by Paul Levine
Cadillac patted my arm. "Jake's got a good heart."
"And he runs like a brother," Silky said.
"Son-of-a-bitch," Krippendorf said.
"I'm sorry, man," Silky said. "I bit your music. Now, I'm gonna write you a check for three-quarters of a million bucks."
"Ain't accepting your apology," Cadillac said, then broke into a smile. "Not 'til the check clears."
"Which leaves your end, Krippendorf," I said. "Two-fifty."
"Not a chance."
"You've got ten seconds."
Finally, Kim spoke. "Jake, maybe there's a middle ground."
"No compromises. No deals, except mine. Five seconds."
Krippendorf looked away. I swear he was pouting.
"Three, two, one." I pulled my Motorola from my briefcase. "I'm calling the state attorney."
"Damn you, Lassiter!" Krippendorf's voice was thick with defeat.
"I'll draw up the documents." I didn't even try to keep the joy from my voice. "Cadillac, let's go get something to eat."
My client gripped my arm again with long, guitar-strumming fingers. "Dinner is on me, young man."
-29-
Success and Excellence
Twenty-four hours after Krippendorf folded like dirty laundry, I was jogging down Old Cutler Road, fighting the morning heat, swatting mosquitoes and gnats. Just as I crossed Casuarina Concourse, a black BMW convertible beeped its horn and pulled to a stop under a banyan tree, its nose blocking my path.
I recognized the car. And the driver. We'd played this scene before.
Kim Coates hopped out of the car, an envelope in her hand.
"You could have made an appointment," I said.
"Why should I? You're so predictable, I always know where you are." She tried to hand me the envelope. "Got something for you, Jake."
"If you're serving me papers again, I'm not here."
"Take it. There are two checks. One for you client, and one for you."
"On the other hand, I'm here." I opened the envelope. She hadn't been lying. Examining the first check, I read aloud. "Made payable to William Johnson a/k/a Cadillac Johnson. Six hundred sixty-six thousand, six hundred and sixty-six dollars."
"And sixty-six cents."
I looked at the second check. Made payable to me. Three hundred thirty-three thousand, three hundred, thirty-three dollars. And thirty-three cents. By my calculations, they shortchanged us a penny, but I chose not to complain.
"Great, Kim. You need a receipt?"
"Only for Cadillac's check. Just endorse yours and give it back."
"Why would I do that?"
"Endorse it to James Farrell. As it turns out, he'll take a third of a million dollars to settle his claims against you."
"I never agreed to that," I said.
She proceeded, as usual, as if what I said didn't matter. "I have a release Farrell has pre-signed, in full satisfaction of his lawsuit. He'll also dismiss his Bar complaint."
"I said, I never agreed to settle."
"Or, I can tell Judge Buckstrom that you refused to settle, despite His Honor's direct admonition that you do so and despite the fact that you have the wherewithal to do so. Then we can proceed with Farrell's lawsuit and the Bar proceeding. Up to you, Jake."
Money has never been that important to me. Sure, that sounds strange coming from a lawyer. But I earned league minimum as a pro football player, and so far I'd never made any real dough practicing law. There's a disease in our culture where money is concerned. It's become the measuring rod of success. The bigger house, the fancier car, the juicier expense account. The acquisition of material things has become the hallmark of the shallow life. Which is why I seek "excellence," rather than "success."
Excellence measures the quality of work, not its financial payoff. I long for the cause that is just and the client who is deserving. Those two requirements alone often rule out a financial windfall. Too often in our justice system, money rides the back of the wrongdoer. The good are shuffled aside in the courtroom, just as they are on the streets.
But now I had achieved a just result for a deserving client. The only one to be shortchanged was me. Fine, there would be other cases.
"Do you have a pen?" I asked Kim.
She smiled as sweetly as she could, stifling the barracuda within. "Dinner tonight, Jake?"
"What? After the stunt I pulled on you?"
"The phony phone message? I admire your cleverness. How'd you know I'd go through your things?"
"Hell, you used to do that when we were on the same side of cases. You can't help yourself."
She was still smiling. What would be an insult to most people sounded like praise to her. "We have more in common that you think," she said.
"No way."
"C'mon, Jake. You break the rules to win."
"Only if my cause is just."
"Every cause is just if it's your cause. We'll work on that."
"There is no 'we.' No dinner, either. Not tonight. Not ever."
I took the envelope with Cadillac's check and jogged south, emerging from the shade of the banyan trees, feeling the luxuriant heat of the blazing sun.
-30-
Epilogue
Sherrell Johnson apologized for calling me names when I turned down the seventy-five thousand dollar offer.
Cadillac Johnson thanked me and said the retirement home he was moving into had a finely manicured croquet court if I wanted to come over for a game. He also invited me to a show he was putting on for the other residents, and I told him I'd be there.
Doc Charlie Riggs asked me to go fishing in the Glades, something that involved more drinking than casting, but I accepted that invitation, too.
My trusty secretary, Cece, finally hung my Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote posters on the walls of my garage office. She placed some more ads in the Beach Gazette, and the customers – I mean clients – started showing up. Just this morning, a nervous middle-aged lady came in with a tale of woe involving a second mortgage and an impending foreclosure sale of her house.
"You're my last hope, Mr. Lassiter," she said.
"Jake. Please call me Jake."
"Every lawyer in town has turned me down, Jake. They say my case is impossible."
"Then you've come to the right place."
She looked at me, her eyes wanting to believe I spoke the truth.
"If your cause is just," I said, "no case is impossible."
#
ALSO AVAILABLE
JAKE LASSITER SERIES
"Mystery writing at its very, very best." – Larry King, USA TODAY
TO SPEAK FOR THE DEAD: Linebacker-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter begins to believe that his surgeon client is innocent of malpractice...but guilty of murder.
NIGHT VISION: After several women are killed by an Internet stalker, Jake is appointed a special prosecutor, and follows a trail of evidence from Miami to London and the very streets where Jack the Ripper once roamed.
FALSE DAWN: After his client confesses to a murder he didn't commit, Jake follows a bloody trail from Miami to Havana to discover the truth.
MORTAL SIN: Talk about conflicts of interest. Jake is sleeping with Gina Florio and defending her mob-connected husband in court.
RIPTIDE: Jake Lassiter chases a beautiful woman and stolen bonds from Miami to Maui.
FOOL ME TWICE: To clear his name in a murder investigation, Jake follows a trail of evidence that leads from Miami to buried treasure in the abandoned silver mines of Aspen, Colorado. (Also available in a new paperback edition.)
FLESH & BONES: Jake falls for his beautiful client even though he doubts her story. She claims to have recovered "repressed memories" of abuse...just before gunning down her father.
LASSITER: Jake retraces the steps of a model who went missing after his one-night stand with her 18 years earlier. (Also available in a new paperback edition.)
SOLOMON vs. LORD SERIES
(Nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, International Thriller, and James Thu
rber awards.)
"A cross between 'Moonlighting' and 'Night Court.' Courtroom drama has never been this much fun." – FreshFiction.com
SOLOMON vs. LORD: Trial lawyer Victoria Lord, who follows every rule, and Steve Solomon, who makes up his own, bicker and banter as they defend a beautiful young woman accused of killing her wealthy, older husband.
THE DEEP BLUE ALIBI: Solomon and Lord come together – and fly apart – defending Victoria's "Uncle Grif" on charges he killed a man with a speargun. It's a case set in the Florida Keys with side trips to coral reefs and a nudist colony where all is more – and less – than it seems.
KILL ALL THE LAWYERS: Just what did Steve Solomon do to infuriate ex-client and ex-con "Dr. Bill?" Did Solomon try to lose the case in which the TV shrink was charged in the death of a woman patient?
HABEAS PORPOISE: It starts with the kidnapping of a pair of trained dolphins and turns into a murder trial with Solomon and Lord on opposite sides after Victoria is appointed a special prosecutor, and fireworks follow!
STAND-ALONE THRILLERS
IMPACT: A jetliner crashes in the Everglades. Is it negligence or terrorism? When the legal case gets to the Supreme Court, the defense has a unique strategy. Kill anyone, even a Supreme Court Justice, to win the case.
BALLISTIC: A nuclear missile, a band of terrorists, and only two people who can prevent Armageddon. A "loose nukes" thriller for the 21st century. (Also available in a new paperback edition.)
ILLEGAL: Down-and-out lawyer Jimmy (Royal) Payne tries to re-unite a Mexican boy with his missing mother and becomes enmeshed in the world of human trafficking and sex slavery.
PAYDIRT: Bobby Gallagher had it all and lost it. Now, assisted by his 12-year-old brainiac son, he tries to rig the Super Bowl, win a huge bet…and avoid getting killed in the process. (Also available in a new paperback edition.)
Visit the author's website at http://www.paul-levine.com for more information. While there, sign up for Paul Levine's newsletter and the chance to win free books, DVD's and other prizes.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The author of 16 novels, Paul Levine won the John D. MacDonald fiction award and was nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, International Thriller, and James Thurber prizes. A former trial lawyer, he also wrote more than 20 episodes of the CBS military drama "JAG" and co-created the Supreme Court drama "First Monday" starring James Garner and Joe Mantegna. The critically acclaimed international bestseller "To Speak for the Dead" was his first novel. He is also the author of the "Solomon vs. Lord" series and the thrillers "Illegal," "Impact," "Ballistic," and "Paydirt." You can sign up for the author's free newsletter and be eligible for signed books, DVDs and more at http://www.paul-levine.com.
Copyright © 2012 Nittany Valley Productions, Inc.
Cover design by Jeroen Ten Berge
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Nittany Valley Productions, Inc.
