Deadly Justice

2

“YOU’RE HERE TO DO what?”

The man smiled pleasantly. “I want to set you up for life, Mr. Kincaid. If you’ll let me.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” The man gestured toward the front row of the courtroom. “Let’s sit, shall we? You can come too, Ms. McCall. This offer involves you as well.”

Ben and Christina exchanged puzzled looks. “Offer?”

“Perhaps I should start at the beginning.” He reached into his suit pocket and withdrew a business card. “My name is Howard Hamel.” A confident demeanor accented Hamel’s clean-cut, well-scrubbed features. “I’m a member of the legal staff for the Apollo Consortium, an amalgamation of interrelated corporate entities. Have you heard of us?”

Ben nodded. Of course he had. The Apollo parent corporation was probably the largest business entity in Tulsa, possibly in the entire state of Oklahoma. It had started as a small oil exploration company, but during the boom years of the Seventies expanded into natural gas, manufacturing, transportation, and even entertainment. The diversification helped them survive the bust years of the Eighties—survive them quite well, in fact. Apollo was a Fortune 500 corporation—one of the few in the Southwest.

“Then you probably also know,” Hamel continued, “that we have an in-house legal staff of over fifty lawyers. Heck, if we were a law firm, we’d be one of the largest in the state. And we’d like you to join our team. We can discuss the details at your leisure—salary, bonuses, pension plan, benefits—but I think you’ll be pleased with the offer. If you don’t mind my saying so, it’ll be a step up for you.”

And how. But then, Ben thought, almost anything would. “What kind of legal work would this involve?”

“That’s one of the advantages to working at a place like Apollo,” Hamel answered. “We have so much going on, you can do almost anything you want. Your background is in litigation, and rightfully so, I might add. You were magnificent in the courtroom today.”

“Well…thanks…”

“I see you joining the litigation team and taking charge of some of the multimillion dollar cases that pass through our office on a daily basis. We like to keep these cases in-house whenever possible; outside counsel fees are exorbitant, as I’m sure you know. There’s a new product liability case recently filed against Apollo that you would be perfect for.”

The words rang in Ben’s ears. In-house counsel. Products liability. Multimillion dollar cases. That would certainly be a step up from the Three Ds: divorce, deeds, and dog bites. “It’s an interesting offer. How long will the position be open?”

“Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. There is no position. This isn’t some slot we need to fill with a body. We want you—Ben Kincaid—on our legal staff.”

Ben was flabbergasted. “But—why me?”

“We believe you have a real future in the law, and we want it to be with us.”

Ben shook his head, trying to verify that he was hearing clearly. Kudos like this didn’t come that often to the solo practitioner. “I’m not sure I’d be happy working for the same client day in, day out.”

“Really? Most people prefer it—the satisfaction of being a team player trying to accomplish a worthwhile, common goal, rather than being a prostitute for whoever walks into the office that day.”

“Well…I’m used to setting my own hours, taking lots of vacation time—”

“So am I. Apollo is a worker-friendly corporation. Myself, I love deep-sea fishing. If I could, I’d spend my entire life doing just that. Apollo gives me far more opportunities than anywhere else would. In fact, I’m leaving for Miami for a fishing trip day after tomorrow.”

Ben eyed Christina. She was saying nothing, but something was definitely going through-her mind. “Look, I want to be totally up-front with you. I worked for a large law firm once, and it was a complete bust.”

Hamel brushed Ben’s concerns away with a flip of his hand. “We know all about that, Ben, and we couldn’t care less. Frankly, a sizable portion of our staff, myself included, came from Raven, Tucker & Tubb or other large law factories. They seem to suck up the new talent like a black hole. A few years later, though, the lawyers all start asking ‘Is this what my life is about? Sixteen-hour days, constant billing pressure, invisible and interchangeable clients?’ They start looking for something more—a client they can care about, a job that leaves time for family, friends, and personal interests. That’s when they come to Apollo.”

“I don’t doubt that I’d make more money at Apollo,” Ben said, “and probably with less trouble. But money isn’t my paramount interest. I became a lawyer because I wanted to do some good in the world.”

“Then by all means,” Hamel replied, “come to Apollo. We take our role as a corporate citizen seriously. We’re active participants in charity drives and several community service programs. We believe we have an obligation to use the Consortium’s resources for the common good. And we don’t merely hang back and do the politically expedient. We take an active leadership role.”

Hamel gazed into Ben’s eyes. “You can be part of that leadership, Ben. You can chart the course.”

Ben didn’t know what to say. He could barely contemplate the offer, much less its ramifications. “I have some outstanding obligations,” he finally managed. “I have a solo office on the North Side.”

“I know,” Hamel said. “And don’t feel obligated to wrap it all up overnight. Give us a trial run, see what develops. You can always go back to your private practice if that’s what you decide. Frankly, with the salary we’ll be paying you, you’ll easily be able to pay the rent to maintain that office.”

“I have a legal assistant on my payroll,” Ben said, tilting his head toward Christina. “I would want her to come with me.”

“Done,” Hamel said flatly. “We’ll make her part of our in-house staff of legal assistants and assign her to you. We’ll start her at ten percent above our usual starting salary, which, I might add, will be a significant increase from her current, ah, irregular salary. Will that about cover your responsibilities, Ben?”

“No. There’s more than just that. I have unpaid debts…office supplies…”

Hamel grinned. “Ah—the photocopier company. I know about that, too.”

“Well, then you know how difficult it would be—”

“How much do you owe, Ben?”

Ben suddenly felt rather hot under the collar. “I don’t know exactly…Two thousand, something like that?”

Christina nodded in agreement.

Hamel withdrew a checkbook from his suit jacket, filled out a check, and handed it to Ben. “Would that about cover if, Ben? Consider it a signing bonus.”

Ben stared at the check made out for five thousand dollars. “That would definitely cover it. And my other outstanding debts as well.”

Christina pressed in between them. “How do you know so much about Ben and his business, anyway?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Ms. McCall—we’re not the FBI. Still, you must realize that a corporation the size of Apollo would hardly make an offer of this magnitude without investigating the offeree.”

“Sounds Big Brotherish to me.”

“Not at all. It’s just smart business. You don’t buy a used car without trying to find out where it’s been. Ben, we’re acquainted with your past employment at the D.A.’s office, and your current relationship with Clayton Langdell and his animal rights organization. We’re aware of your successful representation of Ms. McCall a few months ago. In short, we’re familiar with the total package and we are very favorably impressed.”

“Really,” Ben said. “How impressed?”

Hamel flipped over one of his business cards, wrote a number on the back, and passed it to Ben.

Ben took the card. He tried to mask his reaction, but it was impossible. The number after the dollar sign had six digits. Before the decimal.

“Not bad, eh?” Hamel said. “And no, to answer your next question, we don’t make offers like this to anyone. Just to you.”

Ben coughed. “I…I don’t know what to say. I’ll have to think about it.”

Hamel slapped his thighs, then stood. “I understand. Take all the time you want. And when you decide to accept, call me at the number on that card. I’ll send some boys over immediately to collect your files and anything else you’ll require.”

“So soon?”

“Why wait?” He nudged Ben in the ribs. “Might as well start bringing home those big bucks as soon as possible.” He hoisted his briefcase. “Enjoyed meeting you both. I’ll be waiting for your call, Ben.”