The Justice Game

35

“Jason, it’s Matt Corey.”

Detective Corey didn’t make casual calls. A lump formed in Jason’s throat.

“What’s up?”

“It’s about your dad, Jason. Things are getting worse. It’s really started to affect his work.”

Jason stared at the wall in his office. He knew his father’s drinking had worsened. But he always assumed that his father could handle it, would draw a hard line between booze and the job he loved.

“It was pretty bad at Christmas,” Jason admitted. “But I thought he kept it off-hours.”

“I don’t want to go into the details on the phone. He’s in some trouble at the station, and there’s some stuff that nobody knows about. Point is-he needs help.”

“Okay. But he won’t listen to me.”

“I’ve already talked to Julie. She’s willing to come home next week if you can make it too. The department has this formal intervention program, but I know your dad. He would react badly to it. My thinking is that the three of us-you, me, and Julie-could find a counselor who knows his stuff and work an intervention at your dad’s house. Keep it away from the department. We could have a detox facility on standby, and I could work ahead of time to get his cases reassigned. Take away his excuses for not going.”

Jason took a deep breath. The thought of confronting his father like this made him physically ill. “He’s stubborn, Detective Corey. I don’t know if it’ll work.”

“I’d slap you in the head if I could reach you,” Detective Corey said. “How many times have I told you to call me Matt?”

Jason didn’t answer. This topic had annihilated his sense of humor.

“Jason, I know this is hard. And I know you and your dad never had a great relationship…”

The words, spoken kindly and matter-of-factly, still cut like a razor. They were heartbreaking and undeniable at the same time.

“But we can’t do this without you. They say an intervention doesn’t stand a chance if there’s somebody important in the person’s life who’s missing.”

Jason could feel his heart beat faster just thinking about it. A headache would soon follow.

“He respects you, Matt. He adores Jules.”

And he can’t stand me, Jason wanted to add. But he didn’t; vulnerability was not his thing. “He and I have some serious issues.”

“I can’t force you, Jason. And I know he’s hurt you in the past. But right now… he needs you.”

There was a long pause as Jason processed this. He didn’t see an intervention ending well, but how could he say no? The man was his father.

“All right,” Jason said. “I’ll try.”

The next morning, Jason ignored a call from Andrew Lassiter. There was no sense talking with Andrew again until Jason first talked with Robert Sherwood. Jason had left a message yesterday afternoon and was waiting for a return call.

The call came that afternoon. After Jason gave an update on the case (Sherwood was pleased about Jason’s plans to move to Virginia Beach), Jason summoned the nerve to talk about Andrew Lassiter.

Andrew had called and volunteered his services as a jury consultant, Jason explained. But Jason knew that Andrew had left Justice Inc. on contentious terms, and Jason wanted to make sure that Andrew wouldn’t be violating a non-compete if Jason hired him.

“There is a non-compete,” Sherwood said. “And it’s very broad. It would certainly include jury consulting, since that would inevitably require the use of our software or some derivative program.”

“Okay,” Jason said tentatively. He wanted to tread lightly here; the last thing he wanted was a big argument with Sherwood. But he didn’t want Andrew working for the other side.

“Can you make an exception for this case?” Jason asked. “It would help me a lot.” He chose his next words carefully-just a hint that Jason might know something about Kelly Starling, just enough to make Sherwood wonder. “I’ve got a hunch you’re betting my side on this one, though both sides are well represented, ” Jason said. “With Lassiter’s help, I might be able to cover your bet.”

“I see,” Sherwood responded, mulling it over. “Did Andrew tell you we’ve had some experience with your opponent as well?”

Jason felt like an animal who had just heard the trap clang shut, its pain about to register. The question was cleverly worded so as to admit nothing. And Jason’s answer would either be a lie or a violation of his promise to Andrew.

Stymied, Jason said nothing.

“Don’t play games with me, Jason. I’m sure Andrew talked to you about Kelly Starling.”

“Yes, sir. He did.”

“We try to get our own people hired on these cases, Jason. That way we know the lawyers will try a good case. We’re not attempting to influence the outcome-you won’t hear a word from me about how to try it. We’re just trying to take out some of the guesswork that comes with incompetent lawyers.”

Sherwood paused, as if weighing whether he should say anything more. “Kelly was a decent lawyer, Jason. But she wasn’t so good that we asked her to leave the program early.

“And I’m a gun enthusiast,” Sherwood continued. “That’s why I tried to get you hired to defend MD Firearms. And, by the way, we didn’t use any undue influence; we just helped MD Firearms see the need for a different kind of lawyer.”

“I know that,” Jason said.

“Here’s what I’m going to do,” Sherwood said, his voice authoritative. The man always seemed to be a step or two ahead. “If you can get Lassiter to sign something that would guarantee this is a one-shot thing, so he’s not just using it for a springboard to build a business like ours, I’ll let him do it.”

“I’ll try,” Jason said. “But I think you’re probably right. He wants to build a business out of this.”

“Then he can’t do it,” Sherwood said emphatically. “Tell him he either signs something promising to abide by the non-compete and acknowledging that this is one-time exception, or he can’t do it.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Jason promised.

Jason hung up and talked himself out of immediately dialing Lassiter’s number. He had three other phone calls he needed to return first. Lassiter could wait his turn.

Ten minutes later, Sherwood’s number appeared again on Jason’s screen. He took the call.

“Have you called Lassiter yet?” Sherwood asked.

“No, sir.”

“Good. Forget what I said earlier. Tell him he can help you win this case.”

“Okay. But if you don’t mind me asking-what changed?”

“My thinking. That little jerk is going to sue us; there’s no doubt about that. Our lawyers say it wouldn’t hurt to have him involved in a clear violation of the non-compete. Plus, it will make this case even easier to analyze, because we’ll know precisely the type of jury you guys are going to pick.”

Not exactly the most noble reasons, thought Jason. But he didn’t really care. Anything to get out of this mess.

“I’ll tell him,” said Jason. “Not about the reasoning of course. Just about what a gracious guy you are.”

“You’ve got good instincts, kid.”

“I appreciate that. But honestly, I would love to see you and Andrew patch things up. You’re both way too talented and smart to get involved in a war of attrition like this.”

Sherwood was silent for a moment; he probably wasn’t used to someone being so blunt. “Jason, I would have loved nothing more than to part with Andrew on good terms. Did you know we paid him $2.5 million and let him keep his 15 percent share in the company?”

Jason didn’t respond. Maybe Sherwood was fishing to see if Lassiter had been talking about details of the deal. Maybe there was a confidentiality agreement.

“That’s what I figured,” Sherwood said. “He didn’t tell you that. Go ahead and work with him, Jason, but be careful. He internalizes everything, and then suddenly, like a coiled snake, he lashes out.”

Jason almost chuckled at the description of Lassiter as a snake. The man would have trouble stepping on a cockroach.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jason said.