Corridor Man 6: Exit Strategy

by Nick James

  “Well, you had the nasty part down pretty well.” She didn’t respond for a long moment, so he decided to stir the pot. “I’ve got an appointment with Sawyer and Allen tomorrow afternoon. I saw them this morning at Bennett Hinz’s funeral. Have you been in touch with them?”

  “Well, I talked to that prick Sawyer on the phone, or at least tried to. Remember? Erin was here and recorded it…”

  “Maybe that’s what they were referring to. Sawyer said he’d gotten something from you. There were a ton of folks milling around after the funeral and someone interrupted to say hello, you know how it goes. I guess I’ll find out more tomorrow afternoon. It just seemed sort of strange.”

  “Gotten something from me? Did he say what?”

  “No, he wouldn’t tell me,” Bobby said and thought he could hear the wheels in her mind slowly begin to turn.

  “The only contact I can remember is that phone call, the one the other day when Erin was here…” she said, but there was something in her voice and a moment later he heard the sound of her computer being turned on. “Well, I’m in need of a long hot shower. I’m really sorry about last night,” she said and then waited for him to say ‘That’s okay or don’t worry about it.’ He didn’t.

  “Yeah, well, enjoy your shower. Talk later,” he said and hung up.

  If she thought she had a bad headache now, just wait about three minutes until she saw the email he sent to Sawyer in the middle of the night. He pulled the copy Erin had retrieved from Sawyer’s unopened email. It said Emily was willing to accept an insurance payment of one point five million, complete with misspelled words, and a threat to go public with the photos of her and Bennett Hinz if they didn’t pay up.

  His cellphone rang maybe ten minutes later, Emily. He smiled and let the call drop into his message center. She phoned him two more times that evening, but he ignored both calls.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Miguel dropped Bobby off at the office the following morning just a little after eight. He put the coffee on, then used his master key to check Thomas’s new office, but found nothing of any particular interest.

  Emily phoned a few minutes before nine. He was in the lobby watching the monitor screen, waiting for Erin to step off the elevator. He checked his cell, saw it was Emily, and took the call.

  “Bobby?” she pleaded before he could even say hello.

  “Emily? Is everything okay? You sound…”

  “I’m so stupid. I’m just a stupid, stupid bitch,” she screamed. “I hate myself, I just want to kill…”

  “Calm down, calm down. What the hell happened?” he asked knowing full well what the problem was. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye, glanced at the monitor screen, and saw Erin stepping off the elevator and heading down the hall toward the office.

  “God, you’d think I’d learn. It seems every time I get drunk, I start fucking everything up.”

  He pushed the button unlocking the front door. As Erin stepped in and said a friendly’ “Good morning,” he nodded, indicated his cellphone and headed back to his office. Emily continued her rant for another minute or two before he could even get a word in.

  “All right, just calm down. And tell me what happened. Are you okay?”

  “No, I just told you. I’m a stupid, ignorant bitch.”

  “Were you in a car accident?”

  “A car accident? No, what does that have to do with anything? No, no, I sent another stupid email. God, I can’t believe it.”

  “An email?” he said hoping he sounded surprised. “Who did you send an email to?”

  “That prick Sawyer. I…”

  “You were having an affair with him?”

  She screamed loud enough that he yanked the phone away from his ear.

  “Emily, if you don’t stop screaming I can’t help you,” he said then waited for a long moment. “Okay, are we calm?”

  “No. God, I can’t believe I did this. Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she said beginning to increase the volume with the last three words.

  “Well, whatever it is, that’s probably why they want to meet with me this afternoon.”

  “Can you come over?”

  “I’m working. Let me arrange a couple of things on this end and I’ll get back to you within the hour. Okay?”

  “Just get over here.”

  “I’ll get there just as soon as I can. In the meantime, calm down,” he said and hung up. He wandered back to the lobby just as Erin pressed the button and Thomas stepped in the door.

  “Thomas,” Erin and Bobby said in unison and Thomas grinned back in reply.

  He had a grocery bag under his arm and said, “Good morning. How ya’ll doing?”

  “Good, coffee’s on,” Bobby said.

  “Let me just grab a cup. Erin, I got a couple of system related questions I need to ask you,” he said and headed back toward the break room.

  Bobby smiled at Erin and said, “Sorry I was on the line. I just wanted to say good morning.”

  “Everything okay? Sounded like someone screaming. I could hear them as soon as I stepped in the office.”

  “Yeah, you know how it goes, every once in a while you have to deliver some information no one wants to hear.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Bobby’s phone rang as he was walking back to his office. He checked the caller ID before he answered. Sawyer.

  “This is Bobby,” he answered sounding super polite.

  “Custer, we’re going to need some guarantees before we go any further with this so-called offer of yours. Neither one of us feels comfortable with…”

  “Guarantees? Like what. I told you, I’m just advising the family.”

  “What’s to prevent this woman from just taking the five hundred thousand and then turning around and saying she never got it? It’s not too big a step to see her going through with the pursuit of that five-million dollar claim and suddenly we’ve just funded all the legal costs she’ll incur.”

  “I suppose I could draw up a contractual agreement, have the three of you sign it. But I’m not sure what good that would do. All she’d have to do is tell a judge she was coerced into signing or didn’t know what she was signing and then you’re back to square one.”

  “I don’t like the way this is shaping up.”

  “The way it’s shaping up? You mean with you telling her you have no knowledge about her sister’s life insurance policy? Then in the next sentence you just happened to pick a number out of thin air that was the exact amount of the policy. Look at it this way, if you don’t pay her she’s going to expose you. At the very least you’ll receive a sanction from the bar association. But, it’s not a major leap to actually see you get disbarred. Either way, it’ll be the death knell for the firm. Montcreff certainly won’t want that sort of attention. You’re on shaky ground as it is, but fortunately she’s a bit desperate for funds. So my advice is don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

  “For your information, things are just fine at the firm with the exception of your friend, Morris Montcreff.”

  “A couple of things, Sawyer. Do you really think Montcreff would allow me to block his concerns. Christ, he’d have me shot, hung and then cut up into little pieces. And by the way, if he had any concerns, wouldn’t he have been on the line to you by now? The moment he calls your office, Marci is going to relay that call to you. You’ve got me frozen out. As for things being wonderful at the firm, I’ve no way of confirming this nor do I care to waste my time, but word on the street is you’ve lost a third of your paralegal staff, four or five acquisition folks up and left in the middle of the night…”

  “We’ll be dealing with them in just a few…”

  “You’ve lost a number of associates with more thinking about fleeing the scene. Right now, you guys represent the cherry-picking trough. Your competition is entertaining everyone there who might have the least inkling of leaving. Now, you add a sexual harassment lawsuit from an elderly woman on behalf of her abused daughter who
was killed on company time, and you can kiss the firm and your career goodbye.”

  “She was on a paid vacation, for God’s sake.”

  “She was on company time, Sawyer. You and I both know that’s how it’s going to be played. The family would be a fool not to. Now, you got a small window to make this problem go away for one tenth the cost. But, you keep on making demands like you’re doing right now and you and Virgil Allen can just wake up tomorrow morning and start grabbing your ankles.”

  “You’re insane. Do you have any idea how illegal this….”

  “You got any idea the heat they can bring down on you? I haven’t even mentioned the photographs of the late departed Bennett Hinz naked and in bed with your late employee’s sister, Emily. Director fucks baby sister of dead employee…how do you think that headline will play?”

  “She’s a God damned whore and…”

  “She’s a whore with pictures of the firm’s senior partner and director to prove it. It makes no difference to me, but your clients will be running for the door if they get wind of this. Those images, coupled with all the sworn statements from former employees, will add a hell of a lot of credence in front of a jury. So call me when you come to your senses or, I’ll just wait and see you at your disbarment hearing,” he said, then disconnected.

  He waited another hour before he called Emily and told her he was coming over. Then he called Miguel to come and get him.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  “You want me to wait?” Miguel asked as he pulled up in front of Emily’s.

  “No, give me thirty minutes and pick me up. In the meantime, you think you might be able to line up those two guys that took care of that idiot in the Infiniti the other morning? I might have something happening this evening…those two dumb asses from the funeral yesterday. I expect them to try something stupid and it would be nice to have some back up, just in case. Tell ‘em I’ll make it worth their while.”

  “How serious do you think it’ll be?”

  Bobby seemed to think about that for a long moment, then said, “Once I get what I want, I don’t care how serious it gets for them.”

  Miguel studied him for a moment, nodded, and said, “Okay, man,” then pulled away once Bobby was out of the car.

  Bobby watched until Miguel disappeared down the street, then hurried up the steps. He knocked and put on a serous face just before Emily opened the door.

  “Oh, thanks for coming. God, why do I do these things? I can’t believe I did this. Come on back in the kitchen,” she said and led the way.

  He thought it interesting that there was no affection, no kiss, no grab, no sexy outfit. She was in jeans and a white cotton blouse with all but the top button attached. Her hair was still wet from the shower and clung to her skull. She hadn’t bothered to put on makeup. The puffy bags under her eyes still had ‘major hangover’ written all over them. She’d bought into his fake email completely.

  “Here’s my latest stupid stunt,” she said entering the kitchen. He was two steps behind her and she handed him a sheet of paper with the email he’d sent printed out. She walked around to the far side of the counter, picked up her wine glass, and took a sip.

  He made a mental note that it was just a quarter-past-eleven, and based on the bottle sitting on the kitchen counter, she was probably on her second glass of wine.

  “Hey, Sawyer, even though you treated me like crapp on the phone the other day and I think you a prick. You can pay me 1.5 millon and we can cal it even Llet me know. LMFAO Emily Saunders”

  Fairly clever, he thought as he read it again, then reminded himself not to smile. “You don’t even remember sending this?”

  “No. God just look at it. I couldn’t even spell. I had to be drunk out of my mind, literally. I mean, what a stupid, stupid…What do you think they’ll do?”

  “I think there’s a chance they’ll go for it.”

  “But…”

  “Just hear me out, okay? They’re telling me they don’t know anything about the policy…”

  “They’re lying.”

  “Okay, yeah, just for the sake of discussion, let’s say they are. Do you know the company the policy is with?”

  “Well no, not really, but Bennett told me he was going to sign the settlement.”

  “And maybe he did, but Bennett is dead and they’re saying they don’t know anything about the policy. Did you ever find a copy of it in your sister’s files?”

  “Well no, but….”

  “There’s a chance she never got it because it doesn’t exist. I’m going to try and persuade them, but it’s going to be next to impossible. We could go to court and the first thing that will be asked is where is the policy? What company was it with? Given the answers we have, they’ll just show us to the door.”

  “You mean we won’t get a cent? Lizzy worked for them and they….”

  “Hold on. I had a thought as I was reading that email. They’re pretending they don’t know a thing about it. We don’t have any proof that the policy exists, do we?”

  “Well no, but they’re lying and…”

  “And you may have just given them an out. Look, if you fight this you may win, eventually, but it could be years, decades even, and at best it’s a slim chance. Now, what if they think you have the policy or know the company it’s with? That could be enough leverage to get them to pay this amount.”

  “But that’s not right. It should be more than three times that amount and…”

  “But it’s not, Emily. How old is your mom?”

  “She’ll be sixty-nine in November, but what’s that got to do…?”

  “Sixty-nine. In ten years she’ll be seventy-nine, if she’s here. You’re looking at a ten-year battle that you’ve got about a one-percent chance of winning, and a zero percent chance as it now stands. What I’m suggesting is, you take this one-point-five million, it’s more of a sure thing than the five mill….”

  “But it’s not right. Lizzy had that policy and….”

  “She had the policy? Where is it? Do you have any idea what company it’s with? Is it a company in the US or somewhere else?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know. God, why did I have to be so stupid,” she said, drained her glass and then stepped over to the counter and poured herself another one.

  “I don’t think you’re stupid. I think in kind of a strange way you may have saved the day for your mom.”

  “Huh?”

  “One-point-five-million breaks down to a hundred grand a year for the next fifteen years, probably more money than she ever dreamed of.”

  “We were going to split it,” she said and took a hearty sip.

  “Okay, fifty grand a year for the next fifteen years, or, God forbid, she invests it so she can live worry free for the rest of her life. Think about it. It doesn’t sound all that bad and a lot of folks would kill for it.”

  “I suppose,” she said and he could see her thinking.

  “What if I went through her files again and…”

  “Sure, go ahead, and I hope you find it. But with everything else that’s happened at that place, what if they just told Elizabeth they were going to get a policy for her? What if they lied to her?”

  “But Bennett said they had it and he was going to sign it.”

  “This is the same Bennett that you sent the image to and told him you had a bunch more you’d make public, right? The same Bennett who then jumped out of a window and killed himself after threatening his partners with a gun. That Bennett?”

  “Oh, shit,” she said and took a big swallow.

  “Think on it and let me know. I better get back to the office. Call me later this afternoon. I’m meeting with Sawyer and Allen at the end of the day,” he lied.

  “You can’t stay?” she said and took a sip.

  “No, I’ve got people coming in and I need to get back. Think about it, but whatever you do, do not contact them. Got it?”

  “Okay, okay, I learned my lesson. There. Ha
ppy?”

  “Just don’t contact them, and lay off that wine. I better get going, I’ll let myself out.” He stepped over to kiss her, but at the last minute she turned her head and he kissed her cheek instead of her lips.

  Stupid move, he thought, very stupid.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  When he returned to the office, Chris McCall was in the front lobby chatting with Erin.

  “Look who’s here,” Erin said as he opened the door.

  “Chris, great to see you. Thanks for coming down and thanks for coming onboard.”

  She looked like she was dressed for physical work wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt. She held a coffee mug in her hand. “I can’t tell you how excited I am. I hope it’s okay, Erin told me to pick out an office, so I did.”

  “No, not a problem. That’s one of the things I was hoping you’d do today. Are you already settled in?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Take your time, get organized, then stop in my office at some point so we can touch base.”

  She smiled and nodded. As he headed down the hall he heard Erin say, “See, I told you he was really nice.”

  His cellphone rang just as he entered his office. Sawyer. He let the phone ring a few more times, then answered, “Bobby Custer,” he said as he sat down in his office chair and spun round to look out the window. What had started out as a sunny day was now grey and overcast. The clouds on the distant horizon appeared darker, looked like they held rain and seemed to be headed toward him.

  “This is Charlie Sawyer, Custer. I’d like to meet with you this evening.”

  The gruff voice brought a smile to Bobby’s face.

  “You and Virgil Allen?”

  There was a momentary pause before Sawyer said, “No, it will just be me.”

  “Do you want me to come over to your office?”

  “Good lord, no. I don’t want you anywhere near this place. Let me be perfectly honest here, Custer. I’m not at all thrilled with this scenario. It reeks of criminal intent and….”