “I would never hit her. I would never hurt her.”
“What are the marks?”
Taylor hated exposing their intimacy so publicly but he had no choice. “I gave them to her when we made love the other day. They’re hickeys.”
Caleb looked him square in the eyes, and asked, “Are you sure?”
Annoyed, Taylor responded, “Of course I’m sure. I knew what I was doing and…” Taking a deep breath, he added, “and she liked it.”
Shaking his head, he sighed. “I can’t go back there and debate that she liked it. We’ve got to stick to our side of the story and the facts.”
“I would never intentionally hurt her.”
“Listen to me. Do not say another word in here. I mean it. Not one damn word no matter what he says. He’s trying to get another rise out of you to prove you’re violent. So sit there and don’t give him shit. Got it?”
“Got it.” Taylor felt like he was starting to drown under the accusations coupled with the warrant. That he couldn’t talk to Jude had added another level of stress to their already fucked-up situation. He sat back down and his shoulders hunched forward as he had clear visions of his defeat sitting on his horizon.
Caleb cleared his throat, and stated, “Those are love marks given and happily received during lovemaking. My client would not hurt the woman he loves and is trying to protect.” He pushed the photos back to the other lawyer. “If he is being accused of domestic violence that is something we will not tolerate and will fight wholeheartedly.”
Judge Matthews was losing his patience. “This case is getting off track. Since we don’t have the petitioners here to verify one way or the other, we cannot prove if those bruises at this time were made through abuse or other means. With that said, for the sake of our time and the petitioner’s protection, I’m granting the restraining order to be upheld for a total of three days, reducing it from six months. We can reconvene with the two parties and witnesses at that time to determine how this will extend beyond the three days.” He stood and said, “Good day, gentleman.”
Taylor was left speechless. Caleb was fuming but held his poker face. The Boehler lawyer chuckled under his breath as he gathered the photos and file together. “Better luck next time,” he said, gloating.
There was so much Taylor wanted to say, but listening to Caleb, he remained silent. His hands, both at the same time, started trembling and he looked down at them in his lap as if they were detached from his own body. Stress incited the disease and he was feeling the effects.
Caleb instructed him to leave and not to say anything until they were out of the courthouse. Taylor followed him out and the two men walked in silence side by side down the sidewalk. “That went to shit,” Caleb announced, looking down the street once they stopped. “But it’s not over. We’ve just been given three days to gather our evidence and get our case together. That’s a good thing.”
“How is it good again? Is it the part that I don’t get to see her for three more days or that I was just accused of beating my wife? Or is the good part that I apparently coerced Jude into marrying me against her will? I’m lost, so feel free to help me out here.”