It's Nothing Personal (42 page)

“Judge Wilson was supposed to preside over
her case . . .
 
until he recused
himself,” Judge Hastings recalled.
 
“It’s interesting he forgot about his wife’s surgery and potential
exposure to the virus, until now.”

“Yes, it is interesting,” said Allison.

Judge Hastings took a moment to sip his
scotch.
 
He did not respond to
Allison as he glanced from her to Lyle.
 
The two men had once been friends – close friends, in fact.
 
Until the day Lyle came home early from
work to find Grant Hastings in Lyle’s bed, with Lyle’s wife.
 

Back then, in his youth, Lyle’s career meant
much more to him than his trophy wife or his dispensable friend.
 
He could have easily divorced his wife
and left her penniless.
 
Likewise,
he could have confessed the affair to Mrs. Hastings, ruining Grant Hastings’
marriage and reputation.
 
Instead,
Lyle viewed the affair as an opportunity – an opportunity for future
blackmail.
 

Over the course of his career, many other
“opportunities” had fallen into Lyle’s lap.
 
He patiently stored each and every one
of them, like pennies in a piggy bank.
 
When necessary, Lyle would use his stash of secrets to achieve his
goals.

Today, Lyle intended to use the affair against
his old friend.
 
Grant Hastings
realized as much when Lyle had called him for the meeting.
 
The judge also appreciated how dangerous
Lyle Silverstein could be if he were crossed.
 
For years, Grant Hastings feared this
day – the day he would have to make a deal with the devil himself in
order to bury his past.
 

Grant asked bluntly, “What is it that you
want?”

Lyle never took his gaze off Grant.
 
“A one hundred percent guarantee that
this case never makes it to trial.”

Grant Hastings was an extremely intelligent
man and a talented judge.
 
Throughout his career, he had seen defendants come and go in medical
malpractice cases, and he knew their breaking points.
 
So far, Dr. Reiner had withstood the
typical tests.
 
Even the beating she
had taken in the press had not caused her to back down.
 

Judge Hastings recognized Jenna Reiner as a
woman of principle, as those are the only ones that make it this far.
 
However, he also knew that even the most
determined defendants are unanimously intimidated by one thing – the
threat of personal financial exposure.
 

Grant took another sip of his scotch.
  
Looking Lyle directly in the eyes,
he said tersely, “You want punitive damages, I presume.”

Lyle nodded.
 
“Dr. Reiner has a husband and a young
daughter.
 
I think she’s willing to
risk a lot, but not her family’s future.
 
Certainly not her precious daughter’s college fund.”

Grant looked down into his near-empty scotch
glass.
 
“You’ve got a problem,
Lyle.
 
This is
not
a punitive damages case.
 
It’s a tough sale.”

Lyle Silverstein smirked as he went in for
the kill.
 
“Maybe it’s a tough thing
for a younger, more inexperienced judge to allow into trial.
 
Our argument in our motion is very
compelling.
 
I think a more
experienced, senior judge might see things differently.”

“You want
me
to preside over this case?”
 
Saliva caught in the back of the judges’ throat, provoking him to cough.

Lyle did not respond.
 
To him the answer was obvious.
 

Grant Hastings sat back in his chair.
 
For the judge, there was no option.
 
He regarded his ex-friend with a mixture
of respect, disgust, and fear.
 

Glaring at Lyle, Judge Hastings said, “Then,
we’re even.”

Lyle held up his glass and gestured a
toast.
 
“Even.”

CHAPTER 64

At 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Jim and
Nancy called Jenna.
 
Nancy barely
allowed Jenna time to say hello before she started speaking.
 

“Jenna, the strangest thing just
happened.
 
A new judge has been
assigned to your case.
 
You’re
getting the big Kahuna!
 
Judge Grant
Hastings.”

“Nancy,” Jenna said impatiently, “his name
means nothing to me.
 
You’re going
to have to fill me in.
 
Is this good
or bad?
 
What does this all mean?”

“Judge Hastings is the Chief Judge for the
Thirteenth District Court.
 
He
rarely presides over cases, but apparently he’s decided to take on your
case.
 
He’s a good judge,
Jenna.
 
We actually could not have
done any better.”
 
Nancy sounded
euphoric.

“What does this mean for our schedule?
 
We’re less than two weeks away from the
scheduled trial date,” Jenna said, biting her lower lip.

“We’ve also learned that Judge Hastings
intends to keep our trial on schedule.”

Jenna exhaled loudly.
 
The words brought more relief to her
than her lawyers would ever know.
 
The end was in sight, for better or for worse.
 

Nancy continued, “As the Chief Judge, he’s
aware of all the cases in his court, yours included.
 
He won’t be starting from scratch in an
attempt to familiarize himself with your case.
 
Also, he’s stated that he will rule on
all motions for your case by next Monday.
 
He’s not messing around.
 
We’ll be working all weekend to get things ready, but at least this
judge seems like he’s on it.”

Jenna perked up.
 
Nancy’s enthusiasm was contagious.
 
Maybe things were finally falling into
order.
 
Maybe things would actually
go her way.

CHAPTER 65

Judge Hastings sat alone in his elegant
chambers.
 
The sunlight from the
early morning sky crept in through the windows, casting a yellow glow across
the room.
 
In front of Judge
Hastings lay a stack of motions for the case of Michelle Hollings v. Dr. Jenna
Reiner.
 
Of the numerous arguments
in front of him, only one mattered.
 
Grant Hastings genuinely detested what he was about to do.
 

He picked up a picture of his wife from his
desktop.
 
After thirty years of
marriage, Julie still took his breath away.
 
She was kind, loving, selfless,
supportive, intelligent, and sexy.
 
To Grant Hastings, his wife was absolutely perfect.
 
Julie was the love of his life.
 

The judge thought back to the affair he had
with Lyle Silverstein’s wife, so many years ago.
 
He and Lyle had both been young stars,
quickly bounding the stairway to enormous success and wealth.
 
Grant met Alicia Silverstein at a
black-tie affair.
 
He found her
exotic and intoxicating.
 
Subconsciously, Grant also knew that part of Alicia’s allure was about
taking something that belonged to Lyle.
 
Grant and Lyle had been friends, but very competitive.
 
The act of ravaging Lyle’s wife was the
ultimate power trip.
 
One thing led
to another, and Grant Hastings found himself in a full-blown affair with Alicia
Silverstein.

The day that Lyle caught Grant and Alicia in
his bed had been a wake-up call for the judge.
 
He feared losing everything, which to
him meant only one thing – his wife.
 
The guilt of what he had done never stopped haunting him.
 
Grant Hastings never again violated his
wedding vows.
 
In fact, the judge
spent every waking moment of his life since that fateful day making it up to
Julie, secretly paying for a sin that he prayed his wife would never discover.

Grant’s mind wandered to the other woman in
this dilemma, Dr. Jenna Reiner.
 
Over the weekend, the judge watched Jenna Reiner’s entire seven-hour
deposition, curious about this woman who refused to give up.
 
His impression was that Jenna Reiner was
an ordinary, honorable person caught up in a terrible situation.
 
He felt genuine empathy for her as he
read the article from the Tribune.
 
Grant was disgusted by the one-sided slant, and he knew it came directly
from the mouths of Silverstein and Anders.
 
Nobody deserved that kind of public humiliation, most certainly not this
woman.

Grant placed his hand on the motion for
exemplary damages, as he considered the merits of the case.
 
From his experience, he estimated Jenna
Reiner had about a fifty-fifty chance of being cleared of any medical malpractice.
 

Judge Hastings tried to justify what he was
about to do.
 
Maybe, he reasoned, he
would be saving Jenna Reiner from herself.
 
By forcing her hand into settling the case, perhaps Grant could spare
Dr. Reiner the demoralization of a very public and high-profile trial.
 

Over the years, Judge Hastings observed
countless physicians sit in his court, for weeks on end, as plaintiff’s
attorneys scorned and chastised them in front of strangers.
 
He saw firsthand the damaging effects as
physicians’ integrity and honor were destroyed.
 
Day by day, he’d watch dark bags grow
underneath the defendants’ eyes.
 
He
would see their shaking hands and their sinking souls.

Grant studied the picture of his wife.
 
Sometimes, he thought, others must be
sacrificed for the benefit of another.
 

Picking up the motion for punitive damages,
Grant started reading.
 
By any
standard, the motion was biased and inflammatory.
 
It was a ruthless attack on Dr. Jenna
Reiner.
 
Yet, at the same time, the
argument was very persuasive.

Although Lyle Silverstein was a cold-hearted
bastard, he was incredibly gifted when it came to the practice of law.
 
Lyle and his sidekick, Allison Anders,
had drudged up prior rulings which strongly supported their motion for the
inclusion of exemplary damages.
 
By
virtue of Lyle’s genius and tenacity, things had become easier for Judge
Hastings.
 
Regardless of being
blackmailed, the argument in the motion was so compelling, Judge Hastings was
inclined to grant it.
 
Even so, he
felt no less shame for what he was about to do to an innocent doctor.

CHAPTER 66

January
23, 2012

Less than a week had passed since Judge
Hastings officially took over Jenna’s case.
 
All motions had been filed, including
Allison’s motion to add exemplary damages against Jenna.
 
Jenna’s nerves were frayed as she and
her attorneys awaited the judge’s ruling.

Desperately wanting to escape reality, Jenna
decided to take the day off.
 
She
planned to spend the time indulging herself.
 
She had definitely earned it.
 
At 9 a.m., she dropped Mia off at school
and headed to the spa for a massage.
 
The rubdown helped Jenna feel relaxed, pampered, and special.

Later that morning, Jenna returned home to
shower.
 
Stepping under the
showerhead, Jenna delighted in the hot, steamy water beating down over her
body.
 
Closing her eyes, she let the
water run over her head.
 
She felt
completely at ease, her mind filled with nothing.
 
There were no thoughts of Michelle
Hollings, hepatitis, man-eating attorneys, or court dates.
 
Jenna was savoring her brief interlude
with inner peace when she heard the phone ring.
 
She counted the rings – one, two,
three, four, and finally, five.
 
When
she stepped out of the shower, she thought she heard her cell phone ringing in
the kitchen.
 
There was no denying
it.
 
Someone was intent on reaching
her.

Jenna wrapped a towel around her head and
ran naked into the kitchen to check her phone.
 
She had not received only one phone
call.
 
Jim and Nancy had called her
several times.
 
There was an ominous
text message from her attorneys, “Call us immediately.”
 

Reluctantly, Jenna placed the call.
 
She dialed Nancy’s direct line and was
immediately placed on speaker.
 
Jim
was already present.
 
Something
serious was happening.

“Jenna,” said Jim flatly, “we need to see
you.
 
How soon can you come in?”

“What’s going on?” asked Jenna, her wet body
dripping on the kitchen tile.

“We’d prefer to discuss things in
person.
 
How soon can you get
here?”
 
Jim’s demeanor rattled
Jenna.