Conflict of Interest
Page 13
Laura looked up at me, a slow smile moving across her face. “You, RIck Archer, are an idiot. Do you know that?”
“I’ve been told,” I answered. “But you’re brilliant, and I’ve heard on more than one occasion that sometimes brilliant women like idiots.”
She leaned forward, so close that I was sure her red lips were going to stain my cheek.
“Rick,” she breathed toward my ear.
“Yeah, Laura,” I said, my heart skipping a beat.
“Get the hell off me,” she answered, though she was still smiling.
“Yes ma’am,” I muttered, grinning and moving to the side.
Chapter 33
“Are you sure you’ve thought this through?” I asked, looking over at Justin as he packed the last of his stuff. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. In the two weeks since Fallon O’Keefe admitted to the murders of Samantha Reagan, Dr. Stephen Trapp, and several people in Miami, Justin had dropped the biggest bombshell I could imagine right at my doorstep.
“Looks like it,” he said, smiling wider than I had seen him smile in months at me and patting me on the back. “I think it’s for the best.”
“You think moving away is for the best?” I asked, shaking my head.
“My sister has gone through a hell of a lot recently. I need to be with her to help her through it,” he answered. “And Mike’s decided to go to a local college up there, which means he’ll be around all the time too. My sister will finally have a chance to know her son, and I don’t want to miss out on that. I have a nephew. I want to get to know that guy. I want to help him become the person he wants to be.”
“That’s a hell of a gift to give to somebody,” I said.
“It’s not something I’m giving,” he answered. “It’s a gift I’m getting. I get a family now. It’s a new start.” He looked around. “Even if it does mean saying goodbye to a lot of things.”
“Yeah,” I answered. “That’s not the gift I was talking about. I mean the fact that you want to give me your practice.”
“I want to give you fifty one percent of my practice,” he answered. “There’s a difference. I’ll still be a name partner, and I have no doubt I’ll be back here from time to time, but I want you to have controlling interest. I want you to be able to make the decisions you think are the best without having to worry about what some guy a thousand miles away thinks.”
“Even if that guy is my best friend?” I asked.
“Especially if that guy is your best friend,” he answered. “I didn’t believe in you, Rick. I should have. You were doing what you believed was for the best, and you were right. You’ve got a good heart, and a good gut. I think, if you follow both, you’ll do great things.” He patted me on the back. “I just wish I could be around to see it.”
“Maybe you will be,” I answered. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned out of all of this, it’s that you never know where life is going to lead you. You’ve gotta be prepared for anything. You’ve gotta have faith in the stars.”
“Faith in the stars?” Justin asked, shaking his head. “You’ve been talking to Charlotte, haven’t you?”
“She’s like an emotional sherpa. It’s amazing,” I said, chuckling.
“She is something else,” Justin replied. “Then again, so are you. You’re an amazing guy, Rick. You’re a damn good lawyer, and a better friend. There is no one on this earth I would trust my life’s work with. No one but you.”
“Alright,” I said, turning my head away and giving the guy a playful punch on the shoulder. “We should stop this before one of us starts crying or something.”
“I agree,” Justin said. “The last thing we need is to say goodbye with tears in our eyes.”
“Even if they are manly tears,” I answered.
“The manliest,” he said.
I gave my friend a hug, patted him on the back, and wished him well.
“Drive safe, bud,” I said. “And don’t be a stranger. You know you’ve always got a place down here.”
“Yes. Literally,” he said. “Don’t forget that I still own forty nine percent of this practice. Besides, I’m just subletting the house. I’ll be back so much you’ll never know I was gone.”
“Sounds good,” I said, but I knew the truth. Things were going to be different now. I was going to be the boss. For the first time in my life, I was going to run my own firm. I was going to be the one making the decisions. I was going to be the person who took all the blame or glory, and I was going to have to do it without my best friend.
“Don’t screw it up,” Justin said, smiling. “Or, if you do, try to make sure no podcast hosts are aware of it. That’s not the kind of advertisement we need.”
“You jackass,” I chuckled, giving him another punch on the shoulder.
“I’m going to miss the hell out of you,” Justin said, nodding at me and moving toward the front seat of his car. it was time for him to go.
“Same here, bud,” I answered, grateful to the man for all he had done to me, for the second chance he’d give me. Now it was his turn for a second chance, and I was thrilled to see him get it, even if losing him was going to hurt. “Same here.”
There was just one thing I needed to do.
“I can’t say I’m surprised at your decision,” Ethan Sands said, sitting across from me at the dinner table. My friend, the district attorney, said to me, shaking his head and finishing up his meal of Gulf shrimp and grits.
I grinned. I was afraid of just how the man would take my decision not to accept his offer to join the Attorney’s office. After all, it was a huge honor. Still, I had to follow my gut. I had to do what I thought was right. I had searched myself. I had taken my own thoughts as well as DIllon Storm’s words and what I had learned about everything during this latest fiasco. I knew what I needed. RIght now, the thing that meant the most to me was defending the innocent. It was standing up for people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. It made me a better lawyer. It made me a better man.
“I want you to know, though, the door is always open,” Ethan said, raising a glass to me.
“Understood,” I answered, raising the glass myself.
“Until then, I guess I’ll see you on the other side,” Ethan chuckled.
I shook my head again, smiling. Sounds like a plan, my friend.”
The End
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For more on Dillon Storm and his group of Naples neighbors, check out the sequels.
Book 1: Lost in the Storm can be found here
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Book 4: Caught in the Surf can be found here
Book 5: Buried in the Sand can be found here
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Book 1: Crashing Waves can be found here
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Thanks so much and happy sailing,
Mark
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