Chapter 37

Friday, June 11, 2010

Jake knocked on the Harrison’s door. Christine answered. When she saw him, she dropped her eyes and asked him in.

“Thank you, Christine. Can you tell me where Jan is?”

“Out back. By the pool.”

Jan was lying in a lounge chair, reading a book, and sweating in the heat. She smiled at him. Though he wasn’t sure how it was physically possible, her swimsuit was even scantier than his last visit.

Jake changed in the pool house and sat in a nearby chair which he angled away from her.

But I would feel that way. She can’t go through life where the only intimate knowledge she has of a man is her son. He looked over at Jan. That’s why I thought of Mark. I might be able to let her be with him. But I’m not being fair to you to ask you to share him.

I wish I could give her the knowledge without her having to relive the event. He scrubbed his hands over his face. I love her mind, Jan. I love its gentleness and goodness. I can’t stand the thought of scarring it.

“Jake! When did you get here?”

Shannon ran over to Jake and gave him a hug and a kiss. Christine was behind her, looking timid and uncertain. Both were dressed in bikinis.

“Did you remember to use sunscreen this time?” Shannon asked.

“No, I guess I forgot again.”

“You’re going to burn, Jake,” she said.

She reached for a bottle of sunscreen and, kneeling in front of him, began to apply the sunscreen to all the exposed skin she could reach.

“Will you do me now?” she asked him.

“Sure. But don’t you want me to put some sunscreen on you before you burn?”

Shannon smacked him on the arm.

“My little sister is right there. What’s she going to think of you talking that way?”

“Christine, what do you think of me talking to Shannon that way?”

“It’s okay, I guess.”

“There you have it. My innuendo has Christine’s seal of approval.”

“That doesn’t mean much. Anything you do these days gets her approval.”

Christine dropped her eyes shyly.

Jake decided it was time to start paying attention to Christine. He took the sunscreen from Shannon and led Christine over to a lounge chair. Using gentle pressure, he forced her to lie on her back. He pulled his own chair next to her, put some sunscreen on his hands, and began rubbing it in, starting with her feet and moving upwards.

She was almost breathless with anticipation.

Jake put more lotion on his hands and continued up her legs. He took his time, rubbing softly and thoroughly on all the exposed skin. He was scrupulous to avoid touching any place covered by her string bikini but lingered over the rest, rubbing in the lotion right up to the edge of the material. She trembled as his hands ran over the skin between the bikini bottoms and the junction of her leg and her hip. He came to within a fraction of an inch of her vulva.

“Tell me about your boyfriend,” Jake asked her as he started on her stomach. Her stomach muscles were hard but they quivered under his touch.

“I’m not seeing anyone at the moment.”

That was not strictly true. She had been seeing a boy who had just graduated with her, but she had lost interest in him. She just had not told him that yet.

“When did you break up with your last boyfriend?”

She admitted to him that she was in the process of breaking up.

“Did you sleep with him?”

She jerked her face toward his and was about to snap at him, but then she dropped her eyes.

“Yes.”

She had enjoyed the sex a lot, coming almost every time.

“Have you done anything sexual with a woman?”

Again she restrained herself from snapping at him.

“No.”

“Would you consider being intimate with a woman?”

“I don’t know. I like men.”

He started rubbing her chest, again scrupulously avoiding touching where her suit covered her. That still left a lot of breast. He patiently rubbed the lotion in. She was breathing heavily. He saw that her arousal came from his boldness. He moved on to her shoulders and neck.

“How did you feel when I asked you about locking me out in front of Kara and Julie?”

She blushed.

“It was embarrassing.”

It was also arousing, Jake saw.

“Did any of your boyfriends ever humiliate you?”

“No. They were always nice to me.”

She said nice, Jake noted, but she meant fawning.

“How would you feel if I ordered you to suck my penis right here in front of Jan and Shannon?”

Christine just looked down, but her arousal surged. Jake decided these things must run in the family.

“What became of your mother after she and your father divorced?”

“She started up with this other guy almost immediately.”

“Do you visit them?”

“Sometimes but not for long. They don’t want me to spend the night or anything.”

“How do they get along?”

“He’s very bossy.”

Jake finished with the sunscreen. He kissed her on the forehead.

“Leave me be for a while. I need to think.”

“Okay,” she said.

Jake sat back down in his chair.

Jake’s cell phone rang. It was Jerry.

“Do you know how hard it is to find a doctor at work on a Friday afternoon? I had to call in a favor, but I got a good doctor to come back in and examine Nina. He’s expecting you at four. His office is near the hospital. Can you get her there in only half an hour?”

“If I hurry. You did a good thing, Jerry. She’s in pain and needs more than just aspirin.”

Jake got the address and dressed to leave.

“Thanks for the advice, Jan.”

“You’re welcome, but you’ve still got some decisions to make.”

“How come Jake comes over to talk to you, but you both just sit there and don’t say anything?” Shannon asked.

“We got through the important stuff while you were inside,” Jake said.

“Somehow, I miss a lot of important conversations.”

Jake kissed Jan and Shannon on the cheeks, said goodbye to Christine, and headed for his car.

Jake called ahead to the DeRizzos so that Nina would be ready. When he arrived, Nina was seated in her wheelchair on the porch wearing one of her new dresses. Brian, sullen but compliant, helped Jake carry the wheelchair down the stairs.

“Will you be bringing Nina back, Jake?” Leanne asked.

“I was going to take her to Jerry Amos’s for dinner after her doctor’s appointment. I hadn’t thought beyond that.”

“We can put her up here for the time being. Another person in your apartment would be too much.”

“Are you sure? Nina needs help getting to the toilet and stuff like that.”

“You can help when you’re here and so can Brian. She’ll have more company here and there’ll always be someone around to see to her needs.”

“What do you think, Nina?”

“I like to be with you, Jake, but it’s so nice being around people. I’ve been so lonely.”

“Thank you, Leanne. I’ll bring Nina back here after dinner.”

Jake was surprised by how thorough the doctor’s exam was. There were blood and urine samples taken. Nina was x-rayed and examined thoroughly by the doctor.

He sat down with them afterward to talk about his findings.

“Jerry told me that you eloped from a rehabilitation center. I’m sure you had a good reason, but it doesn’t help to have your care disrupted like that. And I don’t like that you’re missing physical therapy sessions.

“I’ll give you a referral to an orthopedic surgeon to follow up on the leg and pelvis injuries, and he’ll get you into a rehab program. Call him first thing on Monday.

“It’s probably still another six weeks before you can get the cast off and begin walking on your own. It will be six months before you have normal mobility. I’ll give you a prescription for Vicodin.”

Jake and Nina stopped off at a drugstore to get the prescription filled first thing. They barely made it to Jerry’s house in time.

Jake smiled across the table at Mattie Amos. He had decided that she was a treasure. She was pretty and vivacious. She was dressed in a cotton knit dress that was tight enough to show the bulge of her abdomen. The bulge did nothing to take away from her attractive figure.

When Mattie had caught sight of Nina, she had transformed quickly from urbane, stylish host to solicitous, mothering host, even though she was only a handful of years older than Nina. Mattie had wheeled Nina into the kitchen to chat while Mattie finished the dinner preparations.

Jerry and Jake had settled in the living room with a beer for Jerry and a Coke for Jake.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your inability to take decisive action,” Jerry said.

“Huh?” Jake had said and then got the joke. “When she said that they wouldn’t let her talk to friends or family, I realized how easy it would be to make her disappear. I decided to disappear her first.”

“I got Cox’s attorneys to commit to a deposition next Friday. They don’t realize who the deponent is. I faxed them the notice late this afternoon. When they get in on Monday morning and see whom they will be examining, I imagine it’s going to hit the fan. They may try to quash the deposition. Or maybe they’ll decide that it’s inevitable and let it go ahead.” He smiled. “Oh, by the way, I have something for you.”

Jerry pulled an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to Jake. Jake opened it and found a check for fifteen-thousand dollars and change.

“Fridays are paydays for the support staff. That’s you.”

Jake looked it over, surprised by the numbers.

“I don’t get it. It says you paid me over $25,000. How come the check is for $15,000?”

“Look at the deductions. That big number there is how much was withheld for federal income taxes.”

“That sucks. You took forty percent out for taxes.”

Jerry laughed.

“Welcome to the world of working men and women, Jake. Of course, you have to be making some pretty good money before they withhold such a large percentage.”

“Can you afford to pay me this much?”

“In the long run, we’ll do great. You’ve already doubled the value of three of the cases in our office, two of them pretty big ones. Plus, assuming we sign Nina up, you’ve brought in another big-dollar client. As word gets out about how good we’re doing, the more clients we’ll get and the more anxious insurance companies will be to settle before trial. I haven’t told you about how Thompson versus Galloway turned out, have I?”

“It’s over already?”

“It only took two days to try.”

“So what happened?”

“The jury never forgave the defendant for trying to slide his sister onto the jury. They didn’t give any credence to their pre-existing injury argument either. With future medical and pain and suffering, they returned a judgment of four-hundred-thousand dollars.”

“Wow. So why isn’t my paycheck for a quarter of that?”

“You don’t get paid until we get paid. And don’t forget that the client gets two-thirds of that. Also, the insurance company could decide to appeal. That would slow everything down.”

“You said you’d be okay in the long run. What about the short run?”

“In the short run cash flow will be tight. I’m paying you your percentage of current revenue even though the cases that you are helping us with are still in the works. It takes months or years for a big case to settle or come to trial. We have to keep the lights on until then. We’ll have to manage things carefully. At the least, I’ll have to take out some bank loans to fund your bonuses.”

“If you need money to pay your bills, I’ll lend it to you. I’ve got plans for the money you pay me, but I’ll slow that down so that your practice can pay its way.”

“That’ll make a big difference. I’ll get Tammy to forecast our income and expenses over the next year. I’ll probably need to borrow about a quarter of what we pay you for the next six months. I’ll have an associate draft up a promissory note at market interest rates payable in one year. I’ll execute them as we need more money. Don’t worry about this paycheck. We’re okay until the next payday so you can enjoy it.”

“Is this how much I can expect to make each week?”

“This one is on the low side. We only had one case settle this week and it wasn’t that big. The size of your check will vary a lot. When a big case settles or we get a defendant to pay up, it’ll be bigger than this. On the other hand, there will be some weeks you’ll get paid the same as the associates.”

“So for planning purposes, how much do I make a year?”

“Tammy and I have forecasted that we will pay you about two million before taxes. One point two after. That’s if the firm has revenues of eight million. I’m forecasting that your services will increase our income by 50%. Nina may be 20% of that all by herself.”

“Do those numbers add up? Nina and the O’Connor family will bring in eight million all by themselves.”

“If they do, our share will be 2.7 million of that. But keep this in mind, Jake. You don’t forecast revenue in a law office based on perfect results. You discount it to factor in the tragic fact that sometimes you lose. Didn’t your mother teach you not to count your chickens before they hatched?”

“Uh, I guess that makes sense. What have you done about Ryan Caldwell?”

“You’ve got to understand how sensitive this matter is. First off, I can’t talk to him directly because he’s an employee of the opposing party. Secondly, he’s got no reason to trust me. He needs to conclude that Cox will turn on him by himself.”

“Then let me talk to him.”

“Jake, I don’t feel good about this. You’re a fine young man, but you’re still only thirteen.”

“First off, I’m fourteen now.”

“Oh, right. That changes everything.”

“Do they have classes on sarcasm in law school? Come on, Jerry. Tell me what will happen without Caldwell’s testimony.”

“Let’s assume first that you can get him to testify. He becomes a threat to Cox’s career. At trial, the jurors will hear that Cox and Caldwell conspired to cover up the truth and that they let O’Connor die because they were too busy working the cover-up. That’s explosive. The jury awards will probably double or triple for both Tamborg and O’Connor.

“Without Caldwell’s testimony, we don’t have any direct evidence of a cover-up although we have plenty of room to argue that there was one. Outside the courtroom, without Caldwell, there will be a good chance that Cox will be able to brazen his way through and keep his job as speaker of the house.”

“In other words, the difference is about four to eight million dollars for your clients and the chance to get Cox out of politics.”

“It’s all pretty speculative, but that’s what I think.”

“All you have to do is get me close to Caldwell before Cox makes a move against him.”

“I’ve been trying to get word to him through an intermediary. Maybe I’ll get a reply back this weekend sometime. I’ll tell my guy to include you in the meeting. It could happen at any hour and on short notice.”

“I’ll do whatever I have to. I know that you can’t tell by looking, but if you were to ask any mind reader, he would tell you that Cox is evil, monstrously evil. He makes me want to become a vigilante.”

“He’s pretty disgusting just to look at. There was a picture of him at the beach without a shirt on in the papers last year. He should be run out of politics just for that.”

“So what are you doing about your own security?” Jake asked.

“Didn’t you see them when you got here?”

“See who?”

“You weren’t looking. I don’t take chances when it comes to Mattie. I’ve got a couple guards outside watching.”

Mattie called them into dinner and proceeded to charm Jake and Nina. After quick feints into art, literature, sports and politics, Mattie finally settled on movies as the topic of conversation for the evening. Nina loved romantic comedies and saw them all. Mattie made sure that Nina had plenty of opportunities to say what it was about them that she liked.