I rub her hair and whisper in her ear until the intercom interrupts. It’s Betty Norvelle downstairs. My time is up.
Kelly squeezes my hand tightly as I kiss her bruised cheek and promise to return tomorrow. She begs me not to go.
THE ADVANTAGES in winning such a verdict in my first trial are obvious. The only disadvantage I’ve been able to perceive during these past hours is that there’s no place to go but down. Every client from now on will expect the same magic. I’ll worry about that later.
I’m alone in the office late Saturday morning, waiting for a reporter and his photographer, when the phone rings. “This is Cliff Riker,” a husky voice says, and I immediately punch the record button.
“What do you want?”
“Where’s my wife?”
“You’re lucky she’s not at the morgue.”
“I’m gonna stomp your ass, big shot.”
“Keep talking, old boy. The recorder’s on.”
He hangs up quickly, and I stare at the phone. It’s a different one, a cheap model the firm purchased at a Kmart. During the trial, we substituted it occasionally when we didn’t want Drummond listening.
I call Butch at home, and tell him about my brief chat with Mr. Riker. Butch wants a piece of the kid because of their confrontation yesterday when he served the divorce papers. Cliff called him all sorts of vile names, even insulted his mother. The presence of two of Cliff’s co-workers nearby in the parking lot prevented Butch from drawing blood. Butch told me last night that if there were any threats, he’d like to get involved. He has a sidekick called Rocky, a part-time bouncer, and together they make an imposing pair, Butch assured me. I make him promise he can only scare the kid, not hurt him. Butch tells me he plans to find Cliff alone somewhere, mention the phone call, tell him that they are my bodyguards, and one more threat will be dealt with harshly. I’d love to see this. I am determined not to live in fear.
This is Butch’s idea of a good time.
The reporter from the
Memphis Press
arrives at eleven. We talk while a photographer shoots a roll of film. He wants to know all about the case and the trial, and I fill his ear. It’s public information now. I say nice things about Drummond, wonderful things about Kipler, glorious things about the jury.
It’ll be a big story in the Sunday paper, he promises.
I PIDDLE around the office, reading the mail and looking at the few phone messages that came in during this past week. It’s impossible to work, and I’m reminded of how few clients and cases I have. Half the time is spent
replaying the trial, the other half is spent dreaming of my future with Kelly. How could I be more fortunate?
I call Max Leuberg and give him the details. A blizzard closed O’Hare and he couldn’t get to Memphis in time for the trial. We talk for an hour.
OUR DATE Saturday night is very similar to the one we had on Friday, except the food and the movie are different. She loves Chinese food and I bring a sackful. We watch a comedy with few laughs while sitting in our same positions on the bed.
It’s anything but boring, however. She’s easing out of her private nightmare. The physical wounds are healing. The laughs are a bit easier, her movements a little quicker. There’s more touching, but not much. Not nearly enough.
She is desperate to get out of the sweatsuit. They wash it for her once a day, but she’s sick of it. She longs to be pretty again, and she wants her clothes. We talk of sneaking into her apartment and rescuing her things.
We still don’t talk about the future.
Fifty-one
M
ONDAY MORNING. NOW THAT I’M A man of wealth and leisure, I sleep until nine, dress casually in khakis, loafers, no tie, and arrive at the office at ten. My partner is busy packing away the Black documents and removing the folding tables which have cramped our front office for months. We’re both grinning and smiling at everything. Pressure’s off. We’re rested and it’s time to gloat. He runs down the street for coffee, and we sit at my desk and relive our finest hour.
Deck’s clipped the story from yesterday’s
Memphis Press
, just in case I need an extra copy. I say thanks, I might need it, though there are a dozen copies in my apartment. I made the front page of Metro, with a long, well-written story about my triumph, as well as a rather large photo of me at my desk. I couldn’t take my eyes off myself all day yesterday. The paper went into three hundred thousand homes. Money can’t buy this exposure.
There are a few faxes. A couple from classmates with words of congratulations, and jokingly asking for loans. A
sweet one from Madeline Skinner at the law school. And two from Max Leuberg. The first is a copy of a short article in a Chicago newspaper about the verdict. The second is a copy of a story dated yesterday from a paper in Cleveland. It describes the Black trial at length, then relates the growing troubles at Great Benefit. At least seven states are now investigating the company, including Ohio. Policyholder suits are being filed around the country, and many more are expected. The Memphis verdict is expected to prompt a flood of litigation.
Ha, ha, ha. We delight in the misery we’ve instigated. We laugh at the image of M. Wilfred Keeley looking at the financial statements again and trying to find more cash. Surely it’s in there somewhere!
The florist arrives with a beautiful arrangement, a congratulatory gift from Booker Kane and the folks at Marvin Shankle’s firm.
I had expected the phone to be ringing like mad with clients looking for solid legal representation. It’s not happening yet. Deck said there were a couple of calls before ten, one of which was a wrong number. I’m not worried.
Kipler calls at eleven, and I switch to the clean phone just in case Drummond is still listening. He has an interesting story, one in which I might be involved. Before the trial started last Monday, while we were all gathered in his office, I told Drummond that we would settle for one point two million. Drummond scoffed at this, and we went to trial. Evidently, he failed to convey this offer to his client, who now claims it would have seriously considered paying just what I wanted. Whether or not the company would have settled at that point is unknown, but in retrospect, one point two million is much more digestible than fifty point two. At any rate, the company is now claiming it would have settled, and it’s claiming its lawyer,
the great Leo F. Drummond, committed a grievous error when he failed or refused to pass along my offer.
Underhall, the in-house lawyer, has been on the phone all morning with Drummond and Kipler. The company is furious, and humiliated, and wounded and obviously looking for a scapegoat. Drummond at first denied it ever happened, but Kipler nipped that in the bud. This is where I come in. They might need an affidavit from me setting out the facts as I remember them. Gladly, I say. I’ll prepare one right now.
Great Benefit has already fired Drummond and Trent & Brent, and things could get much worse. Underhall has mentioned the filing of a malpractice claim against the firm. The implications are enormous. Like all firms, Trent & Brent carries malpractice insurance, but it has a limit. A fifty-million-dollar policy is unheard of. A fifty-million-dollar mistake by Leo F. Drummond would place a severe strain on the firm’s finances.
I can’t help but smile at this. After I hang up, I relay the conversation to Deck. The idea of Trent & Brent being sued by an insurance company is hilarious.
The next call is from Cooper Jackson. He and his pals filed suit this morning in federal court in Charlotte. They represent over twenty policyholders who got screwed by Great Benefit in 1991, the year of the scheme. When it’s convenient for me, he would like to visit my office and go through my file. Anytime, I say, anytime.
Deck and I do lunch at Moe’s, an old restaurant downtown near the courthouses where the lawyers and judges like to eat. I get a few looks, one handshake, a slap on the back from a classmate in law school. I should eat here more often.
THE MISSION IS ON for tonight, Monday, because the ground is dry and the temperature is around forty. The
last three games were canceled because of bad weather. What kind of nuts play softball in the winter? Kelly doesn’t answer. It’s obvious what kind of nut we’re dealing with. She’s certain they’ll play tonight because it’s so important to them. They’ve suffered through two weeks with no ball and no beer parties afterward and no heroics to brag about. Cliff wouldn’t dare miss the game.
It starts at seven, and just to be safe we drive by the softball field. PFX Freight is indeed on the field. I speed away. I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’m quite nervous. In fact, we’re both scared. We don’t say much. The closer we get to the apartment, the faster I drive. I have a .38 under my seat, and I plan to keep it close by.
Assuming he hasn’t changed the locks, Kelly thinks we can be in and out in less than ten minutes. She wants to grab most of her clothes and a few other items. Ten minutes is the max, I tell her, because there might be neighbors watching. And these neighbors might be inclined to call Cliff, and, well, who knows.
Her wounds were inflicted five nights ago, and most of the soreness is gone. She can walk without pain. She says she’s strong enough to grab clothing and move about quickly. It’ll take both of us.
The apartment complex is fifteen minutes from the softball field. It consists of a half-dozen three-story buildings scattered around a pool and two tennis courts. Sixty-eight units, the sign says. Thankfully, her former apartment is on the ground floor. I can’t park anywhere near her door, so I decide that we’ll first enter the apartment, quietly gather the things we want, then I’ll pull onto the grass, throw everything into the backseat, and we’ll fly away.
I park the car, and take a deep breath.
“Are you scared?” she asks.
“Yes.” I reach under the seat and get the gun.
“Relax, he’s at the ball field. He wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“If you say so. Let’s do it.”
We sneak through the darkness to her unit without seeing another person. Her key fits, the door is open, we’re inside. A light in the kitchen and one in the hallway are on and provide sufficient lighting. Clothing is strewn across two chairs in the den. Empty beer cans and corn chip bags litter the end tables and the floor under them. Cliff the bachelor has been quite a slob. She stops for a second, looks around in disgust, says, “I’m sorry.”
“Hurry, Kelly,” I say. I place the gun on a narrow snack bar separating the den from the kitchen. We go to the bedroom, where I turn on a small lamp. The bed hasn’t been made in days. More beer cans and a pizza box. A
Playboy
. She points to the drawers in a small cheap dresser. “That’s my stuff,” she says. We’re whispering.
I remove the pillowcases and begin stuffing them with lingerie, socks and pajamas. Kelly is pulling clothes from the closet. I take a load of dresses and blouses to the den and drape them across a chair, then go back to the bedroom. “You can’t take everything,” I say, looking at the packed closet. She says nothing, hands me another load, and I take it to the den. We work quickly, silently.
I feel like a thief. Every movement makes too much noise. My heart is pounding as I race back and forth to the den with each load.
“That’s enough,” I finally say. She carries a stuffed pillowcase and I carry several dresses on hangers, and I follow her to the den. “Let’s get out of here,” I say, nervous as hell.
There’s a slight noise at the door. Someone’s trying to get in. We freeze and look at each other. She takes a step toward the door, when it suddenly bursts open, striking
her and knocking her into the wall. Cliff Riker crashes into the room. “Kelly! I’m home!” he yells as he sees her falling over a chair. I am standing directly in front of him, less than ten feet away, and he’s moving quickly, a blur, all I can see is his yellow PFX Freight jersey, his red eyes and his weapon of choice. I freeze in absolute terror as he coils the aluminum softball bat and whirls it around mightily at my head. “You sonofabitch!” he screams as he unloads a massive swing. Frozen though I am, I’m able to duck just milliseconds before the bat blows by above me. I hear it whistle by. I feel its force. His home run stroke connects with a hapless little wooden column on the edge of the snack bar, shattering it into a million pieces and knocking over a pile of dirty dishes. Kelly screams. The swing was designed to crush my skull, and when it missed, his body kept whirling so that his back is to me. I charge like a madman, and knock him over the chair filled with hangers and clothes. Kelly screams again somewhere behind us. “Get the gun!” I yell.
He’s quick and strong and on his feet before I can regain my balance. “I’ll kill you!” he yells, swinging again, missing again as I barely dodge another hit. The second stroke gets nothing but air. “You sonofabitch!” he growls as he jerks the bat around.
He will not get a third chance, I decide quickly. Before he can cock the bat, I lunge at his face with a right hook. It lands on his jaw and stuns him just long enough for me to kick him in the crotch. My foot lands perfectly. I can hear and feel his testicles pop as he explodes in an agonized cry. He lowers the bat, I grab it and twist it away.
I swing hard and catch him directly across his left ear, and the noise is almost sickening. Bones crunch and break. He falls to all fours, his head dangling for a second, then he turns and looks at me. He raises his head and starts to get up. My second swing starts at the ceiling and
falls with all the force I can muster. I drive the bat down with all the hatred and fear imaginable, and it lands solidly across the top of his head.
I start to swing again, when Kelly grabs me. “Stop it, Rudy!”
I stop, glare at her, then look at Cliff. He’s flat on his stomach, shaking and moaning. We watch in horror as he grows still. An occasional twitch, then he tries to say something. A nauseating guttural sound comes out. He tries to move his head, which is bleeding like crazy.
“I’m going to kill the bastard, Kelly,” I say, breathing heavily, still scared, still in a rage.