Foreclosure: A Novel (12 page)

“She knows.”

Frank took the last hit from the stub between his fingers. Then he squashed it like an ant, popped it in his mouth, and swallowed. “So be it.”

Frank rose and leaned against the balcony wall overlooking the beach. “Come here.”

David presumed he was talking to him, so he took a few steps in his direction.

“Closer,” Frank said.

At least David knew to whom Frank was talking now. He joined Frank, side by side.

“You like the view?” Frank asked.

“It’s great.”

Frank’s breathing was heavy, nearly panting. David couldn’t tell if it was from the smoke or anger or both. “You want to work with me?” The breathing was growing guttural.

“Of course. I brought the engagement letter with me.”

Frank put his arm around David. David smelled the stench of marijuana and curry and a storm brewing in the Gulf. “You need to learn some rules then.”

“What’s the problem, Frank?”

Frank’s grip tightened, filling David with the realization of just how strong this guy was. Not just strong arms, but a strong torso, a primal strength genetically honed over centuries of labor.

“Here’s some rules,” Frank said. “One. Never make a concession without my approval.”

“What concession?” David asked.

“Don’t argue with me. Just listen. No concessions. And that concession concerns rule two. We don’t produce escrow records.”

“Cummings asked for that, Frank. You don’t have to sign it. It’s just a draft.”

“David, repeat after me: we don’t produce escrow records.”

“It’s not that simple, Frank.”

Frank squeezed him like a constrictor. “We don’t produce escrow records. Say it.”

“Okay, Frank. We don’t produce escrow records.”

“Good.” Frank loosened the grip a few notches, but kept David locked.

David didn’t want to push his luck. “As your counsel, I need to advise you that Florida statutes require you to keep those records for five years.”

Frank laughed. “Hear that, Robbie? We have to keep them for five years. We’re paying this guy the big bucks to tell us this.”

“I hear you, Frank,” Robbie said, but David had no idea where Robbie was standing right now.

“David, look down here with me.” He pulled David closer again and made sure he was looking over the balcony. “You like this feeling?”

David felt a surge of nausea. “It’s a great view.”

“You feel tied to me, David? I fall, you fall?”

“That’s how it feels, Frank.”

“Because if I fall, David, you fall. You willing to fall with me?” Frank jerked David, causing David to flinch. “Is that a ‘no’?”

“No, Frank. It’s not.”

“You’re not willing to?”

“I am, Frank. I’m your guy. I’m on your team.”

“What are the rules, David?” Frank jerked him again.

David closed his eyes. “No concessions without your approval.”

“And?” he screamed with another jerk.

“We don’t produce escrow records.”

“You afraid of dying, David?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” David said. “I know death, Frank. Too well.”

Frank pulled David away from the wall. “Give me a hug, young man.” He pulled him even tighter for a bear hug. “Welcome to the team.”

“Any other rules I need to know of?” David asked.

“That’s all I can think of for now.” Frank let him go and grinned. “You’re my attorney now, David, isn’t that right?”

“As soon as you sign that retainer agreement and give me my check.”

“Robbie will take care of that.”

Frank returned to his chair and reclined. A gust of wind blew debris in his face and knocked his ash can over, but Frank seemed oblivious to it all.

“There’s one more thing we need to discuss,” David said.

“That’s news to me,” Frank sighed.

“Meridian Bank.”

Frank rubbed his head like he had a migraine. “In due course.”

“It’s urgent, Frank.”

“In due course.”

Robbie stepped forward and pulled on David’s shoulder. “Let’s get that agreement taken care of.”

David followed Robbie back into the kitchen and pulled the agreement from the bag he’d left on the countertop. “You can sign for the company?”

Robbie nodded. He scribbled his name on the signature line. Underneath, he printed a title, COO.

“I didn’t know you were an officer of the company,” David said.

“Now you do.” Robbie retrieved an envelope from a drawer and handed it to David. David opened it and found a check. The watermark glistened under the light of the kitchen. Payable to Hollis & Alderman, in the amount of $50,000.

David’s pride swelled as the elevator descended. Having the check and signed agreement in hand gave him the confidence to ask Robbie something that had long been on his mind. “So what’s the story with Frank and Katherine? They an item?”

Robbie grunted. “He’s old enough to be her father.”

“Well, this is Gaspar County.”

“Is incest common in Gaspar County?”

“I don’t follow,” David said.

The elevator stopped on a dime on the ground floor. David grabbed the rail.

“She
is
his daughter,” Robbie said. “Frank’s only child.”

“Are you serious?”

“He didn’t know her until five years ago. Now she’s his right hand.”

That made perfect sense to David. Almost perfect sense. “But I thought you were his right hand.”

Robbie grinned. “Frank’s left-handed.”

David watched Terry hold the check to the light of his home study.

“So this is what it takes to finally get to see your study.” David surveyed the mahogany bookshelves lining the walls of Terry’s office. He’d been in this house countless times before, but had never seen this room. “I didn’t know you were such a history buff.”

Terry tilted the check back and forth. “It’s a real check all right. Watermark and all.” He handed the check back to David. “Good job, kid. This deserves a toast.” He turned around to the bar behind his desk and poured a few ounces of scotch in two snifters. He handed one to David. “To your first client.”

They knocked glasses and drank. David slammed his in a few seconds.

“You got to slow down and enjoy it a little, David.”

“This is as slow as I can go.” David looked at the check. “So what do I do with this?”

“Ignorance really is bliss. You kids are in such a rush to become partner. It only brings more headaches.” Terry smiled at David. “I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”

David returned the smile. “I got a feeling something big’s going to come of this, Terry.”

“I thought this was just about a few foreclosures and condo lawsuits.”

David shook his head. “I’ve got a plan—a huge lawsuit in mind.”

“How huge?” Terry asked while taking a sip of scotch.

“Meridian Bank.”

Terry mulled it over for a moment. “You want to sue Meridian Bank?”

“That’s right. Strike first, before they have a chance to foreclose.”

Terry was nodding in agreement. “So what’s the client think about that?”

David raised his glass for another drink. “He doesn’t know it yet.”

It was approaching 10:00 a.m. when David closed his eyes and rested his head on his desktop. He hadn’t been able to find his bearings all morning, mainly because he couldn’t concentrate on anything but talking to Frank about Meridian Bank. He’d tried calling Frank three times, and had sent him two emails insisting they discuss “Meridian Bank ASAP.” Frank had not responded. Neither had Robbie.

When David opened his eyes, Mirabel was standing in front of his desk, holding a small box and smiling cheerfully.

He asked her what was up.

She handed him the box. “Your new BlackBerry arrived. I had Jimmy set it up for you.”

He opened the box and admired the sleek new device. A big improvement over the last bulky one he had to carry around. “Thanks.” He sensed Mirabel had more on her mind than delivering his new phone. “Anything else?”

She took a breath. “I just wanted to say how proud I am of you.”

“For what?”

“For landing your first client.”

“Oh, is that the chatter this morning?”

“It’s all the talk.” She closed the door behind her. “You think it will make it more likely I keep my job?”

He reeled his head back from the non sequitur. “I’m not sure I follow.”

“With all the layoffs going on in the big firms up north, we know it’s only a matter of time before they make cuts here.”

“If that’s true, they haven’t shared any of it with me. Remember, I’m not a partner.”

“But you’re busy, right? I mean, this new work will keep both of us busy for a while?”

“It should.”

“Because there’s also talk that people might be laid off because of your client.”

David rubbed his eyes. “That’s ridiculous. Who told you that?”

Mirabel lowered her voice. “It’s just the scuttle, you know?”

David knew just the person responsible for such scuttle. He stood to leave.

“And one other thing.” Mirabel followed him out the doorway. “Ed Savage called.”

“Of course he did. Can’t I ever have a decent Monday?”

“Better than a shitty Friday though, right?” She chased him around the corner. He picked up the pace, turned the next corner, and left her in the dust.

A moment later, he found Alton’s door closed. He put his ear to the door and heard a conference call in progress. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Alton looked up from his call, confounded but curious to see what moron would possibly interrupt him while he was on the phone. His rolling eyes told David,
Of course it’s you
.

“We need to talk,” David said.

Alton shook his hands like he wanted to strangle David. He settled for hitting the mute button. “As you can see, I’m on the phone.”

“Did you plant a rumor there will be layoffs because I took on Frank O’Reilly?”

Alton rubbed the stubble on his left cheek in rumination. “It’s not a rumor.”

The voice on the speakerphone was growing weary. “Alton, I don’t care what you say, we were billed for work your firm never performed, and I’m not going to pay a dime for it.”

Alton gestured for David to stay quiet, and then he hit the mute button again. “Stan, I can assure you, our bills are accurate. But because I value you as a client and a friend, I’ll be sure to look into it. You have my word, Stan.”

“And if I’m right?” Stan asked.

“Heads will roll, Stan. Heads will roll.”

“Good.”

Stan hung up, and Alton turned to David. “Everyone wants heads to roll, David.”

“What’s this talk about layoffs?”

“They’re inevitable. Don’t you read legal blogs? For crying out loud, ten thousand lawyers were laid off last month.”

“But what does that have to do with Pinnacle?”

“We’re passing up a lot of money so you can fulfill your dream of bagging your own renegade client. Of course that affects the firm’s bottom line, which in turn affects who we can keep on this year.”

David leaned over Alton’s desk. “And you just had to make that known to the staff?”

Alton shrugged. “I don’t know how they find these things out.” His phone buzzed. “Excuse me.” He hit the answer button. “Yes?”

“Excuse me, Mr. Holloway, but is David Friedman in there?” It was Alton’s secretary, Beatrice.

Alton’s face lit up. “Why yes, Beatrice, he is.”

“Tell him his assistant’s trying to find him. Some Ed Savage is screaming at her on the phone.”

“Thanks, Beatrice.”

“And please thank him for the layoffs,” she muttered as she hung up.

Alton smiled. “You heard that, David. Thanks a lot.”

As David returned to his office, he felt the heat of glares and under-the-breath curses from every cubicle he passed. When he reached Mirabel, he found her talking about him on the phone. “Actually, here he is now,” she said as David snatched the phone away from her.

David braced himself for Ed Savage’s antics. “Listen to me, numb nuts: what part of
don’t call me again
don’t you understand?”

Mirabel shook her head with horror.

“Good morning to you too, asshole.” It was Beth.

“Oh, sorry. Give me a minute.”

He handed the phone back to Mirabel. “I’ll take this one in my office.”

“Good idea,” she said.

David picked up the phone in his office with a flutter in his loins. “Sorry about that. A borrower who wants to kill me has been calling all morning.”

“I have the same problem sometimes. Only my adversaries have no reason to bitch.”

“So I see you’ve been thinking about me more than I’ve been thinking about you.”

“If it helps to dream, David, do what you gotta do. But you’ve probably heard about Judge Cox being appointed to the federal bench?”

David shuddered at the memory of Judge Cox tearing him a new asshole during the Savage trial. But upon further consideration, this was good news: David rarely appeared in federal court, so this meant he would be seeing much less of the Honorable Henry Terrance Cox. “Hallelujah. First good news I’ve heard this year.”

“Our office is strongly encouraged to attend his confirmation reception tonight.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“And I’d like you to come with me, as a friend, mainly so I don’t have to accept any invitations from anyone in my office.”

“As your date?”

“More like a Monday-night outing. I know you’re hard up for this type of thing.”

“What time should I pick you up?”

“I’ll call you back and let you know.”

He hung up and looked up to see Mirabel again. “Yes?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.” She just stood there smiling, like she didn’t want to ruin the moment.

“On with it.”

“Ed Savage is on the other line again.” Mirabel clenched her teeth, waiting for the hammer to drop.

David glanced down and saw the call waiting. “Of course he is.” He waved Mirabel off and answered the phone. “Hey, Ed, you persistent slug. What’s on your mind?”

“I’m calling you in good faith, Mr. Friedman.”

“Great. Because last time we talked you said you wanted to kill me.”

“I fired my attorney today.”

“Then I’m sure Joe McLaren is having a better day than me.”