Wondering what in the world had put him into such a snit, Nina groped around, finally locating it in a pile on the floor beside her. She read it and called Riesner back.
“This is an amazing document,” she said, “if I read it right.”
“You do,” he said shortly. “And now I’m going to level with you, Nina.”
“I’m astonished and delighted to hear that . . . Jeff.”
“You can see the immediate problem. If we pay the claim, Mike’s flat broke. Plus, I’m in a bind. Mike . . . has decided not to appeal the award. Naturally, he made his decision against my advice. I can cite a million errors that make this eminently suitable for an appeal, even a reversal. But he’s made up his mind.”
Nina almost fell off her chair. This she had never foreseen.
“I wondered if you would talk to your client about this.”
“What would I say?”
“I think I saw a little sympathy up there on the stand from her. She’ll realize he’s gone completely off his rocker. Maybe she’ll give him a break and open up negotiations for a reasonable compromise.”
“We’ve always been open to negotiating, Jeff. I’ve said so many times. But we no longer have to do that. We’ve won our case.”
“Would you just check with her? See if she’s seen the report. See what she thinks. Maybe she’ll want to do something for him,” he said.
It was incredible. He was groveling.
“I’ll do that,” she said. “But don’t expect anything.” She tried to sound courteous and keep the triumph out of her voice. Riesner’s plum of a case had turned rotten on him. His client had quit cooperating. There was no more money to be squeezed out. And she knew the worst of it for Riesner.
Losing. This public brawl had been won by a woman, by her, Nina Reilly. Not by Riesner, the good old boy.
And Mike Markov would be broke. She had better get Lindy on the phone soon to stanch any outbreak of pity.
Paul appeared in her doorway. “Looking for me?” he asked.
“Always. What’s up?” she said.
“Not much.” He took her up for a long kiss. “I just wanted to talk to you.”
With a word to Sandy, they moved outside, walking along a road that led to the lake. “I’ve got a business hanging on by a thread back home,” Paul said. “Just gave Wright’s family the news that I haven’t come up with diddly to prove his death was anything but natural. Talked with Cheney, too. The local police haven’t got anything either. They’re closing the file on his death.”
“No juror involvement?” asked Nina hopefully.
“Nothing I found.”
“That’s great!”
“Yeah.”
“There’s a ’but’ in your voice.”
“I hate the feeling there’s something I’ve missed. Nina . . .”
“Yes?”
“You don’t know anything you aren’t telling me, do you?”
“No.”
“I know this case is important to you, and I know my talking with the jurors really made you nervous. But I never meant to bring you down. I just couldn’t let this pass by me without a second look.”
“I’m glad it’s over,” said Nina.
They reached the lake and watched kids nearby throwing a ball back and forth, and a dog running through the water after a stick.
“I assume you talked with the jurors about Wright’s position on our case,” said Nina.
“Yes.”
“What was it?”
“It was eight to five in favor of Mike at lunchtime. You were about to lose.”
“Remarkable timing, then,” she said. “Apparently, the replacement juror favored Lindy and they all swung back around.”
“Remarkable, yes.”
“Well, don’t look at me. I didn’t do it.”
“I know. Maybe Lindy Markov did, but if she did, I can’t find any proof.”
“So that’s it?”
“Met by a rock wall, most people stop.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Back to Carmel. Then D.C.”
“You’re going back?” she asked, and something about his demeanor suddenly made her very apprehensive. “I thought that job would be over by now.”
“Nina, I have something to tell you and it’s not going to be easy. Now my pattern in the past under similar circumstances has always been to be noble and blame myself for everything. That way, I get what I want and we both go away feeling good, but rather than lie to you and make it easy, I’ve decided to tell you the truth. You deserve that much from me. And I know you can take it.”
“Fire away,” she said gamely. She did not wish to hear whatever he wanted to say to her at that moment but short of running away, she knew she could not escape.
“You are a selfish woman. You want what you want when you want it. Okay, fine. That’s modern, even cool. Sometimes it’s even attractive. Except when it comes to me.”
She absorbed the blow. “It’s possible you have a point . . . .”
“And this case has changed you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve done things that surprised me.”
“Such as?”
“You choose your work over your friends. Your moral gray area expands directly in proportion to the size of the pot.”
“I can’t believe you of all people are criticizing the way I do my job! You never followed a rule in your life!”
“That’s me,” said Paul. “We’re talking about you.”
“Let’s leave my work out of this discussion.”
“But we can’t. You’re such a lawyer, always organizing and pigeonholing like mad. Here’s Paul over here, in love with me, wishing he could marry me. I’m a busy woman. I’ll give him forty-nine percent. Well, I don’t give fifty-one percent to your forty-nine. We both give one hundred percent, otherwise it’s a waste of time.”
“Paul—”
“Now hang on, let me finish. I’m taking the security job in Washington, D.C.”
“What? No!” Now this she had never expected! She felt like he’d taken her by the ankles and flipped her overboard as Lindy had done with Mike on the boat. “Have you lost your mind? You don’t want that job!”
“I do want that job.”
“I don’t understand. Things have been going so well. I thought we were happy together.”
“We are, Nina, on the rare occasion we’re together,” Paul said. “But it’s not enough for me to flit in and out of your life like I do.”
“But that suits us!”
“It suits you. You need someone who wants you less than I do. You need someone available only when you’re hungry, who just simmers patiently the rest of the time. I am not a back burner type of guy.”
“I don’t want you to go,” she said.
“No, you don’t,” Paul said, “because I’m handy. But I’m going.”
“You can’t,” she said, casting about in her mind for the right thing to say and coming up blank. What right did she have to keep him here? He was a passionate man, and he deserved his match in a woman. “I have lots of work for you here!” she said, knowing how weak it sounded.
“Nina. Don’t pretend you miss the point.”
“I need you.”
“Yes, you do, much more than you realize. But remember, we’re friends for life. Anybody’s legs need breaking, you know who to call.”
“You’ll be three thousand miles away.”
“A hop, skip, and a jump,” he said.
He might as well be in Antarctica. The cold Atlantic was a long, long way from these western mountains. “You’re leaving for good?”
“For a year, Nina.”
“How can you leave California? What about your business in Carmel? You can’t go.”
“Yeah, I knew it would surprise you.”
“Look, I am selfish. And I know I’m high-maintenance. But—maybe I’m worth it!”
“You are, sweetheart. And I know there are plenty of guys who’l
l be happy to pick up the slack when I let go.” He looked at his watch. “Phew. It’s already two o’clock. Now that’s off my chest, I’ve got to hit the road. But you know what would be good?”
She had no idea what would ever be good again.
“A last little taste of that tempura at Sato’s would really hit the spot on the way out of town. . . .”
“Wait a minute. I have more to say,” Nina said.
“You can’t change my mind, so don’t waste your breath. Want to go get a bite with me?”
“No. I don’t have time,” Nina said.
Paul put his head back and laughed.
“How can you be so casual about this!” she cried. “We’re breaking up!”
“And I feel like shit about it, too. Now, c’mon. Give me another half an hour of your precious time so that we can do this thing properly. You can get on my case all you want. My treat.”
“I really can’t. Genevieve hasn’t left yet. I have to say good-bye to her.”
They walked back to her office in silence, holding hands. Nina could not speak, and Paul seemed as usual. An earthquake had shaken the world, but everything looked the same, and even sounded the same. He whistled through most of the walk back.
When they got there, Paul said, “ ’Bye, then.” He kissed her gently, walked over to his van, waved, and drove away.
As she walked down the hall to her office, she didn’t think about him leaving, but flashed back instead on the rough texture of the hair on his arms, and how poorly matched the two of them were physically, with him so large and her so small—how was it they had ever fit so well? She thought about his long thighs rubbing against her and the curve of his arm, enveloping her in his scent.
Damn him for those things he said! Damn him for giving up on her!
Sandy had deserted her desk. Nina found her with Wish, who had returned from his lunch. Holding a big green trash bag, he picked up loose bits of paper, rubber bands, and paper clips from the hallway.
“I’m going to miss them,” said Nina, crossing her arms and watching. After a minute contemplating the wreckage, she pitched in. They wandered into the empty rooms, picking things up in preparation for vacuuming. Where Genevieve’s desk had been, a silver chain twinkled on the floor beside a forgotten earring. In Winston’s office, wadded up candy wrappers revealed a secret love of licorice, and empty cola cans had been neatly stacked for recycling in one corner.
“Uh-oh,” Nina said. A piece of baseboard had dislodged where Winston’s desk had been. Moving day had been rough on this office. She knelt to try to push it back into place, and caught sight of something no bigger than a spider in one corner that looked like it had fallen behind the baseboard. Leaning over to examine the area, she picked up a small metal disk. “Some kind of battery.” Maybe for that little radio he always wore when he jogged? Or a watch? “He has all kinds of watches. Sandy, why don’t you pop this in the mail to him. It’s unusual. Maybe hard to replace.” She held it for them both to admire. “It’s terrific how minuscule they can make those things.”
Wish took it from her. Setting the bag down, he walked over to the window and took a closer look. “That’s not a battery. Look at these little holes here.”
Nina peered over his shoulder. “Well, what is it?”
“Hmmm,” said Wish. “A microphone?” He twisted the tiny thing between huge fingers.
“What?”
“Well, it looks a little like a bug . . . but . . .” He put the object very close to his eyes and studied it.
“You’ve been filling your head up with junk, reading those spy magazines,” Sandy said. “I told you that was a waste of time.”
“Well, maybe so,” Wish said. He set the disk down on the windowsill. “I’m probably wrong.”
“Oh, my God, you had me going there. I had the strangest idea,” said Nina, putting a hand to her pounding chest. “I thought maybe, I don’t know what I thought . . .”
Wish left Nina and Sandy for a moment, trotting swiftly into Sandy’s office and back, while they stared at the tiny thing on the ledge.
When he came back, he was holding one of those spy magazines that caters to teenagers. “See this?” he said, pointing excitedly at a quarter page advertisement near the last page. “Same thing.”
The women continued to stare, only now they stared at the page. SLY BOY! trumpeted the boldface. THE WORLD’S TINIEST BUG!
“Told you,” said Wish.
Sandy opened her mouth, then closed it. She folded her arms.
“But . . . how could Winston get a bug?” Nina asked.
“Anybody can buy surveillance equipment,” Wish said. “Really. There are spy catalogs on-line from all over the world. Haven’t you ever checked it out on the Internet? You can buy neat stuff. I wrote a paper on state-of-the-art technology for one of my classes.
“In the 1950s the Soviets bugged the American embassy in Moscow by hiding a little round thing like this behind a wooden carving of the Great Seal of the U.S., a gift from them that hung above the ambassador’s desks. Whoever said the Slavs have no sense of humor, huh? That was a different device.”
“How does this one work?”
“It’s a simple radio transmitter. There’s a range, like maybe eighty to a hundred megahertz, where you can tune in to hear it.”
“How far away can you be for something like that to work? I mean, could I go home and listen in?” Nina asked, gripping the windowsill.
“You’d need a receiver. Of course those can be very tiny, too, but the quality isn’t very good unless you’ve got something, say the size of a transistor radio, to collect and amplify the sound. Maybe two hundred meters? It varies. This is pretty sophisticated stuff.”
Nina and Sandy couldn’t seem to think of another thing to say.
“So someone bugged Winston’s office,” Wish said. “Who do you suppose was interested in listening in on Winston’s conversations? Hey, Nina. Do you think Riesner and Casey bugged his office to find out what you guys were up to before the trial?”
“No,” said Nina. “I don’t.”
“It is terrific how small they can make those things,” said Sandy, taking the object from her son. “Now, Wish, you take that trash out to the Dumpster. There’s a couple of chairs left in the reception area you forgot. They need to go, too. I’m not paying for any damages, so you’ll want to be very careful.”
“But . . .”
“Move it.”
Grumbling at being ordered around, Wish left.
“You don’t think someone was bugging Winston,” Sandy said.
Nina sat down on the floor. “No. Nobody planted that thing behind the baseboard. It was lying there, loose. I think the bug is his. God, what was he doing with that thing? I knew how desperate Winston was to win the case but . . .” She sniffed. Sandy handed her a tissue, and she blew her nose. “He was not around during those couple of days the jury deliberated. He did a lot of jogging.”
“With that disc player–radio thing he always wears,” said Sandy, frowning.
“Could he have been listening in? Or maybe he had a receiver hooked up to a recorder in his car, and just listened later, some of the time. All he would have to do was park his car somewhere near the courthouse.”
“But, Nina. It doesn’t make sense. What’s the use of bugging the jury room? At that point, you can’t control the outcome of the case.”
“My God. Maybe Paul was right. Maybe he . . . did something to Clifford Wright’s food, to stop him. He might not have realized how serious it could be.”
“But, Nina, they always leave the jury’s food in the private hallway outside the judge’s chambers until it’s served, right? And the door to that hallway is locked.”
“Nobody bothers the lawyers if they pass through that hallway, and you can go straight through from the courtroom. I’ve done it myself. And Winston had a thing going with one of the clerks back there . . . He knew all about the allergy from our jury files, I’m sure. He knew abo
ut the vegetarianism. Cliff’s food was probably specially marked. He could have put something in the food.”
“Why leave the bug here?”
“I don’t know! I can only imagine. It’s very small. It must have fallen during the shuffle of moving. Either he didn’t notice, or couldn’t find it.”
“He’s got a good reputation, lots of clients. Why would he do this?”
“He lost his last case. He was desperate to win this one. His professional success really depended on that. And he knew he had a huge payoff coming if we won big enough to help him get out from under some heavy debts. Oh, Sandy.” She dropped to the floor like a sack of flour and hugged herself. “Oh, my God. My case.”
“You better call Paul.”
She couldn’t move. Reality had caught up with her, and she didn’t know what to do. “Paul’s gone, Sandy. I can’t call him.”
Genevieve appeared in the doorway, a leather bag dangling from her shoulder. “Everything okay in here?” she said. “I never saw two such blue faces in my life. What’s that thing you’ve got there?”
“Nothing,” said Nina, tucking the mike into her pocket. She stood up, dusting her hands off. She had to think more. No sense involving anyone else.
“Well, ladies,” Genevieve said, looking a little sad, “the much-anticipated, awful moment has arrived. Genevieve Suchat is leaving the building.”
They said their good-byes. “Don’t let her work you too hard, Sandy,” Genevieve said. “And, Nina, don’t you let Sandy drive you to an early grave. Oh, I’m gonna miss you two.”
When she left, gloom descended on them, as thick as dust.
35
“Where’s Paul, Nina?” Sandy said as they walked slowly back into Nina’s office.
“Going to Washington. For good.”
Sandy’s lips tightened. “Why that little . . . Where is he right now?”
“He might still be having lunch at Sato’s. He was going to stop on his way out of town.”
“Call him. He’ll know what to do about this thing. He’ll have some ideas.”
“No.”
“Okay, then. I will. We need him. He’s not getting out of this.”
“Don’t. I’ll figure this out myself.” Nina went into her office, shut the door, put her hands down on the table, and placed her head over them. She stayed that way for five minutes, then called Paul.
BREACH OF PROMISE Page 38
