The Justice Game

88

It had already been a disastrous day before Olivia ushered Special Agent Billingsley of the FBI into Robert Sherwood’s office. The agent was short, stocky, and young. He had perfect posture and light blond hair clipped short. If Sherwood had met him on the street, he would have guessed West Point graduate.

“Nice view,” Billingsley said, admiring the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the Hudson River. “Do you ever find yourself taking it for granted?”

“Have a seat,” Sherwood said, motioning toward the navy blue leather chair. “I’m a busy man, and I understand you’ve got some questions.”

“Right.” Before Billingsley sat down, he placed a digital recorder on Sherwood’s desk. “Do you mind if I tape this?”

Sherwood sighed. “No.”

Billingsley took a seat and ran through a little intro for his recording-time, place, the consent of Robert Sherwood. Then he began his questions.

“Does the name Luthor mean anything to you?”

“No.”

“Have you been following the Crawford trial in Virginia Beach?”

“Yes.”

“I understand that both Jason Noble and Kelly Starling at one time worked for you. Is that correct?”

“Technically, no. They worked for two law firms in town. Justice Inc. was a client of those firms. But they did spend most of their time working on mock cases for our research department.”

“Are you aware of any other clients either one of them had while supposedly working at these New York law firms?”

This brought another big sigh from Sherwood. Why did they always have to play these cat-and-mouse games? “No.”

“Are you aware of anything in either Mr. Noble’s or Ms. Starling’s past that might be used to blackmail or embarrass them?”

Sherwood narrowed his eyes. “What’s this about?” he asked.

“Somebody has been blackmailing Mr. Noble in the Crawford case and possibly manipulating jurors,” Billingsley said. He seemed to be watching Sherwood for any possible reaction. “We think it might be somebody with a lot of money at stake.”

Sherwood scoffed at the implied accusation. “You think I’m blackmailing Jason Noble?”

“I’m just asking questions,” Billingsley said.

“I’ll tell you one thing,” Sherwood replied. “If I’m blackmailing Jason Noble, I’m doing a pitiful job of it.”

Jason was in his office, printing off e-mails and pulling together the documents he would need to present to the U.S. Attorney. He was supposed to be at Brad’s office by 2 p.m.

In the conference room down the hall, Andrew Lassiter was doing the same thing. When Jason had told him he was spilling the beans on Justice Inc., Lassiter had wanted to help. “I can testify about all the data they collected on employees,” he told Jason. “I know for a fact they were checking your e-mails, tapping your phones, and all that.”

At first, Jason hadn’t wanted to involve anyone other than himself. But Lassiter insisted, and Jason had to admit that his friend could provide a lot of corroborating evidence. Jason called Brad, who saw no downside in bringing Lassiter along.

As he organized his evidence, Jason was consumed with thoughts about the fallout from his decision. What would happen to his dad? Detective Corey? What would LeRon’s father say? How could Jason face him?

“Jason!”

It was Andrew’s voice from the conference room, shattering the silence, startling Jason. It was followed by the sounds of a scuffle and another muffled shout.

Jason grabbed his gun and bolted from his office, sprinting toward the conference room. When he turned the corner in the hallway, he stopped in his tracks. A large man with a ball cap and light blond hair had taken Lassiter hostage and was using him as a shield, holding a gun to his temple. The big man’s hand was covering Lassiter’s mouth.

“One more step and I shoot,” he said to Jason.

Before Jason could react, he felt a blow to the back of his head. There was a flash of color, a kaleidoscope of sparks… and this time Jason’s world went dark.