Nora marched right up to the judge’s front door and rang the bell.

      “Nora, I don’t want you getting into trouble for me.” Lance took her hand. “Let’s go. I can figure my own problems out.”

      “You can go if you want, but I’m staying. I’m not happy unless I’m getting in trouble. Don’t you want me to be happy?” She gave him her most ingratiating, innocent, and utterly fake smile.

      “You’re evil.”

      “Well...obviously.” She patted him on the cheek as patronizingly as she could. Mrs. B. opened the door and gave Nora a look of surprise.

      “Hello there, dear. I didn’t think you had an appointment tonight.” Mrs. B. ushered Nora and Lance inside.

      “No appointment. Is the judge home? I need to talk to him about a legal issue.”

      “Did you get arrested again?” Mrs. B looked like a worried mother hen.

      “No, I promise. Not this week. Not yet, anyway.”

      “That’s good to hear,” Mrs. B said. “The judge is in his office. Go on in.”

      Nora thanked the woman, and she and Lance headed back down the hall. Nora found Judge B at his desk, his nose buried in a massive legal tome. He gave her a beatific smile as she walked in.

      “Miss Nora, what brings you here?” He came around his desk, and kissed Nora on the cheek.

      “I need a favor, Judge. Or maybe just legal advice.”

      “Did you get arrested again?” he asked, giving her a stern look.

      “Why does everyone always ask me that? Don’t answer that,” she said. “Judge B., this is Lance. He’s my bodyguard, and he’s got a problem. Tell him your problem, Sailor.”

      “I’m all ears,” Judge B said, motioning Nora and Lance to sit. They moved books off the chairs and sat down while the judge sat on the edge of the desk and gave them his full attention.

      Lance told the judge the same story he’d told Nora—the quick marriage, the deployment, the daughter, the wound in his back and the surgeries, the wife who’d withheld sex, the pornography and the custody fight, the only fight Lance had ever lost.

      The judge nodded as he listened, asked a few questions here and there. At the end they all sat in silence waiting for the judge’s verdict.

      “Son...” the judge finally said, “you got screwed.”

      Lance laughed and shook his head. “I did and it was the worst sex I ever had.”

      “All this over some porn?” Judge B. sounded disgusted. “Who doesn’t watch porn?”

      “Blind people?” Nora offered her best and only guess. “And Lance wasn’t even watching the really good porn.”

      “Subspace.com?” the judge asked, sound disappointed. Personal experience, no doubt.

      “That. Can’t stand that tame shit,” Nora said. “The good stuff’s on Kinkster.com.”

      “It’s pay-per-view, though,” Judge B. said.

      “But it’s worth every penny. They’ve got the best group sex vid on there. Lots of feet action.”

      “Can you send me the link?”

      “Excuse me,” Lance interjected. “Are we talking about my legal situation or where to find the best kinky porn?”

      “Why can’t we talk about both?” Nora asked Lance who replied with only a glare. “Fine, back on subject. So Lance got screwed. What can he do about it?”

      The judge adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

      “I can help. Definitely. If everything you’ve told me is true—”

      “It is,” Lance said.

      “Then there is some hope. I know the judge you had—Hawkins? Hate that self-righteous bastard. He sides with the mothers in 95 percent of his cases no matter what the circumstances. I can suggest a good attorney, and we’ll get your case moved to another judge. We’ll have to petition the court for a new hearing based on new circumstances—”

      “What new circumstances?” Lance asked. “Nothing’s really changed.”

      “Considering your fitness as a parent was called into question, you’ll probably need a psychiatric evaluation, a thorough one. Once the psych eval clears you of being an unfit parent, then you’ll have plenty of ammunition in your fight.”

      “I can do that, definitely. You think it’ll work?”

      The judge nodded. “Yes. Once we get you in a new courtroom, which I can handle, and your attorney presents your psych eval and any other new evidence...should at least get you joint custody.”

      “That’s all I want. I don’t want to take Maya from her mom.”

      “That attitude is the right one to have. This battle is for your daughter, not against your ex-wife. A bad attitude can doom a case. But speaking of dooming a case...”

      Judge B. turned his gaze from Lance and onto Nora.

      “What?” Nora asked. “What did I do this time?”

      “You exist,” Judge B. said.

      “That’s not my fault,” Nora said. “I didn’t ask to be born. Which is good because my mother probably would have said no.”

      The judge gave a tired, nervous laugh.

      “My dear...I could not be more grateful that you exist,” he said. “But am I correct in assuming this young man is slightly more than just a bodyguard?”

      “We did have sex today. A lot of it,” she admitted without shame.

      “That’s going to be an issue.” The judge looked from Nora to Lance. Nora felt her stomach starting to tighten with fear.

      “How much of an issue?” Lance