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ALEXA: Oh, no! Will it go on his record?
P.M. MORAN, ESQ.: I fully expect charges to be dropped against both men. I suspect that police wanted to make a point with them, but you never know how a judge may respond to two grown men, brothers-in-law, getting into a drunken fight.
ALEXA: I know that Luke has been unhappy with Eric. Apparently, he's been cheating on Luke's sister, but I never thought they'd get into a fight.
P.M. MORAN, ESQ.: Luke claims he was only defending himself and Eric threw the first punch, but witnesses said the two men exchanged insults before the fight started. Both were considered combatants as a consequence.
ALEXA: Oh, dear. Thank you for contacting me.
P.M. MORAN,
ESQ.: I'll let you know when Luke is released on bail.
ALEXA: Thank you for letting me know. I've been worried sick about Luke.
P.M. MORAN, ESQ.: No problem. Is there any message you want me to give to him when I see him tomorrow?
ALEXA: Please tell him I'm sending my love and will see him when he's released.
P.M. MORAN, ESQ.: Will do.
I called Dana right away.
"Dana, have you heard about Eric and Luke?"
Dana sounded totally confused. "No! Oh my God, what happened? Were they in a car accident?"
"No," I said. "They're both in jail in the 18th Precinct."
"What? Why?"
"They got into a fight," I said and made a face, because now I'd have to tell Dana why they would get into a fight.
"How could they have gotten into a fight? Eric's out of town..." At that point, Dana must have realized that Eric wasn't out of town after all. "Oh, my God. He wasn't out of town."
I swallowed and chewed my bottom lip, trying to use just the right words.
"No, he was in town. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but earlier today, Luke called me and told me that he couldn't have supper with me because he was going to your place. He said that he saw Eric going into a hotel on 63rd. and Madison -- the Lowell Hotel."
"Let me guess -- he was with a woman."
I cringed. "Yes."
I heard Dana sigh heavily. "That bastard. That cheating bastard."
"I'm so sorry, Dana. I know Luke was really upset when he realized that Eric told you he was out of town, when he was really still in Manhattan and staying at a hotel with some woman."
There was silence on the other line for a moment.
"Dana -- are you okay?"
Finally, she cleared her throat, and her voice sounded close to tears.
"You know, before Luke left, he was acting strange. He kept asking me all these questions about how often Eric went traveling on business, and how I was doing, how happy I was. I couldn't figure out why, but now I understand. He was trying to find out if I knew or suspected."
"He felt really bad and didn't want to tell you that Eric was with a woman until he knew for sure, just in case. It's not the kind of thing you want to be telling your sister."
"No, I guess not. I wouldn't want to be the one to tell him if you were cheating, but I would."
