Ray returned to his office. Now all he could do was wait.
FIFTY-TWO
Corbin and Ray didn’t hear anything by noon, and they walked down the street to Red’s. The owner of the restaurant personally escorted them to an empty booth. Ray went to the restroom, leaving the two older men alone.
“Thanks,” Corbin growled. “We’ve been getting the cold shoulder all over town the past few days since the article came out about our lawsuit against Colfax.”
“Who believes anything you read in the newspaper?” Red shrugged. “But don’t get them mad at me. I don’t need an investigative reporter snooping around my back door. Speaking of that, do you want any mountain water? I have a first-class batch, smooth with a steady burn.”
“No, thanks, I’m going to AA.”
Red’s eyes widened, and he swore under his breath.
“And no one in town would believe that if it made it into the paper either,” Corbin said. “But there may be something else coming out about Colfax in the next few days.”
Still muttering, Red returned to the cash register. Ray returned to the table.
“I just blew Red’s gasket,” Corbin said.
“What do you mean?”
Corbin told him. “And it felt good,” he said when he finished. “No, it made me feel stronger. Someone at a meeting recently said that each person we tell about our commitment to sobriety is like driving a nail into the coffin of alcoholism.”
Ray’s eyes watered.
“What?” Corbin asked.
“You have to ask?” Ray replied as he quickly wiped his eyes with a napkin. “I get choked up every time I think about watching you eat a bowl of red beans and rice with onions sprinkled on top.”
Corbin chuckled. Even though he and Ray were swimming in a swirl of pressure and uncertainty, they didn’t talk about the case as they ate. Instead they focused on the object of their common love—Billy.
“I wish we’d had more times like this lunch over the years,” Corbin said. “And it’s my fault that we haven’t.”
Ray’s eyes reddened again.
“Don’t cry,” Corbin said with a grin. “I’ll buy your lunch.”
“I can’t handle this!” Janelle exploded as soon as they walked back through the door. “You set off an atom bomb, then leave me to deal with the radiation fallout.”
“Calm down and tell us,” Ray said.
“Calm down! How can you—”
“Then don’t calm down,” Ray interrupted. “Tell us as hysterically as you want.”
Janelle blinked her eyes. “Millie Watson called, crying her eyes out, when she heard the case had been dismissed. There are reporters demanding to talk to you, a government lawyer from Atlanta is going to serve a subpoena on us, and Nate Stamper has phoned three times and yelled at me when I told him you weren’t available.”
“That’s a good sign,” Ray said to Corbin. “Where do you want to start?”
“Millie,” Corbin replied.
“Send all our other calls to voice mail,” Ray said.
“What if someone barges in and demands to see you?”
Corbin pointed to the out-of-date fishing magazines stacked on the low table in the reception area. “Give them something to read.”
They went into the conference room, and Corbin phoned Millie. She didn’t answer, and Corbin left a message trying to reassure her.
“I’ve talked to Tommy Kilpatrick,” he said. “And we’re going to get together soon and go over the case.”
“I’ll call Nate,” Ray said.
“What are you going to say?” Corbin asked.
“I’m going to listen.”
Ray placed the call, and the receptionist with the British accent crisply asked him to hold for a moment. Ray fidgeted nervously as the time to transfer the call dragged on.
“Ray?” Nate’s voice came on the line.
“Yes, and I have you on speakerphone with my father.”
“Good, because you both need to hear this. You know what’s coming.”
“No, you tell us,” Ray replied evenly.
“Colfax is going to sue you individually, along with your clients, and by the time this is over you won’t be able to find a job picking up trash along the roadside.”
Corbin pulled the phone closer to him and spoke. “Then we’ll be working alongside your client, who will be cleaning up all the toxic trash it has dumped on the land and in the streams of this county. The truth is going to come out.”
“Why don’t we sit down and discuss the situation?” another voice responded.
“Who is this?” Corbin asked.
“Ted Daughbert. I’m patched into the call while driving back to Alto from Atlanta. I’ve been on the phone with Colfax’s home office this morning, and there may be a creative way to resolve this situation if we work together.”
Corbin was mentally prepared for Nate’s belligerent onslaught. He didn’t know how to respond to Daughbert’s slick conciliatory statement.
“I don’t know,” Corbin replied warily.
“That’s why we should talk. Is there a chance you could get your clients into the office for a meeting later this afternoon?”
“A meeting with you?”
“Not directly if you don’t want them to, but so they would be immediately available for feedback.”
Corbin looked at Ray, who shrugged and nodded.
“Okay. That shouldn’t be an issue,” Corbin said.
“Let’s make it four o’clock. Notify Nate if the time needs to change.”
The call ended.
“I don’t trust him,” Ray said.
“Of course not,” Corbin replied. “Neither do I.”
Corbin asked Ray to get in touch with the attorney general’s office while he rounded up the clients for the four o’clock meeting. Branson Kilpatrick answered when Corbin called and was skeptical of any benefit from a meeting with the defense lawyers.
“I agree,” Corbin said. “But all we have to do is listen. In fact, I’m not going to put you in the same room with them.”
“Should we bring Mitchell?”
It was something Corbin hadn’t considered. The skinny, baldheaded young boy would be graphic silent witness.
“Yes, if he feels up to it.”
“I know it will be easier for Millie and Lance to bring Josh. That way they won’t have to find someone to watch him on short notice.”
“Okay. Come a few minutes early so I can answer any questions you think of between now and then.”
“Oh, and what should we do if someone from the newspaper contacts us?”
“Refer them to me. That’s the smartest thing to do when there is pending litigation.”
The call ended. Corbin had been ignoring the requests for statements and interviews from the press that were filling up his voice mail. Janelle buzzed him to let him know another reporter was on the line.
“Aren’t you going to talk to any of them?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
“Even Cecil Scruggs?”
“Especially Cecil Scruggs.”
“Give me something to say.”
Corbin thought for a moment. “Tell them our office can’t comment on pending litigation.”
“That makes you sound like one of those lawyers on TV.”
“Good. Tell the same thing to any TV stations that call.”
Corbin went into Ray’s office to receive an update on the conversation with the attorney general’s office.
“Because of the immediate health risk, it’s going to be expedited,” Ray said. “They’re getting in touch with Dr. Sellers directly.”
“Our hand is off the tiller with the State,” Corbin said. “Does Cindy know what’s going on?”
“No, but I should tell her about the meeting this afternoon so she can pray.”
Prayer talk about practical matters still sounded odd to Corbin, but remembering the AA meeting earlier in the day, he didn’t say anything.
“What about Roxy?” he asked. “Should we notify her?”
“I’d love to pick her brain about what Daughbert has in mind, but I don’t see how we can justify talking with her. She has a conflict based on her prior employment with Frank and Donaldson. Her hands are tied and her lips sealed.”
“Yeah,” Corbin replied. “We’re on our own.”
The Kilpatricks were the first people to arrive. Seeing Mitchell walk slowly into the conference room made Ray wonder if they should have brought their clients with them to court for the motion in front of Judge Perry. But Ray was now convinced the judge had made up his mind before the lawyers opened their mouths to argue.
The Watson family came in a couple of minutes later. Millie introduced her husband, Lance, to Ray and Corbin. Josh, a slightly built boy who looked even sicker than Mitchell, clung to his father, whom he’d not seen for six months.
Everyone gathered in the conference room, and Corbin summarized what was going on.
“So why do you think the lawyers for Colfax want to meet?” Tommy asked.
“Anything I say would be a guess,” Corbin said. “And there’s no use talking about a future we can’t see. Just remember they can’t make you do anything, and don’t be intimidated by threats.”
Branson spoke. “Lawyer talk is like what happens before a professional wrestling match. It’s all for show.”
“Yeah, that’s usually true,” Corbin said with a slight smile. “But I hope not today.”
“Do you think they want to talk settlement?” Tommy persisted.
“That’s possible,” Corbin admitted. “If so, remember their first proposal is just to get the discussion started. It’s not the best they’ll do.”
The phone in the middle of the table buzzed, and Ray picked it up and listened to Janelle, then nodded to Corbin. “They’re here.”
“Okay,” Corbin said to the group. “We’ll talk to them in my office, then come back and tell you what they say.”
They entered the reception area. Ray saw Ted Daughbert and wondered what he thought about a small law office with old fishing magazines on the coffee table and the firm’s only secretary sitting at one end of the room.
“Are your clients here?” Daughbert asked.
“Yes.” Corbin gestured toward the conference room. “They’re in there. We’ll talk in my office.”
Colonel Parker always said no one shakes hands before a knife fight, and Corbin led the way into his office. Ray took up the rear. The scenario had a surreal feel to it. They brought in extra chairs. Corbin sat behind his desk, with Daughbert, Nate, and Ray in a semicircle across from him.
“We don’t think any new evidence you’ve allegedly uncovered is going to change the outcome of your claim,” Daughbert began. “But I’m not going to make you listen to the reasons why I believe that’s true. We’re here to put an end to the litigation. Do you want to hear our offer?”
As Daughbert spoke, Ray’s heart climbed higher and higher into his throat.
“Go ahead,” Corbin said, brushing his hair away from his forehead.
“I’ve spoken with Colfax corporate in Richmond. They are sympathetic with your clients’ medical situation and want to address it. The most humane way to do so is to provide optimal care for the two boys.”
Ray knew his father hadn’t yet calculated the amount of money needed to fund treatment. No matter how much Daughbert offered, they’d have to hire someone to research the issue.
“And we’re not going to do that via a monetary offer,” the lawyer continued. “Colfax would rather spend its money fighting the lawsuit than pay it to you and your clients.”
“Then we don’t have anything to discuss,” Corbin said, his face suddenly getting red.
“Yes, we do,” Daughbert replied, glancing down at a piece of paper in his hand. “I’m authorized to offer employment at Colfax to Thomas Kilpatrick and Lance Watson at their previous positions beginning the first of next week, so long as the necessary documents are completed. Because they’ve previously worked for the company, they won’t be subject to any waiting period before triggering eligibility to add dependents to the company’s major medical health benefit program. Each of them will receive a pay raise sufficient to cover the increased cost of dependent coverage. Their employment will be guaranteed for five years to ensure adequate time for the boys to receive the care they need. Hopefully they’ll be in remission at the end of the contractual employment period.”
“The treating oncologists want to put Mitchell Kilpatrick into an experimental program at Egleston Hospital in Atlanta,” Corbin said. “Will that be paid?”
“Egleston Hospital?”
“It’s the children’s hospital at Emory Medical Center,” Nate said.
Daughbert nodded. “For a facility like Egleston, approving treatment won’t be a problem. We’ll include language in the settlement documents to cover that possibility. And because the group health program is largely self-funded, the company can administer it for the best interest of the patient without having to answer to an insurance company until any excess coverage kicks in.”
As he listened, Ray was seeking to uncover hidden traps like a dog searching for its favorite treat. “How much has to be paid on a claim to trigger the excess coverage?” he asked.
Daughbert kept looking at Corbin.
“Two million dollars for each boy, which as you know from your preparation in the case will more than cover the average cost of care during the critical first two years of treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in children.”
Corbin spoke. “Our clients have out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, and we have expenses of litigation that we’ve incurred here at the firm. We want those paid too.”
“Not happening,” Daughbert replied matter-of-factly. “And our proposal is nonnegotiable. I came here to make you and your clients a fair offer that meets their needs. If they don’t accept it today, it’s withdrawn as soon as I leave this office.”
“I can’t recommend that to my clients,” Corbin said, his voice rising in volume.
“I understand, but you have an ethical obligation to communicate it to them.”
Ray braced for an explosion from his father. None came.
“One other thing,” Daughbert said. “You will agree to issue a press release stating that the litigation has been resolved to the satisfaction of your clients without the payment of monetary damages. We’ll draft the press release. All other terms of the settlement will be confidential, and if breached will result in loss of the benefits outlined.”
“What if someone at Colfax mentions the settlement?” Ray asked. “The plant managers will have to know about the employment agreements.”
“No, they won’t. Your clients will be given a person to contact at human resources in Richmond who will ensure the terms of the employment agreements are followed.”
“What if they make a mistake on the job that would normally result in firing?” Corbin asked.
“They will remain employed, although perhaps in another capacity. Colfax is committed to making this work and will have to trust your clients to do their part. Otherwise they’ll get stuck in a room doing the most boring job in the plant. Hopefully that’s not what they want.”
Ray had to admit it was a creative proposal. Corbin stood up.
“Wait here while we talk with them,” he said.
Corbin led the way across to the conference room. Ray tried to grab him so they could retreat to the rear of the office and go over things first, but Corbin had the conference room door open before Ray could stop him. They stepped inside to a roomful of anxious faces.
FIFTY-THREE
Corbin turned to Ray before he addressed the group. “If I leave anything out or misstate something, jump in and correct me.”
Ray sat down beside Branson to listen. In a calm voice Corbin repeated what they’d heard. When he mentioned the employment contracts for Tommy and Lance, Ray heard Millie gasp.
&nb
sp; “They’d take him back even though he’s been in jail?” she blurted out.
“Yes, and unlike everyone else who works on the manufacturing floor, he’d be protected by an employment contract. I’ve not seen the actual document, but the real reason for the job is to provide health insurance for the boys in return for dropping the lawsuit.”
He explained the proposal without interjecting emotionally charged terminology and included Daughbert’s statement about it being nonnegotiable.
“Do you think they’re bluffing?” Branson asked.
Corbin looked at Ray.
“No,” they both said at the same time.
“It’s not that sort of situation,” Ray added.
“I don’t like being pressured about making up our minds,” Tommy said. “It sounds suspicious.”
“I agree,” Corbin replied. “But that’s what is on the table.”
He then explained the confidentiality provisions and gave additional details about the employment contracts.
“Part of their motivation is to make the company look good,” Corbin said. “They’re going to get a ton of negative publicity about polluting the water, and I guess they figure it makes good business sense to get us off their backs in what sounds like an act of generosity.”
Branson muttered but didn’t say anything.
“We’ll take it,” Millie said, then immediately glanced at Lance. “Won’t we?”
“Yeah.” Her husband nodded slowly. “I don’t see any other way.”
“Remember, we haven’t researched the average cost of treatment,” Corbin cautioned.
“I have,” Branson said. “And what the lawyer said sounds about right. I mean, the treatment is going to work or . . .”
No one wanted to complete the sentence.
Corbin turned to Tommy and Larissa. “Questions?”
“We won’t get any cash for all they’ve put us through,” Tommy said. “And you won’t get paid if we don’t get any money.”
A House Divided Page 38
