Private Lives. Karen Young

to what both women claim—he’ll need to be very careful around Gina and his daughter in the future. It wasn’t a closed hearing, Curtiss. There were some students there, law school types from Rice, I think. And the usual courtroom junkies that hang around just to watch the legal system in play. But hear this. The person who really concerns me is Lindsay Blackstone, a television personality at WBYH-TV. She heard everything. My paralegal tells me that there was a series on her show last year about the escalating violence against women from husbands and lovers. I just hope she wasn’t there doing more research for a follow-up. I don’t think so, as there was no camera, but you never can tell.”

      “Goddamn it!” Leggett rose abruptly from his chair, his frown thunderous. “Why didn’t you see to it the hearing was closed, Paxton? That’s why I chose you to handle this…mess.”

      “If I’d suspected what Austin was going to be accused of, I would have,” Ryan said in an even tone. Did he have to remind the old coot that he’d walked into this case blind? And whose fault was that? The first rule in defense was to come clean with your lawyer.

      Leggett grunted and puffed furiously on his cigar while he thought. He then gave Ryan a sharp look. “You think anything’ll come of it?”

      “Only if Austin gets stupid and hits her again.”

      Ryan was out of Leggett’s office and on his way to his car when he realized what he’d revealed in his parting remark to Austin’s old man. Leggett clearly was unsurprised to hear that his son was accused of beating up on a woman. That was disgusting enough, but what was just as disgusting was the absence of any shock and sympathy on Leggett’s part for the victim. The whole thing left a bad taste in Ryan’s mouth. He wished he’d never gotten involved.