Page 29 of Near Miss

“Which one?”

“CNN or, sometimes, MSNBC, when Rachel Maddow or Lawrence O’Donnell are on.”

Eggers chewed on an ice cube for a moment. “Is that it? No afterthoughts?”

“That’s it, no afterthoughts.”

“Okay, you’ll get the office two doors down from Herb Fisher. The guy who sits there is being moved to Estate Planning next week.”

“The poor bastard,” Carly said. “Okay, deal!” She put out her hand and Eggers reluctantly shook it.

Dino turned to Eggers. “Next, she’ll wantyouroffice.”

“Not just yet,” Carly said.

“You’re going to have to make a lot of rain before you think about that,” Eggers said.

“Oh,” she replied, “I made a little rain today.”

“What rain?”

“A liquor distributer, Jones & Jones. That’s what I thought you were talking about earlier.”

“Do you know someone there?” Eggers asked.

“I’ve been sleeping on Jones’s sofa,” she replied. “By the way, they spent two million on legal fees last year.”

“Gee,” Eggers said. “Maybe you ought to come and sit next door to me.”

“All in good time,” she said. “Let’s frighten Herb Fisher first.”

“Okay, one more thing,” Eggers said. “It’s traditional that when an associate passes the bar exam on the first try, we give them a ten percent raise.”

“How generous!” she said.

“Because you aced it, and because you’re already making rain, I’m going to give you a twenty-five percent raise.”

“Thank you! I accept with gratitude.”

“You just keep showing me what you’ve got, kiddo.”

“I’ll make a point of it,” she said.

Chapter 18

Carly’s suitcase turned out to be two large ones, but Fred got them into the Bentley without trouble.

“Where were you going to sleep tonight?” Stone asked, when they were on the way home.

“In a hotel, but I didn’t know the name of one,” she said. “That’s why I brought my bags.”

“How convenient,” Matilda said.

“It is, isn’t it? Things always seem to work out.”

“I bet they do.”

Fred turned into the garage, and, while Fred got Carly’s luggage, Stone took her and Matilda to the house next door and showed them the vacant apartment.

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