“After brunch.”
“I’m going to call and remind you. You got your cell phone? I tried to catch you before but it went to voice mail.”
“That’s not good,” Herbie said. “It’s either on silent or I left it at home. Hang on a second.”
Herbie snatched up his iPad and opened an app.
“What are you doing?” Dino said.
“Yvette showed me this app — Find My Phone. I call it up on my iPad and I get a map. And the blinking light says... it’s in my apartment. Great. I’ll have her bring it to brunch.”
“There’s too much damn technology,” Dino said.
“I know,” Herbie said. “I feel like a dinosaur.”
“Join the club.”
6
Yvette sipped her cappuccino and smiled at Herbie across the table at the café he had chosen for their engagement brunch. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I did. It’s not every bride-to-be who gets shot at instead of eating dinner.”
“That makes me special.”
“You are special.”
Yvette’s French toast arrived. She poured on pure maple syrup and loaded a forkful with berries, nuts, and cream. She took a bite and practically purred.
Herbie sliced into his ricotta pancakes and watched her fondly.
“I hope you’re not planning a big wedding,” Yvette said between bites.
“Of course not. Just two or three hundred of our closest friends.”
“I’m serious, Herbie. My parents are dead and I have no close relations.”
“We could run off to Vegas if you want.”
“Are you serious?”
“Well, if it’s over the weekend. We have this corporate merger.”
Yvette laughed and shook her head. “Ah, Herbie, you hopeless romantic. Willing to do anything wild and impulsive as long as it fits into Woodman & Weld’s schedule.”
“It’s not so bad, really.”
“I didn’t say it was bad. I just find it amusing. Oh, I brought your phone.” Yvette took it out of her purse and held it up, teasingly. “I’m not sure I should give it to you. You’ll just get a call from work.”
Herbie smiled. “I told them to hold my calls.”
Yvette passed the phone over.
It rang.
“See?” Yvette said. “There’s the office now.”
“It won’t be work,” Herbie said. He clicked on the phone. “Hello?”
“Oh, Herb! Thank God I got you! I’m in a terrible bind. I need your help.”
“Who is this?”
“It’s James Glick.”
Herbie frowned. James Glick was one of Woodman & Weld’s upcoming young lawyers, but he was a trial lawyer. It wasn’t often that trial lawyers needed a corporate consultation, and never urgently and during lunch.
“Yes, James,” Herbie said. He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, but having just told Yvette it wouldn’t be someone from the office, he was not in a forgiving mood.
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s the lunch hour, isn’t it? I’ve lost all track of time.”
“So, call me later.”
“No, no, you don’t understand. I need you now. I’m supposed to be in court, but I had to go to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy.”
“So call the court and get a continuance.”
“I can’t. It’s Judge Buckingham. You know what he’s like. A real prosecutor’s judge.”
“Wait a minute. This is a criminal case?”
“That’s right.”
“Why are you handling a criminal case?”
“It’s a major client — Councilman Ross.”
“The councilman’s facing criminal charges?”
“It’s his son. College kid, busted for drugs.”
“Drugs?”
“Possession of a controlled substance. Possession with intent to sell. Trafficking.”
“Trafficking!”
“Not really. They pile on the charges so they’ll have something to plea-bargain. That’s all this is. A plea bargain.”
“What’s the deal?”
“Suspended sentence, community service, the kid walks.”
“That’s what you’re asking?”
“That’s what they’re offering. It’s all set up.”
“Why would they offer that?”
“The councilman’s a big supporter of the police department. They’re happy to cut him a break.”
“So all I have to do is appear in court and accept the deal?”
“That’s right. Just ask the judge for a recess to talk to the ADA. He’ll offer you the deal.”
“James, there must be someone you can get better suited than me. I don’t work on these kinds of cases at all.”
“Not on such short notice. I don’t have time to shop around, Herb. I’m calling you from pre-op.”
“I was your first choice?”
“No, you were the one who answered the phone. Thanks a million, pal. Just get down to the courthouse. You need to be there by two PM.”
Herbie was acutely aware of Yvette’s eyes on him. He couldn’t bail on her again. Not with her teasing him about being obsessed with his job, and not from their second straight engagement celebration. He was desperately trying to think how to get out of it when James interrupted his train of thought.
“The anesthesiologist just arrived — gotta go! Thanks a million, Herb.”
Herbie hung up to find Yvette looking at him with an I-told-you-so smile.
Herbie sighed. “Honey?”
7
James Glick slipped his cell phone back into his pocket. Mr. Glick was on an Amtrak Acela speeding out of New York as fast as the train could carry him. James Glick was not in the hospital, and his appendix was fine. The only part of what he had told Herbie that was true was about being in court at two o’clock. That, and the plea bargain. James Glick had been offered the plea bargain. He just couldn’t take it.
Ever since he’d caught the case, James Glick had been pressured by mobsters. The pressure had not been subtle. He’d been muscled into a car and taken to a deserted junkyard on Long Island, where he’d been forced to his knees and a gun had been held to his head. He’d been told to lose the case, and to lose it as quickly as possible, or his next trip to Long Island would be one-way.
As a result he’d waived the probable cause hearing and gone right to trial, assuring his client the prosecution would be eager to do so, too. He hadn’t realized how eager until he got into court and was offered such a favorable plea bargain.
The mobsters had stepped in again. This time they hadn’t felt the need to drive him to Long Island, they’d simply spelled it out for him. They didn’t want him to settle the case, they wanted him to lose the case, and to lose it badly enough the kid would wind up with a jail sentence. James Glick had no idea why they wanted this, only that they did, and that a dark fate was in store for him if he didn’t deliver.
James hated passing the buck to Herb Fisher, but he had no choice. If he took the plea bargain he was dead. Another lawyer might escape such a fate. He wouldn’t know what he was up against, and would accept the plea bargain without hesitation. Then there would be no point in killing Herbie, because it would be a fait accompli.
And he would be free of this nagging nightmare. After a while, he might be able to come back. No one knew where he was. They wouldn’t be following him.
Or would they? He had a flash of paranoid fear.
He glanced around and saw no one. Of course, he was snug in his seat. He leaned out, peered down the aisle. There was no one in front of him. He glanced behind him. There was no one there.
But that didn’t mean they weren’t.
Could they have followed him?