“No,” Mary answered firmly. “Now let me explain about the trade libel, which means that you said words that tended to disparage OpenSpace’s business, which resulted in them losing money, and the statement that they allege, if true, would constitute trade libel.”
“If I said it.”
“Exactly, if you said it, but you didn’t.” Mary thought about how she had to phrase her next thought, because she didn’t want to upset him. “I’m more concerned about the trade-libel allegation, because Ernie and Raymond will be able to corroborate each other. In other words, they are the proof that you said it.”
“But they’re lying!” Simon’s eyes flew open, and up close, Mary could see how bloodshot they were and wondered if he had gotten any sleep last night.
“I understand that. But let me talk about the underlying facts. Do you have any concerns with the quality in OpenSpace’s top-of-the-line cubicles?”
“Sure, and I write about them internally, but I never expressed that to any account and I never would. I try to listen to what the account needs and meet their needs with whatever line we can sell them. I don’t ever run down our own products to accounts.”
“Okay.” Mary processed the information. “Let’s talk about Ray Matewicz and Ernie Greeley. Are they friends? Why would they back each other up? And if they are, are they friends with Todd Eddington?”
“Yes, and I do see them together. They’re all department heads and they’ve been with the company from the beginning, longer than I have. They have management meetings with Bashir, so they must talk there.”
“Do they socialize out of work?”
“I don’t know, like I say, I’m calling on accounts, I’m on the road, or I’m at the hospital.”
“Why would they lie for the company? Who would ask them to? Todd? The president, Bashir?”
“God knows.” Simon raked his hands through his hair again. “I really thought Todd was my friend. I can’t believe he fired me and I can’t believe they’re doing this now. I never say bad things about him, I have no time to gossip.”
Mary touched his shoulder. “I understand, and please try to put this out of your mind, as hard as that may be. I will stay the course in the meantime. I’m going to send a complaint letter to the EEOC to start the ball rolling on our ADA case, and I’m going to draft an answer to this complaint.” Mary thought a minute about legal strategy. “I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to try to remove this case to federal court and combine it in the same action, so let me give that some thought. That would be hardball, which is the only thing these guys know.”
“Thank you, really, I appreciate it.” Simon straightened up, rallying with a shaky smile. “I never really thought of you as a hardball type before.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Mary said, but truth to tell, she didn’t either. She’d handled tough cases before, but never one like this, with Simon’s future, her career, and Rachel’s very life on the line.
She had to get busy.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Bennie woke up drowsily, with Declan’s arms around her, his naked body curved to fit hers under the sheet. The late-day sun shone through the window, flooding the bedroom with dark gold light, burnished to bronze. A portable fan whirred on a nearby table and made a pleasant, if artificial, breeze across her skin. They had made love and fallen asleep, happy and satisfied, but as soon as her eyes came fully open and her consciousness caught up with her, her mood spiraled down. It had been fun to stave off reality in his arms, but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was losing Mary and her firm was coming apart.
Bennie let herself wallow in self-pity for a little longer, a self-indulgent emotion she rarely allowed herself, but this was hitting her hard. She hadn’t seen it coming and it happened much too fast. She already missed Mary, and the money was an issue. Declan had been sweet to offer to fill in the gap, but that wouldn’t be wise and she would never accept a loan. She had to resign herself to Mary’s leaving, plan her next moves, and mitigate the damage.
She felt struck by a horrible thought, one she probably would’ve had before if not for the beer, the man she loved, andthis very soft bed beckoning to her. Mary and Judy were best friends, having worked together since they’d left Stalling & Webb as young associates. They’d only gotten closer over the years, and nobody would take Mary’s leaving the firm harder than Judy. And Bennie realized suddenly that Judy might leave the firm with Mary, which would be a terrible prospect in every way. Bennie had come to really enjoy having Judy around, even though she was out there as a personality, and Bennie assigned her a ton of cases.
She shifted upward in bed, as the realization began to dawn on her. She was able to trust Judy with anything and kept her busy twenty-four/seven. More importantly, Judy had a brilliant legal mind that could analyze even the most sophisticated of legal issues, as well as the patience to research endlessly. Plus her legal writing skills were the perfect blend of analysis and language, and one of the amicus briefs that Judy had written had been quoted in a slew of law reviews, cited with approval.
Bennie couldn’t lie around in bed feeling sorry for herself for another moment. It wasn’t like her, and she was about to lose her entire firm. She looked around for her phone.
Declan stirred behind her. “You awake, babe?” he asked, his voice low.
“Yes.” Bennie took her phone off the night table. “Sorry if I woke you.”
“No worries. I can’t believe how late it is. It’s all your fault.” Declan chuckled softly.
“I just realized I have to make a quick phone call. I’ll be right back.”
“You can do it here if you want to. I don’t mind. I’m up.” Declan shifted up in bed, resting his back on the headboard. “I want to catch the end of the ballgame. They played in the afternoon today. I watched it on mute. Make your call.”
“Okay, thanks.” Bennie shifted upward next to him, in nohurry to get out of bed. She scrolled to Judy’s number and pressed Call, just as Declan picked up the remote, aimed it at the TV on his bureau, and flipped the channels to the Phillies game. Bennie looked away from the TV so she could focus better on the call as the phone rang and rang.
Judy picked up. “Hello, Bennie,” she asked, and Bennie could tell from the tone of her voice that she was upset too.
“Hi, I’m calling to talk to you about this situation with Mary. I guess she’s really thinking about leaving the firm.”
