“Right.” Herbie gave him the floor number.
“I’ll come over just as soon as the market closes. See ya.” He hung up.
Herbie pressed a button. “Cookie, a Mr. Kent Holbrooke is coming over around four-thirty or five.”
“I’ll stay until we’ve got him settled,” Cookie replied.
“You can ask him if he wants a drink,” Herbie said.
At five sharp, Cookie ushered Kent Holbrooke into Herbie’s office, and they shook hands. Holbrooke settled into the sofa.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Cookie asked.
“You got a single-malt scotch?”
“How about Laphroaig?”
“Perfect. No ice, just a splash.”
Cookie made the drink and poured Herbie a Knob Creek, then made her escape.
“Nice office,” Kent said, looking around.
“Thank you.”
“You’re pretty young, Herb. How long have you been a partner at Woodman and Weld?”
“I’m a senior associate, one rung below partner.”
“Oh, right, Marshall mentioned that. I’ve never dealt with a lawyer who wasn’t a partner in his firm.”
“You’ll get more attention and faster results from a hungry senior associate,” Herbie said.
“Good point.”
“Tell me about your business,” Herbie said.
“Businesses. I’m involved in a dozen or fifteen, I keep losing track of how many.”
“How are you typically involved?”
“Sometimes just as a venture capitalist. I prefer that with tech stuff that I don’t have a deep understanding of. Sometimes in partnerships, and sometimes I own the business.”
“Are they all techs?”
“Oh, no. I don’t care what the business is, just as long as it produces profits. For instance, I own a little group of three fancy dry cleaners and laundries called Jasper’s.”
“Then I am your customer,” Herbie said. “You do all my suits and shirts.”
“And they’re all running full blast,” Kent said. “I’m thinking of opening on the Upper West Side.”
“Why don’t you centralize the work and put on a second shift?”
“That’s a thought.”
“And if it’s working so well, why don’t you franchise?” Herbie asked.
Kent looked at him thoughtfully. “I don’t know anything about franchising,” he said.
“All you need is a law firm that does.”
“Are you a franchising specialist?”
“I’m a generalist. My job is to put together a team of the right people in the firm and liaise between you and them.”
“All right, I’ll put you to work,” Kent said.
“Would you like me to put together a presentation on franchising Jasper’s?”
“Sure, that’s a good start. I understand you’re representing one of Marshall’s start-ups. I’ve got a couple of those that could use some legal and accounting structuring. The techies know everything about tech, and nothing about business.”
Herbie handed him a legal pad. “Give me some names and numbers, and I’ll go see them. Nothing that will conflict with Marshall’s start-up, though.”
Kent took the pad and began writing.
There was a knock at the door, and Bill Eggers walked in. “I’m sorry, am I disturbing you?”
“No, come in, Bill, and meet Kent Holbrooke, of the Holbrooke Group.”
They shook hands.
“We’re going to put together a presentation on franchising a group of high-end laundry/dry cleaners called Jasper’s that Kent owns.”
“Of course,” Eggers said. “My wife and I are your clients.”
“I’m liking Woodman and Weld better and better,” Kent said.
28
Dink Brennan sat in a circle of chairs and gazed at the seven other people occupying them. They were a mixed bag of people, but they were all well dressed and carefully groomed. Dink’s guess was that this place didn’t take Medicaid.
The psychiatrist ended the session, and an orderly came in and whispered to Dink, “You have a visitor in the main lounge.”
Finally, Dink thought. He had been there a week and was clean of any drug, but they weren’t going to let him out of there so easily, so he was going to have to keep doing business from there.
He walked into the main lounge, which looked more like the lobby of a chic SoHo hotel, and saw Parker Mosely, his roommate at Yale, waiting for him. They shook hands and sat down.
“How they treating you, Dink?” Parker asked.
“About how you’d expect. I’ve blinded them with cooperation. They make us clean our own rooms, and you should see mine: neat as a pin.”
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“I can do it when I want to. Anyway, they seem to look at a neat room as proof of character, so I’ve had a head start since day one.”
“You got a shave and a haircut, too.”
“Yeah, more proof of character. All I had in my blood when they tested it was a little grass. My plan is to make them think my old man overreacted by sending me here, that I don’t really belong. In fact, I’ve already started working on the psychiatrist to get him thinking that the old man is the problem, not me.”
“Smart.” Parker looked around the room casually, then slipped a small book envelope to Dink. “Here’s the cell phone you wanted, and a charger, too. I gave the number to Carson, and she knows not to expect an answer when she calls, just voice mail. I told her you’d get back to her.”
Dink tucked it into his belt, under his shirttail. “Tell her I want to see her here tomorrow. I’ve got something I want her to do.”
“She’ll be here within the hour. She’s driving over from her folks’ house in Washington.”
“Great!”
“How long do you think you’ll be here?”
“My guess is that they’re not going to let me out in less than a month, because they want to make some money before they release me. However, that doesn’t mean we’re out of business. You need to recruit a couple more sellers. I don’t want you selling direct-you’re management, and I don’t want you getting busted. Don’t tell the people you hire your real name, either. I’ll call my connection and set up a delivery for another six kilos.”
“Coke, too?”
“Nah, we’re doing fine with grass.”
“Gotcha,” Parker said. “What else?”
“I want you to call the lawyer that Dad sent to get me in here. His name is Herbert Fisher, at Woodman and Weld. Tell him how well I’m doing and that I expressed a wish to have him visit me as soon as he can manage it.”
“What do you want to see a lawyer for?”
“He’s the key to squaring things with the old man. If I can convince Fisher I’m on the road to a complete recovery, he’ll convince Dad, who would never believe me.”
“Smart move.”
Dink looked up to see Carson walking into the room and looking around. She was wearing a dress her mother must have picked out for her. Her hair was freshly done and she was carrying a Chanel handbag. The girl was the complete actress. He stood up and waved her over.
“Hello, sweetheart,” Carson said, kissing him on the cheek as if she were his sister. “You look wonderful!”
“Sit down, baby,” Dink said, and sat down on the sofa with her. “Parker, you get out of here now, and there’s something else I want you to do.”
“Name it.”
“First of all, I want you to bring my car up here. There’s a gas station at the bottom of the hill, on the outskirts of the village.”
“I saw it.”
“Take the car there and ask them to keep it for me. Pay whatever they want. Leave one key with them, and then bring the other key to me. This is just in case I have to effect an early release from this place.”
“Gotcha,” Parker said. “It’ll be here tomorrow.”
“You can get the car service to pick you up at the filling station and take you back to New Haven.”
“Right.” The two shook hands, and Parker left.
“Come on,” Dink said to Carson, “I want to appear to be giving you the tour.” He led her out of the main lounge into the garden, then showed her the pool, aware that various staff members were keeping an eye on them. They sat in the garden for a while.