“You don’t know me at all,” Ben said coldly.
“Really?” Rick asked. “Then let me ask you the question I’ve always held back on: How about being my partner?”
“What?”
“I’m not joking,” Rick said, his tone deadly serious. “We become partners. I let you go. You go back to the Court. You finish out your term, and you feed me all the lucrative decisions. By summer, we’ll be swimming in money. You’ll never have to worry again.”
“Are you serious?”
Rick smiled. “No. Not at all. Do I look that stupid?”
Ben swung his right leg forward and kicked Rick in the shin. “You’re an asshole.”
“I sure am,” Rick responded. With a swift shove, Rick kicked Ben’s chair. As the chair fell backward, Ben struggled against his handcuffs. Unable to stop the momentum, he braced for impact. With a loud crash, the chair fell back, slamming Ben’s head against the floor. Lying on his back, Ben kept his eyes closed, refusing to show any sign of pain. “Get a good night’s sleep,” Rick said, leaning back on the sofa. “Tomorrow’s a big day.”
“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” Rick shouted out at a quarter to nine the following morning. Jarred awake when she heard Rick bang on the bathroom door, Lisa jumped and slammed her head against the pipes directly above her head. Groggy as she sat on the floor and leaned against the bathtub, she rotated her wrists to encourage circulation to her pale white hands.
In the living room, Nathan slowly rotated his neck. Still lying on his back, Ben had slept the best of the three friends. He licked the morning film from his teeth. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Hold it in,” Rick said, lifting Ben’s chair and setting it upright.
“You two look terrible,” Claremont said to Ben and Nathan, who had matching bags under their eyes.
“Where’s Lungen?” Ben asked, glancing around the room.
“At work,” Rick said as he walked toward Nathan. “Placating Fisk.”
“When are you going to call the broker?” Claremont asked impatiently. “It’s almost nine.”
“I’ll call him in a minute.” Rick tipped back Nathan’s chair and dragged him to the center of the room.
“What’s going on?” Nathan asked. “What are you doing?”
“Testing a theory,” Rick said, letting the chair down. Turning to Ben, who was now facing Nathan’s side, Rick asked, “Do you have a clear view of your friend?”
“Don’t touch him,” Ben warned. “I told you the decision.”
“You also told me the Grinnell decision,” Rick said as he rolled up the sleeves of his white, button-down shirt. “And look where that got me.” Rick pulled his arm back and cracked Nathan in the side of the face.
“Stop!” Ben screamed.
“Does American Steel really win?” Rick asked as Claremont looked on.
“It wins. I swear.”
Rick smashed Nathan in the jaw. “Are you sure that’s the right outcome?”
“Stop it!” Ben yelled. “It’s right.”
As blood dripped from Nathan’s mouth, Claremont said, “He’s telling the truth.”
“We’ll see,” Rick said, walking toward the bathroom. He dragged Lisa out by the handcuffs.
“Don’t you dare!” Ben yelled, seething.
“Shut up,” Rick said. Claremont pulled Nathan’s chair away and brought an empty one to the center of the room. Lisa kicked and fought furiously against Rick.
“Get the hell off me!” she screamed. “I’ll kill you!”
“Quiet,” Rick said as the two men forced her into place. When they had handcuffed her to the armrests of the chair, Rick stepped back to watch Ben’s expression.
Ben exploded as he felt his face turn a bright crimson. “Stay the hell away from her! I told you the damn decision!”
“My,” Rick said. “I didn’t realize you were so attached.”
“Hurry up,” Claremont said, looking at his watch. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Believe me,” Rick said, “if we don’t have the right decision, all the time in the world won’t mean a thing.” Turning back toward Ben, he continued, “Now, Ben, does American Steel really win?”
“Don’t tell him,” Lisa said.
Rick punched Lisa in the face. “No one asked you.” A red patch blossomed around her left eye. “Now you and Nathan match each other.”
“Get away from her!” Ben screamed, his arms struggling against his handcuffs and his body convulsing in a rabid rage. “I’ll kill you!”
“I asked a…question,” Rick said as he hit her again.
As blood and saliva flew from Lisa’s mouth, Ben fought uncontrollably to break free. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
“That’s not the answer,” Rick said. He slapped Lisa across the face. Her head flew sideways.
Enraged and screaming, Ben couldn’t contain himself. In a mad frenzy, he fought against his restraints. “IT’S THE TRUTH!” he shouted as tears rolled down his face. “WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW?”
“What’s the vote?” Rick asked.
“Five to four,” Ben said. “Dreiberg’s the swing vote.”
Rick pulled out his gun and pointed it at Lisa. “Are you sure?”
“C’mon, Rick, that’s enough,” Claremont interrupted.
“Shut up,” Rick said. Holding Lisa by the hair, Rick shoved the barrel of the gun in her mouth and repeated his question. “Are you sure?”
“I swear,” Ben pleaded. “On my life.”
As he pulled back the hammer, Rick put his finger on the trigger. “I’m not joking. I’ll do it.”
“I swear it’s true,” Ben said, his body tensed. “Steel wins.”
Rick paused, searching Ben’s face for a glimmer of deceit. “Fine,” he said, removing the gun from Lisa’s mouth. “I believe you.” Rick walked to the desk in the corner of the room and picked up his cellular phone. Quickly dialing a number, he said, “Hello, Noah? It’s me. Here’s the story. The moment the market opens, I want you to liquidate all those preferred stock certificates I gave you. Then take the proceeds and buy every American Steel option you can find.” Listening for a moment, he continued, “Exactly. I’m positive. Then at noon, I want all the proceeds cashed in and sent to my usual account. Exactly. You got it.” Rick hung up the phone and turned to Claremont. “Now all we have to do is wait.”
Spitting blood all over the carpet, Lisa struggled to stop the room from spinning.
“Lisa!” Ben called. “Over here!”
“She’s coming around,” Nathan said. “Give her a second.”
“What the hell happened?” Lisa asked. “My face feels like a balloon.”
“Are you okay?” Ben asked. “Talk to me.”
“I’m fine,” she said, shutting her eyes tightly to stop the vertigo. “Let me catch my breath.” She remained quiet for a minute, then asked, “Does my eye look as bad as it feels?”
“It’s just a black eye,” Ben said.
“I know what it is,” Lisa snapped. “Tell me how it looks.”
“It looks pretty bad.”
“Did Rick do all the damage or did Claremont take some shots also?”
“It was Rick,” Ben said.
“He’s a dead man when I get out of these handcuffs.” Lisa looked over her shoulder and saw Nathan. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Nathan said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Does my eye look as bad as his?” Lisa asked Ben, pointing her chin at Nathan.
“It will in a few hours,” Ben said.
“Great,” Lisa said.
“Hey, Rick,” Ben yelled across the room. “Can we at least get some ice over here?”
“No,” Rick said, pulling his laptop computer from his briefcase.
A few minutes before ten, Rick hooked up his cellular phone to his laptop and logged on to the Westlaw Supreme Court database. Looking over Rick’s shoulder, Claremont asked, “We can watch the decision from here?”