“Don’t make this more difficult than it already is. I think you know the reasons.”
“I’d like to hear them from you.”
Derek rested his palms on the table. “Fine. Have it your way. One: you have repeatedly disregarded the directives of your supervising attorney—namely, me.”
“Always with a reason.”
“Not relevant. Two: although I have assigned several cases to you in the past few weeks, some with pressing deadlines, you have ignored most of them and focused on one case—and even there your efforts could hardly be termed legal work. Certainly nothing that can be billed. You are guilty of neglect in the worst way, and that is one of the most grievous violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
“Because of your relative youth and inexperience, we have decided not to file a complaint with the bar committee. Nonetheless, Raven, Tucker & Tubb has a global reputation, and we can’t allow someone like that to work for us.”
Ben tried to contain himself. “Is there anything else?”
“Yes. Three: you violated your duty of loyalty to your clients, Joseph Sanguine and Sanguine Enterprises. Rather than acting as a zealous advocate, you actually worked against their interests. That is also a grievous violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct.”
Ben locked eyes with Derek. “You lost the client, didn’t you?”
“Damn right we did,” Derek said, departing from his prepared text. “A long-standing working relationship. Sanguine Enterprises represented approximately twenty-three percent of total Raven billings in the last fiscal year. And you lost it. Care to guess how many millions in lost revenues that amounts to? Do you have any idea how you’ve crippled this firm? In addition to attorneys, we have over three hundred staff persons who depend on the revenues of this firm for their livelihood. I don’t know what we’ll do to compensate for this shortfall. No raises, that’s clear. I just hope we don’t have to fire anyone.” He glared at Ben. “How do you plan to explain this to the staff, Mr. Kincaid?”
“I’ll say I did what I thought was right in the best way I knew.”
Derek slammed his opened palm against the table. Raven’s eyes fluttered a bit at the sound of the impact, then returned to their position of rest.
“Joseph Sanguine tells me he saw you running away from the scene of the break-in at his office with an unidentified female.”
“Joseph Sanguine knew I was wise to his embezzling scheme,” Ben countered. “That’s why he tried to buy me off.”
Derek became even more agitated. “Joseph Sanguine contends that you forced your way into his office with your cop friend and accused him of murder.”
Ben didn’t say anything.
“And you were wrong, Mr. Kincaid. Tragically wrong.”
Ben stiffened a bit. “That’s true,” he said quietly. “I was wrong.”
“And what is most incredible is that you did this the very day after that man offered to make you in-house counsel! The day after we thought we had solidified our relationship with Sanguine Enterprises for life.”
“How dense are you?” Ben flared. “The only reason he offered me the in-house counsel position was to shut me up. It was hush money.”
“If you had found it in your heart to accept his job offer, the relationship between Raven and Sanguine would be as solid as concrete. Instead, it’s ashes. Dust in the wind.”
Ben drummed his fingers against the table. “That’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it? The rest of this crap about ethics violations is just smoke.” He surveyed the stony expressions of the other shareholders in the room. “I didn’t do anything wrong. But you lost a client. A powerhouse client. And now you have to find a scapegoat. Someone to take the fall when you explain to the rest of the firm why revenues are down. And I’m elected.”
Derek ignored the remark. “Of course we’ll give you the traditional two weeks’ notice. We don’t want to be unfair.”
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll leave today.” Ben rose. “Oh, and Dick?”
“Yes?”
“Your toupee is slipping again.”
Without thinking, Derek reached up—then stopped short.
Ben wagged his finger. “Sucker.”
44
BY FIVE O’CLOCK, MOST of Ben’s belongings were in boxes. He hadn’t really had time to accumulate much in his office, so there wasn’t much to pack. Mostly textbooks and other paraphernalia from law school. Once boxed, his possessions were supposed to be delivered to his apartment by the firm clerks.
Ben heard a tiny throat-clearing noise. Bertha and Emily were standing outside the door to his office.
“Have you read and signed all the papers?” Ben asked.
“Yes, sir,” Bertha replied.
“Just leave them with Maggie. After the judge signs them, someone in the office will send you a certified copy. I would do it myself, but I’m afraid I won’t be working here anymore.”
There was an awkward pause. Bertha obviously wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure how to begin. “I … I have some idea what you’ve been doing. For me, I mean.” She looked down at Emily. “For us. I just wanted to say … thank you.” She nudged Emily’s shoulder.
“Me, too,” Emily said, smiling. “Thank you, Mr. Kincaid.”
Bertha put her hand in Emily’s, and they walked away.
Ben packed the last book and sealed the box with heavy brown masking tape. He chuckled. Thank you, Mr. Kincaid.
He stopped suddenly. Thank you, Mr. Kincaid? She remembered my name, Ben thought. We’ve been separated for over an hour—and Emily remembered my name.
Ben walked out into the hallway. He felt a smile spread through his entire body. The hell with Derek and his crowd, anyway. She remembered my name.
He met Christina at the elevator. They rode down to the ground level together, then walked across the catwalk and into the parking garage.
“I got canned,” he said.
“I know,” she replied.
“Of course. I should have realized. You probably knew yesterday.”
“Well …” She let the sentence trail off. “Let’s say I suspected.” They strolled a little further. “I for one don’t think they treated you properly, Ben. So I quit. In protest.”
“You quit!”
“You heard me.”
“My God, Christina, you can’t do that!”
“I can—and did.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to find another job?”
“I already have.”
Ben was incredulous. “Already?”
“Of course. I didn’t quit job one till I’d located job two. What do you take me for, a fool?”
“Anything but,” Ben muttered. They walked down the first row of automobiles. “I don’t know how I can find work without leaving Tulsa,” he said. “The Raven fatcats are bound to smear my name. I may never work in this town again.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Christina said. “They don’t exactly come out of this sewage leak smelling like a rose. I lay odds they’ll keep their mouths shut. Even Derek. You’ll find work.”
Ben shrugged. “I hope you’re right.”
“But it may take you awhile to find something. And I don’t suppose you’ve had time to build up an enormous nest egg.”
“Hardly. Good thing my rent’s paid up till the end of the month. After that …”
Christina turned to face him. “I’ve got bad news for you, Ben. Today is the last day of the month.”
Ben blinked. “Is that right? I guess it is. I’ve completely lost track of time.”
“I’ve got a decent apartment, Ben. Not plush, but highly adequate. You can stay with me for a while, if you like.”
“Christina …”