Page 38 of Maddy's Justice

“Why don’t you settle the suit and shut him down?” David asked. “Throw a few million bucks to these women, make them sign non-disclosure agreements and put an end to it.”

The room went silent while the lawyers thought over this obvious resolution. The thought of spending that much out of their own pockets was highly unpalatable causing them to pause.

“It’s best to let the plaintiffs make the first offer,” Cliff Spenser said.

“Fine,” David said with evident disdain. “I was sent here to make Chicago’s concern known. We’ll keep an eye on things.”

In the hall Cliff Spenser hurried after David and caught him at the elevators. “Give me a minute,” Spenser said to him.

“What?” David politely asked after they stepped away from the elevator.

“This business of having a bug in the lawyer’s office is a really bad idea,” Spenser said. “If he finds it and finds out we did it there will be hell to pay and it’s not necessary. Not enough reward for the risk.”

“I’ll pass along your concerns,” David replied. “But don’t hold your breath.”

“Then I’ll talk to him myself. It’s a bad idea and it should be pulled.”

“Hello,” David said into his cell phone.

He was on Sixth Street outside the Wells Fargo Center. Instead of going to his car in the parking ramp, he made the call on the street. There could be interference in the ramp and this call needed to be unobstructed.

“How’d it go?” Odessa asked.

“I did what I could, what he wanted. We made them aware there could be a problem. They’ll try to rein in the lawyers, and I’ll continue to monitor the situation. Mr. Spenser talked to me afterwards.”

“About?”

“The bugs in the lawyer’s office. Spenser thinks it’s a bad idea. Too much risk for what we get out of it.”

“Spenser said this?”

“Yes.”

“Let me ask him,” Odessa said. David could hear her talking to someone then she came back on the phone. “Spenser is probably right. Pull them out. We have another task for you. There are a couple of investigators…”

“A Madeline Rivers and Anthony Carvelli.”

“Get a report and be thorough. We need to find out what we’re dealing with, in case more serious action needs to be taken.”

“Will do. I’ll get right on it. In the meantime, like I said, I’ll continue to monitor the situation.”

“He wants to be clear about something. We need these lawyers, this law firm. Do you understand?”

“Of course,” the ex-CIA agent replied although he did not have a clue why this firm was so necessary. To him, any number of whore-filled law firms would do.

“We need them. Protect them. Especially from themselves. I’m going to have someone pay them a visit. Someone from their Washington office.”

“I understand,” David said.

That night, thanks to the Reardon building having been built in the 1920s, David had little trouble, once again, picking a couple of locks and removing the listening devices from Marc’s office. A mistake to remove them, David believed.

FOURTEEN

Marc was at his desk going over discovery requests from Lori Quinn. Jeff Modell had finished this particular set of interrogatories. Marc was only checking them, scanning them really, and was still extremely bored.

“A break,” he said to himself when his intercom buzzed.

“Yes,” he said.

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