Chapter 11 - The Attorney on Both Sides
Dana stared at the photograph.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Reese represented Northstar.”
“He also represented Robert?”
“Not officially.”
The Cincinnati envelope held six cashier’s checks.
Each was made payable to a company called Merrow Consulting.
Total: $1.1 million.
Dana searched state filings.
Merrow Consulting belonged to Calvin Reese’s brother-in-law.
I felt sick.
“Robert was paying Northstar’s lawyer?”
“No,” Dana said. “Someone at Hale Freight was.”
She compared dates.
Every check had been issued during the period Mark controlled finance.
Lucas sat across the table.
“So Mark paid Reese?”
“Maybe.”
“Why?”
Dana looked at me.
“To make sure Robert received bad legal advice.”
I thought about the last year.
Robert coming home late.
Robert staring at the ceiling at three in the morning.
Robert telling me everything was handled.
It hadn’t been handled.
He had been fighting alone.
“Can we prove it?” I asked.
“Not yet.”
Lucas leaned forward.
“What if Dad recorded Reese?”
Dana and I both looked at him.
“Dad recorded everything by the end.”
We returned to the flash drive.
The AUDIO folder contained dozens of files.
One was labeled CR_09-14.
Reese’s voice appeared immediately.
“If you fight the acquisition, your sons get buried with you.”
Robert answered.
“They made their choices.”
“You really want your wife to watch both boys go bankrupt?”
“You leave Eleanor out of this.”
Reese laughed.
“You don’t have the leverage you think you have.”
Robert’s voice became very calm.
“That’s where you’re wrong.”
The audio ended.
Dana sat back.
“What leverage?”
I knew before she finished asking.
The profitable routes.
The software.
The reserve account.
But there had to be more.
My phone rang.
Mark.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
His voice was shaking.
“Mom, I need you to come get me.”
“Where are you?”
“A parking garage downtown.”
“What happened?”
“They know Lucas talked.”
“Who?”
Mark’s breathing came fast.
“Northstar.”
Then a car door slammed somewhere near him.
May you like
He whispered:
“Mom, I think they’re here.”
